Change Your Image
bernardwarchal
Reviews
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
Pure early 2000s nostalgia
I honestly don't know gghhhb jjjjjjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjj jjjjjjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjj
Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
Pure early 2000s nostalgia
I honestly don't know gghhhb jjjjjjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjj jjjjjjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjjijjjjjjjjjj
Psycho II (1983)
A sequel that shouldn't be forgotten
Psycho II is a pretty good follow-up to the 1968 horror classic. What I love about this movie is it's not just a rehash of the first movie. It expands upon the character of Norman Bates in a terrifying sympathetic way. Anthony Perkins is once again terrifying good as Norman Bates. His portrayal is also sympathetic as this movie shows a different side of Bates as he is tormented by his mother in PTSD flashbacks. Vera Miles also plays a great villain as Lila Loomis (formerly Lila Crane from the first movie) tries to get Norman recommitted after his release by having his go crazy and kill someone. She's one of those villains where you can see the motivation but don't agree with her methods. This movie is also very suspenseful in that you're waiting to see if Norman ever breaks his sanity. The director Richard Franklin does a great job of imitating Hitchcock's directing style while still making it his own. The film has a lot of great exaggerated angles that beautifully showcase the set design. John W. Corso the production designer did a great job with the motel sets. The flashback showing "Mother's room" is beautiful. However, this movie is not perfect and has some issues. I personally found Meg Tilly's portrayal as Mary Loomis to be wooden but it's not overly distracting. The kills in the movie are also a bit to over the top. It's not that the kills aren't good but they're more like kills you'd see in a Friday the 13th movie rather than something like Psycho. But my main complaint is the twist ending in which the woman who runs the Diner in which Norman works has been committing the murders throughout the film and is his biological mother and Ms. Bates just adopted him. This ending is pointless and stupid and almost ruins the entire movie. The twist does nothing to further the plot and it would have been terrifying if Norman was doing it unaware. This twist is just attached last minute in a sort of gotcha moment when the movie was fine in fact great without it. With this twist just tacked on it make a great movie almost on par with the original just a pretty good sequel. It'd be like if they made a really good Batman movie and at the end for no reason we find out that the Waynes weren't his actual parents. I would suggest just stopping this movie right at the scene where he's eating the toasted cheese sandwiches after he gets home from the police station and you'll leave good enough alone. But overall, I felt this was a really good follow up despite the ending and is worth checking out if you're a fan of the original
Batman Returns (1992)
An underrated holiday classic
Batman Returns is an underrated classic. Yes, it has its problems but for the most part it's a very entertaining film and a great follow-up to Batman (1989). Michael Keaton is still great as Batman the best in my opinion. He's intimidating yet not overly trying to be intimidating like Christian Bale. He also has a very charismatic performance as Bruce Wayne. He's suave yet cold from his tragic past. Danny Devito is terrifying as the penguin. His performance is uneasy to watch but in a good way. The penguins back story is very tragic and heartbreaking which adds great layers to his character and makes the audience feel a lot of sympathy for him. Michelle Pfeiffer is great as Catwoman. She really goes all in on the performance as someone whose gone crazy and is looking for revenge against the world. Her performance is probably my favorite in the whole film. You feel her pain of being lonely her whole life and her nearly dying has awoken this new woman to take on the world. Christopher Walken is great playing the maniacal businessman Max Shrek. You can tell he is having fun with his over the top performance. My favorite thing about this movie is the production design. Bo Welch created a very gothic and elaborate setting for the film. Everything from the buildings to the just the way people dress is just gothic and very old detective comic like. The zoo is my favorite set. I just love the giant polar bear in artic world. There's a giant crab. There's a duck car ride that looks like a ski lift. It just looks cool and thematic. The costumes are all great. The Penguin looks terrifying and is just unsettling to look at in a good way. Catwoman's suit is very accurate to the comics and fits the tone of the film. Max Shrek's outfits are all over top business suits that really look silly but in a way that works for his character and the tone of the film. The film is very comic book like. The set are straight from comic book drawings. The plot is very over the top and unrealistic, but it works but it sets up the universe in a way that just allows those things. The film is unapologetically an over the top Tim Burton comic book movie and that's why I love it.