There’s no doubt Robert Eggers is a talented filmmaker and while I can appreciate some of the technical achievements with bringing a Viking lore to life, and the entire cast giving solid performances, I wasn’t entirely captured by the story and in the end, despite some wonderful visuals, found this to be fairly forgettable.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was probably my favorite of the “trilogy” with an okay story, albeit thin and on the contrived side, but the character and their developments were pretty entertaining.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an okay, if not exceptional lengthy, film and well worth checking out, especially if you’re a DC fan or just curious, plus splitting it into parts does help if you don’t want to watch in one sitting.
Siberia plain and simply wasn’t my kind of film, a bit too arthouse for my taste though Willem Dafoe was alright and there were a couple scenes that were interesting, otherwise I found it unnecessarily confusing and even then, a bit dull.
Motherless Brooklyn is a nice little passion project from Edward Norton and you can see that come through with his direction and performance. However, that same passion also made for an overly long film.
Daybreakers is actually a pretty innovative vampire horror film giving viewers an interesting world run by vampires, running short on human blood to survive. The highlight, as he is in most films good and bad, is Willem Dafoe.
Aquaman is an outrageously fun superhero movie that might not break new ground in terms of story, it does introduce audiences to a relatively unexplored world. Jason Momoa was the perfect casting of a character that was once a joke.
Streets of Fire is a rare breed of film that features a unique yet familiar style and with some interesting casting choices, two of them brilliant with the young Diane Lane and Willem Dafoe.
The Jack Ryan Collection is a solid release from Paramount for what I consider a nice franchise, however there never was one that stoodout, each being fine filmmaking and storytelling and nice performances from the respective actors.
Animal Factory is probably more noteworthy for the performances by Edward Furlong and Willem Dafoe than offering anything new in terms of story, and commentary, about prison life. Still worth watching, however.
Streets of Fire is a rare breed of film that features a unique yet familiar style and with some interesting casting choices, two of them brilliant with the young Diane Lane and Willem Dafoe.
John Wick is one of the surprise hits of 2014 and even though Keanu Reeves might not be a great actor, this role was tailor made for his skill sets in fighting and stunt work. Add to that, the story, albeit thin, is good enough to carry the 100-minute running time.
To Live and Die in L.A. is I think a bit of a forgotten crime-drama from the ‘80s and features a wide array of great performances headlined by William Petersen (though I felt he was better in Manhunter) and Willem Dafoe with some amazing cinematography and a vibrant color palette.
Mississippi Burning is a very well made movie with top notch performances by Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe to go along with a story that, in some instances, resonates with the news of the day. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time has good audio/video transfers but is on the disappointing side features-wise.
John Wick is one of the surprise hits of 2014 and even though Keanu Reeves might not be a great actor, this role was tailor made for his skill sets in fighting and stunt work. Add to that, the story, albeit thin, is good enough to carry the 100-minute running time. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate has great video/audio transfers and OK selection of bonus material.