5.5/10
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边缘禁地：沙丘丧战(港) (2024) 豆瓣 维基数据 IMDb TMDB
Borderlands
3.7 (24 个评分) 导演: Eli Roth 演员: Cate Blanchett / Kevin Hart …
其它标题: 边缘禁地(台) / 无主之地 …
莉莉丝（凯特·布兰切特 Cate Blanchett 饰）是一个有着神秘过去的赏金猎人，她被迫回到家乡——银河系中最混乱的潘多拉星球，任务是找到阿特拉斯（埃德加·拉米雷兹 Édgar Ramírez 饰）失踪的女儿。莉莉丝与一群不合群的人组成了一个意想不到的联盟，他们是：雇佣兵罗兰（凯文·哈特 Kevin Hart 饰）、爆破专家小蒂娜（阿丽亚娜·格林布拉特 Ariana Greenblatt 饰）、小蒂娜的保护人克里格（弗罗里安·穆特鲁 Florian Munteanu 饰）、古怪的科学家坦尼斯博士（杰米·李·柯蒂斯 Jamie Lee Curtis 饰）和聪明的机器人克拉普特（杰克·布莱克 Jack Black 配音）。这些不可思议的英雄们必须一起与外星生命和危险的强盗战斗，以揭开潘多拉最具爆炸性的秘密。
2024年8月18日 看过
2024年8月18日 评论 a review of 无主之地 - Feel like the hate this is getting is more than a tad overblown. Is it great? No, but it’s far from the totally inept abomination the internet hyperbole machine is portraying it as. It’s more underwhelming than awful, and that’s only because Eli Roth is out of his depth trying to make an action flick. Like dude, you’ve had two chances now between this and Death Proof . Stick to gory grindhouse horror because this clearly isn’t in your wheelhouse. In the hands of a more appropriate director who could make the storytelling and set pieces have greater impact this might have been something. You can see the potential is there to create a sci-fi film franchise that could rival even the mighty Star Wars  with a little bit of better world-building. Kind of has me hoping Borderlands  gets another shot at being turned into a movie sometime later on down the line.  Overall, I wouldn’t recommend paying to go see this in theaters, but it’s watchable enough to make for a lazy weekday after work option when it inevitably hits a streaming service you’re already subscribed to thanks to a shockingly stacked cast, fairly regular chuckle-worthy moments and dialogue largely coming from Jack Black’s Claptrap, and an inexplicably committed Cate Blanchett being her unbelievably sexy 55 y/o self rocking a red wig.  Random notes: The big twist is the most obvious thing in the world everyone will see coming from miles away. Ariana Greenblatt is a disappointment, but I don’t think that’s her fault as much as it is the script’s for not making her Tiny Tina crazy enough or really that insane at all. Krieg and the other regular psycho’s masks looked like plastic cosplay pieces. Kevin Hart brings nothing to the table and serves no purpose other than being just another body to fire a gun during the bigger action sequences. Not enough Moxxi.
5.5/10
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超级马力欧兄弟大电影 (2023) TMDB 豆瓣 维基数据 IMDb
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
7.4 (490 个评分) 导演: 亚伦·霍瓦斯 / 迈克尔·杰勒尼克 演员: 克里斯·帕拉特 / 安雅·泰勒-乔伊 …
其它标题: The Super Mario Bros. Movie / 超级马里奥兄弟 …
影片改编自任天堂经典游戏。企鹅冰雪王国遭到入侵能否逆袭？马力欧和他的兄弟路易吉如何拯救世界？童年经典大银幕重启，精彩冒险即将上演。
2023年4月9日 看过
2023年4月9日 评论 a review of 超级马力欧兄弟大电影 - The Mario franchise is always going to be a hard video game property to adapt into a movie. Not only because its setup provides merely a basic outline for a plot at best (mustachioed Italian plumber saves princess from turtle monster) leaving the devising of any actual storytelling entirely up to the scriptwriters, but also due to exactly how outlandish the world Shigeru Miyamoto created is. The first attempt at doing so went about it in likely the strangest way possible. It was as if the directing husband-and-wife duo of Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel said, “Hey, you know what there’s a lot of in Mario ? Mushrooms. We should take some.” and then concocted the resulting gonzo dark fantasy nightmare from there. This second effort meanwhile does manage to more closely resemble its source material. It doesn’t make the experience any less weird, the people behind it just appear to have swapped out the hallucinogenics for cocaine. This thing moves at a breakneck pace. It kind of makes the progression of events at the beginning and end of the film feel really unnatural, but honestly I prefer this to sitting in a theater for 2+ hours. The animated adventure clocks in at a brisk 1h 32m runtime, credits included I believe (stayed tuned for not one, but TWO stingers). This is a welcomed change from the modern norm of having to dedicate a fairly significant portion of your day towards going to the cinema. Like, it was still daylight when I walked out of the screening and I had time to go out for a nice dinner afterwards. It was great! No, its brevity wasn’t really a problem for me. It was the humor. Don’t get me wrong, there is some really funny stuff here, but for the most part the jokes felt identical to ones I’ve seen in a thousand other comedies. As if someone took any of the countless random kiddie flicks we’ve received in the past 10 years and slapped a Super Mario skin overtop of it. The final product comes off as generic and unbefitting of the brand as a result. Not to mention they did the Kongs dirty and the whole unspoken love triangle element to the conflict is vaguely uncomfortable. Like seriously Illumination, I could have done without the subtle (or in Bowser’s case, not so subtle) implication that these characters from my childhood might be interested in boning each other. I could see a sequel to this being pretty good however, now that we’ve got this awkward introductory hurdle out of the way. It leaves the door open for a lot of compelling directions for them to go in the future with spin-offs (I would KILL for a worthy Luigi’s Mansion or Donkey Kong Country adaptation). Unfortunately, what we got in the meantime is a feature that, were it not for the name, would be totally unremarkable and tries to distract you from that fact with a constant bombardment of references, Easter eggs, nostalgic sound effects, and a somewhat odd pop soundtrack. Which based on the positive audience reception appears to be enough for most people. Me personally though, I’d take the original 1993 absolute fever dream of a movie over this any day. At least that was interesting.
5.5/10 B-day movie
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第三个妈妈 (2007) 豆瓣 IMDb TMDB 维基数据
La Terza Madre
4.8 (11 个评分) 导演: 达里奥·阿基多 演员: 艾莎·阿基多 / 克里斯蒂安·索利诺 …
其它标题: La Terza Madre / 恶灵之泪 …
在罗马郊区的一座公墓内，正在进行墓地改造的工人们偶然挖出了一口埋藏了两百多年的棺材，连同棺材出土的还有一只神秘的匣子。这个发现令在场的神父有着不祥的预感，他命工人重新埋葬棺木，而将匣子邮寄给历史博物馆的馆长麦克•皮尔斯（Adam James 亚当•詹姆斯 饰），请求这位研究神秘学的老友帮忙进行深入调查。
然而，这个匣子却被麦克的助手吉赛尔（Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni 饰）和麦克的女友莎拉（Asia Argento 艾莎•阿基多 饰）贸然打开，一个被封禁数百年的邪恶女巫就此重返人间……
导演达里奥•阿基多“母亲三部曲”终结篇（前两部为《阴风阵阵》和《地狱》）。
2022年3月6日 看过
2022年3月6日 评论 a review of 第三个妈妈 - This long-delayed third and final entry in Dario Argento's Three Mother's trilogy was always going to be held under a fair amount of scrutiny. The original film Suspiria remains one of the most celebrated works in all of horror to this very day, and it's sequel Inferno , while nowhere near as acclaimed, still carries a respectable reputation among the hardcore genre enthusiasts. Due the amount of time between releases and the relative critical slump Argento had been on at that point, one could argue The Mother of Tears was always destined to fail for not coming out when the demand for it was at its highest. The premise is certainly great. When a collection of ancient artifacts belonging to the "Mater Lachrymarum" is uncovered, Rome is cast into a hellish spiral of madness and brutality as the witch reclaims her missing items of power. Children are devoured, infants are thrown off bridges, people are strangled by demons with their own intestines, and ritualistic spears are shoved up women's vaginas. It's pretty freaking awesome! Unfortunately the enjoyment is bogged down by the dull plotting. The script gets points for being more intelligible than Inferno , but man is it far less interesting. It's a lot of watching characters have boring conversations meant to explain all the nonsense happening as the protagonist moves around between various sources of information before they're inevitably slaughtered. The acting in which is terrible across-the-board, with the most painful coming from Dario's own daughter Asia in the lead role. It constantly left me desperately awaiting the next sight of gore or nudity that makes Italian horror cinema so much fun. Also, where's the style? Its predecessors are known for their giallo use of color and music. Mother of Tears has none of that, coming off as rather drab in comparison. What it does have though are some unforgettable displays of savagery and skin. Showing that its legendary director's eye for violence and titillation we're still very much intact even is his sense of art and storytelling we're not. The regrettable lack of them though makes it hard to recommend this concluding chapter that came out way later than it should have after its creator's skills had begun to decline. I can't imagine having waited close to thirty years for THIS!
5.5/10
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招魂3 (2021) 豆瓣 IMDb TMDB 维基数据
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
5.8 (207 个评分) 导演: 迈克尔·查维斯 演员: 帕特里克·威尔森 / 维拉·法米加 …
其它标题: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It / 招魂3：鬼使神差 …
故事取材自1981年轰动全美的真实谋杀案，凶手亚恩·夏安·约翰逊杀死房东后声称自己是被邪灵附体才会行凶，是美国历史上首个被告以「鬼上身」作抗辩理由的案例，因此称为「恶魔谋杀案」。
11岁男孩大卫被邪灵附体，陷入混沌状态，经常看见怪兽恶魔坐在他喜欢的摇椅上，而他身上更出现 离奇伤痕…受惊且束手无策的家人请来沃伦夫妇介入调查，他们发现大卫被43只恶魔缠身，使乖巧的他行为变得异常，例如像野兽般在地上爬行、胡言乱语甚至背诵他没有读过的圣经及《失乐园》章节…沃伦夫妇遂安排神父为大卫驱魔，可惜未见起色，而更诡异的事情接踵而来，大卫姐姐的未婚夫亚恩也开始行为异常，数月后，亚恩更以利刀刺死了房东。华伦夫妇认为亚恩行凶时被恶灵附身，原来大卫进行驱魔时，亚恩也在现场……
2021年6月6日 看过
2021年6月6日 评论 a review of 招魂3 - The long-awaited third Conjuring movie moves away from the haunted house style horror of its predecessors in favor of a murder-mystery angle that naturally sports a strong supernatural element. The results are nothing short of a letdown. Not because of the new approach or anything, but rather the noticeable lack of James Wan at the helm. Director Michael Chavez proves to be a poor substitute for the longtime genre veteran, as despite having a compelling narrative to work with he is unable to bring any real terror to the table making the whole experience far more boring than it should have been. The actual story itself certainly covers some frightening material. Regardless of whether or not you believe in the demonic entities they worship, the existence of satanic cultists isn't something that can't be denied and their inclusion here does add an extra spine-chilling quality to the proceedings. The problem is that this tension never manifests itself onscreen. The attempts at scares are all of the generic exorcism variety and it gets so caught up in its own plotting that it almost forgets to include any for the entire middle portion of the film. While it lacks the thrills and chills we've come to expect from the series, it does at least still have the Warrens and in one of their more interesting cases to boot. Which counts for more than you might think. It's nice to see that more sentimental nature of The Conjuring 2 was not lost in this follow-up. Once again the bond between the paranormal investigating husband-and-wife duo is a core focus and wonderfully brought to life by the incredibly charming Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga who make these protagonists the most endearing opponents of unholy evil this side of the Insidious franchise. There's a emotional component added to the mix because of this that, along with the sight of child's body contorting under the influence of possession, actually got me a little teary-eyed in a few parts. Although ultimately ending up kind of dull to watch unfold, the concept alone is also fascinating enough to likely keep you engaged until the credits roll. It definitely inspired a desire in me to learn about the real event this is based on. If only to decide for myself whether or not I buy Arne Cheyenne's claims. If you're a fan of the previous two entries and the larger universe that's been built around them this may still be worth checking out for you. However, it's an unfulfilling continuation to some of the greatest works of modern horror that most devastatingly does little to raise the pulse or cause any feelings of unease in the absence of their original director. Chavez did do a respectable job and shows potential, but Wan's shoes were simply too big for him to step into. Leading to a very promising premise feeling like it went to waste in what is so far the biggest disappointment of 2021.
5.5/10
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狂热 (2019) 豆瓣 IMDb 维基数据 TMDB
The Fanatic
导演: 弗里德·德斯特 演员: 约翰·特拉沃尔塔 / 戴文·萨瓦 …
其它标题: The Fanatic / 头号粉丝(台) …
影片改编自他多年前经历的真实事件。特拉沃尔塔在片中饰演一名狂热粉丝，他对偶像(戴文·萨瓦饰)的迷恋几乎摧毁了对方的生活。
2019年10月5日 看过
2019年10月5日 评论 a review of 狂热 - I'm a Limp Bizkit fan. I love their loud, brash, and aggressive sound. However, I'm often left perplexed by Fred Durst's lyrics. Sometimes there's a clear message there and others all I can gather is that it's just a bunch word vomit where confusion seems to be the only rational reaction. You can probably guess which type The Fanatic more closely resembles... In this clash between action movie star and obsessed fan it's never clear who you're supposed to be rooting for. "Moose" is a clearly autistic man who just doesn't know any better, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous. "Hunter Dunbar" is world-class jerk who definitely could’ve handled the situation better, but it's hard to fault him for getting aggressive when faced with a stalker that crossed the line. Perhaps we're not supposed to sympathize with either of them in the end. Which would have been acceptable had there been some kind of meaning to all of this, but alas there doesn't appear to be any. So that violent conclusion just ends up leaving a bad taste in your mouth. It's not even like The Fanatic really does all that much wrong. The humor it tries to mine from Moose's childlike behavior feels out of place and may not sit well with some as it comes at the expense of the mentally ill, but I wouldn't say it's straight garbage or anything like that. It's just that without anything to say for itself the film's most notable qualities end up being John Travolta's all in, yet strangely terrible performance and the fact that it's entirely the brainchild of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Both of which are certainly interesting, but not enough to make the movie worth watching given the considerable lack of substance.
5.5/10
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战胜自我 (2019) 维基数据 豆瓣 IMDb TMDB
Overcomer
导演: 埃里克斯·肯德里克 演员: 埃里克斯·肯德里克 / 莎丽·里格比 …
其它标题: Overcomer / 得胜者(台) …
教练约翰·哈里森(Alex Kendrick饰)的生活一夜之间发生了变化，他的高中篮球队和州冠军梦想在意外消息的重压下破灭了。在勉强同意担任越野教练后，约翰和他的妻子艾米(Shari Rigby饰)遇到了一位有抱负的运动员，她在通往发现的旅程中突破了自己的极限。在一位新朋友的话语和祈祷的鼓舞下，约翰成为最不可能的教练，帮助最不可能的跑步者在一年中最大的比赛中尝试不可能的事情。
2019年9月15日 看过
2019年9月15日 评论 a review of 战胜自我 - With the exception of maybe Courageous , the films from the Kendrick brothers have been just as amateurish and pandering as the rest of the faith-based offerings. Receiving the same kind of repeated criticism for middling production values, stale dramatic beats, and the messages themselves. However, I've always felt that the duo have really pushed themselves with each successive release to try new things and make higher quality entertainment, which is the kind of thing these movies really need right now. I can't say the same about Overcomer though, as it feels like their first really phoned in effort to date. While it's obvious no one onscreen is really trying with their performances, the real problem with the movie is the script. There are some effectively emotional moments, but no real depth. That's because the Kendrick's never went the extra mile to flesh out any of the characters. Not even the titular "overcomer" herself played by Aryn Wright-Thompson, who is oddly sidelined for the first half of the movie and never actually explored even when her problems do finally take center stage despite this supposedly being her story. Instead they just pulled a bunch of the oldest tricks from the book on how to get the audience all sappy without having to put forth any real effort. It works, but is totally cheap and kind of insulting when you consider how intentionally lazy it feels. If I had to bet, I would say the Kendrick's decided to not give 100% to this one because they realized the hardcore evangelicals that have been keeping this genre afloat for years now without even a hint of constructive criticism were going to support it no matter what. Which highlights one of the biggest problems with Christian filmmaking. Why are the people behind these movies ever going to try and fix the flaws that now serve as an expected part of these experiences when they're going to be met with blind devotion no matter what? Call me crazy, but I think God deserves better from our onscreen attempts at worship so it's high time we the audience demanded improvement. Even Overcomer's religious element itself is a step back from their earlier works. Where films like Courageous and War Room offered real world applications of faith to help with things in everyday life like marriage and parenting, this is a straight up Sunday school lesson on salvation. Don't really see how that's going to help those watching this as they are either already converted, or are going to be too angry with the mediocrity the Kendrick's served up here to pay attention to it. There is one thing they got right though, and that's the running. Cross country is the kind of sport that's hard to carry a movie on, and you can see that here. However, when the final race arrives it's just as big and powerful as any football or basketball match you'd see at the end of some other sports flick. As a runner myself, I can tell you that they did a wonderful job at capturing the mentality and strategy needed to compete for long distances like that. Something that alone made this a movie I genuinely enjoyed, despite what a disingenuous cash grab it is overall.
5.5/10
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宠物坟场 (2019) IMDb 豆瓣 TMDB 维基数据
Pet Sematary
5.2 (79 个评分) 导演: 凯文·库尔施 / 丹尼斯·维德迈尔 演员: 杰森·克拉克 / 艾米·西米茨 …
其它标题: Pet Sematary / 诡墓(港) …
路易斯带著一家人从城市迁居到缅因州的乡间小镇开始，由于家门前经常有卡车飞驰，附近的宠物常遭遇被碾死的悲剧，然后被葬在附近的印第安墓园。而这座墓园也因此被称作宠物坟场。不幸的是，路易斯·克里兹的爱女也惨死车轮之下，同样被葬在宠物坟场，他的亡魂却被起死回生成为恐怖的杀人魔，宁静的小镇不再宁静。
2019年4月14日 看过
2019年4月14日 评论 a review of 宠物坟场 - Pet Sematary was my first Stephen King story and while I have my quibbles with it the book retains a special place in my heart. Where the first adaptation failed me was in both the acting and directing. It was almost completely faithful to the source material, but was so amateurish in execution that I have a love-hate relationship with it. I respect it's fidelity, but can't help cringing whenever anyone opens their mouth or when I witness a scene that common sense would have dictated be shot at night. Thus the prospect of this movie had me excited as it offered a chance to see one of my favorite works of gothic horror brought to life in a more competent manner. For the most part it succeeded. This version takes more liberties, but it's so much better made and performed that it's easily the more watchable of the two. Yet, I still remain unconvinced that Pet Sematary can ever really work as a film. This remake bypasses all of the character development and drama to get to the bloody final act as quickly as possible. There's no passion put into the build-up. A shame because that's where the novel shined. Plus it just makes this movie largely a bore as it's this material that makes up the majority of the running time. However, whereas the book took a serious nosedive in quality the moment Louis Creed set out to resurrect that which should have remained dead, this adaptation finds new life in that previously uncompelling territory. The directors show a level of enthusiasm for the more violent content that's largely missing from the rest of the movie. The film really does get better the closer it draws to a close. Weak jump scares aside, there are some genuinely creepy and tense moments. The tone is incredibly bleak and the new ending is much more satisfying than the one Stephen King came up with all those years ago. In the end it's not enough to save Pet Sematary from mediocrity, but at least it ensures that it does get interesting to watch at some point. It's hard to really fault the people behind this for trying to condense so much of the novel's less traditionally exciting material down in order to focus on the more gory and supernatural elements that actually sell tickets. The problem is that they only make up a small part of the source material. Which makes me question if it's legitimately possible to make an enjoyable Pet Sematary adaptation that stays true to what the bulk of the book had to offer considering it's largely comprised of exposition and build-up. Ultimately, I feel this was a step in the right direction, but the fact that it favors generic scare tactics over staying true to the heart and soul of the story shows that we still have a long way to go.
5.5/10