Goodbye, 2025, you turbulent year,
A political bruise we’d rather not wear.
The screens kept flickering, polished yet hollow,
Bright lights, thin stories, too easy to swallow.
Blizzards kept melting, despite all the snow,
Nintendo kept asking for more than we owe.
You weren’t all cruel, we survived and we grew,
A decent year lived, but one we won’t renew.
When Brent turns down his classmate Lola’s invitation to the prom, she concocts a wildly violent plan for revenge. (IMDB)
Do you believe this? We’ve found our movie of the year on December 30th? I know that the movie is from 2009 but we’ve seen it for the first time this year. The Loved Ones is, for us, the pattern on which every horror movie should be made. If you ever ask yourself what we really love in movies, look no further, this is it.
I was expecting some shallow high school horror film and instead got treated with one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The Loved Ones is not for the faint of heart though, the visuals are shockingly realistic. Bright colours and cheery music are a perfect counterpoint to the horrific action taking place in the claustrophobic setting.
Even if Sean Byrne crafted this modern horror story, the film belongs to Robin McLeavy. Intent on making her party a diabolical night to remember, she is a villain far more threatening than initially thought possible. McLeavy’s portrayal transcends that of deranged girl and turns into a one-of-a-kind monster.
Engrossingly gross, and satisfyingly slick, with crunchy bits, The Loved Ones is the perfect treat for an horror fan.
Also, kuddos to Jessica McNamee for being one hell of a date at the dance!
I was up for a 1h30′-ish movie with teens being slaughtered for playing stupid games and I ended up with a movie that has much more depth than what the trailer misled me to think.
The movie is more of a slow burn, with a runtime a little over 2 hours. However, there’s a depth to the story that I didn’t expect. There is cult stuff, cosmic/Lovecraftian horror and a sense of dread fuelled by a sinister camerawork and a brooding score.
The Empty Man is an under marketed gem that has everything to become a classic. I really hope that it will get, over time, the success that it deserves. In the meantime, I can only advise to watch it, at least once.
As Finn, now 17, struggles with life after his captivity, his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp known as Alpine Lake. (IMDB)
Since we really enjoyed the first movie, we had big hopes for its sequel. Unfortunately, it was a bit too slow to be enjoyable. There is a lot of talking, some good, some ok and a lot just unnecessary.
Some scenes were well done, like the ice skating on the frozen lake and the ambiance was on spot, retro and gritty. Unfortunately, The Grabber, once a menacing man in a mask, has become a joke, incompetent at killing anyone. Most of his victims have a few bruises and scratches at best.
In the end, I managed to stay awake until the end, but I couldn’t have gone through much more.
This time, Dutch Mansell, assassin for hire, is on vacation with his family when trouble finds him.
What can I say, I really, really, like Bob Odenkirk. His voice and his facial expressions make him so sympathetic, I could watch anything with him in it and I still wouldn’t get tired, even if it was bad. Which isn’t the case for the second chapter of Nobody, it’s really good.
Bad guys taunt him, he answers, violence escalates until a huge final confrontation takes place. Absolutely nothing new on the story. And, actually, nothing new on any part of the movie. There’s a working recipe and it’s used a second time, for my greatest enjoyment. So, go ahead, make ten of them, I’ll watch them all.
We watched the latest season of The Witcher on Christmas day because there’s nothing better than binging a fantasy show on December 25th with a ton of leftovers, surrounded by our presents.
We love the franchise, the games, the books and the TV show, so we were a bit nervous at the idea of a new actor portraying Geralt.
Let me start by saying this: I instantly lose all respect for actors who willingly leave a show before its completion. I’m talking about people like Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries) and, of course, Henry cavill who officially left his role as Geralt of Rivia in October 2022, shortly after announcing his return as Superman in Warner Bros.’ DC Universe. However, he was ultimately not cast in the new Superman film (what a sharp twist of fate).
Many people thought that HE was Geralt and no one else could ever portray the famous Witcher the way he did. Well, after viewing the fourth season of the show, I can say this: it’s absolutely not true! Liam Hemsworth does a great job and it didn’t take me more than a minute to switch to the new actor. So, big kuddos to Liam to fill in those big boots so well.
Now, when I saw Laurence Fishburne, I got scared. I usually enjoy his acting (The Matrix, CSI,…) but I really dislike his character in John Wick. However, my fears were unfounded. He portrays Regis the vampire perfectly and I truly enjoyed each scene he took part in.
As for the show, it was entertaining. I’ve enjoyed all parts of the story, the one of Yennefer on her quest to defeat Vilgefortz being my favourite.
I can’t wait to see what happens in the final season (which already wrapped filming). Speculations place the release of the fifth season around September 2026, which would be absolutely perfect for Christmas day next year…
We started our Christmas Eve by watching the movie adaptation of How To Train Your Dragon and it was absolutely awesome! We were already fans of the computer animation and the ‘live action’ movie didn’t disappoint us. I can’t believe that 15 years have passed since Dreamworks released the adventures of Hiccup and his flying fire-breathing friends!
Rather than to reinvent the original, DreamWorks has let the original creator of How To Train Your Dragon, Dean DeBlois, take care of this faithful update, which remains largely animated, especially when dragons play such an important role.
The script is identical in both versions. Fortunately, How to Train Your Dragon had a rock-solid screenplay, adapted from the novel by Cressida Cowell.
While DeBlois’ involvement could be seen as a way to protect How To Train Your Dragon from some other director coming along and destroying it, resulted in bringing the whole fantastical story one step closer to reality.
Do we believe in Santa? Of course. But, more importantly, it seems that Santa also believes in us.
In a few hours will begin the best time of the year. We’ll be celebrating with a movie marathon and a ton of food that will last more than 2 days. Tomorrow, we’ll be binging the fourth season of The Witcher while opening our gifts. Most importantly, we’ll be celebrating for the first time in our house and in a place we love.
A year ago, at the same time, we were wondering where we would be for Xmas 2025. If I could send a message to our past selves, I’d say this: “Don’t worry guys, you’ll find the house, you’ll get out of that hell hole of a town and everything will be fine”. For those who know us (and I wonder how many really do), they’d know that we’ve been through a lot while living in Brussels. Being here now, for this time of the year, is more than just a real estate move, it’s life starting to feel right again, finally at home.
We wish everyone all the best for this year’s Christmas. Enjoy!
Writing synopsis of horror movies is useless, most of the time. In this case, a ancient vengeful troll is awaken and destroys everything on it path (again)… Sure, there’s a bit more to it than that, but I’m sure that you got the idea. I’m not saying that the movie is unoriginal but I’m sure that you really didn’t need me to tell you what a movie titled Troll 2 was about.
Anyway, and against all odds, Troll 2 is as good as its prequel. It’s packed with action, humour (sometimes a bit cringe) and it’s entertaining. Troll 2 doesn’t pretend to be more than what it is, a giant creature movie and it succeeds where so many failed. Definitely worth a watch.