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Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: A Very Foul Play (2019)
Thank god the mystery is out of town, Lawrenceton needed a break from dead bodies.
This is the first so far out of the eleven films before this that the murder happened outside of Aurora's home court and I am thankful for that. We needed a new and fresh location for a mystery, it was getting weird how bodies are just piling up in Lawrenceton and people are just hihi haha about it.
The last three movies despite having the same formula I noticed have been written well, better, compared to the earlier films. The final showdown with the killers as well has been longer which I really enjoyed. I do hope it can and will only get better from here.
The case in this one was pretty interesting and managed to keep my attention for most of the film. I thought I already am familiar with the story beats of the series when it comes to the killers but this this time my first and only suspect was not a match. I'm glad that it's now written more mysteriously despite signs of the character only appearing halfway but still it was a good mystery.
They/Them (2022)
For a movie with a commentary, it really has nothing to say.
This movie is confused, so much more confused than the people the conversion therapy camp is trying to convert.
The movie is marketed as a slasher but honestly there is rarely any slashing done for most of the film. It stumbles and reaches for something by the end but does nothing really impactful. If the people behind this movie wanted to make a horror film about the terrible things going on a conversion camp they should have done that. If they wanted to make a revenge slasher they should have sticked to that. If they wanted a heartfelt found family and community story they should have made that. Instead they wanted to mix all these ideas together yet didn't have the skill nor capacity to make it work so we are left with this disappointing mess.
The writing and direction for the dialogue and character was very grating as well. There were lines in there that I was trying so hard not to physically cringe to. By the end of the movie it's hard to relate or sympathize with anyone because there was no proper build-up of characters.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
A homage to the original
We are taking it back to the original trilogy with this one. Well the first and second movies at least, we don't talk about 3rd here.
You can tell that Fede Alvarez was either a huge fan of the original movies or just really did his homework because of the amount of homage and references this movie has from the original films. Also I don't know but it felt like the film is heavily inspired by the Alien: Isolation game or Dead Space because the vibes as well as the hybrid alien at the end is very similar to the Necromorphs from Dead Space, at least in terms of design.
It's also nice to see Rook back even if he's still a little messy, they did good with the CGI maintaining how he looked during the first Alien movie. Also with wayward teens/young adults as the main cast I found it more believable that they would make constant human errors and mistakes, unlike the previous movies who are adult professionals and still make the most not so smart decisions.
Like the first films the gore in the movie is also very minimal, there isn't really that much body horror aside from the more modern chest explosion scene.
With all that said it's not a perfect film, there are still questionable parts and even lore plot holes but it's not really a major problem for the movie overall.
I wonder if they make the next Aliens movie if they plan on offing the survivor here again which they seem to do. I know Ripley can never be replaced as the ultimate final girl in the Alien franchise but it's just bothersome how we go through this journey with a main lead, survive the everything, only for that survivor to just be unalived in the next movie.
Reap What You Sew: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2018)
Written out, and re-casted. A case of new faces.
This entry felt so weird with the beloved character of John being written off the show, Jason and Macon being recasted and the film pretending that it didn't happen, and Martin being explained off there was just so many changes that the tone overall felt off. It's not really a negative thing, it just felt very different.
Story wise I thought it was thin, you wouldn't need to think hard who the killer is since they can be already figured out from the start. Despite the multiple obvious strays they try and throw your way it was just pretty obvious who had the stronger motive specially if you were paying attention to the body language of the characters which I assume are very much intentional.
Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: The Disappearing Game (2018)
They really need to title these films better!
The Disappearing Game is the 9th installment in the teagarden mysteries series and is quite middle of the road for me in terms of story telling. It's not the worst, but not one of the better ones either.
Aurora as a character I do enjoy sometimes, and I like that she's a woman with urgency but it is getting tiring the way they write Arthur off as very incompetent and how Aurora and the others treat him and the police. I get it she needs to be the one to solve these mysteries or else there won't be a movie, but I do hope the writers manage to be more creative with the way she handles her character and her mystery solving because the way she just rushes and undermine people is starting to get old.
The crime or mystery itself in this movie was never that intriguing. You can clock who the "killer" is from the get go and how the story is gonna go down. They didn't try to even do a red herring or make you think otherwise it was pretty much spelled out early on. It would have been nice if they did more of an emotional scene by the end and unpacked more from the killer as a character but nine movies in and I don't think we'll ever get something that deep since this film series has never tried to be "deep".
Sally and to an extent Jason are the only characters I'm enjoying so far at the moment. Aurora is starting to rub me off, and i'm still trying to get a feel of this new love interest.
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Pretty film with almost to no substance
I thought this was a YA novel adaptation, and a bad one at that. I went into it without knowing anything about it aside from the lead cast. It had a lot of YA tropes and story beats that I would usually read in those type of books and thought they adapted another novel terribly.
The story telling and scene sequences was horrible, there are information that they expect the audience to already know or pick-up on but aren't really relayed properly. The pacing and character development as well as the relationship of the leads jumps from place to place that at the end it managed to do nothing for the story or the characters. I don't even see how they get to talk about loving someone when they didn't even show them getting close. There is just nothing behind the narrative.
On the good side, which is also the only reason I'm not rating this film lower than five is that it's a beautifully shot film. The visuals are really strong and there are beautifully made scenes from the production to the vfx they really did a good job. There were also well choreographed and flashy action scenes that I thought elevated the movie. It's the only reason I was kept awake and able to finish it.
Overall Jupiter Ascending is very visually pleasing, yet very hollow in story telling.
A Bundle of Trouble: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2017)
A bundle being passed around
We are back again with our librarian by day, and super sleuth by any time she finds it free to go investigate, Aurora Teagarden. This isn't one of the stories from the series that I really care about, it was ok, maybe lukewarm. I felt like plot was jumping around from wanting to add depth to Aurora as a character and having her own realization to the actual crime and mystery. While a lot of tv shows and movies do multitask like this, in this case it felt very half baked. There wasn't really a good resolution to it, it just happens and it felt very uninspired.
I do like though when the film itself is very self aware how ridiculous it is that dead bodies have been piling up around Aurora, the fact that Lynn called it flat out was funny.
V/H/S/99 (2022)
No standout short, but overall entertaining.
While there is no standout short in this film I do feel like overall they were still good stories. The cohesiveness of the late 90s vibe was really done well it felt like it was of the era they're trying to achieve.
Suicide Bid was my favorite only because it hit a very real fear which is claustrophobia and being buried alive. The concept itself as well has the potential for a stand alone film, It can be a good popcorn horror movie.
I also enjoyed To Hell and Back, I thought that one was a riot and a palette cleanser since it was bordering into parodic comedy. Ozzy's Dungeon is also a special mention, I grew up with Legends of the Hidden Temple on Nickelodeon so this episode was really a vibe and very nostalgic somehow. I think they really did a good job in their production of this short.
Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2017)
Bodies are piling up in this town
I think this is the first time I was a bit irritated of Aurora as a character. There's just something so grating about how she handles herself and her relationships when it comes to her investigative nature. I feel like she only sees her reasoning but does not understand the concerns of people around her.
As for the plot, this one has a bit of holes in the story or feels way too big to weave into this low budget hallmark film. While I don't mind ridiculous cases there are times that logic just kicks in and sometimes sours the mood. I guess I just need to constantly remind myself that this is a cozy hallmark feel and take it too seriously.
Nokturno (2024)
Mikhael Red once again fails to execute a good concept.
They had a really good foundation for a good horror movie here, using a long time Filipino folk myth about the Kumakatok (Door Knockers) as the base and concept and yet fail to fully realize it.
The writing was just terrible and full of plot holes. It was a stringy mess of random ideas that went nowhere. On top of that the movie gives the audience a huge middle finger with that lazy half assed ending which really annoyed me. There was no resolution whatsoever, it's like seeing a splattered mishmash and that's it. You don't know what happened, why it happened and if it was ever cleaned up.
The execution of the script wasn't any better, it just added to the train wreck. There were scenes that didn't make sense, continuation that was not polished and all around a jumbled mess.
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Less horror, more action, yet entertaining
I have never heard anything good about this film since I was young so I was never really interested in seeing it. After deciding as an adult to go through the whole Alien franchise this film actually surprised me.
I enjoyed it, I thought it was entertaining despite how much changes the franchise has undergone since the first movie. While the first three movies had their own sense of style and cinematography I still felt somehow they did still belong to the same universe somehow. While in this one it had such a distinct style to it, it took me a while to get used to it and connect it to the Alien universe. Since the second film the franchise has already strayed from the horror element and has become more action focused, but at least the second movie still manages to sustain the suspense and tension the first movie had. Unfortunately that was what was missing in this film which is such a shame.
The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery (2016)
New Home, New Crime Scene
I think this is the most sinister one so far after the copycat murders. It starts off pretty simple with a missing's person opening going back five years ago, and continues but is paced slower as the film goes on to give space for developing stories for character arcs. I do appreciate the continuity they're doing, makes it feel more like a TV show where I continue watching episodes instead of separate films. Clues and hints gets dropped from time to time which can make you guess the ending already but still drops the bomb on the audience, while not unexpected is a welcome final scene.
I love how cozy and easily digestible these Aurora Teagarden movies are, It's a good popcorn flick to pass time and be entertained.
Don't Move (2024)
Strong start that the film wasn't able to sustain.
The first act was the strongest part of the movie for me, Iris as a character was being built up and we get to know her motivation or lack thereof. At first I was frustrated because how can you a woman be so careless as to not strap yourself before going hiking alone, then we get to know the reason behind that not long after. The first act manages to build the suspense and atmosphere specially when the game of cat and mouse started, and this carries over to the second act which has the strongest part of the movie. Unfortunately by the time the 3rd act rolls around we already lost the steam and there is barely a fire to keep my interest going. I just wanted to know what and how things will wrap up at that point.
Performance wise I think both leads did ok, Finn Wittrock specially. As someone who's familiar with him from American Horror Story this role is just in his Wheelhouse and again he delivered.