TheAzureSky Reviews

The Civil Dead (2022)

Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected.

[12 July 2023]

The description does not do this movie justice. It makes it bland. The trailer is what made me watch this movie immediately. A guy down on rent meets a friend who turns out to be a ghost. That's THE hook of the movie. That's what got me interested. I actually stopped watching the trailer once the ghost part dropped because I was hooked.

And the rest of the movie explores that. How do they get along? Do they fight? Does the ghost help him? How'd he become a ghost? How does having a ghost buddy complicate your life?

The acting is great. It's funny. It's even sad. Love the camera work, too. The script feels polished. I wound up enjoying this far more than I expected.

I even like the ending (which seems to be very controversial). But I'll say the ending is a bold choice and absolutely memorable. In fact, I even understand the ending and respect the character's decisions decision, given what the movie set up earlier.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

My favorite 2023 movie. Entertained from beginning to end.

[10 July 2023]

The box office performance of this is a damn crime. This is easily my favorite of 2023. It's been a long time since I was entertained from beginning to end. Not exaggerating. The script feels like it was polished to death. It's tight. Nothing feels wasted. Nothing drags on. Most, if not all, of the humor lands.

I don't know what more I can say about this movie. I saw twice in theaters and again at home in the same month, entertained all three times. I can't think of anything major (or even minor) I dislike.

The characters are great. The plot is engaging. Lots of pleasant surprises. It feels like a sincere love letter to Dungeons And Dragons. With the writing, you have this perfect alignment of the planets and stars: someone who actually loves D&D and also knows how to write.

And you do NOT have to know anything about Dungeons And Dragons to enjoy this. If you like fantasy, if you like comedy, if you want a light adventure: this is it.

The Blackening (2022)

Disappointing, lame jokes, sloppy writing.

[10 July 2023]

The trailer made this look like Scary Movie: Black People Edition. I thought the satire was gonna be tight like Chappelle's Show and The Boondocks. But what I got was corny jokes and mid writing. The opening is strong but then drops like a rock.

The whole movies feels unpolished. Like the script is a first draft. Sometimes it's okay, sometimes it's bad. A lot of dragging. Like "just get to the point" kinda dragging. And it has no idea how to satirize what it's satirizing. Like did the writers only watch one horror movie?

The trailer is the most entertainment you'll get from this. Hell, go watch that "Ray Ray" scene from "A Haunted House". That 3 minute scene is 10x better than this crap.

Plane (2023)

Eh, it's competently made. But not engaging enough.

[6 February 2023]

The pacing could be a little faster. It's a little cliche. Could use more action.

I thought Gerard Butler would pull a Die Hard and be this "former super soldier turned ordinary airline pilot turn back to super soldier" thing. But they didn't really do that.

There's some cool stuff. There is a one shot fist fight (a shot with no cuts) which tells me someone behind the scenes put some effort and artistry into the movie.

I wouldn't recommend it. It's a decent watch. Could've been better. I will say that the main character being an airline pilot, there are two decent plane landings. That's kinda rare.

Night Train (I) (2023)

Unbelievably bad. No action at all. Don't waste your time.

[28 January 2023]

You see the assault rifle the girl is holding on the poster? She never holds a gun, ever. There is no action. None. I don't think there's even a single gun shot. Even the poster looks like it was generated by an AI.

There's a drag race in the beginning with an opening montage that feels like a Fast and Furious knock off. Then there's a dull off road desert car chase at the end that looks like they were going no more than 15 miles an hour. That's all the action you'll ever get.

There are two plots going on. The A plot has the main character running drugs in her "legendary souped-up pickup truck" (someone actually wrote those words). The B plot is an FBI woman trying to stop the drug flow. The A plot doesn't even happen until 1/3 into the movie. And the two plots don't even intersect until 2/3 into the movie.

The B plot with the FBI woman is so unbelievably bizarre. Her character is supposed to be this tragic alcoholic and the actress actually seems like she's drunk. She must because she knows how absolutely crap this movie is. Her plot painfully cringe to watch.

And let's not forget the main character. An attractive young blonde that's "just one of the boys". Take a shot for every time they bring up how she's a girl.

This is basically a fetish movie for the director. He seems to have a thing for casting blondes in "action movies". If that's your thing, cool, but at least bring the action. The movie does have that "so bad it's good" quality sometimes but it's not worth it.

Back to the Future (1985)

Holds up extremely well.

[23 January 2023]

Mostly saw this on TV as a kid. Then as an adult, I saw it at the drive in. It was a double feature so we watched The Goonies at first. Well, one of those two movies very disappointing, shattering my nostalgia.

So, imagine my low expectations going into Back To The Future. Was I gonna be disappointed by another childhood favorite? And you know what happened? It was great.

This movie held up completely. If anything, it's even BETTER when you're an adult, able to appreciate all the nuance you missed as a kid.

What's there to say about it that hasn't been said a million times? The plot and story are exciting. The characters are fun. The acting is great.

Smile (V) (2022)

One of better 2022 horror movies.

[7 January 2023]

If you like It Follows and The Ring, you'll like this. One of the few horrors 2022 that kept me really engaged. I was excited to see what would happen.

Yeah, there are jump scares. Quite a few. But so what? I don't mind jump scares. They can be memorable. I still remember the kitchen being blown up in Paranormal Activity 2. But it still has slow creeping horror.

I do wish the main character was a little smarter about the problem but overall, she does a good job investigating the horror. The mental health theme the horror rides on is done well.

I thought it was gonna be a generic horror cash grab but it's a rough gem.

Violent Night (2022)

Don't believe the hype. It could've been a lot better.

[7 January 2023]

How many people got sucked into watching because the premise sounded awesome? Santa Claus fighting mercenaries? Sick.

And what you get is nothing like you imagined. One of those "I imagined something better" moments.

This is an extremely basic lesson that writers don't seem to realize: the dumber, sillier your idea is, the MORE you need to take it seriously. It's counter intuitive, I know, but think of all the great movies you love that are weird. They all took themselves seriously.

They fell into the "it's a campy movie so let's play it up" trap. It's the Sharknado problem. Movies trying to be campy never turn out good. There's too much attempt at humor. Let the humor come naturally from the premise, not the other way around. Too many sappy Hallmark moments. They even do that embarrassing "let's put upbeat music to all this violence and gore". This movie could've been 100x better if it just played itself straight.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Box office performance is criminal. One of 2022's best movies.

[7 January 2023]

What is to say that hasn't already been praised about this movie?

The two villains are incredible, especially the side villain. It's refreshing to have a straight main villain. No lame tragic or misunderstood villains like in Disney (even lack of villains). Just a classic villain.

The B plot with Goldilocks and her bear family was great. I suspect it was to make the movie feel more full, otherwise it would've felt too empty with only Jack Horner versus Puss.

Puss's side characters were great. I thought the dog was going to be an annoying ADHD character but he's got depth.

90% of the jokes land. The pacing is brisk. Didn't realize it was almost 2 hours because it was so engaging. The driving theme of the story is excellent and well handled and not too in your face.

Please don't let this gem miss you.

Underwater (2020)

Criminally underrated.

[28 December 2022]

It's scifi. It's horror. It's got monsters. It's underwater. It's fast paced. But it's rated this low? Am I missing something? I was very entertained. Saw some reviews. The #1 complaint was "They didn't spend enough time developing characters like Alien".

"Like Alien this."

"Like Alien that."

If it did that, then you'd complain it's too much like Alien! You know something I really appreciate about this movie? The action starts right away. Within 5 minutes, the disaster happens and the plot is happening. More movies need to stop wasting our time and GET TO THE POINT.

"But the characters are under developed."

Do you even remember the names of the characters in Alien? I don't and I love that movie. The characters here are developed as the disaster is unfolding. You got scared intern girl. You got funny guy. You got stoic captain. What are you asking for? A 20 minute sad childhood flashback? You only need them to be interesting enough. This isn't a biopic.

Aside from those unfair comparisons and expectations, this is a gem of a scifi horror.

The Night House (2020)

Disappointing.

[28 December 2022]

Eh, it was okay. Could've been faster paced at 1 hour 45 minutes. Trim it back 15 or 30 minutes. Little too much establishing stuff in the beginning. Like, "Okay, we get it, you miss your husband, let's get going".

As for the story, you're supposed to be intrigued by the dead husband's secret. Like "Ohhh, what was he hiding from his wife?" Then you find out and it's a big "meh".

Not enough scares either. Well, there's one good jump scare. If you want a good horror movie, this is big fat "meh". Overall, execution just didn't keep my interest (started browsing my phone) and the "reveal" was disappointing.