EvilPhoEniX

An enjoyable feel good genre film from high school. It lacks proper humour, but is likeable, lively, nicely shot and fast paced. The girls start a fight club in high school and get they beat each other up. There are a lot of lesbians, but the characters are fine, the soundtrack is good and the final fight with the football players on the field is great. It was also unexpectedly suspenseful at times, so I'll give it a weaker four stars. I had an unexpectedly good time, plus I miss these comedies from high school and I don't think there was a better one this year. 70%

A new short story anthology based on the myths of Latin America, featuring some of the best Latin American filmmakers, but unfortunately I found it mediocre. The police break into a house in El Paso and find a pile of dead people with one survivor who is taken to the station and questioned. He tells various horrific stories about his life, and that's the main connecting story. The second story is about a man who opens a portal to the underworld, and there's a really disgusting demon. This one was handled by the famous Demian Rugna, who knows how to work with gore and make-up effects. After the recent When Evil Lurks, I was expecting him to grind me again, but besides the demon, the story didn't offer anything particularly interesting. Better average. The third story is about a vampire who enjoys a night of killing people on Halloween, only that he forgot that it dawns an hour earlier due to the daylight savings time change. It's presented in a comedic style and it's quite funny, there's also some gore, so it's better than average. It was directed by Eduardo Sánchez, who has done The Blair Witch Project and Exists. The fourth story is the closest to Mexican folklore. A CIA informant falls captive to shamans and indigenous people and it features an interesting ritual. The setting and the make-up effects are nice, there’s a bit of mythology and it feels like the Mexican version of The Wicker Man, but again the potential was higher. This was shot by Gigi Saul Guerrero, who has Barbarous Mexico to his credit. The fifth story is again in a comedy style, where a boyfriend wants to kill his ex-girlfriend who is possessed by a demon. It's kind of a fight between the two where a even giant wooden dildo is used. It's by director Alejandro Brugues (Juan of the Dead), but I found it to be the weakest and least interesting. The ending climaxes with El Muerte arriving at the police station, where a bloody shootout ensues, and it's a pretty nice climax, but it doesn't elevate this anthology to above average. There's a bit of humor, blood and Mexican mythology from everyone, but I wouldn't give any story more than 4 stars. 55%

The prequel to The Hunger Games isn't a bad movie, it has its bright moments, but the actual Hunger Games, which should have been the main highlight are unfortunately not as engrossing as I expected. The 10th Hunger Games begins. Each of the students becomes a mentor and gets one assigned from each region and their job is to win the Hunger Games together. The main character is the likeable Coriolanus Snow, who gets a girl, and underdog, who can only sing. I liked the chemistry between them, Rachel Zegler is a very beautiful woman (and sings very nice), the emotions and romance work and these two pull the film up nicely. Of the characters, Peter Dinklage is also a great. Visually, of course, the film is on par, and even though it doesn't have a very thrilling pace, it certainly doesn't get boring, and the Hunger Games are quite thrilling, it's just a pity that there aren’t more traps, challenges and pitfalls. It's kind of Battle Royale style but without the gore, so I didn't get much excitement. There's not much action outside of the game itself, but it's quite imaginative and clever (the decisions Snow makes are pretty cool), it's just a shame that the main character doesn't fight at all. The second half surprisingly turns into a completely different movie and we watch Snow's interesting character development undergoing a really interesting and unexpected transformation. There are more songs than action for my taste, but they were at least enjoyable to listen to. All in all, an enjoyable film that I don't regret watching, but nothing that would make me sit on my ass. I have it between 3 and 4 stars, but I'll be more strict this time. I don't need to see it again. 65%.