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Reviews
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Incompetent
The reason this gets a slightly higher rating than "The Last Jedi" is that, at the end of the day, it's just a very incompetent film, but not a hateful one. It doesn't spit in the face of long time Star Wars fans, the way Rian Johnson's film did. In fact, J. J. Abrams should be commended for at least trying to fix the mess that Johnson handed to him. The problem is that Abrams just did it in a very ham-handed way.
Rey, once again, faces no real Consequences for her choices and actions. Poe is really a non-entity. Most tragic of all, Finn, who was the most interesting character in the whole trilogy, is once again completely wasted.
The sequel trilogy, along with Lucasfilms disgusting treatment of "Mandalorian" star Gina Carano, have completely turned me off to modern Star Wars. I no longer care about it in the least. Which , if you knew how many Star Wars toys I had as a kid, is saying something.
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Doctor is the True Monster
Peter Cushing's Victor Frankenstein is the heart and soul of this film. He's completely amoral and single-minded in his pursuit of giving life to the dead. He's not above betrayal, grave robbing, or even murder in pursuit of his goal. Such a terrific performance.
Sisters (1972)
You can see the twist coming a mile away, but still good.
So, to begin, the twist ending isn't unpredictable in these days, but I don't blame Brian De Palma for that. Audiences in 1972 may very well have been wowed by it.
However, I still enjoyed this movie for it's homages to Hitchcock and the performances of Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt. De Palma's obsession with voyeurism and split screen storytelling are also prominent here.
A great film to watch as a De Palma fan who seeks out the director's obsessions that he would use in better films like "Carrie" and "Blowout."