DEREK EX MACHINA, created by author and editor Derek L.H., is a blog dedicated to exploring the effect that video games and film have on people.
All in Movie Review
Through intelligent framing and using the audiences familiarity with the film’s genre against them, Strange Darling subverts and weaponizes audience expectations, making them just as much of a victim as the many characters who get bested in the film.
Sing Sing stands far above its contemporaries due to its uniquely authentic and intellectual approach to its story, performances, and themes about hope, humanity, and integrity. This film respects those whose story this film is based on while also being a story full of heart and humanity that its depicted inmates share.
Dìdi is a special film thanks to its dedication to authenticity. [The film] authentically captures the struggle of becoming emotionally intelligent in a way that everyone can understand - especially those that also grew up in an era where technology and the internet grew alongside us.
Through its dark humor and brilliantly realized characters, The Art of Self-Defense manages to say a lot about violence and masculinity without every coming across as full of itself or preachy. Self-Defense is a film that very much understands what it is and the kind of story it’s trying to tell, and doesn’t attempt to be anything that it isn’t. What results is a film that is tightly focused, funny, and intelligent.
What makes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse so special to me is that a begets its audience to rethink what animation is capable of. This film could have easily adopted a live-action counterpart, or used a more traditional CG art style - but it didn’t. Why was this? Why, in this instance, did Sony choose to take a riskier and more stylistic approach when a safer, more often-used presentation would have been easier (and likely more profitable)? The answer to that…is passion.
Widows - while certainly having some excellently realized commentary on modern western culture and the increasing spread of apathy - doesn’t manage to do much you haven’t seen before in a heist film […] It’s certainly flawed, but it’s clear that this film was a product of smart and lovingly-crafted writing and direction, which alone makes it worth a watch.
Beautiful Boy creates a narrative experience that was intimate in a way that few other films are able to replicate. This film provides a refreshing and insightful look into the extent to which addiction affects family. More than anything, though, Beautiful Boy dares to show the lengths we’re willing to go to save those we care about, even when we know that it very well may be for nothing.
mid90s is a dense, intriguing film that analyzes the extent to which a generation was impacted by their surroundings in a flawed era and culture. […] Through powerful writing, great performances, and a commentary about a generation that hasn’t had many stories told about it (yet), mid90s is an examination well worth paying attention to.
First Man is an intriguing exploration of Neil Armstrong’s personal journey masked underneath his more public one that history has made everyone familiar with. While it’s perhaps Damien Chazelle’s weakest feature film, First Man still manages to impress and inspire awe.
With a screenplay that feels awkward and tonally confused, performances that either feel miscast or missing strong characterization, and a structure that feels both formulaic and dated, Venom is a corporate, mediocre mess. Given the plethora of comic-book-to-film adaptations we’ve seen this decade, there are many, many better ways to spend your time if you’re looking for an enjoyable comic book adaptation.
A Star is Born leaves a significant emotional impact to its audience, and it’s delivered in a tightly edited film with a screenplay that both trusts the performances of its actors and the intelligence of its audience. […] Whether you enjoy romances or find the genre too cliché-filled, A Star is Born is a film that simply can’t be missed.
Clock in Its Walls is an admirably imaginative and heartfelt film with a tragically underdeveloped screenplay, making for a film that, while having a strong core, isn’t a necessity for fans of the genre.
White Boy Rick tells an intriguing story in a disappointingly clumsy manner. Despite having admirable aspects to it, White Boy Rick’s lack of focus and an emotional core leaves something to be desired.
Whether you're a fan of suspense films or are on the fence of whether or not screens-only cinematography has a future, Searching is an impressive, exciting film - one that I think we'll continue to talk and think about for a long time.
Operation Finale delivers incredibly thrilling first and third acts which are unfortunately sandwiching a second act that takes a few missteps with its pacing, often lingering on some unnecessary details. Despite that, Finale manages to be an entertaining thriller that captures both an important and fascinating historical moment.
Very rarely do comedy films every leave a profound impact on me, and yet Sorry to Bother You has managed to do just that. Through its plethora of details, fast pace, excellent writing, and great performances around the board, it's clear to see that Sorry to Bother You was a passion project from beginning to end, and that energy radiates off the screen. It's a film that will make you laugh and also make you think about its themes of power, money, and success.
Fireworks is convinced that it's an intelligent, admirable film because it looks and sounds like one on the surface. Beyond that brittle surface, however, is a film doesn't actually do anything to earn that status. Fireworks boasts two leads that feel radically underdeveloped, and yet it still expects you to care about their relationship, even though you have no idea what would make them compatible with each other, all leading into a third act that entirely rings hollow.
Boasting phenomenal writing and great acting, Day of the Soldado, like its 2015 predecessor, was a refreshing film to watch. It takes the action genre in a direction that we rarely see, and the apologetically realistic, gritty atmosphere of the film makes for an experience that feels unique in an ostensibly crowded genre.
…if there's any word to best describe The Incredibles 2, it's solid. It's well written, well produced, and doesn't have anything that I would consider poorly executed. […] This is a remarkably fun film, but it's also a safe one. You won't be seeing anything in this film that hasn't been done by the first Incredibles or any other superhero movie.
In an era of political uneasiness, hatred, and what at times feels like chaos, Won't You Be My Neighbor? gives us an important reminder of a man that wanted us to realize that neighborly kindness towards others can make the world a significantly better, happier place.
