EvilPhoEniX

This unconventional, twisted, unpleasant and sick oddity from Spain got me. This strange film is a sort of episodic mosaic of different stories of people who have some sort of physical deformity, all in a modest setting and with an interesting soundtrack. There's a woman who has an anal opening instead of lips (that's probably the most twisted creation), a blind prostitute working in a brothel full of strange individuals, a boy whose dream is to lose his legs because he wants to become a mermaid, and more. There's also a lot of nudity even if mostly of extremely obese or elderly people, so nothing fancy to look at. In short, another film where you won't be entirely comfortable watching it, but it's also quite sad and mostly very WTF. Only for a fringe audience. The running time of 77 minutes is acceptable, and an extra star for originality. 70%.

Kirill Sokolov is the director a great Russian film in the style of Tarantino, Why Don't You Just Die!, which didn't spare gore and absurd humour, but his new film isn’t worth much from my point of view. It's a kind of family conflict where a mother comes back from prison and wants to take back her daughter, only the grandmother doesn't like it and so she and her ex-cop boyfriend chase them around the whole movie. That's about it. I didn't find it funny at all, the violence is rather sparse, I found it kind of bland and not very funny. 4/10.

A Korean masterpiece, like all the Korean hits crammed into an eight-hour series. The protagonist loses absolutely everything in one day, his dream job, his girlfriend, he gets kicked out of his apartment, and he loses all his money due to a bad investment, so he's so mentally down that he decides to jump off a block of flats, only to meet the grim reaper in purgatory and she gives him a punishment for coming to her before she came to him. As punishment, he'll experience death through thirteen more lives via reincarnation, where he gains the knowledge and abilities of the person in question, and it's usually someone who's just out for the kill. An excellent and original premise that immediately draws the viewer in, and thanks to the impressive script, there is really something to look forward to. In each episode the protagonist usually experiences two different characters, so the entertainment is taken care of. I liked that each new role is better than the previous one and everything is beautifully intertwined. There are gangsters, serial killers, a school bully, a cop, a prisoner and lots more. It's packed with decent twists and turns, great acting, great action and great pacing. There's also emotional drama and romance – we get an incredible load of genres that will leave everyone satisfied. The whole thing is also very thought-provoking and I enjoyed all the death rules. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which doesn't bring any action, it’s purely in the drama genre and that didn't completely satisfy me, but everything before that is some of the best I've seen this year. Must See affair for all!! 9/10.

This year's first horror swallow, and it earns 4 stars. Out of Darkness was one of the dark horses of this year and while it is not a big hit that will be remembered, it stands reliably in the category of an adventurous dark survival horror film. I have to praise the excellent technical aspect and cinematography, the scenery is very nice and it doesn't look cheap, which is always a big plus. I appreciate the fact they speak an indigenous language, which adds to the authenticity. The atmosphere is also good, the fear of the unknown works well, and the music is probably the best element of the film, because the sound engineer does a masterful job here, with the musical score enhancing the atmosphere of every suspenseful twofold. There is also a bit of gore and the actual reveal of the "predator" might piss some people off, but for me it was an interesting twist and I didn't mind it. Considering that Stone Age horror is a rarity and nothing better has come out of the horror genre this year, 4 stars is absolutely spot on.

Anyone can be a hero! An unexpected gem from South Korea on their popular topic of bullying in schools, and it's awesome in every way. The main character is played by the likable Shin Hye-sun, he plays a former boxer that starts working as a substitute teacher at a school run by the bastard Lee Joon-young, who has big connections (his mother is a lawyer, his father sponsors the school), so he totally gets away with everything and nobody can do anything about him, really a first class scumbag! Fortunately the main character is no pushover and decides to take action, but outside of school and wearing a cat mask. Word of a new cat vigilante begins to spread around town! It has great pacing, good fights, enjoyable characters and the actual finale in the ring has a great atmosphere, great choreography (awesome slow motion sequences) and surprisingly there was even a goosebump moment with some drive. Fortunately, the inclusion of comedy is only very marginal. I liked it. 75%.

The trailers of Desperado promised a bombastic action flick from China, but the final impression is only barely satisfying. The protagonist is a former hitman who, after being released from prison works as a clown in disguise and takes care of a little girl (I didn’t the sentimental element with the child, which detracts from the seriousness and at times unintentionally falls into a light drama instead of a gritty and dark action film, the contrast just never worked for me). Danny Chan, who starred in Ip Man, certainly has some fighting skills, and Xing Yu is also good, it's just that the action itself didn't blow my mind away. Visually and choreographically it's decent, but I missed the hardness of a proper punch, and the R-rating could have been exploited better too. So, in the end I'll scrape to a better average. My expectations were much higher. 6/10.

Crazy boring! A conversation drama in a car between two unlikeable characters about bullshit. The only survival was watching this film. If only the Wendigo was there, but nothing. Cheap, uninteresting, boring! 3/10.

For me, a totally watchable action B-movie with a likable Orlando Bloom and a great Andie MacDowell, who was excellent as the mafia godmother. It's suspenseful, there is some torture, and the action is only average, but serviceable enough. Entertaining, not offensive. 6/10.

Romcoms are back! Take two extremely likable and young Hollywood rising stars with great chemistry, stuff it with humour, make it not just an emotional romantic blackmail and this recipe can't go wrong, and judging by the decent box office returns it worked. Never mind that in terms of plot it is nothing write home about, but it has a very feel good vibe, I love Sydney Sweeney (that cleavage of hers oh my God!) and Glen Powell is a likeable guy here too. The humour works, the emotions worked for me at the end and it's definitely a film I'll be happy to watch with the ladies. Enjoyable stuff. 8/10.

Watchable, but nothing special. The chubby main character is a likeable guy and giving him the role of a babysitter is pretty funny, but it came in handy because a masked cult of intruders invades the house and you trust him to fight more than you would a 40-kilogram woman. It's quite gory and quite action packed, but it's a B-movie so you don’t get to enjoy the gore that much (it’s far from realistic), and the humour could have been played better. It didn't offend but I'll forget it tomorrow. 5/10.