So, I saw X!
And the only reason I saw it is because
I was already planning on seeing the film Men...
and I thought it would be fun to have "X" and "Men" in the same video
so my title and thumbnail can say X-Men...😉
And this movie was on my watch-list already but I probably wasn't gonna see it for a while...
Ty West is a director that I've enjoyed one film from...
I remember enjoying the House of the Devil, although I haven't seen it in a while,
his segment in abcs of death was VERY bad...
So, yeah I wasn't exactly rushing to see X in theaters, but now that I've seen it in the comfort of my own home I can say it was decent.
For the most part it was more enjoyable than l thought it would be it was kind of a dumb campy fun horror film,
it was very obviously paying homage to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho,
but there were points where its idea of paying tribute just felt a little too derivative,
overall this film has its own personality, but there are scenes where it definitely felt lacking.
My biggest issue with this film would have to be its length. There is absolutely nothing about this film that justifies its run time,
and it would have been a much more enjoyable experience if it was maybe 15 or 20 minutes shorter,
it takes absolutely forever to set up and it's not setting up much,
the film's plot drags on for WAY too long for what it is,
and there are several points throughout the film where they just repeat and reinforce information that was already clearly established,
so yeah there's a better movie in the editing room but it still wasn't terrible.
The deaths get more silly as the film goes on and it seems like it just abandons the idea of being any kind of a serious movie,
and it's still fun I just wish the tone was a bit more consistent,
many of the characters have very fake and forced accents,
kind of wish those felt a bit more natural but whatever I guess...
Anyway, I'm not gonna talk too long about this movie,
it was decent for what it was it had some sense of style although it didn't go as hard as house of the devil.
It's dumb fun and enjoyable if you can handle how painfully slow it is at points.
It's the type of movie that I would recommend you see with friends as it is not a bad movie to riff on,
there's plenty of moments where you'll be frustrated at characters and wanting to yell at them,
so it's better to do that not in a theater...
Anyway, check this one out if you want and I'm giving this one a 5 out of 10.
And after I saw X, "Men" is what I saw after it.
I saw this one in a theater!
This is Alex Garland's 3rd feature film as director and he's written plenty of other films many of which were directed by Danny Boyle.
Alex Garland's directorial debut was Ex Machina, followed by Annihilation,
and those are both films that l enjoy and would recommend but l'm not in love with...?
His newest film Men is a film that l very much enjoyed,
and yes I'm aware that this one seems to be a bit more divisive among his fans.
Part of the reason why I love this more than his other films is because this one is particularly well shot.
This film is really gorgeous when it comes to lighting and framing and color grading,
there's plenty of shots in this film that are just beautiful!
It is a great looking movie and that's something I really appreciate!
The performances in this film were also fantastic: Jesse Buckley displayed tons of emotion and was super believable,
and Rory Kinnier had tons of range playing many different characters in the film,
each of these characters was memorable and distinct, it really showcased his character acting abilities,
there was also some pretty fantastic makeup in the film, and l've got to say l really loved the special effects.
There's a lot of effects in the film that are a combination of practical and computer generated,
and although I could still tell that things were computer generated it was still stylized and weird enough that I didn't really care,
what they were showing was so striking and visually effective and it didn't feel inconsistent,
and this is partially helped by how clearly intentionally absurdist this film is,
this film is not following the rules of a standard horror movie, what takes place in this film is very clearly not supposed to be taken literally,
so when one of the characters has kind of an uncanny valley CG look to his face,
it really doesn't bother me in the same way that it would if this were a straightforward literal narrative,
this movie is clearly trying to be unsettling and weird so it's not a flaw to me.
This is a much more ambiguous film than his others,
and because of how it's presented it gave me a lot to chew on.
I understand that there's plenty of people dismissing this film by saying things like "oh the whole movie is just It's Men bad."
But, that's not really what the movie was to me.
not only do I disagree with that thematic interpretation of the film,
but films are made up of so many more parts than that.
As I've mentioned the look of this film is absolutely stunning and beautiful,
I was really impressed with the way that this film was put together!
I didn't even mention the music in this film: both the licensed music and the original score were incredibly fitting and appropriate and memorable,
I don't even need to revisit the film to have those songs replaying in my head!
It's a super well made movie and I love how weird it gets, it is daring and impressive in terms of how explicit it is.
there are scenes in this movie that are bound to be pretty upsetting to people,
but I fucking loved those scenes because they offered me an experience that's difficult to find in other films!
This movie is effective in its fear and tension, and still it doesn't feel like it's insisting I take the entire thing seriously,
it is weird and out there and interpretable without feeling pretentious,
the parts of this film that didn't feel as serious to me are parts that l still had lots of fun watching.
Anyway l really connected with this movie, l understand that l am the "odd one out" here,
but yeah l loved it!
l love men!
See Men!
I Love seeing Men!
And I'm giving this one a seven out of ten! It's closer to an eight than a six, maybe it'll change to an eight on my second watch...
uh... it was great....
love-d men...
I love men...
Thank you!
[Adum] -Don't go in the same spot!
-What are you doing?!
-This is my side!!
-Get the fuck away from me!!
-I'm gonna go over he-
-Don't follow me!!
-Were trying to be on a team!
-Were trying to be on a team go to different places!
-Oh my gaaaad!
-Go to different places!
[Pal] -Here I come, Daddy!!!
-AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!
[Adum] -You people suck!
[Pal] -so close....
[Adum] -You people suck so much!