BrikHaus
@awesomelyshitty.bsky.social
Massive Vinegar Syndrome haul!
August 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Massive Vinegar Syndrome haul!
Time to Die (1966): minimalist Mexican western directed by Arturo Ripstein. The film is well acted, & the dialogue is excellent. Unfortunately, its plodding pace kills it. It’s all talking, no sense of urgency, & doesn’t do anything until the last 15 mins. It’s not bad, just boring. Verdict: average
July 29, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Time to Die (1966): minimalist Mexican western directed by Arturo Ripstein. The film is well acted, & the dialogue is excellent. Unfortunately, its plodding pace kills it. It’s all talking, no sense of urgency, & doesn’t do anything until the last 15 mins. It’s not bad, just boring. Verdict: average
Superman (2025): superhero film not up its own ass. Captures the optimism & humanity of Superman better than previous films. Excellent cast who deliver in all roles. Overly convoluted plot, & too much CGI building smashing. Funny, light, & confidently directed. Krypto steals the show. Verdict: good
July 26, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Superman (2025): superhero film not up its own ass. Captures the optimism & humanity of Superman better than previous films. Excellent cast who deliver in all roles. Overly convoluted plot, & too much CGI building smashing. Funny, light, & confidently directed. Krypto steals the show. Verdict: good
The Mt. Rushmore scene is good but only mildly thrilling, although I’m sure it was great at the time. Beautiful cinematography, and great cast performances. Hitchcock directs with aplomb. But it would have been a breathless, taut thrilling with 30 mins removed. Verdict: average
July 19, 2025 at 10:58 PM
The Mt. Rushmore scene is good but only mildly thrilling, although I’m sure it was great at the time. Beautiful cinematography, and great cast performances. Hitchcock directs with aplomb. But it would have been a breathless, taut thrilling with 30 mins removed. Verdict: average
North Shore: Karate Kid on surf boards. Has all the classic 80s sports movie tropes, it’s full of cliches. Cheesy fun. Shot in Hawaii, and the vistas are gorgeous. Has real surfing, and seems to take it seriously. Performances are OK for the era & genre. Has a surprising ending. Verdict: average
July 19, 2025 at 8:50 PM
North Shore: Karate Kid on surf boards. Has all the classic 80s sports movie tropes, it’s full of cliches. Cheesy fun. Shot in Hawaii, and the vistas are gorgeous. Has real surfing, and seems to take it seriously. Performances are OK for the era & genre. Has a surprising ending. Verdict: average
Le Doulos: densely detailed, sharp, twisty tale of two criminals & their intersecting paths. Beautiful black and white photography. Excellent acting and direction. Pacing is on the slow side, & if it was shorter it would have been more impactful. Director Melville makes everyone cool. Verdict: good
May 17, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Le Doulos: densely detailed, sharp, twisty tale of two criminals & their intersecting paths. Beautiful black and white photography. Excellent acting and direction. Pacing is on the slow side, & if it was shorter it would have been more impactful. Director Melville makes everyone cool. Verdict: good
Longest Yard: more dramedy than comedy, it is well-written, has surprising depth (but only for the main character, everyone else is flat), & some decent laughs. First act is slow, but the pace picks up after that. It has all the usual sport film cliches, but it is comforting that way. Verdict: good
May 3, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Longest Yard: more dramedy than comedy, it is well-written, has surprising depth (but only for the main character, everyone else is flat), & some decent laughs. First act is slow, but the pace picks up after that. It has all the usual sport film cliches, but it is comforting that way. Verdict: good
Cyborg: train wreck of a film. Nobody can act, & half the cast can barely enunciate. Cheap sets & crappy synth soundtrack. There is no point in the cyborg being a cyborg. Van Damme tries his best, but his high kicks and splits can’t help this abomination. Mid-film fight/chase was ok. Verdict: shitty
May 2, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Cyborg: train wreck of a film. Nobody can act, & half the cast can barely enunciate. Cheap sets & crappy synth soundtrack. There is no point in the cyborg being a cyborg. Van Damme tries his best, but his high kicks and splits can’t help this abomination. Mid-film fight/chase was ok. Verdict: shitty
Clint Eastwood haul!
May 1, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Clint Eastwood haul!
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar: deceivingly dull first act gets waylaid by insanity after a crazy threeway sex scene. Barrage of bizarreness that brings decent laughs, albeit no memorable lines. Totally weird sense of humor, game cast, and unpredictability make this worth the watch. Verdict: good
April 21, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar: deceivingly dull first act gets waylaid by insanity after a crazy threeway sex scene. Barrage of bizarreness that brings decent laughs, albeit no memorable lines. Totally weird sense of humor, game cast, and unpredictability make this worth the watch. Verdict: good
Samurai Wolf: heavily spaghetti western influenced, this 1966 film has good performances, a twisty story, nice photography, breezy runtime, & an anachronistic soundtrack. Plenty of solid action, and geysers of blood. Wolf is a fun character, less serious than most samurai protagonists. Verdict: good
April 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Samurai Wolf: heavily spaghetti western influenced, this 1966 film has good performances, a twisty story, nice photography, breezy runtime, & an anachronistic soundtrack. Plenty of solid action, and geysers of blood. Wolf is a fun character, less serious than most samurai protagonists. Verdict: good
That’s cool! Here’s the one I have:
April 2, 2025 at 8:16 PM
That’s cool! Here’s the one I have:
Bob le Flambeur: Melville’s gambling/heist film. Slick photography, cool characters, and morbid humor. Duschene gives a humanistic, yet guarded performance as Bob. Great setup but the “heist” is a flop. I get it, they were going against expectations, but it was disappointing anyway. Verdict: average
March 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Bob le Flambeur: Melville’s gambling/heist film. Slick photography, cool characters, and morbid humor. Duschene gives a humanistic, yet guarded performance as Bob. Great setup but the “heist” is a flop. I get it, they were going against expectations, but it was disappointing anyway. Verdict: average
Eiger Sanction: Eastwood’s version of Bond who loves rock climbing. So many badass and hilarious lines jam-packed into one film. The mountain climbing is taut, and the plot has some genuine surprises. The second act is too long. Slow burn at times, but very well made. Verdict: good
March 29, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Eiger Sanction: Eastwood’s version of Bond who loves rock climbing. So many badass and hilarious lines jam-packed into one film. The mountain climbing is taut, and the plot has some genuine surprises. The second act is too long. Slow burn at times, but very well made. Verdict: good
Long Kiss Goodnight: a 90s gem chock full of ludicrous plot points, crazy action, and hilarious one-liners. Davis kicks ass and Jackson brings the laughs. Writer Shane Black sets it as Christmas time, naturally. Shades of Bourne before Bourne. This is a hell of a picture. Verdict: awesome
March 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Long Kiss Goodnight: a 90s gem chock full of ludicrous plot points, crazy action, and hilarious one-liners. Davis kicks ass and Jackson brings the laughs. Writer Shane Black sets it as Christmas time, naturally. Shades of Bourne before Bourne. This is a hell of a picture. Verdict: awesome
Invasion USA: Commies attack Miami while Chuck Norris wrestles gators & rides on fan boats. The first hour is dreadfully slow, too focused on its incoherent plot. Last 45 minutes are tons of explosions & shooting, but no martial arts. Norris rules, but this movie needed editing. Verdict: average
February 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Invasion USA: Commies attack Miami while Chuck Norris wrestles gators & rides on fan boats. The first hour is dreadfully slow, too focused on its incoherent plot. Last 45 minutes are tons of explosions & shooting, but no martial arts. Norris rules, but this movie needed editing. Verdict: average
Thief: painfully slow, meandering plot, no sense of urgency, & the pacing drags. It’s a heist movie in name only. It’s very talky, and mostly a waste of time. Characters have no depth. The villain dies with a hilarious squeal, but it probably wasn’t meant to be funny. Verdict:shitty
January 24, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Thief: painfully slow, meandering plot, no sense of urgency, & the pacing drags. It’s a heist movie in name only. It’s very talky, and mostly a waste of time. Characters have no depth. The villain dies with a hilarious squeal, but it probably wasn’t meant to be funny. Verdict:shitty
Code of Silence: Chuck Norris is a cop who takes on the mafia and corrupt cops. This has the best writing of any Norris film. The action is fairly minimal, but the climactic battle was good. And he used a robotic tank, which was a hoot! This one is just for the serious Norris fans. Verdict: average
January 23, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Code of Silence: Chuck Norris is a cop who takes on the mafia and corrupt cops. This has the best writing of any Norris film. The action is fairly minimal, but the climactic battle was good. And he used a robotic tank, which was a hoot! This one is just for the serious Norris fans. Verdict: average
Death Rides a Horse: decent spaghetti western team-up film starring Lee Van Cleef. Has a standard but well written revenge plot. Good action, and all the necessary genre tropes/elements. 2nd act drags a little. There are better westerns, but this one is a solid watch. Verdict: good
January 23, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Death Rides a Horse: decent spaghetti western team-up film starring Lee Van Cleef. Has a standard but well written revenge plot. Good action, and all the necessary genre tropes/elements. 2nd act drags a little. There are better westerns, but this one is a solid watch. Verdict: good
Conan the Destroyer: a step down from the first film. It doesn’t take its world seriously, and leans too far into camp. The 2nd half is less cheesy, and has an excellent fight with Conan and an unnamed assassin. But a guy in a rubber monster suit ruins the finale. Arnold kicks ass. Verdict: average
January 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Conan the Destroyer: a step down from the first film. It doesn’t take its world seriously, and leans too far into camp. The 2nd half is less cheesy, and has an excellent fight with Conan and an unnamed assassin. But a guy in a rubber monster suit ruins the finale. Arnold kicks ass. Verdict: average
Alphaville: Godard’s sci-fi neo-noir is like watching Philip Marlowe on an acid trip. The main character has to assassinate a super-computer, and he is constantly met by absurd situations. The hard boiled aesthetic works, imbues the viewer with dread, and yet flows beautifully. Verdict: awesome
January 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Alphaville: Godard’s sci-fi neo-noir is like watching Philip Marlowe on an acid trip. The main character has to assassinate a super-computer, and he is constantly met by absurd situations. The hard boiled aesthetic works, imbues the viewer with dread, and yet flows beautifully. Verdict: awesome
Fall Guy: burdened with an excessive runtime, and a bloated unfunny finale, this movie is the definition of a film spread too thin. The cast is good, the story is whatever, and the stunts are good. It feels like a love letter to stuntmen, but a fuck you to editors. Verdict: bad
January 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Fall Guy: burdened with an excessive runtime, and a bloated unfunny finale, this movie is the definition of a film spread too thin. The cast is good, the story is whatever, and the stunts are good. It feels like a love letter to stuntmen, but a fuck you to editors. Verdict: bad
Devil’s Brigade: sluggishly paced WWII story of misfit soldiers shaped into a stellar fighting force, but don’t do any fighting until the final 30 minutes. Action is stiff and poorly choreographed. Characters are all blank slates. There are better war films than this. Verdict: bad
October 25, 2024 at 7:02 PM
Devil’s Brigade: sluggishly paced WWII story of misfit soldiers shaped into a stellar fighting force, but don’t do any fighting until the final 30 minutes. Action is stiff and poorly choreographed. Characters are all blank slates. There are better war films than this. Verdict: bad
The film does nothing you haven’t already seen in an underdog sports film before. But the characters are likable, and the film is heartwarming. And the two leads have good chemistry, which really carries the film. Verdict: average
October 22, 2024 at 10:50 PM
The film does nothing you haven’t already seen in an underdog sports film before. But the characters are likable, and the film is heartwarming. And the two leads have good chemistry, which really carries the film. Verdict: average