LenAccording1 Reviews

Braindead (1992)

Horny & Corny

[6/10 · 16 January 2024]

Braindead is a true cult classic. I'd go so far as to say it's probably one of the best zombie movies ever. It's also probably one of the goriest and bloodiest movies ever made, which of course makes it even better.

Braindead / Dead Alive is the story of Lionel Cosgrove, a total mommy's boy. I'd go so far to say he's probably a virgin too at the start of the movie he's so far under his mothers control I don't think she'd let any woman get near him. When Lionel finds love with the girl who works in her father's store his mother jealous nature leads her to spy on them on a trip to the zoo. While on this trip she gets bitten by a "Sumatran rat-monkey" which leads her to turn into a zombie. From that moment on chaos of course reigns. This includes zombie babies, kung fu priest zombies and of zombie massacre that includes a lawn mower. Friggin Lawnmower, man!

This movie has it all, what happens if you feed zombies stimulants? You'll see in this movie. What happens if two zombies have sex? You'll see in this movie. In fact it's quite a surprise that zombies can be quite so horny corny.

Above all this is a comedy movie, as long as you have a strong stomach. I'll also give you a warning, after you see this movie I doubt you will ever want to eat any custard ever again. Yes, a zombifying mother trying to eat custard will never be a success, especially when parts of her body are falling off. You have to see that scene to believe it.

Braindead is a very good movie, as long as you can take the gore. I know that's not everybody's thing but it's fun, and yes this movie is fun. It's bloody, it's gory and it's got a zombie lawn mower massacre scene, so watch it! You won't regret it.

Turbo Kid (2015)

Turbooo

[7/10 · 16 January 2024]

When I fist saw the title, I thought it was just a dumb kids action movie that with a very low budget, well that is exactly what it is suppose to be. TURBO KID is one big homage to all the ridiculous, violent action movies of the 80s that is totally aware of how silly it is. Very silly.

It takes place the the post-apocalyptic future of 1997 where a boy has to save his girlfriend and defeat an evil warlord by taking on the persona of his favorite comic book hero Turbo Man. It is a very tongue and cheek movie with a lot of silly things, like it's suppose to be a Mad Max style future with a lot of tough warriors but everyone is riding little bikes. Even the fight scenes are very overtop and ridiculously violent. It's on such a low budget that you can pretty much tell how it's made but i think that is the idea. I might think this sounds like just a silly nonsensical movie, which it it is, but it is actually a lot better than it needed to be. This could have easily just been a dumb movie, but it seems to be made by people who grew up with these kinds of movies and understand what we like about them. It makes a lot of clever references to the films of the 80's, even with the villain played by Michael Ironside, who you can tell is having a ton of fun with it. Even the music is very reminiscent of that period with a lot of techno.

This is the kind of movie I like to watch in my spare time, just a silly fun action movie. Not to be serious. It's a lot like watching any old cheesy 80s movie you got to have some suspension of disbelief and just have fun with it. If you're looking for something that you can watch and not think too much about then you should check it out.

Going In (2023)

actually from 89??

[9/10 · 16 January 2024]

At the movie's intro, the viewer is taken into the world of late 80s Toronto... or what, at least, we're told it is. The plot starts very on the nose of the aesthetics of the late 80s with the characters integrating as they should; living their existences. Then, with the introduction/ reuniting of the two leads aided with alcohol, we see that this world slowly unwinds and descends into absurdity.

The movie is delivered straight the entire time - through its performances/conviction - where we still might not know what's intended by the director. Is this on purpose? Do we know if it's a form of satire? Do we know if it could also be totally straight? Do we know why it's... ambiguous on purpose? The characters (and even actors) certainly don't, and that decision swollenly builds from beginning to climax, then through til the very end. For some reason this didn't waver my attention: only sharpened it.

After seeing it, my summation is this: To start, the writer was dead set on it being funny, but in a more covert Trojan Horse type way. Secondly, the director shows us this world by its style, conviction, and musical score (oh my god that Tangerine Dream inspired synth) with both action thrills and spectacles. Finally, at the very end, the lead actor shoots off a cheap callback pun to let us all in on it: the 1980s were a total joke. Fitting that all of these three things were done by the same guy. Friggin LOL. Brilliant dick move.

Trainspotting (1996)

Top Gear

[8/10 · 5 January 2024]

I identified with the film when I first saw it because I was in my first year of college and I hung around with a pack of druggies. Not as intense as that crew, people were just starting to discover heroin and shooting up was a bit taboo at first, but overall I recognized a lot of the same vibes and attitudes. I think it's a really honest portrayal of drugs and is perhaps the finest "drug" movie out there.

I think there's a lot of comedy and laughter in that movie, something missing from Requiem for a Dream which is a deep pit of despair that never really lets you go. There's a joyous feeling coupled with despair that really pervades that film and I think it does the subject justice. Because honestly, that's what it's like a lot of the time. It's funny, you're laughing, you're talking about lofty subjects in a very fumbling, cursory sort of way, and expressing your discontent with everything. So the way the good times were juxtaposed with the bad times is authentic, and reminds me of truly great films such as Boogie Nights (only very tangientially though). The circle you do drugs with tends to go deeper than just normal friendship for some reason.

I thought the ensemble cast was good and the style all produced a really cohesive whole that felt very authentic to me in a way that Requiem sometimes didn't... plus, it has a lot of laughs.

Hard Target (1993)

How Does it Feel to Be Hunted?!

[7/10 · 5 January 2024]

John Woo directs this classic actioner which is really just an extended Levi's commercial; everything is overly-stylized and New Orleans clearly has an infestation of pigeons and doves.

The plot involves homeless people hunted for sport by rich played with relish by Lance Henriksen & Arnold Vosloo. Henriksen is on career best form as Mr. Fuchon; the big bad who considers humans the ultimate "sport". When I spoke with Lance last year he discussed a scene that was cut which had Fuchon having a dream about hunting in Africa, showing that hunting is obsessively in his blood.

The slo-mo admittedly is over the top, but it's just so damn stylish that I can't hold it against it. My dad used to take me to see JCVD and Steven Seagal films in the cinema and we both loved seeing this one on the big screen. JCVD rocks the action hero mullet to perfection and also wears the mandatory white string vest for an extra taste of badassery.

Holy hell, Hard Target is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's finest hours oozing with style, classic action scenes and memorable villains making it still hold up as one of the best actioners of the 90's.

I demande a sequel Mr. Woo!

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Take me Back

[10/10 · 5 January 2024]

I don't hear this movie mentioned often anymore, which is strange seeing, according to Letterboxd, it is the 73rd most highly rated movie of all time (statistically.) Also, the movie features great actors like James woods (arguably his best performance) and Robert De Niro in his golden age of acting. The movie was also made by Sergio Leone, a more famous director back in the 60s-80s, who made once upon a time in the west and good the bad and the ugly.

With that, the movie is very long, at 3.5 hours! But I believe a movie is only long if it's boring, and this film is not. The movie takes place in the late 20s, based on a group of boy's childhood growing up as gangsters, and then the early 30s, as gangsters, then the late 60s. While the movie is very violent, (ye be warned) it's very compelling, and the film uses the violence in a clever way. Also, the movie is visually stunning, many thinking it has the best shot in cinema in one certain scene. The movie has an incredible score, some of the most immersive 1920s-30s locations I've ever seen in television alongside great cinematography and some of my favourite writing in the Gangster Genre (which is saying something.) The acting from who Robert De Niro in this film especially, while outshined by Taxi Driver and Raging Bull (hard to beat those) is phenomenal and is worthy for all the praise it gets.

I'd highly recommend this movie as it does stay with you much more than most films do. W00t!

The Boy and the Heron (2023)

Wellp, I guess

[4/10 · 5 January 2024]

It's a beautiful and surrealist fairytale, told by imagery and feeling more than a structured plot. The visuals are clearly inspired by the works of Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, to name a few.

As per TATE, describes the movement as, "Surrealism aims to revolutionise human experience. It balances a rational vision of life with one that asserts the power of the unconscious and dreams. The movement's artists find magic and strange beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny, the disregarded and the unconventional. At the core of their work is the willingness to challenge imposed values and norms, and a search for freedom."

While I admit the movie plot doesn't explain a lot, and doesn't go anywhere tbh, I am not disappointed having watched the movie, and I would recommend anyone to see it as a beautiful an moving painting.

The Big Hit (1998)

Marky Mark

[9/10 · 5 January 2024]

Probably his first starring role in which it works.

Goddamn, this dude was fine in the 90s. Funky bunch? Forget it. This was the ticket at the time and Bokeem Woodbine is hilarious too. What a riot. Did I mention Lou Diamond Phillips comes to life in this? Christina Applegate at maybe her peak hotness post MWC. Elliot Gould is a classic man. Maybe Antonio Sabato Jr.'s best role -- he should have done more.

Kind of crazy this was Kirk Wong's best and biggest movie? I wish they had the original poster featured here as it was undeniably better -- search the original as it won't let me attach here.

This should've been a Bigger Hit.