This movie is a good example to show film students in order to explain why things like flash-forwards within flash-backs and lack of plot points make bad movies. Apparently an ambitious intention, the result is a mess that is nonsensical during its action and boring during its development. -- PolarisDiB

Inferno is no Eric Rohmer but I did enjoy the morality tale aspect of it, & the director seemed to be fond of David Lynch and Adrian Lyne films. The imagery is more inventive and the production looked like it had a lot of fun; the only problem is Pinhead doesn't really have enough screentime or explanation for why he's running the show. --PolarisDiB

Somehow has better continuity than 2 yet the tone is completely off. Hickox defines gratuity by inserting his own name at various places in the movie and spending a good chunk of cash on long war segments that are merely dreams and an explosive ending for no reason. Nevertheless this is where Pinhead is developed and shown his human core. --PolarisDiB

Like Halloween 2 in that it starts right where the previous let off, but it has a lot less consistency or direction. Most of the movie is an exercise in, “Hey isn’t this shocking, gross, crazy, and weird? Cool! Now let’s do something else for a while." What I do like is that Pinhead hasn't yet really been that bad of a guy, in fact he's a real gentleman to Kirsten's needs. --PolarisDiB

It has good makeup effects & a delightfully sick sense of humor, & I give it credit for a protagonist who isn't as stupid as most female horror leads. The other woman, though, needs to spend a little more time asking questions & a little less time jumping from 'deranged half-melted corpse asking me for blood' to murder without at least asking how or why. --PolarisDiB

If Suicide Club & Noriko's Dinner Table were one movie with religion as the medium of cult and obsession instead of pop media, you'd have this movie. Some parts are Kubrick-like in a weird way (music, maybe?), and it would be great if only Yu was intelligent enough to use his cellphone to prove to Yoko who he was. Nevertheless, Sono delivers. --PolarisDiB

I rewatched this from a grown filmmaker's perspective and gotta say, Cameron's attention to detail on the overall design of the ship, how he reveals its destruction step-by-step and breaks it down set-by-set, and how those setpieces are introduced with the 1st Class/Steerage subplot are a very canny and clever way of showcasing the event from as many angles and perspectives as possible. Also: iconic.--PolarisDiB

Kung fu movies* aren't known for their plot but nevertheless this pulls a strange 'Dark Knight' and adds an act it never needed to emphasize some point it didn't set up about the development of Drunken Master. A shorter tighter non-historical render would have been better, Carradine cameo be damned. *Kung fu genre =/= kung fu style, this movie is 'wushu'. --PolarisDiB

General concept works out because John Candy's idiosyncratic style + a hefty helping of straight-faced dry humor. Translation: fat man threatening skinny New Wave adolescent with a variety of painful ends. --PolarisDiB

Meh, in the world of ironically good there's better and there's worse, and this one certainly benefits from its documentary. I think some of the plant make-up effects are decent enough to be unironically appreciated and some of the camp is fun enough that I did not regret watching this as a group bad movie night thing. --PolarisDiB

A good cheapie web miniseries deserving of cult status and a little critical text on the experiment of web-only release, and otherwise probably uninteresting to anyone else not direct fans of some of the participants in the show, such as Joss Whedon and Neil Patrick Harris. --PolarisDiB

A counterpoint to Miike's Visitor Q where the force of nature that explodes a quietly dysfunctional family is a charismatic sociopath instead of an alien-like stranger, and the characters react with horror with themselves instead of coming together. It is one of Sono's most sober and brisk movies, dispensing with most of the stylistic flourishes, but is still stamped with his themes and sense of humor -- PolarisDiB

Complicated feelings about the writing itself but Roeg's Zip Effect structuring where the characters' thoughts, childhoods, futures, and actions converge and match outside of rote chronology fits the themes of shared relativity, shared fame, shared anxiety, and shared loss; like Greek tragedy, every character loses because of a major character flaw. -- PolarisDiB

I wasn't going to see the new Sherlock Holmes movies, but I thought Girl with a Dragon Tattoo was playing this week. It's surprisingly good, Ritchie transforms Holmes' powers of observation to a montage of set-ups and inserts that blow up (literally) into the action set-pieces. The character is closer to a Steampunk James Bond than Holmes. Fun, but why not make a new franchise with an original name? --DiB

Assayas drops Cheung in the middle of a fictional French remake of Les Vampires in order to write a surprisingly seamless essay on French cinema itself, though as an earlier Assayas production it feels more like he's just getting started and he ends it quite hastily. One cannot fault his final sequence, though. --PolarisDiB

Full of Shinya Tsukomoto deliciousness, from his whole car crash motif (first Tetsuo) to dissecting a loved one (Vital) to the gun-fetish vengeance plot (Bullet Ballet) with some surprising moments of calm and an interesting display of a Western actor going full Kabuki. It's not the cyberpunk madness that is the first Tetsuo, but it makes sense if you consider the shakycam from the lead's perspective. --PolarisDiB

This movie has likeable characters while still acknowledging their flaws and imperfections. The story itself sticks to formula but all the details, performance, and direction work for a very believable and wonderful movie that finally does justice to its concept and avoids the stigma of "poverty porn." It has heart, humor, and realism balanced well. --PolarisDiB

Between this and Munich, it feels like Hollywood sees a lot of storytelling opportunities about the Mossad whilst not yet feeling comfortable signing off on their actions, which is a good thing except in this case the characters' motivations mixed with the attempt at brutal realism behind their mistakes makes for a messy and mostly unsatisfying result: what has been gained? --PolarisDiB

I have to admit, the heavy is a pretty cute mixture of Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs, and just a hint of Bill Gates thrown in. Also, as a hyperactive storyteller, his monologuing makes a weirder sort of sense. --PolarisDiB

Second viewing: Seriously, Man or a Muppet is deserving of its Oscar, even though the sequence is admittedly a little psychedelic. The Blu-Ray copy I watched will probably be played until scratched to dust. --PolarisDiB

Neo-realist content springs into the elegant set-ups and camerawork of Antonioni's later career, complete with the landscapes and architecture brimming behind the characters, telling its own story. From the moment Aldo returns home from his wandering the movie becomes text-book Antonioni. --PolarisDiB

I have to admit Mickey Rooney's performance turned my gut a bit, but otherwise I found this movie exceptional, much better than I remember it (but I watched it when I was little and this movie is not for children). Holly Golightly reminds me of a few women I've known and sheds some light on the internal struggles they hide behind their fun-loving demeanor. She's a very powerful and important character. --PolarisDiB

Much better than I expected, its unique birding premise putting it in a more discerning place than its otherwise typical comedic elements. This film provides a sense of excitement for bird watching, and that's what matters the most. Also, it balances a year in time and three different characters in just under two hours well despite predictable beats. --PolarisDiB

Oh man, this movie was better than expected, with many of those elements of Kenneth Anger, Melville, and what the hey, 80s movies that are memorable and worthy. Only issue is a few overplayed slo-mo emotional scenes (re: 80s movies), but definitely much more stylish and compelling than I thought. Also, gorgeously, gorgeously shot movie, cinematography and editing that made me ache. --PolarisDiB

Yes, Daniel Radcliffe is an actual actor and not only Harry Potter. Yes, Hammer Horror is back in style, with an old-school balls-to-the-walls vengeful ghost plot. Otherwise, be prepared to still think to yourself, "Why don't you just cast a Patronus?" -- PolarisDiB

Rewatched on a bigger screen than I've seen it on before, and the experience is much different. Even entire cuts and transitions are revealed so the story flows smoother when you can see more of the detail in the frame. This is a big screen experience unfortunately regulated in most people's histories to DVD discoveries. --PolarisDiB

Director's Cut: I don't think showing the whole story behind Newt and her parents and the lead-up to the Xenomorph outbreak is necessary. I like the tighter, earlier cut. --PolarisDiB

Brad Pitt's accent is not as good as his work in Snatch, so he mumbles a lot of it to hide the soft spots. --DiB

Eh. It's no JCVD. --PolarisDiB

Despite not being science fiction, this is still one of the most well-made time-travel movies. The editing is really great as Phil goes through each subsequent iteration and the scenes plow forward, giving a different side of his character with each subsequent act. --PolarisDiB