Double Indemnity (1944)
3.20 out of 4stars
"An insurance salesman gets roped into a murderous scheme when he falls for the sensual Phyllis Dietrichson, who is intent on killing her husband and living off the fraudulent accidental death insurance claim."
A great layered and almost endlessly cynical noir told skillfully as a flashback confession story with commentary by our main insurance salesman protagonist, who is telling a story that disgruntled wives across the world have dreamed of ever since life insurance existed. On a slightly more serious note, this is probably the most true to life noir I've seen, insurance fraud has been attempted countless times and planning a murder (or suicide) of a spouse involving the family benefitting from it has and will be attempted numerous times in real life. The main theme I get from this movie is a beware of temptation vibe, alongside a you can't trust others that cause you to act on a temptation and once you've committed temptation...your moral compass is gone. Essentially, once you cross that temptation line it has a compounding effect/aka 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. Well acted, with MacMurray carrying the film as the insurance salesman and bringing nice charisma and depth to the role. Robinson playing Keyes, the insurance claims investigator friend, for me was the biggest scene stealer after that and put just the right touches on his performance. It's actually an intriguing story with versatility too. I could see this noir story molded into a successful comedy or soap opera with the right touches. Also, ironically funny or not moments include: I swear the insurance salesman calls the wife baby 20 times in this movie and the supermarket meetups is such an odd place where a number of store workers or repeat patrons could have smelled something 'fishy' going on with their scheduled talk 'meats' there.
The Tingler (1959)
2.80 out of 4stars
"Dr. Warren Chapin has made a surprising discovery, the spine-chilling sensation that people get when scared is due to a parasite on a person's spine that he dubs the "tingler." Chapin concludes that in extreme circumstances, prolonged fear can cause the creature to damage a person's spine and even cause death if the victim can't scream. Through his discovery and experiments, chaos ensues."
A really good gimmicky, arguably campy, William Castle 'sci-fi' horror film that boasts a game Vincent Price and unconventionally effective story. The movie starts with warning from Castle himself of "the need for screaming as life-saving in the instance of fear, which can even be empathized from the film itself''. That itself gives a perfect definition of what the film is: wacky, delirious, and fun. Price's enthusiasm and charisma definitely helps carry this along with some excellent off the wall writing. Don't get me wrong when I say these things either, everything flows and is very entertaining. Just to give you an idea of how gleefully absurd it is: there is a family dynamic that is beyond dysfunctional, a 2 foot long spine crushing creature, a blackout scene, lots of fear incitement/scare tactics, and a Vincent Price acid trip, yes you read that correctly. It's really fun if this sort of thing is your cup of tea.
Fresh (2022)
2.65 out of 4stars
"A woman meets the alluring Steve at a grocery store and -- given her frustration with dating apps -- takes a chance and gives him her number. After their first date, she is smitten and accepts Steve's invitation to a romantic weekend getaway. Only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites."
A good fun horror comedy satire on the highly relatable topic of present day dating matters. The first 30minutes play as a romantic comedy and then the film goes sideways. From then on out, there are a number of sequences/images that effectively shock one with either laughter or disgust (maybe even both?). That said, it's not just a purely shock horror comedy with a body horror-ish touch, there's a good amount of commentary on dating 'politics', but if I explain too many of them I feel I'll ruin the twist (for those that don't know) and likely spoon feed most of the movie to you by saying the rest I've noticed, so I won't do that. I also see exactly what Osprey means about it's genericness in the horror/ending department beyond mostly it's twist, I feel this is likely because the person who wrote this movie is actually a comedy writer and a bit out of her 'department' here already and kept it closer to comedy/satire-commentary and shock rather than continuously chilling or creative in it's horror aspects. But who knows, maybe she'll become another Peele for all we know.
Brain Damage (1988)
2.50 out of 4stars
"One morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands human victims in return."
Another good fun comedy horror that tells a metaphoric story about drug addiction with a killer twist. The drug addiction metaphor parts are in your face and spread throughout, albeit not preachy. That said, it's thorough in this regard of making it's point about drug addiction from top to bottom, while being mostly entertaining but nothing groundbreaking. The rest of the stuff I still debate on whether it being cheesy/corny entertaining or just lowbrow entertaining. Either way, it's mildly humorous fun in the form of over the top murders, a solid amount of kinetic fake blood sequences, a couple gross/shock visuals, a odd looking and talking creature, and occasional wordplay. Definitely worth a few giggles. Gus Russo's soundtrack definitely catches the ear in a good way too.
Uncharted (2022)
2.25 out of 4stars
"Street-smart Nathan Drake is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor "Sully" Sullivan to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan, and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada."
A minorly entertaining big budget comedy adventure movie based off a video game. Don't have too much to say about this one. As you can see, I saw it a month after it's release and it definitely didn't surprise me in any way. The good: Holland is very charismatic, shows off his parkour and gymnastic skills very well again, and there are a few decent action sequences. The bad: they turned Mark Wahlberg's character into a half grumpy loaner with sporadically dry one liners, all the other characters are cliches, the 'treasure hunt' is rarely mysterious or engaging, and well, it's not that fun or funny or visually appealing as it should. Only a must see if your a fan of the genre. And, apparently it made a lot of money and is going to get a sequel. More interesting of note, the Father Stu biopic trailer attached to this movie might be an oscar bait role on paper to get Wahlberg a leading man nomination if he can pull it off well enough, albeit it's an obviously sentimental story, how sentimental will be the question.
