99 - "The Exorcist: Believer"

Explicit content warning

10/06/23 • 11 min

David Gordon Green co-wrote "The Exorcist: Believer" with Danny McBride but ultimately directed this attempt of horror that deals with spiritual/demonic possession. It's a subgenre that he hasn't been too. This film has a simple plot where overall kids skip school, go to the woods and decide to do a ritual and BOOM- possession. This film is a bit more more than what I just described. It lightly explores the whodonit scenario especially when you put parents in the mix. It all becomes about parents trying to save their kids. We see family dynamics and how it ties into their beliefs, or lack of. It's interesting that Green decided to put that out there because the whole film just becomes about locking themselves down, uniting all religions together practically, which the film goes into how all religions all have one goal, and try to get the demons out of their children themselves. It gets that real which to me is the highest mark of the film. The screenplay has so much room to play with but decided to stay a bit safe and relatable for our general audience. Even though it's quite different from the first film of this iconic franchise, it likes to reminds us from the music to the most iconic characters. Throughout, it gets melodramatic, almost too much to take serious but it's horror show, what more do I expect?
two out of four tokes.

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98 - "Boyz N the Hood"

John Singleton showed us 1991 America in less than two hours and he was relentless. The f-ed up part of it all is that even though it's a fictional film, what you see in the film happens everyday. What sucks even more is that it still happens to this day. This is my favorite film from this director who took a chance and he dragged us along with it and we can't look away. I talk about how impactful this film is through its subject matter of parenthood, growing up in tough & unpredictable neighborhoods, trying to survive in order to make out to have a better life. Not only that, it shows us that we have power especially if we stick together instead of killing each other. Why? It's a big and heavy slice of life that shape the characters. Such a simple plot that went all over LA but still kept it in the "hood". This is more than just a film of kids growing up, it's about being forced to grow up quicker just to stay alive for the next day and it's not guarranteed. Every person should see this film because it crosses barriers and it's realistic. You can laugh for one moment while eating a cheeseburger with your friends only to find out that you might be gone without finishing your meal. That's rough. But Singleton made it to be because that's how it can be. It's a dangerous film with dangerous writing and the incredible cast acted their asses off. You can run, but you can't hide. Know what you want, set course for it, and stick to it.
Four out of four tokes.

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100 - "Jennifer's Body"

Diablo Cody teamed up with Karyn Kusama and they came up with a Twilight that was catered to emo/goth teens and alike, and lets face it, those who graduated from high school. It's called "Jennifer's Body" and it's about hot chick who becomes possessed after hanging with a band she was obsessed to see. She starts killing dudes from her high school and her best friend is trying to figure out what to do and she can't trust no one becomes no one takes her seriously which is pretty weird. I had problems with this film, such as character development especially with Needy's characters. Like, man, smarten up! These characters overall are dumb! I felt the film would have been better if that subplot of sexual tensions between the two major characters. I really like the cinematography of the film, they set up pretty good killing scenes, the visuals are not merciless. That's about it. I wished these characters weren't so much like "Juno" characters, but hey, it's Diablo Cody. She has great work overall.
Two and a half out of four tokes.