They say this one has a surprise ending

M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000) is a beautifully filmed thriller. The good old story of good and evil and the opposite sides of human resilience. The atmoshere is so masterfully woven together that it never lets go. There's nothing amiss. 

You must never kill a thirsty man

David Warner passed away couple of days ago. May he rest in peace. I remember him best from Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (1977). I had never seen The Island (1980) before even though I have had the DVD on my shelf for years and years. I purchased it solely because I liked the cover. Now I have to appreciate the cover even more because the movie is not a masterpiece. It's an awkward adventure thriller of a journalist investigating the Bermuda Triangle, but finding a group of outcast pirates instead. Michael Caine and David Warner in the lead.

Hiding from the waiting world

Yoon Do-joon, a somewhat mentally challenged lad, is convicted of murder. His mother, an acupuncturist by trade, is convinced his only son couldn't be responsible for such a heinous act, so she opts to look into the case. To save his beloved son. Despite hits and misses, her investigation is thorough. Too thorough. Bong Joon Ho's (Parasite, The Host, Memories of Murder) 2009 movie and it holds much the same dark humour as his other works. Impressive.

Speak no evil

Six friend's hiking trip in the Appalachian Trail in Virginia ain't no picnic. Fuck no. Weird and barbaric forest people are there, following their every move, killing them one by one. The hikers are petrified beyond belief. It's all done before, ever since Deliverance, where white trash hillbillies are against suburban yuppies. Wrong Turn is little over the edge, greatly so in fact, but it's kind of groovy and wicked anyways. 

Restless empress in decline

Criminal network known as Milos has organized and masterminded yet another escape room experience. They kidnap former escape room champions thus create a survival of the fittest tournament ridden with puzzles and riddles. The winner takes it all and survives the game alive, everyone else is doomed to die. Laughable and tragically bad teenage horror.

Fear of the unknown

A former boxer wants to start his life anew, he moves to Los Angeles to become an actor but becomes a priest. And all the clichés from broken family, alcohol, religion, sickness and death follow within. The 15 minutes in and you know you are wasting your time. Based on a true story of Catholic priest Stuart Long.

Until the martyr smiles in heaven

An unnamed Mexican city is in total fucking chaos. The poor underprivileged people are rioting like motherfuckers. They kill, imprison and torture the rich folks. The government and army muster all their strenght and ammunition to regain control, but it's unclear who is in charge. There's little hope left in this bleak dystopian movie.

The whirlwinds of warfare

Grandfather and grandson have declared a war over a bedroom. Although it's just harmless friendly fire they take it serious enough and the pranks they come up with are thought-out and cool. They've hard time putting down their weapons even at holidays, birthdays and funerals, so there's collateral damage included. Quite silly a movie, but it's good to see people like Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour and Cheech Marin letting it loose for a while and do a good old family movie.

Too weird to live, too rare to die

Journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and his lawyer (Benicio Del Toro) have a business trip in Las Vegas spiced up with shitloads of drugs and alcohol. They feast on mescaline, LSD, cocaine, adrenochrome, ether, gin and opium. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's novel of the same name and the excessive use of almost every type of drug known to civilized man. It's hilarious and crazed a movie by Terry Gilliam. Supporting actors include Mark Harmon, Tobey Maquire, Cameron Diaz, Flea, Harry Dean Stanton, Ellen Barkin, Christopher Meloni and the iconic figure of Gary Busey.

In the belly of the beast

A missed opportunity. You'd assume a comedy of a Christian Heavy Metal band on a tour would be an endless source for wicked stories and crazy jokes. At best, a continuum of Spinal Tap, Bad News, Hevi reissu or Still Crazy, but on a slightly lighter note. However, Electric Jesus is so unimaginative that it hurts. Doesn't know is it a parody or a drama, so tries to do both.

The looming spectre of death

That fucking Ghostface again! Wields his/her knife like a maniac, hides behind the mask and we keep on guessing the identity of the killer and what's the twist this time. There's not many suspects left because they are dropping like flies as well! Already the 5th movie in the Scream franchise, brought the legacy characters of Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell from the original and it's referred to a lot. It's kind of fun and wicked anyways.

It can be medicine if you are sick

Family Yi moves from California to Arkansas to start their lives anew. They intend to harvest land, grow Korean vegetables and live a happy peaceful life. But it's a struggle. It's all a pretty delightful a viewing, but the slow pace and the ending turned down the tone a notch.

A spud with a heart of gold

Thought of getting yet another pathetic Finnish slaptick humour, but instead got a refreshing and truly funny little picaresque comedy of potato merchants in medieval Finland. The writing is so bold and dead-on ingenious that I wasn't surprised if Peruna (The Potato Venture) was later deemed as a cult classic.