Cinema_Asia

Bio: An avid fan of good and bad film alike. My scoring system is:

0-45 Mindless with few redeeming qualities but some "so bad it's good" gems amidst the trash.
50-65 Mostly generic formula based big budget Hollywood films or extremely flawed efforts.
70-75 Decent examples of the genre and solid entertainment.
80-90 Insightful and transcendent films.
95-100 Masterpieces. Timeless and great on repeated viewings. Manages to change the outlook of the medium.

Recent Ratings

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65 _42%

Haunt (2019) - Rated 10 Oct 2020

What makes this work is the twist on the haunted house aesthetic and the rather hilarious traps. The killers themselves actually turn out to be quite weird and creepy.There is just enough suspense here that makes it better than most horror films of this sub genre. Unfortunately the last 30 minutes feels rushed and very contrived but overall it is still entertaining.

60 _30%

Monstrum (2018) - Rated 10 Oct 2020

What Korean cinema usually excels at is building up mood and atmosphere along with some strong acting. Unfortunately, for this film the atmosphere is sorely lacking especially because at times the suspense is ruined by too many "light hearted" jokey moments. The creature CGI is also not very good and this film would have benefited greatly from using mostly practical effects. Still despite all the flaws the mix of period piece along with horror is interesting enough to check it out once.

60 _30%

Alone (2020) - Rated 10 Oct 2020

This is a quite difficult to rate simply because the "heroine" of the story quite literally gets lucky most of the time even when doing some really stupid things. The finale to wrap up the film was also very unsatisfying and falls right into the "girl power" action trope. It's too bad because there was a lot of suspense and decent acting in this film ultimately ruined by a very mediocre screenplay.

70 _56%

Heathers (1989) - Rated 10 Oct 2020

It is often weighed down by its own heavy handed social satire. However, it is also prophetic in some ways when it comes to the dark descent of America's youth. The flaw of this film is that it doesn't delve into the issues much more than with standard depictions of 80's social cliques. Even though this film predicted the school blood bath what was to come it failed to understand the underlying reasons. Watching a young Ryder and Slater act is a treat but at face value it is a shallow film.

40 _4%

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) - Rated 10 May 2019

Netflix fluff that doesn't portray the real tragedy and story of Bundy and his victims. This film falls into the same narrative trap of the women it portrays by naively creating a plastic Hollywood cutout of Ted Bundy for us to gawk out without going into actual depth as to what an absolute savage this man was. The narrative tone and perspective is skewed to the point of absurdity. The director and the writers possess neither the film making skill or knowledge of Bundy to tackle this subject.

75 _71%

Suspiria (2018) - Rated 06 Feb 2019

A somewhat flawed but ambitious film that takes elements of the original and somehow comes up with a different but equally atmospheric take on the plot. The historical subplots of this should have been abbreviated as background elements to the main story. This lack of focus by the director detracts from the overall film. What Suspiria 2018 does get right is the overall weirdness and mood which matches the original. This is actually an underrated film that will hold up on its own in time.

85 _92%

The Handmaiden (2016) - Rated 19 Jun 2018

This film has you right by the balls when you have no idea where the plot and characters are going but you are sitting right at the edge of your seat mesmerized. That is what this feels like from start to finish. The period setting is quite unique and so is the social commentary. It is best not to overlay too much of the west's two dimensional gender politics into this..this film is far more nuanced. There are moments of hilarious political and social satire about eastern culture and society.

65 _42%

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Rated 19 Jun 2018

It ultimately failed to sell the idea that you were actually seeing parts of Han Solo's actual past. The entire film felt a bit like a hallmark version of what Han Solo "might" have looked like with an actor who can barely carry the role. The entire tone of this just didn't feel right. At times it also tread a bit too close to Lucas prequel-ville especially with the corny robot sex jokes and robo socio-political commentary. The action was the saving grace but everything else felt so mediocre.

50 _12%

Brain on Fire (2016) - Rated 19 Jun 2018

What is clear from the first hour is that Moretz is not a strong enough actor to carry this type of role which consists of looking dazed half the movie and laying like a vegetable. To give her some credit she tries..but maybe this is beyond her acting abilities. The rest of the cast makes this film look intriguing but it is solemn to the point of being boring, trite, and quite tedious to sit through. Every predictable beat is what you would expect from one of these awful medical "crisis" dramas.

20 _1%

Split (2016) - Rated 19 Jun 2018

Godawful indie piece of shit that I watched by accident while looking for the "other" Split. I happened to view a full hour of this insipid mess out of curiosity. There is nothing funny about this rom com and it's full of cliches and just the stupidest writing and acting known to man. Fuck this piece of shit right in its asshole indie film director's ear.