Dir - Daniel Espinosa
Overall: MEH
Taking zero gambles and borrowing its twists from either other notable films or just offering them up in a way that is alarmingly easy to spot, Life would appear too simple and stock for its own good. On this note, perhaps it is. The minute, somewhat A-list cast are given just the bare minimum of individual characteristics and Ryan Reynolds pretty much plays Ryan Reynolds as he always does, providing the movie with its only occasional chuckles. These would-be funny bits clash with the rest of the tone which is either dower or intense, at least once the second act kicks into gear sufficiently enough. Despite its blanket presentation and surprisingly vanilla-flavored script, (by Deadpool creative team Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick no less), Swedish director Daniel Espinosa handles the material as good as can be expected. The monster attacks are intense, the pacing sturdy, and he even indulges in an opening seven-minute take that both lays out the surroundings and helps psychologically convey the proper level of claustrophobia. It is not that all of the pieces do not work together since they generally do, but more that nearly every aspect could use a little more oomph to transcend it above the well-worn cinematic vehicles that it is openly channeling. The argument can be made that it gets the job done just like a moderately-priced, convenient car would though. So by that token, Life is certainly not a waste. At least depending on what your expectations may be.
Dir - Steven Ellison
Overall: WOOF
Theoretically, it is a good thing that anybody anywhere can make a movie about anything they want. In reality though, the unleashing of something like Kuso would probably best serve as the equivalent to a war crime. The directorial debut from producer/rapper/DJ/musician Flying Lotus, (Steve Ellison who just goes under the name Steve here), attempts and succeeds at being the most disgusting movie ever made. The sheer lengths that Ellison and his creative team, (which also includes David Firth and Zack Fox), go to in not letting a single minute go by without puss, feces, flatulence, seminal fluid and all levels of bodily repugnance bombard the screen brings the movie to A Serbian Film-level obnoxiousness. It is a "victory" in that the entire purpose is nothing more than to one-up any gross-out cinema that has ever been made. Yet the victory itself must be questioned since what is the goddamn point at being so sufficient making something so insufferable? To stomach the entire thing is a feat in and of itself and it is entirely acceptable afterwards to despise both yourself and the people who made it for having made you suffer through such vomit-inducing bullshit.
Dir - Lukas Feigelfeld
Overall: MEH
Made as a graduation project for film school with the help of a crowdfunding campaign and therefor serving as the debut from Lukas Feigelfeld, Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse is a seriously lackadaisical snore that should by all accounts work far better. On the one hand, it is imaginative in how Feigelfeld was able to research 15th century paganism, concocting something with a number of highly peculiar set pieces that are thoroughly unpleasant for the most part. The droning, subdued music by the ambient group MMMD sets a very unnerving tone and when the cinematography is not too dark to penetrate, it is utterly gorgeous even when disgusting things are being portrayed. Yet the film is impossibly slow, almost unwatchable even. By only hinting at having a story as opposed to actually having one and lingering painstakingly on every shot, the movie loses you repeatedly along the way. The moments of unsettling strangeness simply cannot make their proper impact when the pacing around them is so detrimentally sluggish. It is a significant shame that the passive execution makes it too challenging for its own good since otherwise it possesses such ominous potential to be truly memorable.
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