Review Roundup - Neptune's Bounty

AD ASTRA (2019)

Time for a good old space movie. Which means plenty of cosmic big screen vistas, fiery launch sequences and people losing their tiny minds. This is simultaneously a film packed with ideas and events, while still still being strangely desolate and cold feeling. Which is about right for the genre. It's also a story full of ideas cribbed from other sources whether it's 2001 or Apocalypse Now. Does it manage to reach the lofty heights of these inspirations? Well, no. But it does manage to be occasionally thought provoking and hypnotic even if the plot is sometimes about as bumpy as the lunar surface. There are certainly some memorable moments along the way and it's an entertaining ride, but just how much of this all holds together as a singular voyage of discovery is debatable.

Monster Bites - Signal of Distress

GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA (2002)
GODZILLA TOKYO S.O.S. (2003)

So this is a weird one, or a weird pairing at least. Of course it's clear that these are the only two films from the Millennium Godzilla series that fit together as one whole story. On the other hand they feel like the same movie being made twice. It's fun that they exist in a world in which the 1954 film events exist alongside various other Toho monsters. But then several characters established in the first story are jettisoned for the second resulting in a weird disconnect, making the goals of this combined narrative feel a little confused. I guess this sort of repeating cycle is to be expected with the studio still using the '60s and '70s for it's inspiration rather than introducing any original monsters.

Horror Bites - Brain Storm

FIEND WITHOUT A FACE (1958)

This is certainly another case where the crazy name can't possibly live up to the film it's headlining, but as 1950s B-movies go this isn't too bad overall. Even the title card is super dramatic with exaggerated lighting bolt letters on the screen, desperately trying to sell the electrifying premise. But how to actually describe this? There's more than one fiend for a start, if you can describe them as such. I guess I'll just say it, since for better or worse this one sits under the dubious category of ... killer brain stories. Even within this decade of genre movies where scientific experiments often run amok, it's pretty silly. But that's okay too.

Review Roundup - California Dreamin'

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019)

Quentin Tarantino's films generally fall into a few specific categories whether they're crime thrillers or Westerns, but his latest effort feels broader and less self contained. For better or worse this is an everything but the kitchen sink style effort, it's long and meandering, it's part comedy and part fiction meets period recreation. There may be some through-lines about washed up actors and real life celebrities at the end of an era but it's more of a patchwork of vignettes than any sort of lean narrative. Which means while his previous efforts may have felt loose and in need of a more ruthless editor this is by far his most sprawling tale. But how much of this really matters in terms of the overall entertainment factor is debatable.

Scorecard

AUGUST

FILM OF THE MONTH Escape From New York ☆☆☆☆