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Ratings228
bugsycline's rating
Reviews11
bugsycline's rating
Possibly the worst movie of 2024? That's debatable, but Maxxxine is definitely a contender. The film feels like the producers, writers, director and star of "Pearl" now had a bigger budget to make a full-length movie, but they had no script. Or even a concept of a plot. It feels like they just wanted to exploit the reputation they built on the last two films and simply let Chatgpt write the script for this one. Then they went to the universal backlot to film every scene with no sense of direction. They added some neon logos and suddenly you have 80's nostalgia? A24 is going downhill quickly. Terrible movie.
I saw "The Substance" today at my local theater. Essays can and will be written about this film for decades to come. The Essays will be written by wannabe filmmakers, Feminists, Anti-Consumer activists, And sloggy 80's B-Movie gross-out film fans.
Honestly, I've never seen anything quite like it. Everything you may have heard about this movie is true, and then some.
Its a Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama, Social Commentary, and Creature Feature B-Movie all in one.
The positives.
1. It is stunningly beautiful and simultaneously disgusting to look at.
2. Much of the film's visuals will recall The Shinning, 2001 a Space Oddesy, David Cronenberg and The 80's B-movie The Toxic Avenger.
3. The message about the horrors of self-image in the plastic world of Hollywood are intense and deep, for a film low in dialog.
4. Demi Moore gives the best performance of her entire career. One that is insanely personal and intimate. Almost entirely physical as the dialog is empty and surface.
5. Margaret Qualley performs her most shallow and sinister character to date, while simultaneously being the most strikingly perfect human ever to be photographed.
6. co-produced, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. Who is a master at 4 genres at the same time, while blending them together.
7. When its all said and done, the film reminds you, this is a movie and not to take it all too seriously. I expected half way through that by the time this movie was over, I would feel bad and it would be a huge downer of my day. But the (secret) last 20 minutes takes such a dreadful and terrible situation and lets the audience laugh and reminds them, It's just a movie... The people who made it were obviously having fun doing a craft (practical effects) that is almost entirely gone for the industry.
Shot on a shoestring budget of under $18m it continues to be another recent film entry that proves it doesn't take Half a Billion Dollars to make great cinema. It only takes love, passion for the art and someone with a story to tell.
Negatives... 1. It will be impossible for this to reach mass appeal. For many reasons. Yes the surface is shockingly gross to look at, But it also has some seriolusly stark and beautiful cinematography.
2. the profound message might turn away people who see women as Trophies or Smiling objectified body parts for consumer consumption. The female-hating RIght WIng of American society will have many problems with this film.
3. This ain't Forrest Gump.... You won't have a lot of great positive feelings leaving the theater. But you will think about the movie for days afterward.
4. While every woman should see this film, Maybe it might be better to take little 12 year old Suzy to go see a Disney movie instead of this.... This movie will mess up up inside your brain. Don't subject kids to that.
5. The dialog in the first 1 hour could have been a little less sparse to match the world class visuals. I think if maybe the "Science" of teh Substance was discussed just a tad more, it would have put this movie in the 9's instead of the low 8's
Over all a great time at the movies, One that makes you want to discuss what you just witnesssed. As once seen, it can't be unseen. And its likely you will never forget some of the imagery for years to come.... 8.1 out of 10 stars (monster Score for a monster movie) One of the Best Horror movies I've seen in a Long long long time.
Ps... Somewhere I hear the sounds of 80s B-Movie fans/nerds cheering like The Substance is the second coming of Troma Entertainment and Lloyd Kaufman.
The Substance is what you get when you mix The Shining, The Handmaid's Tale and The Toxic Avenger all into one film.
Honestly, I've never seen anything quite like it. Everything you may have heard about this movie is true, and then some.
Its a Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama, Social Commentary, and Creature Feature B-Movie all in one.
The positives.
1. It is stunningly beautiful and simultaneously disgusting to look at.
2. Much of the film's visuals will recall The Shinning, 2001 a Space Oddesy, David Cronenberg and The 80's B-movie The Toxic Avenger.
3. The message about the horrors of self-image in the plastic world of Hollywood are intense and deep, for a film low in dialog.
4. Demi Moore gives the best performance of her entire career. One that is insanely personal and intimate. Almost entirely physical as the dialog is empty and surface.
5. Margaret Qualley performs her most shallow and sinister character to date, while simultaneously being the most strikingly perfect human ever to be photographed.
6. co-produced, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. Who is a master at 4 genres at the same time, while blending them together.
7. When its all said and done, the film reminds you, this is a movie and not to take it all too seriously. I expected half way through that by the time this movie was over, I would feel bad and it would be a huge downer of my day. But the (secret) last 20 minutes takes such a dreadful and terrible situation and lets the audience laugh and reminds them, It's just a movie... The people who made it were obviously having fun doing a craft (practical effects) that is almost entirely gone for the industry.
Shot on a shoestring budget of under $18m it continues to be another recent film entry that proves it doesn't take Half a Billion Dollars to make great cinema. It only takes love, passion for the art and someone with a story to tell.
Negatives... 1. It will be impossible for this to reach mass appeal. For many reasons. Yes the surface is shockingly gross to look at, But it also has some seriolusly stark and beautiful cinematography.
2. the profound message might turn away people who see women as Trophies or Smiling objectified body parts for consumer consumption. The female-hating RIght WIng of American society will have many problems with this film.
3. This ain't Forrest Gump.... You won't have a lot of great positive feelings leaving the theater. But you will think about the movie for days afterward.
4. While every woman should see this film, Maybe it might be better to take little 12 year old Suzy to go see a Disney movie instead of this.... This movie will mess up up inside your brain. Don't subject kids to that.
5. The dialog in the first 1 hour could have been a little less sparse to match the world class visuals. I think if maybe the "Science" of teh Substance was discussed just a tad more, it would have put this movie in the 9's instead of the low 8's
Over all a great time at the movies, One that makes you want to discuss what you just witnesssed. As once seen, it can't be unseen. And its likely you will never forget some of the imagery for years to come.... 8.1 out of 10 stars (monster Score for a monster movie) One of the Best Horror movies I've seen in a Long long long time.
Ps... Somewhere I hear the sounds of 80s B-Movie fans/nerds cheering like The Substance is the second coming of Troma Entertainment and Lloyd Kaufman.
The Substance is what you get when you mix The Shining, The Handmaid's Tale and The Toxic Avenger all into one film.
I go to see as many horror movies as I can. 93% of them are turds. But I go see them in all hopes of finding a good one. Cause when they are good, Like Late Night with the Devil, it makes it so much more special when you find that diamond in the rough.
This is not art house cinema, however, any more than it is a cheesy big studio horror franchise. This is a campy highly stylized low budget Horror flick that is actually fun to watch. There are no stupid jump scares. There are no teenagers saving the world. There are no giant climaxes of 10-minute-long cgi battles that are nothing more than a bore fest... it's just Creativity on display.
It does not rely on the systematic death scenario. It does not hunt down women in their underwear with knives. It tells a story. It creeps you out and it's unpredictable.
Now... that said... This is not a masterpiece of cinema. It's simply a 7 out of 10-star film... which is a great score, especially for such a low-budget flick. It's strength relies on acting, story and on-screen tension to deliver scares. We need more horror movies like this.
It made me think about it for a couple of hours after I watched it... Perhaps trying to figure out a deeper meaning than what is simply presented... Wow... Let's get rid of the franchises and have more like this, please.
7.1 out of 10 stars.
This is not art house cinema, however, any more than it is a cheesy big studio horror franchise. This is a campy highly stylized low budget Horror flick that is actually fun to watch. There are no stupid jump scares. There are no teenagers saving the world. There are no giant climaxes of 10-minute-long cgi battles that are nothing more than a bore fest... it's just Creativity on display.
It does not rely on the systematic death scenario. It does not hunt down women in their underwear with knives. It tells a story. It creeps you out and it's unpredictable.
Now... that said... This is not a masterpiece of cinema. It's simply a 7 out of 10-star film... which is a great score, especially for such a low-budget flick. It's strength relies on acting, story and on-screen tension to deliver scares. We need more horror movies like this.
It made me think about it for a couple of hours after I watched it... Perhaps trying to figure out a deeper meaning than what is simply presented... Wow... Let's get rid of the franchises and have more like this, please.
7.1 out of 10 stars.