Joeblade

Short reviews

  1. A Scanner Darkly

    Thoughtful, funny, deep and moving, all beautifully presented and performed.

  2. Army of Darkness

    Just relentlessly fun from start to finish. Quotable, rewatchable, Bruce Campbell again at his absolute best.

  3. Evil Dead II

    Really can’t be faulted. Grotesque effects, iconic scenes, and a gloriously unhinged performance from Bruce Campbell.

  4. The Italian Job (2003)

    Forget that it’s a remake of a classic; this is an unexpectedly decent action thriller. Fun and exhilarating.

  5. Guncrazy (1992)

    A serviceable but forgettable thriller with a strong cast that never sparks.

  6. Colossal

    Fantastic piece with unexpected depths and startling performances. Hathaway is outstanding, Sudeikis is terrifying.

  7. Obsession

    Unashamedly inspired by Vertigo but still a great, gripping thriller in its own right. Can’t go wrong with John Lithgow of course.

  8. Star Trek (2009)

    Fantastic action, solid character work, decent performances, and the shallowest, most threadbare of stories.

  9. Belladonna of Sadness

    An undeniably beautiful film but as it meandered and dragged to the ending it quickly lost my attention.

  10. Addams Family Values

    Even better than the first; the same chemistry between Huston and Julia, great laughs, fun story, an amazing Joan Cusack.

  11. The Devil’s Violinist

    Absorbing Paganini biopic and fantastic musical scenes, but whoever tells Jared Harris he can do accents needs to stop.

  12. Blood on Satan’s Claw

    Rambling ‘70s folk horror that’s aged poorly. More comical than horrific now.

  13. Guardians

    Ludicrous Russian take on Avengers that’s not a great film but DOES feature a bear armed with a mini-gun so I’m going to allow it.

  14. Zardoz

    Reassuringly dreadful, in an appealingly brilliant way.

  15. Girl Asleep

    Charmingly funny and surreal, in the Napoleon Dynamite mode but without the reek of hipster. Has a better dance scene as well.

  16. The Founder

    Light-hearted, grit-free look at McDonald’s origins. A slight film, but two hours with Michael Keaton is always time well spent.

  17. Immortal Beloved

    A respectable sort-of-biopic of Beethoven, if a little unremarkable as well.

  18. An Affair to Remember

    Significantly more children’s choir scenes than I want in my romantic dramas.

  19. Timecop

    Enjoyable dross.

  20. Shanghai Express

    85 years old and barely aged a day. Simplistic by today’s standards but it looks great and Dietrich of course is stunning.

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