Darren
Celluloid Junkie
Member Since: 06 Nov 2010
Location: Canada
Bio: watch good movies or die
https://boringculture.substack.com/
Pop culture thoughts here if you feel so inclined :)
https://boringculture.substack.com/
Pop culture thoughts here if you feel so inclined :)
Recent Ratings
Check out Darren's...
28 Days Later (2002) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"ugliness lends itself to the dramatic tensions of the movie. It adds to the frantic nature to the feeling of we are seeing a tape of the last thing ever videotaped. It’s not aesthetic trickery but embracing of a different type of technology. A technology used to document the dead end of consumer culture. The vastness of the isolation is hauntingly beautiful. Takes the personal introspection of Mantle’s other works he shot and combines it with the brutality of SOV horror of the late 80’s/90’s."
28 Weeks Later... (2007) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"I have to respect the gonzo anti Iraq war silliness. Just an exercise of gruelling brutality. Bodies flying everywhere in the second half without a regard for life. It works better than 28 days does as a Covid metaphor with the ways the boundaries are pushed by certain people, government incompetence and just a general disregard for safety from disease when a bit of complacency happens. A little more hidden thematically by the genre trappings than meets the eye. Beautiful opening sequence."
Devil's Prey (2001) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"I think it has an extremely fun first half. Filled with zero brains, sweat, nudity and over the top satanist quirkiness but when it attempts to create this town wide story it just doesn’t pull it off the way Cherry Falls or SOV master piece Video Violence does to where the town adds an extra layer of sinister and intrigue. Will work only for people that vibe with late 90’s/early 00’s teen/college shlock in horror and just in general. So stupidly horny only this type of thing could be."
Ballerina (2025) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"I wish the first like hour of this wasn’t unwatchable even the first big set piece with the father has no momentum and lacks the visual flair you’re expecting from this franchise but the last act in the village is just a deliriously good slap stick infused cacophony of violence. De Armas while not the best delivering lines with any emotion needed or even any like heft is a delight in her action sequences. Manages to make the silliness seem effortless and stylish."
The Las Vegas Story (1952) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"a mess of bloat and confusion as to what it wants to be but all of that is left in the distant rearview when Russell and Mature are playing their little cat and mouse dance. Then there’s Price playing a disaffected gambling sleaze bag perfectly who slyly dissects the tensions slowly closing in on him. Where his selfishness has caught up with him and although he realizes his time with his wife is over because of his own transgressions he won’t stop because he’s utilizing his wife’s guilt"
Agnes of God (1985) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"Meg Tilly’s performance and the nuances involved keep this from being a total bore and cliched filled mess. She manages to at once show a level of innocence, questioning, rigour, empathy while at the same time a side of rage filled emotion that doesn’t feel forced. A real stage-y looking character drama with a tinge of social elements. Mostly not my thing tho. I thought it was gonna be a horror movie"
The Professional (1981) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"Belmondo is one of the coolest men to ever grace the screen. When he’s got that gun pointed theres just nothing better. Obviously lacks the style and creativity of something like point blank but couldn’t help relating the two in my head especially the tenor in which Belmondo and Marvin approached their roles. But this one is just so bitterly misanthropic and somewhat cruel. Great ending"
Break of Hearts (1935) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"pretty insightful movie about the sacrifices women make in their careers artistically and emotionally for men that the outside deems unworthy of it. Ahead of its time in that regard. Boyer has the captivating charisma to create this type of confusion in a person. Hepburn and Boyer don’t have the best chemistry but when you have two stars like that it’s impossible to not be a little drawn in by everything they bring to the screen."
The Ladies Man (1961) - Rated 05 Jul 2025
"You see a lot of the future of comedy here for better and I’m sure to some people worse. There’s Carrey’s facial spastic ticks and body contortions(along with the disregard for their own body in some like Chase), there’s a nebbish intellectual of someone like Allen and a certain dedication to the bit that we’d see in our new century comedians like Green/Andre etc etc. Delightfully playful. Very annoying. Beautiful colours and a camera that dances in Lewis’ own dollhouse aesthetic."
Mr. Deeds (2002) - Rated 23 Jun 2025
"As a big Sandler fan you have to accept that a few of his movies are going to hit you in a way that’s normally described by his critics. I guess this one is less annoying and shrill and more just dull. The groundwork being laid for his later Capra esque escapades. Winona Ryder and Sandler are both great screen presences but it’s just not enough. I will say tho that poem almost got me! Almost"
