Weekend Watch - Here

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch, where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest film from Robert Zemeckis, teaming him back up with Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, Here, based on the graphic novel by Richard McGuire. The film takes a look at a single location in the world across time, using a single camera angle to present the many eras and stories of this single location, focusing primarily on the life of Richard (Hanks), who grows up and lives much of his life in the living room of his family’s suburban house – the film’s location. In addition to Hanks and Wright, the film also features Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Lauren McQueen, Harry Marcus, Zsa Zsa Zemeckis, Michelle Dockery, David Fynn, Ophelia Lovibond, Nicholas Pinnock, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Anya Marco Harris in varying roles throughout the history of the location. The film opened last weekend to mixed reviews from critics and audiences. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C; it’s a high concept, low execution film, but it’s not terrible.

Should you Watch This Film? There’s nothing in Here that demands to be seen on the big screen, but if you’re a fan of Hanks or the creative swings that Zemeckis takes, it’ll be worth catching when this film hits streaming (or Freeform on a Sunday afternoon).

Why?

                As a concept, Here is one of the most interesting and cool films of the year. Unfortunately, in its execution it fails to give audiences anything of substance, relying much more heavily on its gimmick than its story or characters to create a film worth watching, and the result is a film that certainly engages but leaves us with a relatively hollow film whose themes will most likely resonate with audiences whose life has already moved beyond learning the lesson that the film has to offer. Hanks gives a solid performance, but Wright and most of the rest of the ensemble feel fairly sidelined by the film’s commitment to jumping between stories and timelines and to revolving its story around period and generational norms. The film’s women are mostly held in reserve, playing generic mother figures for the most part, and even fun-loving Stella Beekman (Ophelia Lovibond) in the 1920s ends up as an eye-candy pinup girl rather than individual character with any agency. In terms of message, Zemeckis seems to want his audience to remember to take time to do what they love when they can rather than waiting for some nebulous future that is far from guaranteed. On one hand, this should be a resonant message were it not hampered by clunky theming around the limiting nature of children and families, especially for mothers, choosing to center regret as its primary emotional motivator rather than any positive emotion – indeed the one person who does seem to achieve the fullness of their dreams never really gets any time on screen once they’ve done so. Creatively, the single shot framing and even the time jumps do work to keep you engaged, I just don’t know that they’re enough to overcome a dated and stale story to make Here a film for everyone. If you do want to see it in theaters, you can probably still find it; otherwise, you can wait to catch this one on streaming or skip it until it shows up on television around Thanksgiving next year.

Weekend Watch - October 2024 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we’re taking a look back at the most acclaimed films released in the month of October. As always, we’ll be categorizing them by how likely they are to make this year’s list of the best films of the year – Long Shots, Possible Things, and Sure Things. This year, October gave us an early look at some of the top awards contenders ahead of November’s stacked slate, but there’s no reason to ignore the films of October, which contain Best Picture frontrunners, indie darlings, horror sleeper hits, and even a couple of solid documentaries. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Piece by Piece: The Pharrell Williams biography documentary in LEGO animation dropped at the beginning of the month to decent returns from audiences and critics. It comes across as more of a puff-piece than comprehensive bio, though, so it’ll have to rely on its unique animation choices to get into the awards conversations when the year ends.

Saturday Night: The dramatization of the hour and a half leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live is a solid, if imperfect film. Audiences and critics are decently high on it, but it’s not changing the game of cinema as much as its subject changed the state of late-night television. Screenplay love could warrant it some staying power among the ranks of all-time films.

We Live in Time: While the Andrew Garfield/Florence Pugh romantic drama hasn’t pleased critics with its fairly formulaic approach to the nonlinear romance, audiences still resonate heavily with the excellent performances and grounded realism. It’s definitely one worth seeing even if it doesn't get quite as brave as it thinks it does.

The Apprentice: The Donald Trump biopic about the early days of his career in real estate and his introduction to Roy Cohn has gotten lots of love for the performances by Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, but its lack of new insight into the deplorable character of the former president has held it back from reaching all-time heights.

The Last of the Sea Women: Apple’s documentary about South Korean female divers is one of the films that’s been mentioned as an outside contender for the year’s top documentary awards. Unfortunately, those who have seen it so far haven’t rated it quite as high as awards experts predicted, so it’ll stay here on the outside looking in until further notice.

Smile 2: The sequel to the horror hit of 2022 has seen even more success than its acclaimed predecessor. Audiences and critics both agree that it’s an improvement on the first film in almost every way. The only thing holding it back is its genre and nature as a sequel within that genre.

Woman of the Hour: Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut about a woman who accidentally chooses a serial killer on a dating game show (based on actual events by the way) has hit the right notes on Netflix. I’ve even seen reactions calling it one of the best films of the year so far. Unfortunately, audiences haven’t come down quite as collectively agreed on the film, so it’s on the outside.

Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara: Hulu’s documentary about the catfishing of fans of the indie rock group Tegan and Sara released on the streaming platform this month to solid critical responses. Audiences have been slightly less receptive to the critique of fandom that the film offers, and it’s not one of the highest films on most people’s list of great documentaries this year, but those interested in the story will probably find something to love.

Your Monster: Melissa Barrera might have been dropped from the Scream franchise, but that hasn’t kept her from continuing to prove herself as one of the biggest scream queens of the last 10 years, this time with a romantic comedy twist on the horror genre. The film about an aspiring Broadway actress who falls in love with the monster in her closet was one of the sleeper hits at Sundance this year.

Possible Things:

A Different Man: Sebastian Stan had a big month this October with a second award-worthy performance in this comedy thriller about a man who decides to change his facial features. It’s a fairly underground film, but the right campaign in the back end of the year could put it on enough people’s radars to make it one of the best of all time.

The Outrun: The Saoirse Ronan led film about a Scottish woman who returns home to rediscover herself has been on most awards people’s radar since it opened at Sundance this year. Ronan’s performance has been the primary focus of its celebration, though, as the pacing and story feel fairly familiar to those familiar with the subgenre. It’s solid, but I’m not sure if it’s got enough to have real staying power.

Blink: National Geographic’s documentary about a family taking a worldwide trip before their children lose their vision due to a rare genetic disorder can be found in theaters now ahead of a release on Disney+. Its emotional and scientific crossover feels oddly similar to NatGeo’s last successful documentary, Fire of Love, so don’t be surprised to see this one sticking around.

Exhibiting Forgiveness: Another under the radar gem from this month is Titus Kaphar’s film about a black artist reconnecting with his estranged, ex-addict father. The cast, led by André Holland, Andra Day, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and John Earl Jelks should give this film more legs than it currently has. I wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear about it at any awards this year because of how undersold it’s been, but I do expect that you’ll enjoy it if you go to see it.

Conclave: One of this month’s two best picture contenders is Edward Berger’s film adaptation of Robert Harris’s fictional book about the election of a new pope. It’s unique blend of religion and political thriller has made it a huge success with audiences and critics. Ralph Fiennes’s lead performance and the supporting turns from Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, and John Lithgow also look to potentially land well at the big awards this season.

Memoir of a Snail: A highly limited release for one of the frontrunners for Best Animated Feature rolled out in the U.S. this month. The stop motion animated film about a hoarder reminiscing on her life does seem to be a solid addition to this year’s animated slate for those who have been lucky enough to see it. You’ll have to see it if you can find it near you and let me know.

Sure Thing:

Anora: The current Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay frontrunner started its slow rollout this month. Sean Baker’s heart pounding romantic dramedy about a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch has already been acclaimed by many as the best film of the year, and as it continues to broaden its net of theaters, it doesn’t seem to be losing any steam.

Weekend Watch - Venom: The Last Dance

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the third film in Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy, Venom: The Last Dance, which looks to be the final installment of Sony’s partnership with Hardy in bringing the symbiote antihero to the big screen. Co-written by its star Hardy and director Kelly Marcel (Cruella and Fifty Shades of Grey), the film also features performances from Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, and Cristo Fernández. It opened this weekend to the same collection of mixed reviews from audiences and critics as its two predecessors. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C-; it’s just as ok as the two films that came before – fun but not at all substantial.

Should you Watch This Film? If you like the first two Venom films, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. If you want something fresh, new, and groundbreaking, this film is not the film for you.

Why?

                Venom: The Last Dance seeks to establish itself as the true conclusion to a trilogy. Unfortunately, the trilogy it’s seeking to conclude lacked serious thematic and/or narrative cohesion, and the result is yet another tonally disjointed film with oddly communicated stakes and a marked lack of any natural emotional beats, which trilogy concluders so often seek. There’s some solid sound and visual effects work being done on the part of the post-production team, and the film does take some big swings with its action sequences, but none of it ever comes together with the intervening story to make something that feels at all better than a middling 2000s superhero film, just like the two films that came before. I appreciate the effort and love that Hardy and Marcel seem to have poured into their script and the film itself, but they seem to be working at a studio where no one else cares enough about their product and characters to actually give them the editing and fine-tuning that it would take to make these films into something great. On paper, a goofy, violent, multi-personality anti-hero should be an easy slam dunk in this age of superhero films, but Sony has never been able to get out of their own way and let these films be as self-aware as they’d need to be to work. Don’t get me wrong, the action set pieces are really fun here – arguably the best of the trilogy – but the story might be the weakest of the trilogy. It’s decent enough to please those who have been pleased with the first two entries, but it does nothing well enough to sway any new fans or break into new territory for the superhero genre. If you want new Venom content, go check it out in theaters. If not, don’t worry about making it for this one.

Weekend Watch - We Live in Time

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh starring romantic drama from director John Crowley (Brooklyn and Boy A) and writer Nick Payne (The Sense of an Ending), We Live in Time. In addition to Garfield and Pugh as the film’s romantic leads, the film also features Lee Braithwaite, Adam James, and Douglas Hodge in supporting roles. The film opened this weekend across the U.S. to solid audience responses and mixed critic reviews. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; great acting and a devastating story are held back from their fullest potential by some odd story choices.

Should you Watch This Film? Maybe. If you want a highly emotional romantic drama, this one definitely checks that box. If you have trauma related to fertility, I should warn here that this film does deal with that pretty intimately, so you’d be okay waiting to stream this one. For everyone else, it’s a good film, but not necessarily a great one, so I’ll leave it up to you.

Why?

                We Live in Time offers this year’s look at the dramas of romance and relationships, following a relationship from its creative start (Almut hits Tobias with her car and then takes him to the hospital) and then through the typical beats, a honeymoon phase full of sex and dramatic declarations, an early bump in the road about the different expectations regarding family, the reconciliation, and finally, walking through the challenges of a committed relationship together – in this case, cancer and struggles with fertility. Garfield and Pugh are phenomenal as the two leads, carrying it from start to finish with grounded performances that feel incredibly authentic and feature some strong romantic chemistry. Even the story of their relationship is itself compelling with some startlingly real moments that can hit incredibly close to home for people who have walked through similar experiences in their own relationships. The problem is that, for some reason, screenwriter Nick Payne decided that this needed to be presented as a nonlinear narrative, jumping between points in the couple’s relationship almost at random. It’s basically giving us three stories at once – the commitment to the relationship, the pregnancy and birth, and the cancer – which could work if one of those were selected as the main story and the other two treated as jumps forward and/or flashbacks. Instead, we’re given each as its own story unfolding in parallel, and we’re left with far less investment in the couple’s relationship than it otherwise could have been. If we had committed to just one story as the primary plot with the other two in support, I think this would be a true contender for one of the best films of the year because of how compelling and honest the story actually is as it unfolds. As it stands, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh give great performances as we’ve come to expect from them; the story is compelling and real and connects on an emotional level, but the way the story is presented detracts and distracts from the impact that the film could have otherwise had. I wanted to love this film, but I just liked it. It definitely resonated with me and will be one that I think about for a while, but I think that’s despite its odd plotting choices rather than because of them. Andrew and Florence deserved a better plot for as great as their performances were. You won’t be hugely disappointed if you go see this film, just be sure to temper your expectations a bit.                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh starring romantic drama from director John Crowley (Brooklyn and Boy A) and writer Nick Payne (The Sense of an Ending), We Live in Time. In addition to Garfield and Pugh as the film’s romantic leads, the film also features Lee Braithwaite, Adam James, and Douglas Hodge in supporting roles. The film opened this weekend across the U.S. to solid audience responses and mixed critic reviews. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; great acting and a devastating story are held back from their fullest potential by some odd story choices.

Should you Watch This Film? Maybe. If you want a highly emotional romantic drama, this one definitely checks that box. If you have trauma related to fertility, I should warn here that this film does deal with that pretty intimately, so you’d be okay waiting to stream this one. For everyone else, it’s a good film, but not necessarily a great one, so I’ll leave it up to you.

Why?

                We Live in Time offers this year’s look at the dramas of romance and relationships, following a relationship from its creative start (Almut hits Tobias with her car and then takes him to the hospital) and then through the typical beats, a honeymoon phase full of sex and dramatic declarations, an early bump in the road about the different expectations regarding family, the reconciliation, and finally, walking through the challenges of a committed relationship together – in this case, cancer and struggles with fertility. Garfield and Pugh are phenomenal as the two leads, carrying it from start to finish with grounded performances that feel incredibly authentic and feature some strong romantic chemistry. Even the story of their relationship is itself compelling with some startlingly real moments that can hit incredibly close to home for people who have walked through similar experiences in their own relationships. The problem is that, for some reason, screenwriter Nick Payne decided that this needed to be presented as a nonlinear narrative, jumping between points in the couple’s relationship almost at random. It’s basically giving us three stories at once – the commitment to the relationship, the pregnancy and birth, and the cancer – which could work if one of those were selected as the main story and the other two treated as jumps forward and/or flashbacks. Instead, we’re given each as its own story unfolding in parallel, and we’re left with far less investment in the couple’s relationship than it otherwise could have been. If we had committed to just one story as the primary plot with the other two in support, I think this would be a true contender for one of the best films of the year because of how compelling and honest the story actually is as it unfolds. As it stands, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh give great performances as we’ve come to expect from them; the story is compelling and real and connects on an emotional level, but the way the story is presented detracts and distracts from the impact that the film could have otherwise had. I wanted to love this film, but I just liked it. It definitely resonated with me and will be one that I think about for a while, but I think that’s despite its odd plotting choices rather than because of them. Andrew and Florence deserved a better plot for as great as their performances were. You won’t be hugely disappointed if you go see this film, just be sure to temper your expectations a bit.

Weekend Watch - Saturday Night

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Jason Reitman’s film adaptation of the 90 minutes leading up to the airing of the first episode of SNL, Saturday Night. The film stars an ensemble cast as the show’s ensemble of players and writers, including Gabriel LaBelle as creator and writer Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott as Michaels’s wife and show writer Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris (no relation), Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson, Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, Andrew Barth Feldman as Neil Levy, Willem Dafoe as Dave Tebet, and Matthew Rhys as Dan Carlin. The film, which chronicles most of the behind-the-scenes goings on of the sketch comedy show’s first night, opened this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B-; this is a good film, not a great one that could have been great with just a little bit more fine tuning.

Should you Watch This Film? If you are a huge fan of SNL and consider yourself an expert in the show’s history, you’ll probably love this film and what it does. If you have some knowledge of and interest in SNL, then you can find something worth watching in it. If you have no interest in the show, I don’t know what this film does that’ll endear it to you.

Why?

                Saturday Night is a mildly disjointed passion project from a director in Reitman who clearly loves and knows way too much about his subject matter. The actors all do a phenomenal job playing these iconic figures of comedy history, marking the film’s real high point. Story-wise, though, it feels like Reitman had too many fun facts that he wanted to include to really create a satisfyingly cohesive narrative, jumping between business drama, drug comedy, relationship dramedy, biopic, and celebration of SNL without any clear sense of direction until the final sequence, which suddenly becomes this feel-good underdog drama. If it was going for the disconnected feel of an episode of SNL, highlighted more by the entertainment that comes from watching talented people do what they do best than by any sense of message or stance, then it might still work, but I’m not convinced that that’s really what Reitman was going for here. Like an episode of SNL, there are some bits that hit and others that fail to resonate at all and you’re left wondering whether everything you just witnessed in the last hour and half plus was really anything more than an excuse for the performers to put their talents on display. The 16mm film cinematography looks really good, also lending itself to that style over substance that the film seems to be going for. Ultimately, it’s an entertaining but empty film with talent that still deserves to be seen.

                While all of the actors playing their various characters do great jobs in their roles, playing the comedy titans faithfully and skillfully, it’s the performances from the behind-the-scenes characters that really stand out as more than just phenomenal impressions. Rachel Sennott gives us a compelling look at the complex marriage between Lorne Michaels and Rose Shuster, playing Rose as this capable and self-aware woman who made the show possible. Cooper Hoffman gives an admirable performance as the young executive who supported Michaels and his show, Dick Ebersol, punctuated by a strong scene where he finally reveals the precarious situation that the show is in to Lorne in a seedily lit stairwell. It really is LaBelle, though, who holds the whole film down, carrying it with a portrayal of Lorne Michaels as I’m sure Michaels would like to see himself, a young idealist who can’t imagine failing regardless of what practical knowledge might suggest. Gabriel LaBelle is a rising talent, and I’m glad that he does such a great job in this leading role.

                While the film struggles with thematic cohesion like an episode of the show that inspired it, the performances and stylistic choices that Reitman makes still make Saturday Night a film worth watching, though mostly for fans of the show and its history as opposed to a truly broad audience. It takes some unique swings, and some of them even hit. You can find this film in theaters right now if it sounds like something you’d like to check out. I’ll leave that up to you.

Weekend Watch - September 2024 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we’re looking back at the films released in the month of September, highlighting the best films and rating them by their likelihood of being considered among the best films of the year and possibly even all time. As always, they’re categorized into Long Shots, Possible Things, and Sure Things. September has often been viewed as the soft kick-off of awards season with many films fresh off of runs at TIFF and Venice dipping their toes into the water. While the past few Septembers have felt more like false starts than true soft launches, September 2024 has given us a really solid slate of films that belong firmly in the conversation, even if they’ll inevitably be on the outside looking in, in addition to a strong slate of crowd-pleasers as well. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Already one of the highest grossing films of the year, Tim Burton’s legacy sequel has pleased audiences and critics without fully blowing them away. Strong production design might give this film the lift that its vaguely positive scores need to make it as a great.

Rebel Ridge: A refreshingly fresh take on the action/revenge genre from a streamer was this Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson led film from Netflix. While the story doesn’t necessarily stick the landing, it’s a solid action thriller that has outperformed expectations from both audiences and critics.

Transformers One: One of the worst ad campaigns I’ve seen in recent years for an animated film has delivered an underperforming box office for what is otherwise one of the best Transformers films since the first Michael Bay film. A great voice cast might not be enough to get this film into the all-time conversation as it faces off against a broad slate of great animated films, but it’s definitely worth checking out.

Speak No Evil: The mainstream remake of the recent international horror film has been a sensation in theaters, carried by another great performance from James McAvoy. It’s a horror film that doesn’t really seek to elevate anything about the genre, so don’t expect to hear its name among the awards films, but it still bears watching.

Rez Ball: Netflix has yet another sleeper hit basketball film on its hands with the Lebron James-produced film about a reservation basketball team from New Mexico banding together to overcome the loss of their star player to compete for a state championship. Anyone looking for a decent feel-good sports film will be pleased with this one.

Will & Harper: The timely documentary following Will Ferrell’s road trip across the U.S. with his friend Harper Steele and engaging in conversations with each other and the public about trans people. It’s a timely and emotionally engaging film whose reviews have inevitably faced the adversity of conservative review-bombing that it’ll have to overcome with some wins in the coming season to make the score.

Possible Things:

His Three Daughters: Netflix’s first true awards-bait film of the year is Azazel Jacobs’s film about three daughters dealing with the imminent death of their father. All three actresses – Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olson – give phenomenal performances that could warrant awards love in a less stacked year, but it’s a really excellent film regardless of its official recognition.

My Old Ass: The Aubrey Plaza and Maisy Stella starring film about a girl whose mushroom trip gives her the opportunity to meet her 39-year-old self. It has been heralded as one of the best comedies of the year that also carries some solid emotional weight as well and is definitely one to watch.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies: This dramedy from Thailand about a young man scheming on his grandmother’s fortune should be the country’s submission for Best International Feature this year, as many are calling it one of the year’s best, carrying emotional weight and telling an original story. If you can find it showing near you, you should check it out.

The Substance: Coralie Fargeat’s body horror commentary on media’s perception of female body image starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid has been one of the most unpleasant pleasant surprises of the year. The comedy, social commentary, and visceral images have all hit the right notes along with the performances from the leading ladies and their terrifying supporting man. It might be the film to overcome the genre bias at awards shows as well. We’ll see.

Sure Thing:

The Wild Robot: Pixar once again has a run for its money for the best animated film of the year in DreamWorks Animation’s adaptation of the children’s book. The animation, story, and characters all hit the perfect notes of a great film, and it’s earned this blog’s fourth “Sure Thing” certification of the year. Go see it if you haven’t already.

Weekend Watch - The Wild Robot

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest release from DreamWorks Animation, the film adaptation of Peter Brown’s book The Wild Robot. The film is written and directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon) and features the voice talents of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Stephanie Hsu, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, and Catherine O’Hara. It follows the adventure of a helpful robot stranded on an island populated only by animals who view her as a potential predator or prey. The film opened this weekend in the U.S., winning the box office in the process. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A; this is a top 5 film this year for me, and I expect it will be for you as well with its beautiful animation and poignant story.

Should you Watch This Film? Absolutely! This is a film you can watch on your own, with friends, with a significant other, with kids, really with anyone, and you’ll all walk away with something to appreciate.

Why?

                If you’ve seen any trailers for The Wild Robot, you already know that its animation is gorgeous both stylistically and in execution, and that rings true throughout the film, but there have been plenty of animated films in the last decade that are beautifully produced but lack in the story department. This is not one of those films. The voice acting is superb and lends to the story’s emotional weight and poignancy, and the story itself feels just fresh enough to engage even the most cynical moviegoer. While a few minor clichés hold it back from being a perfect A+ film, the story about found family, adaptation, kindness, and even motherhood is certainly one of the most original brought to a mainstream film in the medium in quite some time. It is poignant and important, imparting not just emotional payoffs but actual life lessons that we all need to learn and/or be reminded of in the trying times we live in. This film deserves to be the front-runner for most of the animated awards in the coming award season.

                I came into the theater to watch The Wild Robot expecting quality animation and potentially some emotional beats, but I didn’t necessarily expect to be so wowed by the film’s story and characters. From the jump, we are immersed in this world of wilderness where a robot like the film’s titular protagonist, ROZZUM Unit 7134 or “Roz” (Nyong’o), sticks out like a sore thumb, lacking the ability initially to even communicate with its unsuspecting “customers”. The hilarity and tragedy of Roz’s situation are portrayed excellently as she struggles to find anyone willing to even speak with her after she spends months learning to translate the language of the animals. Eventually her quest brings her an orphaned gosling to adopt and prepare for the coming migration, giving her a new directive – feed the baby goose, teach it to swim, and teach it to fly by the time the rest of the island’s geese undertake their migration ahead of its harsh winters. Roz’s conversations with her less than willing “co-parent” Fink the fox (Pascal) about “programming” and the laws of nature and survival skills mirror concepts that we all are familiar with in our own lives – nature, nurture, social norms, and the competition that society breeds into us. As the film goes on and we see Roz’s gosling Brightbill (Connor) mature into a semi-functional adult goose, those themes become more central alongside the film’s surprisingly profound exploration of motherhood and family, as viewed through the lens of Roz’s role in Brightbill’s life and the lives of the rest of the island’s inhabitants. The film’s final act has a few of its most cliché moments, but it brings everything home in a solid way without feeling the need to put a perfect bow on everything, making it one of the more adventurous mainstream animated films in that area as well.

                The Wild Robot is simply one of the best films of the year so far thanks to its gorgeous animation, skilled voice acting, and poignant story that explores themes relevant to viewers of all ages, engaging not just children, but parents, teens, and single adults as well. It’s a film worth checking out in theaters if possible, especially with its quality animation. Definitely seek it out if it’s playing near you.

Weekend Watch - The Penguin Episode ONe

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the debut episode of the television spin-off of 2022’s superhero hit The Batman – The Penguin. It describes itself as a series following Oz Cobb (the Penguin) as he tries to seize the power in Gotham City’s criminal underworld and picks up following the events of The Batman. The show stars Colin Farrell in the titular role, reprising his performance from Matt Reeves’s film, joined by Cristin Milioti as the daughter of the deceased mob boss Carmine Falcone, Sofia, Rhenzy Feliz as an inopportune henchman that Oswald picks up, Victor Aguilar, Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone in flashbacks, and Clancy Brown as the imprisoned mob boss Salvatore Marone. The show is also slated to feature performances from Theo Rossi, David H. Holmes, and Kenzie Gray. Its first episode aired this past Thursday with subsequent episodes releasing on Sundays starting next week. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+; a strong, if slow, opening provides plenty to be optimistic for as the rest of the season unfolds, but I’m not going to guarantee anything just yet.

Should you Watch This Show? If you loved Matt Reeves’s The Batman and want to get a taste of that version of Gotham again, this is a must-watch. If you’ve been craving a good crime drama on television that doesn’t revolve around cops and lawyers, this also definitely checks that box, and it might also be a great prestige miniseries that everyone should watch by the time everything’s said and done.

Why?

                The Penguin’s first episode takes us deeper into the criminal underbelly of Gotham City, focusing on the grounded world of organized crime where Oz Cobb and his associates operate. It picks up immediately after the events of the film, giving unfamiliar audiences (what few there may be) a quick montage of news reports explaining the pertinent details as Cobb stands by a window overlooking Gotham, plotting his rise to power. The show then takes off with a literal bang as he finds himself scrambling to cover up a murder with the help of a hapless street criminal (Feliz’s Vic) who had the unfortunate luck of being caught trying to steal the Penguin’s rims. The remainder of the episode spends its time introducing us to the various characters who will no doubt become important players over the course of the season as Cobb visits mob mansions, prostitute-populated streets, drug factories, prison, and even his mother’s home in the suburbs as he attempts to shore up support in the city while gauging the wisdom of staying versus fleeing the inevitable gang war. Across it all, Farrell’s Penguin remains the central figure, playing all sides with just as much weight and squirrelliness as he had in the film, and we start to see the shape that this (mini?)series will be taking. The question of whether Cobb ends up more as a Tony Soprano or a Vito Corleone feels like the real drama of the series, and it should be a fun ride along the way.

                If there’s any major complaints to level against this first episode, it lies in its relatively slow pacing after a quick opening. It teases us with threats of mob violence and surprising turns, but so far all of the surprising turns have had very little lasting impact, serving more as tantalizing teases that never pay off as intensely as they possibly could. Obviously, this is the first episode of an eight-episode season, so they can’t be dropping every body and complicating the plot too much early on, but there will definitely be some fans who’ve come to the show more for its comic book premise than its mob drama who won’t be thrilled with the limited action of this debut. There’s enough twists and turns that have the potential to pay out into some interesting complications down the road that I’m willing (and even excited) to give the show time to cook up to its inevitably messy conclusion. Is this show going to dethrone The Sopranos or The Wire as the best crime drama in the history of television? Doubtful. Is it going to be the high action, high easter egg comic book show that Gotham was? Also probably not, but if you want a show that blends the energy of those two types of shows fairly well so far, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better.

                Led by a consistent Colin Farrell performance and the welcome addition of Cristin Milioti as his more ruthless foil, The Penguin promises to be a fun blend of comic book action and mob drama that might by your next favorite miniseries if it can follow-up on the many promises of its first episode. The next episode comes next Sunday (the 29th), and it should give us a better idea of the direction that everything’s headed. Here’s hoping it can come close to living up to the excellence of the film that inspired it.

Weekend Watch - Speak No Evil

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is the remake of the 2022 Danish horror film of the same name, Speak No Evil. The Blumhouse-produced remake stars James McAvoy and Aisling Franciosi across from Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy as a pair of couples who meet on vacation in Italy and then decide to spend a long weekend together in the country upon their return to the U.K. The film released in theaters this weekend to solid audience reviews so far and looks to be one of the early successes of 2024’s spooky season. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; while not necessarily the most adventurous film, it’s still solidly entertaining.

Should you Watch This Film? If you have seen and loved the first film, I have a feeling that this film won’t be for you, but if you’re looking for a relatively tame but thrilling horror film, it’s worth checking out.

Why?

                Speak No Evil (2024) does a lot of taming down of the story and themes from the original, making the final product much more palatable for a broad audience, already reflected in the films’ respective IMDB, Tomatometer, and Popcornmeter scores, all of which favor this year’s high-tension remake over the subtler and darker European original. To its credit, this year’s film offers a highly entertaining, fairly safe, and solidly acted horror film. It features some quality comedy that cuts through the tension at appropriate moments without ever losing how uncomfortable the characters rightfully are. At the same time, the writing loses some of the plot by playing most of the twists and third act fairly safe, and it gets a bit too heavy-handed with communicating its themes, straight up stating its main idea in a third-act monologue from McAvoy’s antagonist, Paddy. It’s nowhere near a perfect film, but it mostly accomplishes what it sets out to do, offering some good tension and scares to elevate the heartrate that should satisfy most audiences, especially if you can separate it from the original in your mind.

                The real highlight of the film is McAvoy as the film’s primary antagonist, whose twisted motivations become more apparent as the couples’ weekend at Paddy and Ciara’s (Franciosi) farmhouse unfolds. He brings a physicality and eeriness to the character that really sells the ever-increasing tension that the film needs to execute its premise well. He starts out as this hot, abrasive British dad, slowly devolving into a sinister, narcissistic not-quite-mastermind as everything unfolds. It’s a commanding performance that’s sure to stick with everyone who goes to see the film, and it definitely elevates the film above what it might otherwise have been with the same plot and writing.

                The film’s exploration of family dynamics, commentary on society’s people-pleasing tendencies, and critique on our unwillingness to ever just say no land relatively well. None of what the film wants to say is particularly earth-shattering, and it is sometimes delivered with a tendency to tell rather than show. However, the themes aren’t really the point of the film, more just window dressing to give it a sense of weight while the tension and its eventual release keep the audience gripped.

                A fun, if a bit sanitized and simple, horror thriller, Speak No Evil is carried by James McAvoy’s startling performance as the villain, bolstered by some strong tension building, culminating in a solid final act. It definitely won’t please fans of the original, but it should be what those looking for a fun, not too involved, horror film in the early phases of spooky season want from their theater-going experience. You can currently find it in theaters from Blumhouse if you need something like that in your world right now.

Weekend Watch - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is this week’s latest legacy sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the follow-up to Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice. The potential surprise September blockbuster sees the return of Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara reprising their roles from the original, joined by Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, and Arthur Conti in this rich ensemble of quirky new and returning characters. After opening the Venice Film Festival last week, the film released in theaters this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C; it’s the same energy as the first with less narrative cohesion, so it’s fine.

Should you Watch This Film? If you love the original, you’ll probably love this one as well. If Tim Burton’s vibe is your whole deal, then this’ll check that box well. If you have no interest in either of the aforementioned things, this is not for you.

Why?

                The original Beetlejuice was the very definition of a cult classic – lots of great practical effects and wacky production design with some weirdness all around wrapped in a decently poignant story about ghosts – and its sequel finds itself in those same shoes. On most levels, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice matches the quirky fun of the original while mostly justifying its existence with some new fun set pieces. Unfortunately, the weakness of the original – a thin story – is all the more prevalent in the sequel. Less attachment, too many plots, but fantastic production design are the hallmarks of this legacy sequel, sure to please fans of the original well enough without setting itself apart as some new innovation in filmmaking.

                The main cast (Ryder, Keaton, O’Hara, and Ortega) all perform admirably in their duties, with the original returners doing a good job of reprising and building on their characters from the first film and Jenna Ortega showing some versatility as the grounded activist daughter of Ryder’s Lydia Deetz, now the host of her own television show about speaking to ghosts. Keaton remains the highlight of the film, bringing all the ridiculousness of the iconic character that made the first film so successful, once again playing a highly entertaining and gross version of himself. O’Hara is once again in her most outlandish form, having lost no steps as the unique artist Delia. The supporting cast are a bit more hit and miss with Monica Bellucci feeling almost wasted as an intimidating, yet highly underutilized, villain hunting down Beetlejuice for revenge. Willem Dafoe gets to do a bit more and offers some of the most consistent laughs in the film as deceased actor, turned afterlife cop Wolf Jackson. Justin Theroux is inconsistent but goofily melodramatic enough to make for a decent complication in the plot as Lydia’s manager.

                Visually, the film refreshingly maintains its primarily practical effects, featuring a plethora of excellent costume designs, stop motion animation, and wild sets that help sell the film’s griminess, which simply wouldn’t have worked with how most of the modern VFX have been going in mainstream films. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t really back up the visual promise of the film, giving us a whole lot of ideas and scenes that never really cohere into something that feels like an overarching narrative. The emotional moments don’t come close to landing because of how many storylines are going on around them, reducing the film’s impact and poignancy, and tragically, the jokes aren’t consistently hitting enough to warrant such an incoherent collection of plots.

                With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the vision is there, the visuals are fully there, the acting is mostly there, but the story is so all over the place that the film falls well short of its potential. It’ll be a crowd-pleaser for those seeking new Tim Burton content and/or those who loved the original, but it doesn’t have enough to say or deliver on enough of its comedic or quirky promise to really be a must-see film for all audiences.

Weekend Watch - July and August 2024 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we’re back after an extended hiatus with a look back at the best films released in July and August of this year. We’ll highlight the films that critics and audiences liked most in these months, categorizing them by their likelihood of making the year’s 25 best films – Long Shots, Possible Things, and Sure Things. The latter two-thirds of summer 2024 brought us a decent mix of films, some overhyped, some underappreciated, and others fully delivering on their promises, resulting in an acceptable if not overly noteworthy couple of months. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

MaXXXine: The highly anticipated conclusion to Ti West’s homage horror trilogy fell far short of the standard set by the first two in both the acting and horror department. It still stands a cut above many of the year’s horror offerings, but don’t expect it to suddenly break into the all-time greats conversation any time soon.

The Imaginary: Netflix’s new animated offering takes a look at the world of imaginary friends, a surprisingly popular theme this year, and the anime film seems to be passable but nowhere near the conversation for the film’s best animated films. If you enjoy the style or the concept, it’s probably worth checking out. Otherwise, it’s safe to say you can miss it.

Faye: Max’s documentary about Faye Dunaway is another in a long line of celebrity bio-docs that do great things for their subjects’ fans and little for the overall genre of documentary. If you love the illustrious star or would like to hear about her life from her own lips, it’s worth checking out, but don’t expect it to be called for any major awards at the end of the year.

Twisters: The “sequel” to the 90s disaster film delivered exactly as promised – a fun, hot, exhilarating look at storm chasers that mostly lives up to the legacy of the original and delivers some solid star power from Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. It’s not much beyond that, but it’s definitely worth watching even if it won’t perhaps stand the test of time like the original has.

Skywalkers: A Love Story: The Netflix documentary about stunt acrobats climbing Malaysia’s tallest skyscraper to rekindle their career and relationship feels like it could make some noise as the year progresses, but its problematic protagonists and odd promotion of NFTs have held it back from achieving as highly as it could have.

Deadpool & Wolverine: Marvel Studios’ only theatrical release this year has had major box office and fan success, delivering on its promise of bringing R-rated superhero action to the MCU. Its excess of fan-service and shortness on plot have definitely held it back from reaching the highs of the former MCU, but it’s still a solid outing that bodes well for the upcoming slate.

Cuckoo: The psychological horror film starring Hunter Schafer that was highly anticipated by the internet, particularly Ayo Edebiri, has delivered on its promise of a fun, twisty, if not always incredibly scary indie horror film. It takes some big swings that not every audience has loved equally, but it might be your cup of tea.

War Game: It’s a documentary about US officials simulating a response to a coup, which might hit a bit too close to home in this year’s political climate with January 6, 2021, still very much in the public’s mind, but it seems to be well-made and interesting. Its subject matter might be too divisive to be an immediate great, but it might find the right audience and last for a while.

Alien: Romulus: Director Fede Alvarez’s take on the iconic sci-fi/horror series has brought it back to its more grounded roots and found a strong audience with critics and fans alike. Though its lack of truly original ideas and controversial inclusion of a highly altered version of deceased actor Ian Holm have held it back from the heights of the originals.

My Penguin Friend: A feel-good, indie, based-on-a-true-story film about a fisherman who rescues a penguin from an oil spill will obviously fly well under the radar. Nevertheless, those who have seen it have been generally positive about it, and it’s always fun to get to see Jean Reno in a film even if it’s one that few people will watch.

Blink Twice: Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut has outperformed most expectations for it with praise for her directorial vision and the performances of leads Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum. It’s nowhere near perfect, and some heavy comparisons to other films (Get Out and Saltburn especially) have held it back in the story department, but it’s still a fun intro for Kravitz to directing.

Between the Temples: The Bat Mitzvah indie comedy starring Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane has some serious Golden Globe potential, especially with its strong critical reception. It sounds like the humor might be a bit more niche, resulting in some mixed audience reviews, but it might be a film worth checking out if that sounds up your alley.

Possible Things:

Longlegs: A serial killer/supernatural horror film from Osgood Perkins (son of Anthony Perkins of Psycho) starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage has been the breakout hit of the summer. Its convoluted third act has left some viewers less than thrilled, but its story and star power might get it into the conversation at the end of the year.

Didi: A 2000s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about a Taiwanese American boy sounds like the ideal film for indie film fans, and it certainly sounds like its found that target audience. Many have it sitting on the cusp of Oscar nominations for screenplay and for the supporting performance of Joan Chen as Chris’s mom. It sounds like it might be one of the best films of the year if audiences keep loving it like they have.

Kneecap: The first official submission for Best International Feature to get a wide release in the U.S. has come from Ireland this year with Rich Peppiatt’s film about Irish-language rappers working to revive the use of the language in the wide sphere. Audiences and critics alike agree that it’s a real hit, and most expect it to be on the list of Oscar nominees at the end of the year.

Daughters: Netflix’s legitimate Oscar contender in the documentary category is Daughters, which looks at a father-daughter dance between incarcerated men and their daughters in Washington, D.C. It lives in a topical space and has been a hit with those who have watched it so far. If it’s a topic that interests you, I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot.

Strange Darling: The serial killer indie thriller from J.T. Mollner ends up being the biggest surprise of August, opening to near-unanimous critical acclaim and similar takes from fans. Some have taken issue with the potentially problematic interpretations of the film’s themes, especially seeing as it was written by a man, taking on issues of gender norms, but it sounds like a relatively unique film worth checking out if the genre is up your alley.

Sure Things:

Sing Sing: The current frontrunner for Best Picture finally expanded its theatrical run this past month and continues to hit the right mark with audiences. Anyone who doesn’t categorize this as one of the best films of the year (and possibly of all time) must have watched a different film than I did because it is phenomenal and certainly lives up to the hype.

Weekend Watch - June 2024 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we’re looking back at the films released in the U.S. throughout the month of June, highlighting those most acclaimed by critics and audiences, putting them in a position to possibly make this blog’s list of the Greatest Films of All Time. You could also take these recaps as a way to find new films that you should check out that you may or may not have known about. As always, the films will be categorized based on their likelihood of making the blog’s list – Long Shots, Possible Things, and Sure Things – and we actually do have the year’s second Sure Thing that came out this month. June gave us one of the more promising slates of summer blockbusters in a while, delivering solid box office performances, strong reviews from critics and fans, and even a few indie releases that are also worth checking out, instigating what could be a cinematic resurgence for the back half of the year. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Bad Boys: Ride or Die: The Bad Boys fourquel opened the month with a bang of a blockbuster, giving audiences what they’ve always loved about the previous films, and performing solidly at the box office for an R-rated film. Critics’ hesitancy to celebrate pure action comedy will undoubtedly continue to hold it back from actually making the all-time great list, but that shouldn’t stop you from seeing it.

I Used to Be Funny: After a limited festival run last year, the Rachel Sennott-led dramedy about a comedian suffering from PTSD is now widely available in the US, and it’s struck a solid chord with critics and even a generally favorable take from audiences. It will probably not be everyone’s cup of tea, but fans of the actress should have their craving for a new project sated.

Queendom: This SXSW documentary about a queer artist doing performance art in Moscow in defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws is a full-on critical success, but a slew of what I can only assume to be Russian bots and homophobes review bombing it have left this film with dismal audience reviews (an increasing flaw in this blog’s system that I’m not really sure how to counteract). Awards love would go a long way in countering that narrative for this film, though.

Kinds of Kindness: Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow-up to his major critical success in last year's Poor Things does not carry quite the same weight with audiences or critics, proving much weirder and more divisive (I didn’t realize that was possible for Yorgos) now that it has a wide release. Fans of Yorgos and fans of Jesse Plemons have been enjoying certain aspects of it, but it’s not the universal hit that the director had last year.

Janet Planet: Annie Baker’s coming-of-age drama about a girl and her single mother in rural Massachusetts was made widely available in the U.S. this month, and critics seem to love it. Audiences have been more mixed, as is often the case with woman-led films (again, a flaw in the system), but it’s still generally positive, and if these types of stories are your thing, this’ll probably be right up your alley.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person: This French-Canadian dark comedy about exactly what its title implies became more widely available in the US this month, and looks to be one worth checking out, as both audiences and critics have been generally high on it. Expect this to end up more in the cult classic space than the all-time great space, but if it sounds like your brand, definitely check it out.

A Quiet Place: Day One: While it continues the downward trend of critical and audience responses that happened from the first to second film in its series, the positives in this film have garnered it a decent following with slightly above average reviews that keep it noteworthy. It’s certainly solid but doesn’t necessarily do anything new with its world or genre, so take it how you will.

Daddio: This hidden gem from last year’s TIFF is out now in theaters in the U.S., following Dakota Johnson as a woman taking a cab from JFK and conversing with her driver (Sean Penn) about their lives. It’s a fairly simple premise that probably won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it sounds like a film that’s been solidly executed if it is something that you’re looking for.

Possible Things:

Hit Man: Richard Linklater’s crime/romantic comedy starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona landed on Netflix and continues its run of solid critical reception even as the audience reviews have become more mixed (apparently, some people still think that killing cops is a bad thing and can’t suspend disbelief for a film). Powell’s star-power and Linklater’s prestige give this film an outside chance to get the awards love it deserves that’ll elevate it to an all-time status.

Robot Dreams: Last year’s surprise Best Animated Feature nominee actually can finally be watched by everyone not in the Academy in the U.S. now. Now that its watch numbers are increasing, it does look like it’ll maintain its stellar reviews, but I want to hold off on giving it the full Sure Thing treatment in case the wider audience doesn’t love it as much.

The Bikeriders: One of the more highly anticipated films of last year and now this year finally made its way to theaters (and soon now to streaming apparently) with Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, and Jodie Comer portraying a semi-true story of a Midwest motorcycle gang. It sounds like the hype oversold the film with most reviews being just slightly above average for the most part, but it’s still better than a lot of films from this year.

Fancy Dance: Apple TV+’s latest partnership with Lily Gladstone again follows a Native American woman fighting to keep her family together when things start unraveling, and again, critics seem to really like this one. The audience scores haven’t been as high with no Scorsese attached to the director’s chair, but her name recognition might give this film the lift it needs come awards season.

Copa 71: The documentary about one of the first women’s world cups that seeks to legitimize the tournament and establish its place in history is now widely available in the U.S. Its subject matter and nature as a sports documentary have made it popular and give it a shot at making the all-time greats list.

I Am: Celine Dion: The Amazon documentary about Celine Dion and her struggles with Stiff Person Syndrome has landed successfully with both audiences and critics. Dion’s worldwide fame and acclaim certainly also help this film, and a small push from the Oscars could land this film among the all-time greats.

Thelma: One of the biggest surprises of the month is the action comedy starring June Squibb about a nonagenarian seeking revenge on a phone scammer. Overwhelmingly positive reviews from both audiences and critics make this one a film that everyone should see, especially with Squibb’s long-overdue leading performance getting the celebration it deserves.

Sure Thing:

Inside Out 2: The year’s first billion-dollar film has also struck the right chords with critics and audiences like its predecessor, earning stellar reviews for its animation, voice cast, and relatable themes. It’s not quite the tear-jerker that the first Inside Out was, but plenty of audiences have celebrated the film’s emotional connection, making it worth seeing.

Weekend Watch - A Quiet Place: Day One

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest film in the A Quiet Place franchise, A Quiet Place: Day One, the prequel directed by Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and cowritten by Sarnoski and A Quiet Place director John Krasinski. The prequel looks at the start of the franchise’s alien invasion in New York City from the perspective of cancer patient Sam (Lupita Nyong’o) as she fights to survive and get herself some pizza. The film also features appearances from Joseph Quinn as a stranded British law student, Alex Wolff as hospice nurse Reuben, and Djimon Hounsou as harried father Henri. The film opened this weekend to mixed but positive audience and critic reviews. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; while not as tension filled as the other two films in the franchise, it still finds those moments of terror and humanity that have made the series such a hit.

Should you Watch This Film? If you’re looking for a less intense horror film, this’ll definitely be one you can check out. The characters are strong, and their stories make it worth watching.

Why?

                I don’t know that A Quiet Place: Day One is going to be what everyone was looking for from the prequel film. It doesn’t set out to explain the aliens or their reasons for coming to Earth or even set up some initial fight against them. It simply wants to look at another story within this universe that happens to occur in the first few days of the alien invasion. For me, that’s exactly what I needed from it. I was so worried going in that it was going to try and do too much explaining and worldbuilding and lose any of the pieces that make the first two films so good – the human stories. Instead, this film leans harder into the human element, feeling almost more like a disaster/survival horror than the jumpscare-filled home invasion horror of the first or the postapocalyptic road trip of the second. It’s also helped in this endeavor by the strong performances from Lupita Nyong’o (Us and Little Monsters) and Joseph Quinn (Overlord and Stranger Things) who portray their struggle to survive as something inherently tied to everything that has come before them and their own humanity.

                Technically, the film remains on par with the prior films with a strong sound design, solid visual effects, and another bout of creative cinematography that you really only get from horror films. The oppressive silence isn’t quite as pervasive here as in the past films, but in the moments of true tension, it returns to amp up that heart rate just a bit more at each small sound. The creatures feature a bit more prevalently in this film, and any time you get to see them up close, the visual design holds up as something not quite knowable and immediately horrifying. The camera work continues to do a great job adding to the tension of the scenes, and it all comes together so well to give us another strong, if slightly less terrifying, horror film.

                By focusing on the characters, the film does lose some of that intensity that we’ve become familiar with in the first two films, and I think that’s why we’re seeing some of those less than stellar reviews. The first film really blended those two elements together better than so many horror films, and the second continued in that same vein. This one swings back and forth between the human drama and horror sequences more than actually blending them, but it still works because of how well-executed the human element is. Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn play well individually and off of each other thanks in large part to each of their abilities to emote, leaning into the gimmick of these films by communicating so well without words. Quinn plays the supporting character so well, portraying empathy and desperation in equal parts so well, and he really gives the story the extra oomph that it needs to really resonate. Obviously, though, Nyong’o is the showstopper here, showing us from the jump how versatile her acting bag is. Here, she plays Sam as this cynical, jaded woman without any real reason to hope, but she manages to find those moments worth celebrating even as the world falls apart around her, and we believe it the whole time thanks to the combination of solid writing and her amazing acting abilities. By the time the credits roll, we’ve seen her progress through a satisfying and believable character arc that reminds us all of why life is worth living – to eat pizza and connect with other people.

                A Quiet Place: Day One might not answer all the burning questions that we have about the start of the alien invasion, and it might lack some of the horror chops of the previous installments, but it still turns in a decently scary survival flick with a truly compelling story about people, which is the core of the Quiet Place films anyway. It’s probably not going to be what everyone wants it to be, but for me, I can now definitely say that I just want to keep watching stories of different individuals in this postapocalyptic world much more than I want to understand how any of it works. This film is currently in theaters, and if you’re looking for a solid thriller, this is the one to go see this weekend.

Weekend Watch - Bridgerton Season 3

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest season of Netflix’s hit period romance series Bridgerton, which released the second half of its third season last week. The show, produced by television legend Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder), and created by her collaborator Chris Van Dusen, is based on the historical romance novels by Julia Quinn, which follow the romantic intrigues of the titular noble family and their compatriots in early 19th-century British high society. This season primarily adapts the novel Romancing Mister Bridgerton, which follows the romance between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), although it implements elements from some of the other novels as well. This season sees the return of most characters and actors from the first two seasons (absent still Regé-Jean Page’s Duke Simon Bassett and Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne Bassett) while also introducing Hannah Dodd as the previously absent Francesca Bridgerton, Victor Alli as Lord John Stirling, Daniel Frances as Lord Marcus Anderson, and Hannah New as Lady Tilley Arnold. Now that the full third season is out, plenty of people have started sharing their thoughts on it, so let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+; where the first two seasons shone in their central romances, the third draws more on its supporting cast, which may or may not work as well for everyone.

Should you Watch This Show? If you’ve been a fan of the show from the start, this’ll continue to scratch that itch, and if you weren’t, it’s not going to do any changing of your mind.

Why?

                Bridgerton Season 3 continues in so much of what has made the show such a success – steamy romance, gripping drama, complex love stories, the Vitamin String Quartet, involved sets, beautiful costumes, and memorable characters who grow more complex with each iteration. It knows its identity and niche in the market and delivers yet again a hit for that broad subset of the streaming viewers. Unfortunately, it feels like a show whose writing is starting to get away from it, much as so many of the Shondaland shows do. Season 1 gave us a fascinatingly convoluted romance with critiques on society, gender roles, and even conceptions of marriage and nobility. Season 2 offered a subversive romance that also served as a redemption arc for a previously debauched romantic lead that somehow got us to sympathize with the fact that people actually can change. Season 3’s central romance tackles a much safer, more tried-and-true route of friends to lovers to enemies to lovers again, which tackles fewer social issues, though its subplots do feature some refreshing takes on how love looks different for different people, learning to forgive, and the self-sacrificial elements of family. It’s still a strong season of the show, but certain aspects of it feel less satisfying than in seasons past.

                In addition to the excellent production design, the performances remain strong with Nicola Coughlan, Claudia Jessie, and Golda Rosheuvel remaining the standouts. While the rest of the cast continues to fill their roles admirably, looking and sounding the parts that they are asked to play, these three women continue to grow their roles and inhabit their characters in ways that keep them iconic in every iteration. Rosheuvel’s portrayal of Queen Charlotte has become so iconic that it earned the character a spin-off prequel series, and she continues to be a dominating force who steals the screen not just with her wild hairdos but her gravitas and expressions in every one of her scenes. It’s a performance that easily becomes career-defining because of how memorable she has become. Jessie plays the second Bridgerton daughter, Eloise, who defies societal pressures as much as possible and had been Penelope’s best friend up until some drama at the end of the second season, and that break allows her to grow Eloise in new directions this season, showcasing her capability for repartee and satire on a new level than ever before without losing the sense of self and vulnerability that have made her such a lovable character. Coughlan also shines in her increased role this season; obviously, her comedic capabilities have never been in doubt if you’ve ever seen Derry Girls, but she brings a sensuality and authenticity to her romance this season that helps to sell the plot and keep the audience invested even when the writing is doing her story few favors. She is the moment, and she won’t soon let you forget it.

                Where the acting and production value remains at peak levels, the writing in this season has fallen off as the story begins to lose itself too often in the weeds, taking wind out of the central romance’s sails to puff it into a side romance for Francesca that seeks to set up what I assume will be one of Season 4’s two main plots (it’s a good romance, but it detracts from the main story unquestionably). It also spends a lot of time looking at the sudden entrance of the Mondriches into high society from their humble beginnings without actually offering much in the way of story for them besides feeling occasionally out of place. Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) is given an entire character arc this season, but it feels so aggressively two-toned that I wouldn’t be surprised if they rewrote her whole character between the two parts of the season (maybe if I had watched the two parts farther removed, I wouldn’t have noticed the inexplicable shift in her character from part one to part two). Even the drama of Whistledown and her secret identity, which is inextricably tied to the romance of this season, doesn’t really hold your attention like it did in the first two seasons because of the increasing number of people who already know the secret. Really, I was satisfied with the story but never blown away by anything groundbreaking or soul-shattering like I was with the first two seasons, but the open plots that remain for Season 4 to explore leave me hopeful that we’ll get back to that success quickly.

                This latest season of Bridgerton continues to shine in the ways we’ve come to expect, if not quite so brightly in its story department, and it’s held up still by its leading ladies and a phenomenal production team. With the full season now streaming on Netflix, I’d recommend any who’ve been holding out after enjoying the first two seasons to go watch this one as well. If you’re someone who hasn’t watched the show yet, Season 3 is not the place to start, but I highly recommend the first two seasons as well, and if you’re someone who gave the first season a try but found it wasn’t for you, I can’t say that this one will suddenly change your mind. Figure out which of those categories you belong in, and then go and do what you want.

Weekend Watch - Inside Out 2

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Pixar’s latest theatrical release (their first since Lightyear), Inside Out 2, the sequel to 2015’s Best Animated Feature winner. The sequel sees the return of voice actors Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan as the voices of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Mom, and Dad, joined this time by Kensington Tallman as Riley, Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Liza Lapira as Disgust, Tony Hale as Fear, and Ayo Edebiri as Envy, just to name a few of the new names and faces. The film follows Riley and her emotions as they move from childhood into adolescence with the complications of starting high school, fitting in, and puberty bringing a whole new set of issues to reckon with. The film opened this weekend to relatively positive reviews. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; it’s not saying anything wrong; I just don’t know that what it’s saying carries the weight that I want it to.

Should you Watch This Film? If you want a good movie to see with your kids or are a fan of the first, this is worth checking out. Otherwise, you can definitely wait to stream this one later on when you’re catching up on all the Oscar nominees.

Why?

                Inside Out 2 does a lot of things right as a sequel, building on the world of the last film while telling an original story with a positive message, memorable characters, and a few good laughs. Unfortunately, it also suffers as a product of the current Disney/Pixar machine (the first after the infamous announcement that they’ll be moving away from autobiographical stories like those in Turning Red and Luca), and in its quest for “universality” (whatever that means), loses most of the emotional (ironic, I know) resonance that they’ve become so well known for. I felt more emotional connection to the characters and stories of every Pixar film since 2020 (besides Lightyear) than I did watching Inside Out 2. They’ve given us an important message with solid characters that somehow manages to avoid actually getting the audience at all invested in the characters that they’re watching on the screen. The film’s story feels like it’s been designed around getting to a couple of key points in the film’s third act, and the result is a sense of manufactured emotion rather than genuine connection (unlike the authenticity of Turning Red, Luca, Soul, Onward, and even the first Inside Out).

                Now I know you’re asking how this film got even a B rating after all this negativity, and that’s because it really is a well-made film. The animation remains beautiful both in the real world and in Riley’s mind with some new techniques on display that really impressed me and made for some fun world-building and comedy. The new characters add some fun new wrinkles to the world of these films, with both Anxiety and Envy being the standouts. There’s a few jokes in here that really work well, even if too many feel more tailored to the younger audience that filled my theater, who for the most part weren’t laughing as much as I might’ve expected. The sound design and Andrea Datzman’s music do a solid job of creating tension and atmosphere. Even the film’s message is one that checks that Pixar box of being relevant for both adults and children – that anxiety is something that can easily come to define us if we don’t monitor how we’re framing our situation, and that’ll always lead to disaster. All of that speaks to the success of the new Pixar method in theory. On paper, this is an excellent film, but in practice, it’s missing that personal element that’s made modern Pixar so successful – the autobiographical stories of Turning Red and Luca, the family narrative of Coco, the friendship narrative of Toy Story 4, etc. Inside Out 2 tries to create those personal moments by telling a story about anxiety, growing up, and friendship, but none of the beats of those stories feel authentic enough (besides an excellently realistic panic attack) to create the resonance that it wants to – maybe that’s also because most of the development in this story happens to Riley herself rather than the emotions in her mind, who are supposed to be the main characters.

                Inside Out 2 is an excellently crafted animated film that unfortunately fails to deliver on what people actually love about the other Pixar films – authentic emotion, which is unfortunately ironic for this sequel. It looks good, sounds good, and even feels pretty good, but it fails to deliver in its biggest moments. If you liked the first film, you’ll probably still enjoy this one, but I don’t know that it’s a film that everyone needs to go see immediately in theaters.

Weekend Watch - Bad Boys: Ride or Die

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest installment of the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence action/comedy series, Bad Boys: Ride or Die. The film picks up some time after the events of Bad Boys for Life and follows Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett as they become embroiled in a plot to frame the deceased Captain Howard as a contact for the cartel. The film sees the return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the leading roles along with Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard, John Salley as Fletcher, Jacob Scipio as Armando, Dennis Greene as Reggie, Paola Nuñez as Rita, Alexander Ludwig as Dorn, and Vanessa Hudges as Kelly along with an influx of newcomers Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Melanie Liburd, and Tasha Smith. Bad Boys for Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah return to the helm for this installment along with writer Chris Bremner and newcomer to the series Chris Beall (Aquaman). The film opened this weekend and looks to take the top spot on a potentially revitalizing start to the summer box office. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B; nothing about the Bad Boys movies screams art film, so don’t expect it to be on the same level as an awards-bait, critically acclaimed piece of cinema, but this one checks most of the boxes you want in an action/comedy.

Should you Watch This Film? Absolutely! While its predecessor was a bit of a misfire in terms of the series, not hitting quite as many of the right notes, this one gets right back into the Bad Boys stride with jokes and action at 100.

Why?

                Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a true return of the Bad Boys franchise to its former greatness (obviously, we’re talking entertainment here and not so much the social commentary or anything else). The jokes are hitting, the action feels fresh and fun, and the characters are fantastic. The biggest drawbacks for this “fourquel” are its occasional reliance on callbacks in its humor and plot points and its fairly problematic storyline, given the state of American politics in this moment. Smith and Lawrence continue to be a fantastic duo; Hudgens and Ludwig remain two of the best “requel” additions to a franchise in the last ten years, and even the supporting players – familiar faces like Fletcher (John Salley) and Reggie (Dennis Greene) and cameos like DJ Khaled and Tiffany Haddish – shine in their featured moments.

                The film’s primary driving force is a dynamic shift between Mike and Marcus, with Smith’s Mike becoming the worrier as a result of his lack of commitment to any kind of real therapy for his past losses and Lawrence’s Marcus becoming the overconfident macho man, believing he can’t die after a near-death experience. It makes for a fun twist on the usual dynamic between the two, and the comedy and action certainly benefit from it, remaining fresh even in this fourth iteration. While not every joke landed, most of them did, and every action sequence had something in it that felt new and exciting – there’s a first-person sequence at one point that was particularly fun.

                At the same time, with a more critical eye, the copaganda and problematic messaging of the film’s plot becomes a bit clearer. These are films about cops who basically operate with a license to kill, shooting first and only occasionally asking questions later. This particular sequel also features a plot that revolves around cartels and government officials secretly working together to protect the “borders” from terrorists as long as the cartels get to bring their drugs into the U.S. It sounds like something off a 4chan conspiracy board, but there are people who will eat that plot up without a second thought. I don’t think this or any other film in the franchise should be taken too seriously in terms of its social “commentary”, but it warrants pointing out that there are definitely some people who will.

                At the end of the day, Bad Boys: Ride or Die feels like the ideal summer blockbuster to revitalize the box office, heavy on fairly impressive action and funny comedy, light on themes and commentary, with plenty of star power and supporting players to win over the whole audience. It might not be the best film in the franchise, but it hits the formula well and should be an easy one to get into for fans of the originals. Newcomers might be a bit confused at the significance of certain moments and events, but the overall structure of the film makes it easy to just sit back and enjoy it. Check it out in theaters while you can.

Weekend Watch - May 2024 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we’re looking back at the films released in the month of May and letting you know which ones have the best chance of making it on this blog’s list of the Greatest Films of All Time. As always, they’ll be categorized by likelihood, with Long Shots being films still worth checking out but that need a big boost from either extended theater time, awards, or both to have a shot at making it, Possible Things being the films that are already building steam toward the success that they need to cement themselves in the long term, and Sure Things being those instant classic films that have already secured their spot in cinematic history. So far in 2024, we’ve had only one Sure Thing, and May won’t be changing that. Some solid above-the-line films mark this as a mildly better May than last year, but it’s still nowhere near the hit-churning month that it was in the 2010s, with most films either flopping with critics, audiences, the box office, or all three more often than they don’t. Still, there’s a decent offering of films released this month that you may already have seen or that you might have missed. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Turtles All the Way Down: It’s a John Green adaptation, so of course it’s going to be alright. This one also features rising star Isabela Merced and explores themes of mental health, so don’t let its debut on Max keep you fully down on it. It’ll probably please the younger audiences more than the wide public, but it’s still one worth keeping on your radar.

The Contestant: This is one of the more fascinating documentaries I’ve heard of in recent history, chronicling a year-long experiment(?) where a Japanese gameshow contestant stayed in a single room with no clothes on, filling out magazine sweepstakes to receive his food and clothing. Hulu has it, and apparently, it’s not too bad if not that groundbreaking either.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Success at the box office seems to be a given for the Apes franchise at this point, even if this distant sequel looks to be hitting audiences and critics more closely to Rise than Dawn or War. The visual effects and stunts could be enough to overcome its slight critical deficit and get it fully there.

Babes: This indie comedy about motherhood and friendship starring Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau seems to have found its niche. Fans and critics are in agreement that it’s a solid film, both funny and poignant. It certainly looks to be a film more for the girls than the whole crowd, but don’t let that keep you away.

Jim Henson: Idea Man: Ron Howard’s documentary about the mind behind the Muppets landed on Disney+ after opening at Cannes, and it’s again proving that the audiences want more of the Muppets. Critics are more middling on the doc, but it’s got a shot with its fairly beloved topic to make a run.

The Blue Angels: Amazon’s documentary about the iconic stunt performers and their training regimen released this month and looks to be doing alright with its target audience. If this is something that interests you, it’s probably worth checking out, but don’t expect it to be on any lists at the end of the year.

The Beach Boys: Disney’s documentary about the classic boy band celebrates their impact on culture and music, so it’s been a hit with fans. The upbeat, all-good vibes of the doc have kept critics from being as high on it, but don’t let that keep you from giving it a shot.

Young Woman and the Sea: This film looks to be Disney’s answer to last year’s Nyad, starring Daisy Ridley as the first woman to swim the English Channel. Audiences are certainly higher on it than they were on Nyad, but critics are saying basically the same thing. Sports biopics tend to have some legs in awards season, though, and Ridley has certainly earned some sympathy in Hollywood in the past few years, so it’s still got a shot.

Possible Things:

The Fall Guy: As the film that’s working to reinvigorate the world’s and Hollywood’s appreciation of stunts and stunt men, its middling box office achievement and slightly above average reviews have this fun action rom/com sitting a little lower than it probably should be to have a legitimate chance, but Gosling and Blunt tend to have some mojo, so it’s not fully out of it.

I Saw the TV Glow: A24’s first little hit of the year comes in the form of the 90s TV nostalgia trip from Jane Schoenbrun, starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine. Critics are in awe of the film’s visuals and aura, even if audiences are a bit more divided on how much this film ends up being style over substance.

Evil Does Not Exist: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest film released in the U.S. this month after having wide festival success last year. His exploration of gentrification and environmentalism sparked a lot of conversation among critics last year, and it’s possible that he’ll get the nod from Japan as its submission for the International Feature Oscar this year.

We Grown Now: A hit from last year's Chicago Film Festival and TIFF, this coming-of-age tale set in Chicago’s public housing in the 1990s opened across the U.S. this month. The film has been a hit with those who have seen it, so you might as well join them and find it where you can.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: Though not as critically or financially successful (Fury Road was also technically a box office flop) as its predecessor, Furiosa still looks to be the best overall film from this month, as its technical prowess already has plenty of people buzzing about its awards potential at the end of the year.

Weekend Watch - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is George Miller’s prequel to his critical hit Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The prequel stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular heroine, the younger version of Charlize Theron’s character from Fury Road. She is joined by Chris Hemsworth as her nemesis Dementus, Tom Burke as her mentor Praetorian Jack, Alyla Browne as the child version of Furiosa, George Shevstov as the History Man, and Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe. It follows Furiosa from her childhood when she’s taken from her lush home and out into the wasteland through her adolescence and young adulthood pursuing vengeance against Dementus and a return to her lost home. The film opened to a solid critical response and strong audience reception this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+; it’s a far cry from living up to its predecessor in terms of pure energy, but the technique and worldbuilding are still there in spades.

Should you Watch This Film? If you enjoy the Mad Max films or just a solid postapocalyptic action thriller, this film is definitely worth the watch. It’s not quite as transcendent as Fury Road, though, so I don’t know that everyone has to see it.

Why?

                For starters, Furiosa takes on an entirely different scale than Fury Road did and, therefore, ends up with a slower pace, which bogs it down in exposition and uneven movement from beat to beat, weakening the overall story. It seeks to tell Furiosa’s full life story leading up to the events of the previous film, and as such, lives up to its name as a “saga”, which will probably result in some division in the audience. If you’re okay with a slower burn, but equally as brutal, character study/revenge thriller, Furiosa probably won’t feel like much of a fall off and will still make for a solid theatrical experience. If, however, you’re hoping for a repeat of the high-octane, nonstop car chase that was Fury Road, you’re going to come away with a definite sense of disappointment. Comparison aside, it’s a feat of filmmaking with gorgeous visuals, fun action sequences when they come, and a decent, if shallow, story to keep everything engaging.

                The performers all do admirable jobs with what they’re given, with Taylor-Joy shouldering the load of action heroine quite well even with her fabled twenty lines of dialogue – she masters the physicality and emotive performance that an action lead requires refreshingly well for an actress with her resumé. For me, though, it was Chris Hemsworth who kept the film worth watching. His Dementus shows up in each new chapter of the film as an evolved iteration of the villain, becoming more unhinged and more nihilistic at each turn, his devolution mirroring the evolution of Furiosa. It’s a weird but incredibly memorable performance that feels right at home in the postapocalyptic world that George Miller has created. Together, the two characters and the two actors make the film what it is, giving the audience that compelling revenge narrative of an unexpected underdog coming after the once great warlord. Its culmination is one of the best moments in the film, so I won’t spoil it, but I will say that the ending definitely makes Hemsworth’s performance, if not Taylor-Joy’s feel oh-so worth it.

                Technically, Miller is once again at the height of his form, giving us gorgeous visuals of this postapocalyptic landscape that draw you into all of the weirdness, violence, and off-putting beauty that his world has to offer. The score, sound, and cinematography all make for an excellent moviegoing experience, and they deserve to be witnessed in as epic a format as can be found. The technical aspects also go a long way in making up for some of the predictability and slowness that creeps into the film’s story. With so much of the story being told through the visual, rather than auditory, offerings of the film, it can feel overly expository at times, slowing down with each new chapter start to catch the audience up on what’s happened in the meantime with lots of establishing shots and broad landscapes. At the same time, all of that is great to look at and listen to, so I can’t complain too much about it.

                Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a solid, if imperfect, addition to the action/revenge genre, giving us two memorable leads, fun sequences of action, and excellent production design to overcome an unevenly paced and fairly formulaic story. It might not hit exactly the notes that everyone wants it to, given the more universal acclaim of the film that it follows, but it still does scratch that itch that can only be scratched by George Miller’s postapocalyptic automobile-themed wasteland. I’d say if you’re thinking about seeing it, you definitely should on the largest screen you can find.

Weekend Watch - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the latest iteration of the science fiction saga – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – which opened in theaters this weekend. This newest film in the franchise remains in the continuity of the Rupert Wyatt/Matt Reeves prequel trilogy of the 2010s, but three hundred years after the end of War, bringing us an entirely new group of heroes and villains living on an Earth that has been increasingly dominated by the intelligent apes, with most humans having fully lost the ability to reason and speak. The film, directed by Wes Ball (Maze Runner) and written by Josh Friedman (Avatar: The Way of Water), stars Owen Teague as our new protagonist Noa, Lydia Peckham as his friend Soona, Freya Allan as the intelligent human Mae, Peter Macon as their travelling companion Raka, and Kevin Durand as the despotic ape Proximus Caesar. The film has received a generally positive reception thus far. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: C+; great visuals and new characters only take this film so far, as it doesn’t seem to have too much that it actually wants to say.

Should you Watch This Film? If you’re a fan of the other Apes films, this’ll scratch that itch for you, and if you’re looking for an easy to watch action/adventure film, this checks those boxes as well. If you aren’t really looking for either of those things, though, I can’t think of any great reasons to watch this film.

Why?

                Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a visually stunning but thematically hollow action/adventure road film. It does a good job of creating new characters that feel fresh and different from those in the trilogy that it follows without entirely separating itself from that trilogy, tying them together with a borderline religion established around the now-deceased hero of those original films – Caesar. Unfortunately, by tying itself to those films, it also accepts the expectation that those films created that, not only will it give us great visuals and an engaging action story, it will also have something to say about the state of the world and about humanity, and it’s just missing those aspects – the commentary on animal testing of Rise, the urging against xenophobia of Dawn, and the warning against demagoguery of War. At my most generous, I can say that the film had some ideas about religion and fate that could have turned into something worth exploring if they had done anything besides mentioning them and then abandoning them in favor of the third act’s action sequences.

                Don’t get me wrong, as a simple action/adventure film, Kingdom delivers a fun, if formulaic, take on those genres, combining tropes of road films, revenge films, and infiltration films into one cohesive piece that has characters worth exploring further. The visuals of the apes remain just as impressive as they have been, worthy of the awards that the franchise still hasn’t won in its rebooted iteration. The world, now three hundred years without human civilization, is full of creative landscapes reminiscent of the plant-covered post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us, empty but gorgeous. Noa and Mae make for compelling protagonists, with the mystery of Mae’s mission and origins keeping you engaged with her story and Noa’s quest for revenge, restoration, and potentially leadership feeling familiar but still gripping. The film’s action sequences don’t do anything too groundbreaking, but they’re fun and harrowing enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

                Again, though, the actual substance of Kingdom feels so lacking in the face of all of its style. The villain Proximus feels so generic when held up to the franchise’s previous villains of Koba and the Colonel. His desire for technology to help him establish rule among the ape clans doesn’t really feel that bad, and his despotism feels far less sinister than your typical evil leader type – I guess we’ve reverted to the simple statement that any desire for power is inherently evil. If it weren’t for the fact that the protagonists were basically after the same thing, that explanation could work. Instead, we’re left with a feeling of uncertainty of how to feel when the dust finally settles and everyone gets what’s coming to them. Again, if we had leaned harder into the religious fanaticism of Proximus and his soldiers, I think it would be fine, but instead, he’s just a pretender to empire whose motivations are not far enough removed from the protagonists’ to make his villainy feel earned.

                While Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fully delivers on the spectacle that we’ve come to expect from the franchise, its thematic shortcomings and generic villain hold it well behind the excellence of the trilogy that it seeks to follow. If you’ve been missing the apes on your screen, it’s still worth watching, but don’t go in with insanely high hopes. The newness of a new era of apes can only take the film so far, but it does look good on the big screen, so do with that information what you will.

Weekend Watch - April 2024 Recap

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we have come to the end of another month of movies and have a few to recap. As always this is a recap of the most universally acclaimed films of the month, categorized by their likelihood of making it onto this blog’s list of the Greatest Films of All Time. Those with the hardest road ahead of them will be classified as long shots, those with a strong chance will be classified as possible things, and those that are already instant classics will be classified as sure things (we don’t have any of those this month). April matches the Aprils of years past with a few possible contenders for end of the year awards that will most likely lose steam by the time we actually get there alongside a solid slate of creative B-movies that look like they’ll earn cult classic status for one reason or another. Let’s get into it.

Long Shots:

Monkey Man: Written, directed, edited, and acted by Dev Patel, the action thriller serves as one of the best “Long Shots” in a while. Offering action sequences inspired by other action greats and a story that is relatively topical, it won over audiences and critics, just not a high enough rate to turn it into an instant classic.

The First Omen: Horror films are always a tough sell, especially when they’re the sixth film in a franchise, but this one seems to have pleased audiences and critics in ways that so many horror films and sequels haven’t. It’s still not universally beloved, but the fact that it’s had anywhere close to positive reviews warrants a mention here.

Scoop: Netflix has been having success with dramas about the royal family, and though their dramatization of the BBC interview with Prince Andrew about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein might not reach the prestige and quality of The Crown, it’s still gained enough traction to be a slight improvement on some of their other biographical outings of late.

The Long Game: It’s a feel-good sports movie with Dennis Quaid about Mexican-American caddies making their own golf course in South Texas, of course it’ll do alright with critics and audiences. It won’t win awards, and it won’t change a whole lot in the grand scheme of cinema, but I bet your parents will watch this on-demand in a few months and ask you if you’ve seen it.

Sasquatch Sunset: The wordless adventure comedy about a family of sasquatches, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keogh seems to have a bit too much gross-out humor to have any kind of serious mainstream success, but it’s pleased enough audiences and critics that it’s status as a cult classic seems almost guaranteed at this point. It definitely won’t be the film that everyone loves, though, if its split audience ratings are any indication.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: Guy Ritchie’s latest foray into historical unsung heroes has seen a similar level of success to his film The Covenant from last year – audiences seem to really enjoy it, but critics don’t fully agree. It’s a solid action film, but as I said in my review, it lacks a bit of punch in the ending.

Abigail: The vampire/slasher/survival horror film about a group of criminals trapped in a house with a child vampire ballerina looks to have found its target audience despite giving the twist away in its trailers. Audiences have given this consistently positive reviews, and critics aren’t entirely down on it, so it’s got a shot at something close to cult status if it can stand the test of time.

Unsung Hero: I can’t tell if Christian cinema has finally figured out how to make better movies or all the Christian movies are getting reverse review bombed, but this film about the family that spawned the artists Rebecca St. James and For King & Country has been a hit with audiences so far. Critics still aren’t super high on it, but if you liked the Jeremy Camp film or the MercyMe film, you’ll probably like this one too.

Possible Things:

Civil War: Though Alex Garland’s latest is certainly no Ex Machina, it seems to be performing more consistently well with critics and audiences than Men or Annihilation, so we could be seeing a return to form from the acclaimed writer/director even as he’s announced his retirement from directing. The film about a group of journalists traveling across a war-torn America has received praise for the acting from lead Kirsten Dunst, for its sound design, and for its excellent use of tension throughout, making it a potential long-shot candidate for the awards it needs later on in the year to get fully over the hump.

Challengers: Luca Guadagnino continues to show with each film he puts out that he knows how to make people look hot in any situation and how to pull some phenomenal performances from them in the process. His tennis love triangle film looks to be his best mainstream success as well, and despite an early release date, it might have enough steam to make it through to some awards shows at the end of the year to bolster its already highly positive reviews.