Meet the free, proud, independent people of Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzNxLzFfR5w Nothing but reviews. In excess.
From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. June 2025: Countdown to: Top 10: Best horror comedy movies - Upcoming review: There's Still Tomorrow (2023)
Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)
Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (2025)
Showing posts with label Andy Muschietti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Muschietti. Show all posts
+ Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Horror Movie of the Year
Bill Skarsgård's iconic, snowy-white and blood-red makeup makes up this effective poster for Andy Muschietti's It Chapter Two
27 years after the events of It (2017), the kids that made up the Losers' Club in small town Derry, Maine, are called back to live up to their old oath, as it turns out that the town's clownish evil has returned.
It Chapter Two is written by returning Gary Dauberman (The Nun (2018)), adapting Stephen King's (Christine (1983)) same-titled 1986 novel, and directed by returning, great Argentinian filmmaker Andy Muschietti (Mama (2013)). Among the year's most anticipated titles due to the runaway success of the first film, a full-throttle, scary major horror film that audiences realized as rare and consequently flocked gleefully to, It Chapter Two has a lot to live up to. It doesn't disappoint, - although it doesn't reach the thrilling heights of its predecessor, either. This is because a killer clown is fundamentally more scary in relation to children or juveniles, (as are other monsters), and here they are mostly attacking grownups. Also the effects and scare tactics just work best the first time around. Then there's the film's super-length, which is certainly noteworthy, - when did you watch a nearly 3-hour horror movie last, right? The film manages to stay lively through its grandiose running time impressively well, SPOILER although its underground lair culmination, which sees It turn into a giant spider-like monster, isn't really scary. Neither is the much-hyped scene that supposedly uses more movie blood than any other in film history (true or not), again probably because it victimizes the able actress whom the film has already repeatedly attacked for 2½ hours before this happens. The cast is stellar and their likeness to their younger counterparts are flabbergasting, - and probably helped along with digital effects magic, (the young actors also reapppear in flashbacks, and new de-aging digital technology has been utilized to make them seem almost identical to their performances two years ago.) Bill Hader (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him (2013)) stands out: He is given the part of comedian Rich Tozier (comedian-turned-actor Hader slips ably into a different avenue here), and though the character is given too many lines that start with; 'What the f*ck', 'No f*cking way' and 'I am not f*cking ...', Hader and Finn Wolfhard (Dog Days (2018)) as young Richie also have strong scenes that imply Richie's secret adolescent crush on pal Eddie. Bill Skarsgård (Allegiant (2016)) returns as the creepy, child-eating clown Pennywise in the film's central part. The best alternate, memorable shapes of It in the new film include an attacking old lady and a chained-up, leprosy-infested goon. It Chapter Two opens with intensely negative fury: SPOILER Master (gay) filmmaker Xavier Dolan (Mommy (2014)) begged for a part in the sequel and got one as a young gay male getting beaten up by homophobic youths and thrown in the Derry river, then eaten by Pennywise. Jessica Chastain (Stolen (2009)) portrays adult Beverly, and as the film opens we see that she has replaced her incestuous, violent father with a wife-beating husband. These tragic things happen in real life all the time and It insists upon this. SPOILER But the film closes up with the antithesis, a wealth of positivity, which still ties naturally to the strong story, and the result is nothings short of moving: Not least Chastain's getting together with fellow 'loser' Ben (Jay Ryan (Lou (2010)). There's a nice irony in the fact that the losers' club outcasts of Derry have all, - save for Mike Hanlon, who stayed behind to watch and learn about what happened, and who is the one to call them all back, - have all become highly successful individuals, seen from the outside. SPOILER The film also has enjoyable surprise cameos from master filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show (1971)) and King himself. Following It, the highest-grossing horror film of all time (maybe until now), It Chapter Two understandably throws in everything but the kitchen sink in its attempt to best the first effort and exceed it. It is a loud monster of a train coming through, based on King's terrific fantasy horror tale, a wild carnival of ghouls.
Cost: Reportedly 60-70 mil. $ Box office: Not known yet = Not known yet [It Chapter Two premiered 26 August (Los Angeles, California) and runs 169 minutes. Shooting took place in Chicago, Illinois, British Columbia and in Ontario, including Toronto, from June - October 2018. The film has broken the advance ticket sale record for a horror film in North America, where it is expected to take in 90-100 mil. $ in its first weekend right now. SPOILER Muschietti has denied that Pennywise could return after the ending of the film, - but he has indicated that prequels could be made, as It in King's novel is said to have existed in Derry for a million years. Muschietti is rumored to return with The Flash and more sure to return with manga adaptation Attack on Titan. Skarsgård returns in The Devil All the Time (2020); Chastain in actioner Eve; James McAvoy (Glass (2019)) in His Dark Materials (2019, TV-series); and Hader with a voice performance in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019, TV-series) and theatrically in Disney Christmas comedy Noelle (2019). It Chapter Two is fresh at 71 % with a 6.38/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of It Chapter Two?
6. Call Me by Your Name - Luca Guadagnino + Best Romance of the Year + Sexiest Movie of the Year + Best Screen Couple of the Year: Armie Hammer & Timothée Chalamet + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Timothée Chalamet + Best Italian Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year
7. Lady Bird - Greta Gerwig + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Timothée Chalamet + Best Autobiographical Movie of the Year + Best California Movie of the Year
8. The Square - Ruben Östlund + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Societal Critique of the Year + Best Stockholm Movie of the Year + Best Swedish Movie of the Year + Best Breakthrough Actor of the Year: Claes Bang
9. It - Andy Muschietti + Best Adaptation of the Year + Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård)
10. Wonder Woman - Patty Jenkins + Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Gal Gadot+ Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year Other great movies of the year (in alphabetical order):
The Florida Project - Sean Baker + Best Florida Movie of the Year + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Social Realism Movie of the Year
Wonder - Stephen Chbosky + Best Family Movie of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year + Best Tearjerker of the Year Other good, recommendable movies of the year (in alphabetical order):
Beach Rats - Eliza Hittman + Best LGBT Movie of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year
Notes: The first update of the 2017 lists adds 10 titles to the tally. The year is still topped by Rian Johnson's off-the-charts amazing, emotionally riveting, best Star Wars movie to date, Star Wars: The Last Jedi; with Christopher Nolan's best movie to date, the truly intense, impressionistic WWII thriller Dunkirk and new entry Paul Thomas Anderson's masterly carved period drama Phantom Thread taking silver and bronze, respectively. The list goes on with several new entries: Steven Spielberg's powerful historical drama The Post (new entry), Matt Reeves' superbly created, affecting, adventurous War for the Planet of the Apes, Luca Guadagnino's sensuous period romance adaptation Call Me by Your Name (new entry), Greta Gerwig's autobiographical Sacramento youth ode Lady Bird (new entry),Ruben Östlund's incisive societal critique and satirical drama The Square, Andy Muschietti's seriously eerie Stephen King-adaptation It and finally Patty Jenkins' great franchise-starter Wonder Woman, - the first great female superhero movie, perhaps ever? Some of the other remarkable films of the year include: Taika Waititi's disarming, stylish Thor: Ragnarok, Eliza Hittman's engrossing youth sex drama Beach Rats, Jordan Vogt-Roberts' gleeful Kaiju FX-actioner Kong: Skull Island, James Gunn's light-hearted, colorful escapade sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, Stephen Chbosky's heart-warming family movie Wonder, Sean Baker's Florida mother-daughter drama The Florida Project, Michael Gracey's glamorous pop musical The Greatest Showman and Martin McDonagh's tale of protest and rage, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Trey Edward Shults' ponderous, frustratingly directionless It Comes at Night still takes the cake as the year's worst, (and still only downright bad 2017 film seen so far!) Among the greats who served something under my expectations this year are master filmmaker Steven Soderbergh with his 'retirement-breaking' heist dramedy Logan Lucky, Canadian master filmmaker Denis Villeneuve with his huge-budgeted, impressive but ultimately cluttered Blade Runner 2049 and British great filmmaker Edgar Wright with his teen-focused, perfunctory Ansel Elgort love-letter Baby Driver.
Biggest flops of the year:
[The
loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films.
Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other
auxiliary profits) are not taken into account] 1. Blade Runner 2049 - 46.32 mil. $ range 2. Phantom Thread - 16.12 mil. $ range 3. mother! - 12.2 mil. $ range 4. Logan Lucky - 9.64 mil. $ range 5. The Square - 2.06 mil. $ range = Combined losses: 86.34 mil. $ Biggest hits of the year:
[The
gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films.
Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other
auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]
1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi - 333 mil. $ range 2. It - 245.12 mil. $ range 3. Wonder Woman - 179.72 mil. $ range 4. Thor: Ragnarok - 161.56 mil. $ range 5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - 145.48 mil. $ range 6. Dunkirk - 110.88 mil. $ range 7. Annabelle: Creation - 107.6 mil. $ range 8. The Greatest Showman - 89.88 mil. $ range 9. Murder on the Orient Express - 86.08 mil. $ range 10. The Shape of Water - 58.58 mil. $ range = Combined profits: 1,517.9 mil. $ 2017 titles still on my watch-list:
Fist Fight, Despicable Me 3, Alien: Covenant, The Beguiled, The Third Murder, Beatriz at Dinner, Chasing Coral, Downsizing, Brad's Status, The Wound, Dolores, Trophy, May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers, Columbus, DRIB, A Prayer Before Dawn, You Were Never Really Here, The Polka King, Loveless, November, God's Own Country, Foxtrot, Girl's Trip, Flower, I Kill Giants, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Mary Shelley, The Devil and Father Amorth, Revenge, First Reformed, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, The Death of Stalin, The King, Love, Cecil, Nico, 1988, I Am Not a Witch, The Rider, Golden Exits
