Full 'Disclosure': Steven Spielberg's latest has no signs of intelligent life

Damon Packard's movie diaryDamon Packard is the Los Angeles-based filmmaker behind such underground classics as “Reflections of Evil,” “The Untitled Star Wars Mockumentary,” “Foxfur,” and “Fatal Pulse.” His AI-generated work recently appeared as interstitials for the 18th annual American Cinematheque Horrorthon and can be enjoyed on his YouTube channel. After a long day making movies or otherwise making ends meet, he likes to unwind with late-night excursions to the multiplexes and art house cinemas of greater Los Angeles.May 20, Obsession (d. Curry Barker), AMC Century City 15This movie is exactly the kind of hollow, dystopian misery porn that brainless contemporary culture keeps walloping with praise. I found it tedious, annoying, and dull. I know this has nothing whatsoever to do with De Palma’s Obsession, but at least DePalma's film (and its inspiration, Hitchcock's Vertigo) knew how to seduce you with mood and atmosphere, mystery and romance. I'll take a single dreamy close-up of Genevieve Bujold in soft diffusion filters over an hour of a possessed, shrieking, creepy, clingy girlfriend.At some point in the last act, there was a lot of screaming and noise in the theater, and they shut the film off because someone had a seizure or something. So I was spared suffering through the rest.As I left, I heard Bernard Herrmann's music in my head. I watched the paramedics arrive. They all looked jaded and took their time pushing the gurney into the elevator. I walked past the huge The Mandalorian and Grogu forest planet display they have out front of the AMC Century City, and Herrmann's music seemed to keep following me. And then I saw her. A Geneviève Bujold look-alike drifting silently past the Funko Pop claw machines in a cream-colored coat, soft curls glowing under the multiplex exterior lights. She turned slightly, just enough for me to catch the resemblance, and then vanished onto the escalator like the ending of a forgotten De Palma dream.May 29, Backrooms (d. Kane Parsons), AMC Century City 15You know you're in trouble when the first two minutes are instant boredom and the rest doesn't get any better. Yeesh, what a waste — ultimately an endurance test to get through. Not a single interesting moment or idea.I like that actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, but what the hell is he doing in this? Not only is he miscast, but he's above this kind of tripe.When I hear them praising 'Disclosure Day,' I'm like George C. Scott in 'Hardcore' when he finds out his daughter has been abducted into the porn industry.I would have hoped a 20-year-old boy-wonder director would bring the reckless energy to make something at least half watchable, but nope, just as horrible, bland, lifeless, dull, and dumb as every other thing the clueless moron masses who wouldn't know what a good film was if their life depended on it flock to. Sam Raimi was 21 when he made Evil Dead; Steven Spielberg 24 when he made Duel; Orson Welles 25 when he made Citizen Kane; Bernardo Bertolucci 22 when he made Before the Revolution; Louis Malle 23 when he made Elevator to the Gallows. Now THOSE were great films. Spielberg is now 79, and Disclosure Day looks like a bland, generic, insipid pile of direct-to-Tubi junk. But is it really age and vitality, or is it that nobody can write good stories any more? Or that nobody would finance one if it even existed? RELATED: Mission: Impossible (to sit through); Final Dud-stination; RIP Joe Don Baker Mike Malloy/Damon Packard/Cinerama/Manuel Velasquez/Getty ImagesJune 2, Pressure (d. Anthony Maras), AMC Century City 15 Just when you thought every WW2 story had been exhausted over the last 80 years, along comes this little 5 million production set within a world of dueling weathermen! What immediately sounds like mundane, made-for-cable fodder turns out to be a surprisingly terrific and engaging little movie, with an interesting perspective and new take.Mostly due to the things you rarely see in films these days: good writing, good music, good direction, and interesting characters. Superb performances and casting all around, even for the initially perceived as a terribly miscast Brendan Fraser, who gives it his all and wins you over in the end. Special mention to the lovely Irish actress Kerry Condon, who makes a perfect 40s military babe. Nothing phenomenal, but as far as mainstream theatrical releases, it is one of the best I've seen this year so far and a reminder some people still know how to make proper films (even if they are shot on the Arri Alexa 35 and technically shouldn't be called films).June 6, The Doors (1991, d. Oliver Stone), Vista Theater HollywoodCaught a late show in 70mm last night. Which looked beautiful but seemed to be missing the subwoofer channel or something. The sound was all high and mid frequencies, zero low end. Not sure what the deal was there, a print issue or something not switched on? A projectionist might know the answer. I really like this film, and it always brings back certain feelings and memories of sneaking onto the set with my friend Chad and joining the background actors at 3 a.m. at the Whiskey back in 1990. The cult worship of Morrison is not dead; there were girls screaming in the theater. The Vista still has a bag-checking policy; therefore I always make it a point to sneak in food and drink just on principleJune 12, Disclosure Day (d. Steven Spielberg), AMC Burbank 16Caught a nice and empty 11:30 p.m. showing of Disclosure Day last night. Talk about a moronic, bland snoozefest. The latest major mega-embarrassment from an aging cine-Boomer. So incredibly dumb, dull, and out of touch that you just sit there half awake in a stunned stupor, taking it all in while trying to stay awake. How anyone can actually defend this is beyond me. It never ceases to amaze: No matter how awful some new mainstream pile of garbage is, there are plenty of defenders — people (clueless, brain-dead walking software programs) who have zero proper film knowledge or education or interest and wouldn't know one way or the other.When I hear them praising something like Disclosure Day, I'm like George C Scott in Hardcore when he finds out his daughter has been abducted into the porn industry. Oh, never mind, that's another film and actor you've probably never heard of.The John Williams score is good. Spielberg may not have it any more, but Williams still does.June 17, The Furious (d. Kenji Tanigaki), AMC Marina Marketplace 6 Caught a late show of this this mostly pretty darned awesome and entertaining Hong Kong action film. It feels very much like the kind of creative (and at times goofy and hilarious) Hong Kong martial arts exploitation films we were getting in the 1980s. With a lot more blood and violence. Top-notch fight scenes, even if they get a little overlong in the third act (which is typical). American action movies that borrow from Hong Kong can never come close to the real deal, and this here is seventh-generation Asian action fight choreography done right.The AI lip sync is a completely flawless and amazing tool, for those who have never seen it. (I'm pretty sure with all the idiotic knee-jerk AI hatred right now, they don't want people to know they're using it, even though it's impossible to tell.)Only wish I saw this in a better theater instead one of the few non-upgraded multiplexes in this area, with muddy images and weak sound. It's stuff like THIS that should be dominating the premium screens.Still, I'm grateful we get little surprises like this in an otherwise predictable world.