Desert Son (2010)

Young Philip is ditched by his step father, seemingly left to die in the California desert. A rough & tumble pair of orphans take him in, but nobody seems very happy about anything, less and less so as time goes on. The acting & writing are fairly weak. I liked the cinematography, some of the original music was quite effective. Overall a fairly pointless endeavor, a "why did they make that?" production. 3 out of 5 Netflix Stars (which is a bit high, but I did find the joint aesthetically pleasing).

Archie's Final Project (2009)

SPOILERS! Continuing my streak of teen angst movies, I watched "Archie's Final Project." High school outcast Archibald announces to the class that he is going to make a video documenting his own suicide. There is much uproar & outrage! The movie is fairly lighthearted considering the subject matter, & overly stylized for my taste. Lots of animated segments, lots of quotes from and references to various "Classic Films" near & dear the protagonist's heart. Silly like a high school is silly! I did relate to young master Archie's obsession with videotaping himself, his suicidal ideation, his societal alienation, his disgust with psych drugs & psych doctors. Unlike Archibald, by the film's end I did not come to learn that life is a wondrous gift & and an exciting adventure to be treasured. That's pretty much the only ending the movie could be expected to have & it was executed more tastefully than it might've been, but still didn't have much emotional impact for me. 3 out of 5 Netflix Stars!

Paranoid Park (2007)

Teen skater feels at home amongst the older, scarier, local skate punks. But his peace of mind is short lived as he then immediately accidentally helps a security guard get killed. The film didn't resonate especially deeply with me but I found the writing, acting & cinematography pleasing enough. 3 out of 5 Netflix Stars!

Zero Day (2003)

2 high school boys document their plans to go on a school shooting spree. One of the more successful 1st person narrative, fake home-movie productions I've seen. The two protagonists(?) were usually quite believable in their roles as disaffected teens/burgeoning mass murderers. The writing was good as well, not too heavy handed or over simplified. I can't especially see this movie deterring any potential school shootings, it certainly didn't quell my own psychopathic tendencies. Indeed, I may have liked "Zero Day" for all the wrong reasons, but I still liked it. 4 out of 5 Netflix Stars!!!

The Killing Jar (2010)

Some people in a dinky, redneck diner are terrorized by a stranger with a shotgun. Didn't really go anywhere but mostly stayed entertaining the whole time. 3 out of 5 Netflix Stars!

Control (2004)

Spoil spoil SPOILERS: Ray Liotta is a sociopathic killer on death row until Willem Dafoe gives him some magic pills that turn him into a nice guy who doesn't have to be in prison anymore. Ray & Willem don't know it but: turns out they were only sugar pills... he just was a nice guy! Sadly for Liotta everyone wants to kill him, for various grievances past & present. I forget who or why but some guys do kill him. After he turned nice! Willem goes to work at a Rec Center for troubled youths or something & feels happy about it (sad about dead nice Ray). 2 out of 5 Netflix Stars!

Meeting Evil (2012)

Implausible & ridiculous! A good time. Samuel L. Jackson is relatively fun as the aimless, cheerful, unstoppable psycho-killer. It's enjoyable watching him torment Luke Wilson through most of the movie. The dialogue & character motivation are thoroughly unbelievable across the board. If there's a lesson to be learned or moral to be found it passed me by, none the less I was for the most part entertained. It seems like all movies of this sort remind me of "Funny Games" anymore, which is fine since I love "Funny Games," but it's still odd. This one had lots of key elements: the murderous sociopath with a weird hypocritical insistance upon good manners, affluent white people with golf clubs used for violence, the spineless father who only makes matters worse, a tendency to show the aftermath of acts of violence instead of showing the acts themselves. I was predictably bored for the last third of the film but up until then I was having a good ol' time with its dumb self! 3 out of 5 Netflix Stars!

Wonderful World (2009)

SPOILER ALERT!!! Matthew Broderick is a middle aged mope with a terrible attitude. Then eventually he sees some magic happen & suddenly the same corrupt, evil world is beautiful & joyous. The film ends with Broderick doing an earnest, feel-good, cringe-inducing children's song for an audience of enthralled youngsters, complete with the obligatory "bah-bah-bah-bah"s & an invisible backing band. Reminded me of a non-ironic "Happiness Pie" (Kids in the Hall). Made me want to watch a slasher flick to wash the rancid taste out of my brain. 2 out of 5 Netflix Stars!

Airborne (2012)

SPOILERS!! Unpleasant, largely unrelated things happen on a plane. I found the bad acting more enjoyable for being British. The (presumably) English actor playing what I think was supposed to be a southern American was especially inscrutable. The movie's attempts at being macho & bawdy came off as extra silly, again simply by virtue of being British. The increasing mystery & intrigue became increasingly boring, the increasing gore was random & off-putting. Out-of-the-blue inclusion of a Mayan demon suddenly possessing passengers left me lost for words. Around this time I got bored & went to go make some food. I had to hit rewind so I could properly hear the completely unprecedented 5 second voice over (sounding like a parody of an action movie commercial) that ends this relentlessly embarrassing film. Bad in ways I'd never seen before, way to break new ground! 2 out of 5 Netflix Stars!