Red Rocket (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Washed-up porn star Mikey Saber returns to his small Texas hometown and decides if he wants to be with his ex-wife or the donut shop girl hes in love with.

Directed by Sean Baker. Stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, and Suzanna Son.

Red Rocket is a Sean Baker film about an adult film star who returns to his hometown in search of his next career move. He attempts to rekindle things with his ex, while simultaneously falling for a high schooler working at the local donut shop. Baker and I have been kind of all over the place -- I loved The Florida Project and was bored by Anora, and this one sits right in the middle. Our main character is exactly the kind of character that Sean Baker really excels in highlighting, someone who is absolutely trapped in the world that they live in with not even a hint of being able to get out of it, and some of that world is of their own making. The whole film feels perpetually claustrophobic, and even as the characters are dreaming big dreams you have this sense that it's obviously never going to make it there. There's a hopelessness pervading the entire film that is relentless. I found the ending provocative in the same way The Florida Project was, albeit with a slightly more ambiguous vibe. It's a depressing watch, but it's a well-made one, and certainly one that pulled me into the world of the characters.

🎥 Red Rocket (2021)

📊 Ranked #1819/4274 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 59

beat All Quiet on the Western Front (#2101 → #2246)

beat Going My Way (#1087 → #1147)

lost to Naughty Marietta (#621 → #503)

lost to The Cutting Edge (#826 → #869)

beat Oxygen (#958 → #1037)

lost to An American Werewolf in London (#901 → #876)

lost to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (#926 → #921)

lost to Feet First (#948 → #808)

lost to Synecdoche, New York (#955 → #754)

beat Whale Rider (#957 → #1034)

beat TiMER (#755 → #1789)

lost to The Thursday Murder Club (#869 → #648)

Vengeful (2024)

IMDb plot summary: Raymond, wrongly convicted of a crime enters prison. Upon release, Raymond faces rejection by society and his estranged daughter. Raymond's despair deepens. Fueled by anger, Raymond's focus shifts to revenge.

Directed by Chuck Browne. Stars Bobby J. Coleman, Christoph David Cording, and Linsey Davis.

Vengeful is a film about a man who is unfairly imprisoned and when he is finally released on parole and finds that he is unable to resume any semblance of a normal life, he decides instead to take revenge on those who put him in prison in the 1st place. This is... pretty not-great. The writing and acting feels amateurish at basically every level. You can feel the passion in telling this story, but you can also feel a single writer's unedited voice, when it could use an editor for sure. It clearly is also wanting to make some bigger point about the prison industrial complex and how it affects Black families, but it never lands that message. There are much better examples of better crime movies.

Miami Connection (1987)

IMDb plot summary: A martial arts rock band goes up against a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida's narcotics trade.

Directed by Woo-sang Park and Y.K. Kim. Stars Y.K. Kim, Vincent Hirsch, and Joseph Diamand.

Miami Connection is a martial arts film about a rock band who are all super into Taekwondo, and they fight a bunch of criminals and ninjas in Miami. This film feels tailor-made for an MST3K feature. It's bananas. There's so much going on, and none of it makes sense together. That's not to say it's not entertaining -- I particularly enjoyed the extended scenes of metal songs singing about peace, love, and Taekwondo. But truly the story is extremely confusing and makes very little sense. A silly, fluffy romp that had some enjoyable moments but overall will not sit with me for long.

🎥 Miami Connection (1987)

📊 Ranked #2925/4273 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 36

lost to All Quiet on the Western Front (held at #2118)

beat Cinderella (#3210 → #3211)

lost to Melinda and Melinda (#2659 → #2609)

lost to With Byrd at the South Pole (#2939 → #2842)

lost to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (#3074 → #3075)

beat The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared (#3142 → #3143)

lost to Water for Elephants (#3107 → #3108)

lost to The Untouchables (#3125 → #3127)

beat Lolita (#3133 → #3134)

beat The Divorcee (#3129 → #3130)

lost to Little Women (#3127 → #3129)

beat High Society (held at #3128)