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Defnie
Reviews
Assimilate (2019)
Not half-bad
Expected it to be way worse than it actually was. It was decently acted at least for the 3 main characters (side characters were so-so) and has many genuinely creepy moments. Cool reveal at the end and kind of touching friendship between the two main guys. I haven't seen The Body Snatchers, but even without that I can see it's not a super original concept. But it doesn't matter, it's an entertaining watch. If I'd have to nitpick, there were a couple of moments where I thought the characters made illogical choices.
(Spoilers, though not major)
When the creepy clones were all in the barn, our 3 mains characters first hide behind a tractor/farm tool, only to run away later as the clones start to come out again... why didn't they make use of the moment and run while the clones were in the barn? A bit later they flee to the officers house and sit there for a while discussing the phenomenon. The discussion makes sense but why at that time and place? Why didn't they jump in a car and get away? It was to be expected the clone herd would swarm the house. I guess the movie would end quickly if they left but it does take away from the believability.
Louis, Martin & Michael (2003)
Not as good as most of his stuff
Definitely not as good as most of his stuff, but some people on here need to chill... Louis is a journalist, and not a fool or buffoon. (What the hell even brings you to that conclusion?) But although I think very highly of Louis, I have to agree that this 'documentary' is slightly pointless. It would have been very interesting to see Louis interview Michael, and I'll forever regret the fact it didn't happen. But this wasn't really a good alternative. Although it was sort of interesting to see how hard it was to reach Michael, and all the strange people that were part of his world, like Uri Geller and Joe Jackson, it wasn't enough to carry the whole documentary. Too bad, Louis interviewing Michael could have been epic.
Borgman (2013)
Messed up demon tale/supernatural thriller
I don't quite know what to make of this. Going by the summary and all the media attention it's gotten in the Netherlands (and I assume Belgium), I expected this to be just a regular, decent thriller. But it's not. This is not a fun thriller for a night on the couch. I agree with the reviewer above me that this movie is severely messed up, and that you're not doing yourself a favor by watching this unless you want to see something messed up. (Apparently this site won't let you use the F-word) 'Nightmare' is definitely the word that comes to mind if I had to describe my experience of this movie in one word.
If you haven't seen this movie yet and you're still planning on it, let me save you a lot of confusion by saying this: this movie is about demons, or at least demonic/evil supernatural creatures of some kind, in human form. Trust me, if you don't know this, this movie makes NO sense. This little piece of vital information was not clear to me and my boyfriend when we watched it, so we were extremely confused and freaked out by all the horrifying things the 'people' did. Not much is done to make it clear to the audience they're anything other than very strange people, apart from a Biblical quote at the beginning: 'and they descended upon the earth to strengthen their ranks'. After that we see a couple of priests hunt down the Demon People from holes in the forest. But as they seemed like just a group of regular tramps, without any clue there was anything supernatural about them whatsoever, I didn't put one and two together. You can imagine our confusion when the Demon People randomly started intruding the life of a family, conspiring and killing without any apparent reason. It was only when I started searching on the internet after wards that I understood what I had been watching. This is not a psychological thriller, it's a supernatural thriller. Knowing this I appreciate the movie better, but at the time of watching I didn't enjoy it AT ALL. It was one long bad trip and pretty much the weirdest shi t I ever saw.
So, in conclusion: watch this if you like shady supernatural thrillers or if you want to be weirded out good. Also prepare for a lot of sick, sadistic humor.
4.
Marble Hornets (2009)
Promising, but not completely satisfying
This starts out great: suspenseful, mysterious, and it has your attention right away. As film student Jay takes a look at the tapes of the unfinished project of a fellow film student, (Alex) he notices a mysterious figure appearing in several strange shots that don't seem to fit in with the rest of the film. It becomes clear that something happened to his friend and might have been hunted by the creature, also known as Slender Man. As Jay keeps studying the footage, he gets involved in it up to a point there's no way back.
So, like I said, this started out very promising and it had me thrilled. However, as the series unfold, it just keeps going for too long and in my opinion, the story loses its vigor. The story stops being coherent, they keep adding things to it in a way that makes it seem like they just make it up as they go along. 'Oh, here's another tape I hadn't seen before'. Plus it seems a little too easy to include memory loss every time as an excuse to fill in the gaps, and it becomes annoying after a while he doesn't remember anything. On top of that, the character's actions don't make sense half of the time and they behave completely unrealistic. There's a scene in which Jay follows Alex deep into the woods without even knowing what they're going to do there, and at some point he just goes back on his own and Alex stays behind, in the middle of the woods. (Maybe they explain Alex's strange behaviour later on, but it's still weird Jay followed him for no apparent reason.) Also he willingly keeps wandering around in desolated houses and woods on his own, even though he knows Slender Man can show up any moment and despite his previous statement he doesn't want anything to do with it anymore.
What also bugs me is the complete lack of emotion and/or fear Jay seems to have. He never once screams, seems in shock or looks/sounds the least bit frightened, panicked or emotionally affected even though his whole life has become a complete nightmare. Whenever he's on camera he just looks kind of numb, which could make sense since he's wrecked, but it's the only state he's ever in. I know I would freak the hell out in his situation, and most people would express at least some kind of emotion.
Halfway through the entries, the only thing that kept me watching is that I wanted to know how it ends. I feel like the concept is really good but there's just a lot of missed chances. Too bad, I really loved the concept and the very strong beginning. That doesn't mean there are no plus points: it did keep me watching, so it's very addictive and they keep up the suspense constantly. At the end of every entry, it made me and my boyfriend go: 'Ok, ONE more'. It's definitely a recommendation if you like mystery/horror and a good scare, but don't expect a genius storyline.
Still worth a 7 out of 10.
Free Willy (1993)
The best children's movie ever
I loved this movie as a kid, watched it over and over and it always made me cry at the end again. Now, several years later, I bought it again on DVD just yesterday. I watched it back, and even though it's clearly a children's movie, I was filled with nostalgia and I fell in love with this movie again, even through an adults view. The concept of a friendship with an animal that wild, powerful, big, gracious and un-pet-like, used to stimulate my imagination as a kid, and the movie still knew how to charm me. To see how the connection between Willy and Jesse develops is a moving thing to see. So it's not true that only kids can enjoy it, I still loved it even now. You should judge it in the perspective of the target age group it's meant for, it's a great children's movie. One of the greatest, if you ask me. They don't make 'em like these anymore.
Main actor Jason James Richter is great as Jesse, he has a lot of charisma, and his acting is very natural. I also have always liked the character Randolph, the wise Indian guy. He just makes the Free-Willy-picture complete somehow.
Moving story, and fantastically performed. Show your kids this one, and not the remake. It's a pleasure to all the family.