I watched another 6 movies last week. It got off to a very rough start, but I think the week ended well:
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- I probably expected too much from a movie called Your Sister Is a Werewolf, but holy hell is Howling II bad.
- Krull is dull. There’s probably a version of this material that could appear hokey but charming, dumb and derivative but silly and fun. But this version of it is just so very boring.
- Frankenhooker plays more than a little like “Re-Animator, but if it was bad.” The movie is at its best when it fully embraces its cheap and gag-like absurdity, but its best is still no better than hit or miss. Having now seen three of Frank Henenlotter’s movies, they’ve all impressed me in the same way: never exactly very good, but too weird and occasionally imaginative to be completely terrible.
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- Die, Monster, Die! has a little bit of gothic atmosphere, a fun if goofy title, and a pretty good performance by Boris Karloff. Sadly, it doesn’t have a lot more than that, and doesn’t do enough with what it does have.
- It’s been a while since I’ve seen the previous two movies, but I think I can safely say, at least in this moment, that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is my favorite of the three. It’s an incredibly effective send-off for these characters—some of whom I’m sure Marvel will force to return—and a genuinely affecting story of found family and kindness. It’s often also really funny and easily the best movie that Marvel has made in quite a while.
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is less focused than Into the Spider-Verse. But even if it feels sprawling and even a little too loose at times, it never once feels padded, and it’s endlessly inventive and visually astounding.
I also re-watched Shaun of the Dead, which I haven’t seen for close to twenty years. It still really holds up, remarkably effective as both a comedy and a horror movie.