Chaotic, unwatchable ‘Black Adam’ finally launches onto screen, already burned out behind it

Posted on January 9, 2023 by reelentropy
Images courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

1/10 I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to leave a theater more than I wanted to leave my screening of Black Adam. Within 20 minutes, I was fighting the urge to shout “Stop! Please, just stop!” at the screen. Producer/star Dwayne Johnson said he made this film for fans, not critics, but that’s not true – this movie wasn’t made for human beings.

Kahndaq- Teth-Adam (Johnson), the ancient champion of Kahndaq, has been unearthed after 4,600 years. Met with gunfire, Adam strikes back at the criminal organizations that rule his Middle Eastern kingdom, taking over the joint in a matter of days. The Justice Society – whoever Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) could get on the phone this time – arrives to try to adjust his might-makes-right attitude, but discover the hierarchy of power in the DC universe has changed forever.

Continue reading →
Posted in Entropy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I love Art the clown, ‘Terrifier 2’ is old-school movie magic

Posted on January 6, 2023 by reelentropy
Don’t judge me! This is art! Images courtesy Bloody Disgusting.

10/10 Terrifier 2 is like a two-hour video nasty, a loving Giallo film all the way down to being created by a guy named Damien Leone. It’s like whipped cream on film, light, airy, not a ton of substance, but pretty and very flavorful. This movie literally makes me forget my troubles, I love it so much.

Miles County, Halloween night- It’s a year to the day after the Miles County Massacre, in which a murderous demonic mime known as Art the clown (David Howard Thornton) eviscerated about a dozen people and then disappeared from the scene. The town is abuzz with morbid obsession, but they don’t know that everything is happening exactly as it did before – Art is enraged by reports of his demise and excited to go killing again, but this time, he’ll face a tougher test. A young woman called Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) has seen him in her dreams, and it’s intimated that she is destined to kill him.

Why the need for Terrifier 2? Because it’s so much fun, Jan!

Continue reading →
Posted in Entropy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Halloween’s’ bizarre, thoughtful, sweet End

Posted on January 5, 2023 by reelentropy
Images courtesy Universal Pictures.

8/10 In the entire lexicon of ill-advised Halloween sequels, Halloween Ends is certainly the best love story.

Even a basic discussion of Halloween Ends spoils it because the entire movie is the twist, so if I can only say one thing, it’s this: I’ve never been more shocked by a Halloween movie. Spoilers below-

Continue reading →
Posted in Entropy | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

I’m sorry, Billy. You did real good.

Posted on January 3, 2023 by reelentropy
Just a couple of guys being dudes. Images courtesy Universal Pictures.

8/10 I waited until the middle of the week to see Bros when it released in September to $4.8 million, a pitiful opening below even Universal’s extremely conservative expectations, and by that time I was sitting down, writer/star Billy Eichner had already called to tell me that it was my personal fault his film did so poorly. It sort of added an obligation to collect it as I reach back now, so for anyone still interested, it’s really good!

Manhattan, pre-pandemic- Bobby Lieber (Eichner), host of the prominent podcast “The Eleventh Brick at Stonewall” and curator for the in-progress National LGBTQ+ History Museum, strikes up a tentative new relationship with local estate lawyer Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane). Somewhat-together, the pair navigate expectations of the public, both the queer community and the more hostile public at large, and their own desires. 

Continue reading →
Posted in Entropy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

An ugly ‘Smile’

Posted on January 3, 2023 by reelentropy
Image courtesy Paramount Pictures 🙂

2/10 Smile is basic. It’s a basic horror movie.

In Smile, psychiatrist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) is exposed to a smile demon-ghost thing, a tedious and obvious metaphor for post-traumatic stress that causes victims to hallucinate that people are smiling at them before causing them to kill themselves.

Smile is a synthesis of A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Ring and It Follows with some scenes ripped out of a small but terrific horror movie called The Wind. That makes it sound killer, but it isn’t.

Continue reading →
Posted in Entropy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment