Review: Godzilla Minus One

 Review: Godzilla Minus One

By William Pattison

I just finished watching Godzilla Minus 1, thanks to a friend sending me a screener he got.
I have to say that in my opinion this film is the best Godzilla film ever produced, and yes I'm including the original. This was a solid film with a serious, well written storyline. The story was not simply about a monster destroying Japanese cities. It was the story of a Japanese pilot who survived WW2 and came home feeling that he shouldn't have survived because he failed to do his duty on two occasion. He comes home to find that his girlfriend now has a little girl that survived the bombings of Japan. He doesn't accept this ready-made family because he can't free himself of the ghosts of the past. Now add in Godzilla and this guy getting caught in the middle.
This film has some great monster FX and brilliant camera work. And, amazingly enough it was made on a fraction of the budget of either Shin Godzilla or any of the most recent Monsterverse films.
I hope when this film comes out on DVD/Blueray that it has an English dub because I want to enjoy this film without having to strain my eyes reading subtitles. This is a film I nwill feel honored to add to my collection. 5 stars Awesomtacular!!!!!

Review: SAW X

Last night I watched the new installment in the SAW series, SAW X.

John Kramer is back and in good form in this prequel that takes place between SAW and SAW 2. In this story John goes to Mexico for an unauthorized surgery and drug treatment that he found out about from a supposed cancer survivor. Unfortunately for John it turns out to be a scam being done by a bigger monster than John himself. So in picture perfect Jigsaw style John decided that these con artists need to be taught a lesson and prove themselves as worth of life.  The main lesson of this film is don't fuck with John Kramer or suffer the repercussions.

I really loved this film and loved seeing John and Amanda back in action. 

The games in the story were definitely appropriate. The only issue for me was two of the games dealt with weighing body matter. I think should have made each game totally different. But that can be easily fluffed off because both games were great.

Also, I think they could have done some de-aging on Amanda because she was showing her age. As for John I thought even though Tobin Bell was showing his age too it worked with the fact that the character was suffering from terminal cancer, this many people in that condition look prematurely aged.

Also, and I love this, I think that putting this story on its own yet actually between two of the installments was a brilliant and gutsy idea. The filmmaker managed to have freedom to do the story he wanted without messing with the continuity.

In conclusion I have to say SAW X is a gory, fun, installment of this beloved series that fans of the series should treasure.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 2 Review

Well, I finished watching season 2 of Star Trek Strange New Worlds and I have a few thoughts on it. First, I believe that this season was far weaker than season 1. I felt that there were far too many oddball episodes this season. Three in one season is far too many when you only have ten episodes. Also jumping the shark with the musical themed episode was far misplaced.this episode would have been better place in the 6th season. The first three seasons are for establishing the characters and the tone of the show, not going off the wall. 

Also, I believe that they have mishandled Ethan Peck’s Spock and his relationship with Nurse Chapel. Spock has been way over emotional. His cheating with Chapel when he is engaged to TPring is way out of line with his character. Also, the way Chapel treated Spock in episodes 8 and 9 were very much against her character. The writers need to stop screwing with fan favorite characters. I know they can do thatby the way they have handled Kirk, I have no complaints about him.

Finally, there is the literal elephant in the room, The Gorn. The Gorn presented in the opening episode as the big bad this season, but except for a few mentions they were absent until the season finale. We got far more Klingons than Gorn this season. I’m  not saying I’m not happy to see real Klingons again, but they weren’t supposed to be the main villains. This shows a definite problem with the writing staff and the show.

All in all this season has been a mixed bag. This show is definitely better than Discovery but it still needs to gel and become the great show it can be. I await the next season and we’ll see what happens.

Review: Nefarious

Review:  Nefarious

By William Pattison

I watched the possession film Nefarious last night and have to say I was impressed. This story is about a psychologist who goes to a prison to evaluate a prison who is about to be executed with old sparkie. This multi-murderer claims to be possessed by a demon who calls himself Nefarious. The psychologist has to prove that the man is not crazy and can be executed according to the law.

The majority of this film is just the two men talking yet I was never bored. There is only a few minor FX scene which mostly involved the brutal, yet brief execution scene.

This film shows itself to being worlds better than the FX laden possession films we get on a regular basis. Just this demon sitting and calmly telling this psychiatrist how he took over and destroyed this man's life and how Hell is manipulating the human world to destroy people and send the majority to Hell is far more disturbing than Regan's green puke or Emily Rose twisting herself backwards. This is the one possession film I give high respect to but this film is truly a frightening affair...

Review: Slasher: Ripper

Review: Slasher:Ripper

By William Pattison

Last night I finished watching SLASHER: Ripper. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this season. The plot was interesting. The killings were interesting. But all the WOKE bullshit this season was annoying and took me out of the story. The black detective with the cornrows (give me a fucking break) and the black woman coroner distracted me. I kept saying to myself that this was bullshit. It went against the era the story was set at and did NOTHING to forward the narrative, thus shouldn't be there.

I'm sorry but the social politics ruined what could have been a very interesting season. I cannot recommend this season, unless you like to yell at the screen and get annoyed...

Shazam: Fury of the Gods

Ok, people, last night I saw Shazam: Fury of the Gods. What the fuck has gotten up people's asses? I really enjoyed this film. I saw NOTHING wrong with this film. People keep saying that this film is a waste of time because it won't be part of James Gunn's DC universe. I say who gives a shit. Fans these days are WAY too spoiled. They think every film has to be part of some huge narrative and if they aren't they aren't worth watching. In my day I watched a film titled Superman and a few years later a film titled Batman. Both these films had sequels but they had NOTHING to do with each other yet people got excited about them and watched them, even though they weren't part of a big planned DC universe. Give me a break. I would be happy that this excellent film is not related to James Gunn's future shit show. I highly recommend this film...So, take that and****

Is This Film Any Good?

What does it say about a film if all the major horror mags give it a 4 or 5 out of 10 and only posted a synopsis of the film but no opinion on it. It is almost like they are afraid to give an opinion...

Also, this film has gotten a few public reviews and the major issue that the story is that it is just the same thing over and over again with the male lead saying the same line over and over again.

But the worst part is these filmmakers, who have been making films for over a decade, have shown that on their own their lack of filmmaking skills are showing. The main thing people have complained about is the sound design. Supposedly the sound is really bad and to make it even worse the filmmakers put loud music that drowns out the dialogue, which I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

Also, according to the public reviews, the editing is horrid as well. What I've heard that the filmmakers should have cut half an hour to 45 minutes out because the mid point of the film drags.

So, people? Thoughts?

Consider this a what if...