unimpression
A desire, yet to be met - except by PLURIBUS, SINNERS, and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER- of being impressed by something again (replays, like my last-night completed RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2) don't count but my god was that, is that, an amazing work of game-art): Del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN left me wanting and, indeed, increasingly annoyed the more I think about it; MOBLAND was a great series for someone who's a never watched a mob movie / series before nearly brought down by stunt casting of Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren in roles they were anything but born to play and saved only by, as ever, Tom Hardy (and Paddy Consadine) who I'll watch in anything (MOBLAND being a case in point); Wong Kar-Wai's BLOSSOMS SHANGHAI put me to sleep for the three episodes I watched: It's not that I don't think there's good stuff out there, it's that 98% of what I've encountered feels so anodyne and neutered that, ack, IDK, maybe it's just a phase - a fucking dispiriting phase, but a phase nonetheless. Speaking of dispiriting, more fucking snow.
I still can’t figure out what I’m missing: Martin Scorsese Hails ‘Frankenstein’ as A-List Directors Keep Praising Guillermo del Toro’s Epic | World of Reel
FRANKENSTEIN (Guillermo del Toro, 2025)
***+ / *****: Some amazing performances - especially Jacob Elordi’s Wrightson-brought-to-life Creature - and moments of brilliance but overall left me wanting. The Netflix sheen shellacked over Del Toro’s too-conservative / reverent direction of his own script diluted what should have been a cinematic powerhouse into the streaming version of the early 90’s ABC event mini-series iterations of JEKYLL AND HYDE and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (presented with limited commercial interruption); I’m not mad, just disappointed.
THE BRIDE! (trailer)
I’m all in for GDT’S Frankenstein, but I’m more excited for this.
fresh ink!
Combining my love of Karloff’s Frankenstein Monster and metalwork, Jess gave me this amazing combo of the two, replete with Burton-infused eye protection. Love.
