Looking at my star rating alone, it seems to be a mostly average/sub-average selection this time; therefore I was all the more happy about the few highlights which I still could find in the heap.

Film

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Can’t really understand the hype for it, at least not when watching it in 2023 for the first time. The premise was maybe good for a 20-minute-or-so episode on a TV show like Twilight Zone, Outer Limits or The X-Files, but not for a low-budget feature film!
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Rewatch – I had fond childhood memories of this one. Back then, I certainly laughed more about the (surprisingly little) slapstick. I now hoped to enjoy that again, plus the hope to discover a “new”, second layer of wordplays etc. that went over my head as a kid and with german dubbing.

But sadly, not only did I find the physical humor unfunny now, I also think that it lacks any other humoristic aspect, like witty dialogues.

(Had a very similar negative realisation recently with another John Cleese comedy, Clockwise; now I am afraid to re-watch “Fawlty Towers” again!)
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

A very exhausting arthouse horror film. I soon accepted (necessarily, but not to my liking) that there is neither rhyme nor reason why the things happen, just that they do, and set the drama in motion.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

The trailer left me cold, but after hearing a few positive reviews, I took a peek: Considering it’s a Netflix production, it’s not too shabby.
It has indeed a certain charm, but not enough for me make it a particular enjoyable or recommendable affair.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

(aka Dance of the Vampires) The very ending (as in the final 30 seconds or so) are cool, but everything that comes before it is not very scary, funny, thrilling or any other kind of entertaining.

For the first act, while they were at the lodge/the inn, I thought: OK, times have changed since 1967, so let’s deal with it, maybe there will still be a few good scenes later on – well, no there weren’t (for me).
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

UHF (1989)

A few nice gags, but in total, not as zany or as weird as I had hoped for.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Valhalla Rising (2009)

There are interesting 10 minutes hidden here — unfortunately, this fancy arthouse oeuvre has a runtime of 90+ minutes…
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Stand By Me (1986)

Have I seen it before? Probably. But if so, without a lasting or big impact. But that is more indebted to my own upbringing and history, not a fault of the film. In fact, now (re)watching at a later age, it felt pretty emotionally relatable to me in certain scenes.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Rabid (1977)

This may have had an impact on an unexpecting audience of 1977, but nowadays it’s just very (l|t)ame.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Mittagsstunde (2022)

I’ve heard good things about this film, and the premise sounded interesting; but sadly it totally failed to connect with me (granted, I did have certain expections, which weren’t matched).

On subsequent reading about it, I learned that it is based on a novel. And I could deduce from the novel’s summary that its plot probably worked better in that medium; but not in this condensed film-version.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Hm, not loving it — quite the opposite: less than a handful funny scenes don’t make a good comedy.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Cobweb (2023)

Not good. Just watched it because of an recommendation on a YT film channel, and now I regret it.

After circa a quarter of the film, one can take a good guess on how this will turn out (if one has seen a few horror or suspense films before), and one will most certainly be right: So, no surprises here.

And the production value is also far from being remarkable.

There are a few nice ideas stowed away in some corners, but they aren’t played out during its short runtime, to the advantage of this movie.
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Groundhog Day (1993)

Rewatch – The original(?), at least the Grandmaster of “Deja Vu” films and a well-spirited comedy. I still like it.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

Tar (2022)

Way too long for my liking. May very well be a character study, but I sadly could not really relate to any of it: not with the scene/environment and not with the characters, so it was rather pointless for me (I also found the reason/orgin of what kicks of the drama off pretty unexplainable.)
★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

Elemental (2023)

The premise looked cool in the 2min trailer, and I think it would have worked better as a typical Pixar short; but extending it to a full-length feature film was not to the film’s advantage.

Regarding the usual social topics that Pixar movies also try bring accross: This time, it was a bit too forces, direct and on the nose, I think; I would have liked a more subtle approach (the message itself was OK, but the delivery was lacking).

I also didn’t smile or laugh much, so also no bonus points on that front. It’s OK, on a mediocre level, but when compared with other Pixar milestones, it is only below average.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

Scream (1996)

Rewatch – The hype for this franchise totally passed me back then. I kind of recall watching this first part already, on TV, many years ago — and I was not impressed by it back then. That hasn’t changend now, on a second viewing, years later.

Maybe it was a fresh new take for hardcore fans of the horror and slasher genre back then (which I was not and am not), but I couldn’t really stand the characters or the plot, so: Failure!
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

No Hard Feelings (2023)

Ah, a raunchy comedy in the year 2023 — can that work? Well, yes and no: Hollywood’s understanding of “raunchiness” was already in the past not well aligned with my understanding (I never really got the hype for American Pie, for example). The same here: It plays it all very safe, and the rest is also not worth noting.

Only the fact that Jennifer Lawrence stars here makes it somewhat stand out (the other cast members are also all OK, but not more): She is indeed a very talented actor, I can only imagine why she is part of this (probably just to flex her comedic muscle a bit or to scratch an itch on her funny bone; i.e. “why not?”…).
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

The Mask (1994)

Rewatch – Well, I’m not the biggest Jim Carrey fan, but here he is undoubtedly at the top of his game. The rest of the film is serviceable for what it wants to be: Average mainstream mid-1990s comedy — except for the special effects, which make this whole thing still somewhat extraordinary.

Granted, the early CGI has aged a bit, but the film has the advantage that it’s used for a timeless Looney Tunes-like cartoon look, so it still fits right in.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Rewatch – The appropriate title would have been “Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula”, he definitely is on full-force here.

I have an interesting history with this one: I think this was the third time I saw the film:

1. I remember that I absolutely adored it and was very impressed with it some time in the 1990s.
2. On a second viewing, in a family context, many years later (2000s? Maybe 2010s?), it felt suddenly very cheap and outdated.
3. Now, re-watching it (alone again, this time) and after having read about the Making-of and behind-the-scene stories (and having read the original novel, a long time ago), I fell again in love with it. Now I appreciated the effects and the overly theatrical presentation again.
   (I was also reminded of how many iconic shots and scenes there are in it.)

★★★★★ 5/5 stars

Pumping Iron (1977)

I have always been a big Arnold fan, but have never seen this documentary, from before he became this huge superstar in the 1980s and 1990s. And because this is from before his breakthrough in films, he is also not the sole focus of the film, but clearly its main attraction: He already has that undeniable charisma (but one can also catch brief glimpses in some darker corners of his, but that’s that: Don’t expect a psychogram).

Unfortunately, the other people and the rest of the film (with its training sequences and snippets from the competition shows) weren’t nearly as interesting (to me!), so that reduces my rating a level.
★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars

FCK 2020 - Zweieinhalb Jahre mit Scooter (2022)

Another documentatary (this time in german). First off, I stumbled upon this on Netflix, because I heard a few interesting reviews last year about it — otherwise, I have null connection to this “band-project”: Absolutely not my style of music.

But it serves its purpose well by informing an unware (but curious) person like me about this topic, by looking upon it from the sideline.
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Oh man, what a disappointment. I know it would be hard to sell an 80 years old adventurer: Harrison Ford is still in good shape (for his age) and seems to have fun, but he simply is no longer the Indy of past glory.

The action here is laughable and full of bad CGI, green-screen effects and lackluster cinematography); and if they had tried to make it (even more) into a character drama, why try it with the Indy character?

And to hand over the torch to a younger actor? It failed in the previous film, and the cast here offers also no option; so, why bother at all (again)?

Part IV (“Crystal Skull”) came out in 2008 and was already a discgrace, compared to the parts I to III, but at least it ended on a postive note (not pefect, like the ending of part III, but still good-enough).

And while the actual ending here is not a complete downer, everything that leads up to it (the backstory of what happend between the predecessor and now, and also this film itself) just feels… bad.

(By the way, the first act, the flashback with the younger Indy, was not too shabby, but also nothing that would save this film. The de-aged face looked impressive, and fortunately, they used also an age-appropriate body double — but then using the voice of the old Harrison Ford threw me out again.)\ ★☆☆☆☆ 1/5 stars

I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)

I think I’ve had that on my watchlist in the past, but never had the chance to see it; and then, after a while, it disappeared from my radar.

Some weeks ago, it was positively mentioned in the “recently watched” segment in an episode of the (german!) YT-channel Kino+, and now I caught up with it on Netflix: Yeah, it was a well done dark-crime-drama-comedy (if that sounds like a strange mix: It is, but in a good way).

If you need something to feel happy-go-lucky, I wouldn’t recommended it, but if you are in a certain melancholic mood (but not depressed!), this might be a film for you. It was for me.
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars

TV

Star Trek: The Original Series — Season 2

(Rewatch) Well, like any drug, after a while, it won’t get you as high as it did before: Now that my nostalgia fix was satisfied with season one, I could focus more on the stories.

Like I mentioned often before: One has to consider the epoch of when the films and shows were made and aired. If one applies the same benchmarks as of today, it’s a receipe for disaster and one could stop watching the old stuff — so, don’t do that. But still, it is of its time, which is not mine. It was already an “old” show when I watched it for the first time as a kid; and that was also decades ago! And I initally really fell in love with Trek with season 2 or 3 of TNG.

All that being said (again), my verdict is: It had some good ideas and some well made episodes, but also a lot of mediocre and not-so-good material. I did enjoy it, but with a copious grain of salt…
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars