Churape's Dungeon and Stuff

Look Both Ways is a cute story that explores how the life of a young woman splits after one defining moment. In her senior year of college, Natalie takes a pregnancy test that would determine her future. The movie explores how her life would have turned out with either outcome. In one version, Natalie works toward the goals she has set for herself while the other version of Natalie becomes a mother. The movie will constantly shift between the two, comparing each other’s achievements and hardships. It is a neat idea, and it makes for a cute story.

The movie is cute because of its cast and the chemistry they share. The story is okay, but it plays off as too much of a fantasy. There is hardly any adversity in this quirky little narrative, and what does exist is easily overcome. Everything works out in the end, so think of this as a fairy tale you watch when you want to relax.

I liked how they showed that life wasn’t over for Natalie after she got pregnant, and she could still work towards her goals. Both narratives were treated nicely but limited by this mirroring the narratives had to do. Each switch had to be parallel so the choices Natalie made had to be the same or similar.

My only complaint is that the ending was a bit disappointing, had it ended a few minutes earlier it would have been better, but it didn’t ruin the experience. Also having it limited to only two successful outcomes is a bit limiting, but any other combination would have either been too long or biased.

It’s cheesy, its fun, and you won’t hate it. It isn’t going to win any awards, but I enjoyed the story, and I appreciate how it was told. You can stream it on Netflix.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Lou (2022)

September 24, 2022 josechurape Leave a comment

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As far as cheap and generic action movies go, Lou fairs a little better, but I still can’t recommend it. I am sure there is an audience for these types of movies, but they haven’t found any in my home.

Lou is about a recluse who lives in the woods and hunts for her food. The movie starts as she is about to commit suicide, but her attempt is interrupted by her one and only neighbor. Her neighbor’s daughter has been kidnapped, and Lou takes it upon herself to track down the kidnappers and save the little girl. The problem is, there is a storm shaking the island, and her arthritis is flaring up. Will she be able to save the little girl before the arteritis takes her hands?

This movie was average at best but never worth your time. The acting is average, with Lou being the best actor. The other characters try their hardest, but the writing doesn’t do much to help them. The plot is simple and linear, and the action isn’t fun or exciting.

I am not sure how I feel about this trend of older action heroes. I am glad that actors are no longer type-casted into the grandparent role, but I don’t think they’ve figured out the formula to make them work. Granted, these movies aren’t made for me, but it is still a valid opinion. At least this one was more realistic. It makes me nervous for the final Halloween movie seeing how the last movie was over-the-top ridiculous. I have nothing against Jamie Lee Curtis, but she had Micheal Meyers level of resilience to knife wounds; that is a hard truth to accept.

It is hard to say anything more about this movie because it just exists without leaving much of an impression. When there isn’t any action, I was trapped watching two women hiking through the woods, bonding due to circumstances. It may not be the worst action movie, but it is forgettable. You can stream it on Netflix.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Drifting Home (2022)

September 20, 2022 josechurape 6 Comments

Drifting Home is a cute coming-of-age story that deals with grief and loss. I wasn’t ready for the emotional journey this movie was about to take me on, but I am glad I was there for it. Even if you aren’t a fan of Anime, you should check out this film.

Kosuke and Natsume are two kids who lived together due to their circumstances. They were best friends and did everything together. This all changes when Kosuke’s grandfather dies, breaking up the long-existing friendship. Now they only speak to each other when necessary. Unknown forces whisk the pair and a group of friends away and drop them on top of an endless ocean, floating on top of the decrepit apartment they grew up in. The building floats aimlessly, and the kids must band together to survive till rescue comes. If it ever comes that is. Will the kids survive the journey and find a way back home?

I will be rewatching this film regularly. It has become one of my favorite animated films in recent memory. The art is beautiful, the dubbing is fantastic, and the story is cute and compelling. The endless drifting at sea is a perfect metaphor for the kid’s feelings, as they struggle to cope with complex emotions such as grief and loss. The journey acts as the catalyst that will help the kids work through their troubles. It is a well-written journey that will have you sobbing at points but ultimately leave you smiling. Drifting Home is a unique take on a human experience we are all familiar with, making it relatable to all audiences.

Above all, Floating Home is fantasy done right. This is a fun and fantastical world that is well-built and developed. It makes for a fantastic adventure that will have you at the edge of your seat. This isn’t going to be a movie you can only watch once. If you haven’t seen it, I ask you to add it to your watch list and thank me later. You can stream it on Netflix.

Now as a shameless plug, if this movie isn’t available for streaming where you live, I suggest using Atlas VPN. As a note, I am affiliated with them and will get a small commission if you choose to use it. I’ve been using it for a bit now, and it does what it sets to do.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Do Revenge (2022)

September 16, 2022 josechurape Leave a comment

I just watched Do Revenge and it was a lot better than I expected. It may not be winning any awards or breaking any leaderboards, but it is a fun and entertaining movie to throw on when you don’t want to think.

Drea attends a prestigious high school and has managed to work her way to the top of the social ladder. She runs the school and dreams of going to Yale. This all changes when her boyfriend leaks her nudes to the entire class. Drea’s reputation is ruined overnight, and she is made an outcast by the people she believed to be her friend. Her boyfriend survives unscathed, leaving Drea to deal with the anger of this betrayal alone.

While her boyfriend gets to live his normal life, Drea must play by the rules and deal with the repercussions. But Drea’s fall from grace lands her an unlikely ally, Elenore. Elenore has also had her reputation destroyed, and shares in Drea’s anger. Together, they plot to exact revenge on those who wronged them. Common goals create unlikely friendships, but will the revenge they seek quell the anger they hold within?

Do Revenge doesn’t have the greatest story. It doesn’t even have enough story for a full movie and must resort to romantic subplot plot filler and some light fan service. That said, this isn’t a bad movie. What makes this movie work so well is its leads. These two have the chemistry and charisma to carry this movie. I had so much fun watching them scheme and slowly become friends, even though what they do is immoral.

What I liked about this movie was the leads had a conscience. In movies like this, the leads don’t realize what they are doing is wrong until it’s too late. You get a sappy apology, and everything is restored in the end. This movie has some of that, but the characters show remorse as they plot and scheme. There is a very cool scene where Drea confesses that she still feels angry, and nothing seems to quell that anger. This was a very surprising moment because I didn’t expect this movie to have any depth or character growth.

Do Revenge is a simple movie that does what it sets out to do, it entertains. Aside from the leads, the acting is average at best. There are some bad line reads that I am willing to forgive. This movie is a tad generic as it hits a lot of the mandatory teen movie tropes. The story also loses a bit of traction towards the end as it tries to tie everything up. But if you just are looking for something to watch, this movie is a solid choice. You can stream it on Netflix.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews: The Catholic School (2022)

September 15, 2022 josechurape 6 Comments

Image by Marcos Cola from Pixabay

Catholic School is hard to recommend because of how disturbing the subject matter is. This is a movie that is based on real events, and it doesn’t hold back on trying to make its audience uncomfortable. If you have any kind of trauma, from either sexual or physical abuse, don’t watch this movie. It doesn’t show any of the violent bits, but the implications are still difficult to sit through.

Catholic School follows the events that lead up to 1975’s gruesome Circeo massacre in Rome in which three boys from a prestigious catholic school kidnapped, tortured, and murdered two young women. The movie will jump around the different students of the class, showing how the pressures and trauma in their lives slowly shaped them. The film does a deep dive at all the students, not just the ones that committed the atrocities. In doing so, the film aims to show the importance of mental health and how simply ignoring the problems doesn’t fix them.

I wouldn’t watch this movie for fun because this isn’t a fun movie. It is difficult to have to sit through the family drama and the traumatizing events at the end of this film. It is harder to sit through knowing that this is based on real events. Knowing and seeing the atrocities that man is capable of is always a difficult experience. I will be watching cartoons to try to get through the sorrow I’m overcome with because of this movie.

This movie does a good job of showing how people deal with trauma, and how this trauma affects a person. The problem is this movie takes a long time to get to the point. You jump around between each classmate, learning of his troubled home life to get a bit of perspective, but this gets old and repetitive. I understand that the intention was to show how the pressures of society shape young people, but it does so too slowly. It feels much more like filler, wasting the social commentary it is trying to make. This movie suffers for its artistic choices.

This movie is available for streaming on Netflix, but be warned; this isn’t an entertaining movie. It is a hard look at a horrible event. It isn’t for everyone, and I would skip it.

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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: Me Time (2022)

September 2, 2022 josechurape 6 Comments

Me Time is another lazy and generic buddy comedy where Kevin Hart plays himself. While this might be one of his better ones, it isn’t saying much considering how low the bar is. I wouldn’t bother with this movie unless you really enjoy Kevin Hart’s comedy.

Kevin Hart is a stay-at-home dad with a very successful wife. He takes pride and joy in his role, but there are factors that leave him insecure about his manhood. In an effort to prove his worth to the world, he links up with an old childhood friend for a night of partying. Things quickly get out of hand, and now Hart must salvage the night and save his marriage and friend.

You’ve seen this movie before. You will probably forget you watched this movie. This lazy addition to Hart’s filmography only proves that he is destined to be typecasted as himself for the remainder of his career. While these movies might be good for his bank statements, I am tired of having to sit through the same movie and listen to the same jokes, all to learn the same morals. All I want is a unique plot, and not this copy and pasted nonsense.

Don’t watch this movie and give it ratings. With how much content there is out right now, your time is better spent elsewhere. The acting is okay, the jokes are barely funny, and the plot is clearly recycled. Why waste your time on something that clearly had little effort put into it? You can stream it on Netflix, but I wouldn’t bother.

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Movie Review: Day Shift(2022)

August 17, 2022 josechurape 4 Comments

Day Shift is a buddy comedy about vampire hunters that certainly has its moments, but I wouldn’t rush out to go stream it unless you have nothing else to watch. While it may not be the worst movie on the platform, its inconsistencies leave it in an awkward place where it is hard to recommend.

Jamie Foxx is a rogue vampire hunter that plays by his own rules. This flaw makes him a broke vampire hunter, desperate for money. In an effort to stay afloat, he must join the heavily regulated secret organization of vampire hunters. Here he is assigned Dave Franco, an inexperienced desk jockey who does everything by the book. The two find themselves in a conflict against a powerful vampire and her clan. They now must learn to work together to save Los Angeles from a vampire uprising.

Day Shift is just okay. The acting is fine, the jokes are inconsistent at best, and the story is generic. I don’t think there was a clear road map for this movie as it feels like a series of unfunny sketches strung together with some decent action scenes. If you cut out the dull and unfunny bits, we wouldn’t have a movie.

There is nothing special about this story. The characters are forgettable. Dave Franco and Jamie Foxx don’t have enough chemistry to pull this movie off, but I will blame the script for that. The villains have no presence, leaving the film without the suspense and tension it needs to be interesting. This would be forgivable because this movie is a comedy, but most of the jokes aren’t funny. The movie always goes for the cheap laugh and it doesn’t always work. I will commend the movie’s attention to detail. There are some small insignificant bits of lore that are set up very nicely, but I only noticed them because I was losing interest in the movie.

The action is this film’s only redeeming feature. Whoever designed the action scenes in this movie had a lot of fun with their job. Not all the scenes are equally fun, but there were enough to save this movie from being terrible. The first couple of fights in this movie are fantastic, but the movie definitely loses its steam towards the end.

If you are thinking of watching Day Shift, do so passively. Not everything in this movie is worth your attention. Otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way to put this on. You can stream it over on Netflix.

Movie Reviews, movies

Movie Review: Wedding Season (2022)

August 9, 2022 josechurape 3 Comments

Wedding Season is a surprising rom-com. You have seen this narrative formula before, and that’s okay. Wedding Season has been reskinned to the experience of an Indian American couple trying to live their lives under the pressures of their community. It is a solid date night movie and one that you won’t hate if you are forced to watch it.

Wedding Season is about an Indian American woman Priya who just wants to live her life her own way and build her career. Her mother takes it upon herself to find Priya a man. Priya in an effort to take some of the pressure off herself agrees to date one of her mom’s prospects. Priya and Ravi then decide to create a fake relationship so that their families, and the rest of their society, will leave them alone. Fantasy turns to reality, and both find that their feelings for each other are real.

This rom-com was very well done, the story is cute, and the actors are amazing. I loved the new perspective and twist on this story. I can’t speak on the cultural accuracy of the movie, but I do appreciate seeing brown people in roles where they aren’t offensive caricatures. There really isn’t much more to say about this movie because you have seen this movie countless times already. I didn’t mind it because they do enough to make this movie feel fresh. My only complaint is that there are parts that dragged on for me, but I think that is a personal problem. I watch too many movies.

If you are looking for a date night movie, Wedding Season is a solid choice. If you are a fan of the genre, you will have a lot of fun with this movie. Check it out on Netflix!