In the misty forests of North America, a family of Sasquatches find themselves on a collision course with the ever-changing world around them.
Sasquatch Sunset is directed by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner who have previously directed Kid-Thing (2012) (David Zellner), Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014) (David Zellner) and Damsel (2018) (David and Nathan Zellner).
Sasquatch Sunset is a film that should not work at all, a film that has no dialogue only grunting from the Sasquatches, bodily fluid jokes such as pissing, pooping and ejaculating….however the movie strangely works. Underneath all of this there is something strangely heartfelt about the film and while yes the raunchy humor is there, there is this interesting focus on the location and the Sasquatches themselves.
For starters the makeup and costumes are absolutely well done, they feel incredibly real and display a ton of emotions as well. Even through all the grunting and noises being made you can tell when one of the Sasquatches feels mad, sad, happy ect. Riley Keough I definitely think is the standout here mainly due to her having the most to work with for her character. Plus she’s quite unrecognizable and almost instantly captures the spirit of her character who’s simply known as “the female”. Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek and Nathan Zellner are all quite solid here as well, each bring their own different take on the Sasquatches they play. It’s fun seeing them interact and actually leads to some genuinely funny scenes that aren’t bodily fluid humor (the two mountain lion scenes are hilarious especially the lion’s reactions.)
The cinematography is quite beautiful, you get tons of nature shots that go for this nature documentary type style that work incredibly well, combine that with a surprisingly excellent score and you have some really well put together scenes that are actually quite emotional. The Foragers by The Octopus Project is definitely the highlight in the score, it was used in the trailer and it works incredibly well here. The scenes it’s used really help move the adventure along quite well and actually make you feel for the Sasquatches.
Speaking of which the film does actually get the viewer to feel for these creatures, while it does take a bit for that to exactly happen. The longer you stay on the journey with these creatures the more you actually start to care for them, it’s actually quite impressive to see this all unfold and actually leaves a decently effective impact.
Sasquatch Sunset is a stupid movie there’s absolutely no denying that, however I think it’s the type of stupid that can actually make sense and be quite effective if you like this sort of thing. The film is not going to be for everyone, but this is the type of film where I’m glad it exists simply because of how bizarre it really is. If this sounds like your sort of film i definitely think you will have a fun time watching it.
After getting kicked out of the forest, Woody thinks he’s found a forever home at Camp Woo Hoo, until an inspector threatens to shut down the camp.
Woody Woodpecker Goes To Camp is directed by Jonathan A. Rosenbaum who has directed a bunch of TV series and TV movies and Benchwarmers 2: Breaking Balls (2019).
Hey do you remember that 2017 Woody Woodpecker movie? You know the one that went straight to VOD, people were kind of baffled how bad it was for about a day and then quickly forgot about it? Well for some reason it got a sequel and it’s not much better.
The one thing Woody Woodpecker Goes To Camp has over its predecessor is that it uses some other Woody Woodpecker characters in this Who Framed Roger Rabbit style. The characters being Buzz Buzzard who’s voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson and Wally Walrus who’s voiced by Tom Kenny (yes you read that right). Granted they aren’t good performances as there is only so much you can do with one of the most unfunny scripts imaginable, but at the very least there’s a bit more Woody Woodpecker elements something that was very noticeably absent in the last movie.
With that being said this is a complete and total disaster and a huge endurance test to get through, I get Woody Woodpecker is supposed to be annoying. It’s part of his character, but there’s only so much a person can handle. Between constantly trying to break the fourth wall, name dropping Minecraft out of complete nowhere (as well as using it as a verb). The acting doesn’t help either, everyone set sounds bored out of their minds while delivering their lines, Mary-Louise Parker is for some reason in this movie and gives a bad performance, the child actor performances are the very definition of flat and the characters are walking cliches.
The plot goes exactly how you think it’s going to go, the messaging in the movie is very on the nose and doesn’t even attempt to try and be somewhat interesting. By the end of the movie it really makes you question what was the point in all of this?
Woody Woodpecker Goes To Camp is available on Netflix.
Po must train a new warrior when he’s chosen to become the spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace. However, when a powerful shape-shifting sorceress sets her eyes on his Staff of Wisdom, he suddenly realizes he’s going to need some help. Teaming up with a quick-witted corsac fox, Po soon discovers that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is directed by Mike Mitchell director of Sky High (2005), Shrek Forever After (2010), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), Lego Movie 2 (2019) and a few others. Kung Fu Panda 4 is the fourth installment of the Kung Fu Panda franchise and is a sequel to Kung Fu Panda 3.
Kung Fu Panda has a been a consistently great series, it might not be some of my favorite animated films but they are always a blast and work mainly due to the mix of jokes, action and the cast. The third movie is definitely the weakest of the trilogy but it still had its charming moments and was honestly a nice wrap up to the story.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is what happens when you try to replicate what the trilogy did but somehow fall short, what mainly works here is Jack Black, Viola Davis, James Hong and Bryan Cranston turning in great performances. Jack Black of course does a fantastic job as Po, even if the writing is much weaker this time around he still manages to squeeze in his charm. Viola Davis plays the villain of the movie which while Davis gives a strong performance the villain “The Chameleon” is just such a disappointing villain. Kung Fu Panda has always had some really solid villains in the past so it’s huge let down to see this one go to waste. The Chameleon is lacking in personality despite Viola Davis’s best efforts.
The action scenes are quite neat combined with the animation complimenting them quite well, there’s no denying the movie looks great. Unfortunately what hurts Kung Fu Panda 4 is the writing issues and the many odd decisions this movie went with. For starters a lot of character absences are very noticeable, which while they are technically in the movie they are turned into nostalgia bait and cameos. Particularly The Furious Five who are pretty much cameos as well as Tai Lung being used for nostalgia bait.
The main idea of the movie is Po deciding who will be his successor unfortunately Zhen (played by Awkwafina is the one, I like the idea of the character but the character development is just not there at all, it doesn’t help that yet again Awkwafina turns in another lacking performance that really just feels like she’s playing herself.
It’s really no wonder there was so much behind the scenes drama with the script and which characters were going to be used in the movie. Because a lot of the decision making feels incredibly rushed and last minute, which is such a huge disappointment because the previous three movies had such great pacing and never felt poorly put together.
Overall there is really nothing that standouts with Kung Fu Panda 4 it has it’s positives and isn’t the worst movie out there, but when you compare it to the trilogy it’s a huge let down.
Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Dune: Part II is directed by Denis Villeneuve director of Incendies (2010), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), Sicario (2015), Arrival (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Dune (2021) and a few others.
What is there to say about Denis Villeneuve that hasn’t been said already? Villeneuve has quickly become one of the best directors currently working today and Dune (2021) was just one of his many excellent films, it was one of my favorite films from that year and I was very interested to see how Villeneuve would be able to top it…let me tell you he did more than just top it, he made arguably one of the best sequels ever made.
Let’s start with the cast because that’s one of the film’s strongest parts, everyone does a fantastic job here each bring something truly special to the film some of which give career best performances. Timothee Chalamet once again shows he was an excellent choice to play Paul Atreides we get to see his character do a complete turn and it’s quite haunting to see, Chalamet’s powerful and intimidating performance (especially towards the end) only furthers this when he becomes power hungry and it takes over his mind, it’s a huge display of incredibly strong acting that makes Chalamet one of the most interesting actors working today.
Zendaya has a much bigger part in the story this time around and she does an excellent job here, she plays Chani incredibly well and her chemistry with Timothee Chalamet is some of the film’s highlights. There’s so many incredibly moments with Zendaya that truly shows that she is a powerhouse like the little moments of Chani and Paul looking out into the desert which only shows how much bigger this film is in scale (more on that in a bit). Zendaya might not have anything grand in the film, but all of the little moments plus the bigger ones make her performance quite excellent.
Rebecca Ferguson was excellent in Dune (2021) and she is just as excellent here arguably even better, she gives a haunting and powerful performance as Lady Jessica and her interactions with Alia Atreides (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy) is haunting in it’s own right and builds on what is to come in the film, Ferguson is probably my absolute favorite from the film mainly due to just how raw she goes with her performance, especially when the script gives her so much to work with. She takes advantage of every single moment she can to make this performance outstanding.
Austin Butler gives an absolutely insane performance that I truly did not expect coming at all, he plays Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen an absolutely crazy and bloodthirsty fighter, this is definitely a career best performance for Butler who really goes all out and never holds back. There is one particular action scene with Timothee Chalamet and Austin Butler that truly standouts and is quite intense as well. From the atmosphere and tension it truly is a masterwork of a scene. The atmosphere when Butler enters the film is a very noticeable change in a very good way, intimidation sets in and becomes so much more darker as well.
The rest of the cast are phenomenal, Florence Pugh gives a very strong performance as always even if she doesn’t get the most screentime her acting still brings so much to the film. Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista and Christopher Walken are incredibly solid here each of which bring power to the film some of them definitely get more screentime than others but as I said before even when someone is given little screentime in Dune: Part Two they still add so much to the film.
The writing is truly excellent here, there’s so much attention to detail with the script and how it progresses the story as well. It moves at a natural pace and has the atmosphere to back it up, it’s written in this way where it might seem like a regular journey at the beginning but becomes far more darker as it progresses. It explores the world of Dune quite a lot more than the first film and that film did such a good job of exploring it already. But here we get so much more additional information and so many highlights of what makes the world so big, the writing also helps connect these characters and why the viewer should invest in them. The character work is truly incredible, the little moments help build the characters just as much as the big moments do which is truly fascinating.
As I said earlier the scale in this film is far bigger than it was in the first film, that’s mainly due to how much exploration there really is here and of course the visuals which are quite an accomplishment on their own, the sandworms, action scenes and cinematography all combine together to create some of the most visually striking and beautiful visuals ever put to film. Heck even after watching the film I still felt like I didn’t explore everything due to just how much is on screen in so many different moments.
Lastly we have Denis Villeneuve’s direction which is truly outstanding, as I said at the beginning Villeneuve not only made an incredible sequel to Dune (2021) that topped it he made arguably one of the best sequels ever made. Everything he does in this film truly shows excellent he really is in his craft and will go further and beyond to top the previous film. Dune: Part Two really shows how the medium of film is special artists like Villeneuve take you into a world that you never thought you would be so invested in and you eventually feel like you are right there with the characters. Dune: Part Two is truly something incredibly special and very rare, it really does feel like you are watching an event happen before your eyes. If you haven’t already be sure to check this one out.
A young woman agrees to marry a handsome prince — only to discover it was all a trap. She is thrown into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon and must rely solely on her wits and will to survive.
Damsel is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo director of Intact (2001), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and Intruders (2011).
The frustrating thing about a lot of these Netflix action movies is they have the ideas and talented people involved they just for whatever reason always fall completely flat. That’s sadly the case here with Damsel a movie that is another attempt of flipping the fairy tale narrative, despite The Princess (2022) coming out 2 years ago I still had hope this would be fresh…unfortunately not the case.
Millie Bobby Brown and Angela Bassett are really solid here and are easily the movie’s strongest parts, the first bit of this movie I will say started out promising. While there wasn’t anything groundbreaking the movie explored the world decently well and we got to know the characters even if they were basically talking fantasy movie cliches. Unfortunately the rest of the movie happens and it ends up being no different than any other fantasy movie that has come out in the last several years.
I will give some credit for is being a surprisingly brutal PG-13 movie, there are some quite satisfying action scenes that I can’t deny are pretty surprising to watch from a PG-13 movie. However that’s where the praise really ends because you need more than some great kills to stick the landing, writing wise it’s very blandly written. Think of any fantasy movie trope and it’s more than likely somewhere in this movie, there’s some similarities to Ready Or Not (2019) which I actually thought they were going to do more with but instead is used for more blandly written story telling.
It doesn’t help that the ending feels very rushed, which is unfortunate because I do think what they went with for the ending is interesting. But there’s just such a lack of character moments and strong writing throughout the movie that by the time the ending rolls around you already checked out of the movie and just waiting for it to be over.
I really do wish Damsel was a better movie, the performances and ideas are there. The writing is just incredibly lacking and leaves a lot more to be desired.
When Megamind’s former villain team the Doom Syndicate returns, the newly crowned blue hero must keep up evil appearances until he can assemble his friends (Roxanne, Chum and Keiko) to stop his old teammates from launching Metro City to the moon.
Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is directed by Eric Fogel who’s done a few My Scene movies (yes those actually exist) and The Barbie Diaries (2006). The movie also serves a sequel Megamind (2010) and is a pilot to the series Megamind Rules.
Megamind is a film that over the years has gained a cult following, while it got mostly positive reviews it was one of Dreamworks’s lowest growing films of the 2010s which is more than likely why a sequel never came to be…that is until one day a trailer popped up and all hell broke loose. To say fans were not happy would be understatement, from the completely different voice cast, to the much cheaper quality that pretty much equals to those straight to DVD sequels Disney was doing for awhile. The movie itself is somehow a lot worse than the trailers made it out to be.
I’m not going to pretend like Megamind (2010) is one of my favorite animated movies ever made, I think it’s a solid movie with some actually pretty strong character work and decently funny jokes. With that said even if you aren’t a fan of the first movie the way they completely changed everything is flat out character assassination.
For starters the cast from the first movie being very noticeably missing does not help at all, part of what made the first movie work was Will Farrell, Tina Fey and David Cross they actually went into their characters and gave plenty of character moments. In this movie all of that character growth that was present is gone and completely replaced with tired tropes such as Megamind being a complete and total jerk and then later learning that he should not be one. It both completely takes away everything that Megamind learned from the first movie and the purpose of it all. There was a balance of good vs evil in the first movie, this whole movie doesn’t seem to know what it’s trying to say outside of cliched plot points that have been done to death.
Roxanne is reduced to a typical side character who has absolutely nothing going for her outside of being a plot device, I’m not trying to say Roxanne had this deep and rich character development from the first movie. But at least she had a point and was genuinely enjoyable, her and Megamind just talking was genuinely funny and she was more than a love interest.
The voice acting is just not good here I’m sure the cast tried the best they could with such an uninspired script which bafflingly enough is from the exact same writers as the first movie. As I said before this movie is basically the equivalent of one of those terrible straight to DVD sequels Disney use to release, only this time it’s straight to streaming since we live in the streaming age.
The villains in this movie are just terrible, they all have one personality trait which is their power and that’s it Lady Doppler manipulates the weather, Pierre Pressure is a mime who uses hypnosis, Lord Nighty-Knight manipulates shadows and Behemoth is a giant lava monster. A complete downgrade from Hal Stewart in the first movie.
The movie also ends on a cliffhanger which sets into the series that was released on the same day which is Megamind Rules. Which I have not seen anyone else can be my guest because Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate was quite enough.
Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is available on Peacock.
The thing Orion fears the most is the dark. When the embodiment of his worst fear pays a visit, Dark whisks Orion away on a roller-coaster ride around the world to prove there is nothing to be afraid of at night.
Orion And The Dark is directed by Sean Charmatz who previously directed a few Dreamworks animation shorts both of which are from the Trolls series (Trolls Holiday in Harmony and Tiny Diamond Goes Back To School)
When I first heard that Charlie Kaufman was going to be a writer for a Dreamworks and Netflix collaboration I was honestly expecting a very watered down film, however to my surprise Orion And The Dark works quite well and is genuinely a really fun film.
The voice acting is incredibly strong here across the board Jacob Tremblay gives a genuinely touching performance, Paul Walter Hauser does a really fantastic job of building the character of Dark and really making the viewer get invested into the character. Angela Bassett is also quite solid here even if she isn’t given the most to do, she still turns in a great performance as always.
The animation is quite beautiful, there’s a really creative mix of 2D and 3D animation tricks that are captivating and help build the world of the film, it also helps the movie move at a steady pace. The writing from Charlie Kaufman is very child friendly yet isn’t afraid to remind the viewer that the film is written by Kaufman, there’s some genuinely sweet messaging that is executed quite beautifully.
I definitely think the film fumbles the ball a bit towards the end that does away with a lot of the simplicity the rest of the movie was building, it sort of overcomplicates itself when it really did not need to. I do appreciate what the movie was trying to do with it’s final act as it was going for something a bit different, but it unfortunately doesn’t completely work and when compared to the rest of the movie it definitely sticks out like a sore thumb.
Having that said Orion And The Dark is a very sweet film that’s a quick and easy watch, it gets the job done for the most part and while not one of Dreamwork’s absolute best work. It’s miles better and far more investing than some other movies in their catalog.
A young boy in San Francisco meets a talking tiger named Mr. Hu and discovers he’s the latest in a long line of guardians who protect an ancient phoenix from evildoers.
The Tiger’s Apprentice is directed by Raman Hui who was the co director of Shrek The Third (2007) and a bunch of other Dreamworks animation short films such as Scared Shrekless (2010), Kung Fu Panda: Secrets Of The Fury Five and a few others. Joining Hui are Young Duk Jhun and Paul Watling.
The Tiger’s Apprentice is about as bland as you can get with a terrible animated movie, outside of the voice cast such as Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Sandra Oh and Lucy Liu there is very little here. The premise is interesting enough but the execution is severely lacking, most of the characters are of course based off of the Chinese zodiac signs the problem here is outside of the Tiger guardian, the others get very little development. Most of the time they crack a few unfunny one liners or jokes and the movie moves on to the next scene.
Speaking of which the pacing is way too fast, the movie starts out with a nice and slow moment that’s genuinely sweet, but the rest of the movie is way too fast when trying to tell it’s story. Due to this we are given no character development from the characters or why we should care about their journey and goals, the animation is fine enough at times but most of the time it just does not look pleasing to look at. Which is a bit of a shame because the use of color is actually quite decent, with certain colors popping out that actually compliment a few scenes decently enough.
Overall The Tiger’s Apprentice is very undercooked that needed so much more time in the oven especially when it comes to the writing, this is the very definition of streaming fodder that will be quickly forgotten about after watching.
A down-on-his-luck man struggles to find a better life for his family while fighting to free himself of debt. Captivated by the power and glory of the rising Messiah, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, ultimately discovering that the redemptive power of belief may be his only way out.
The Book Of Clarence is directed by Jeymes Samuel who previously directed The Harder They Fall (2021).
The Book Of Clarance is the third movie I’ve seen this month that I appreciate more than I like or dislike it (the other two being Destroy All Neighbors and American Star) there is so much to like with this movie so it’s such a shame that it really does not come together in the end.
The acting is by far the best part about the movie, LaKeith Stanfield while starting off a bit rough does eventually really capture his performance quite well, Omar Sy, Anna Diop and many others do a solid job as well. It’s just such a shame that Clarence/Thomas (played by LaKeith Stanfield) is the only fully fleshed out character, everyone else is either forgotten about or not given a whole lot to work with character development wise.
The biggest problem here is the movie tries to do so many things at once, it’s very clear that it wants to be a parody of biblical epics, the Bible or an even a satire. It constantly switches and really starts to stick out like a sore thumb halfway through the movie, there’s a couple jokes here and there that are decently funny. But unfortunately most of the movie is just not really funny, I can definitely see what they were going for with the humor but due to the writing and comedic timing it just does not land.
Having that said I do think the movie is well made, Jeymes Samuel absolutely does have vision especially when it comes to capturing some really good shots that compliment the story being told. The movie has a stylistic look to it that at the very least gives the movie its own personality.
Overall The Book Of Clarence isn’t a bad movie, but it’s one that could have been so much better. It’s frustrating because with better writing, a more clear goal on what it wants to do and better jokes I think this would have went on to be something of a cult hit.
Mahito, a young 12-year-old boy, struggles to settle in a new town after his mother’s death. However, when a talking heron informs Mahito that his mother is still alive, he enters an abandoned tower in search of her, which takes him to another world.
The Boy and the Heron is directed by Hayao Miyazaki a director who absolutely does not need any sort of introduction, he’s a fantastic director with so many films that went on to be a huge impact on the animation genre such as Spirited Away (2001), Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and many many others. With each new film he introduces new ideas or takes ideas from one of his previous films and makes it fresh. The Boy and the Heron is a prime example of just how creative, powerful and emotional Miyazaki’s storytelling really is.
For starters the cast absolutely knocks it out of the park, everyone here does such an incredible job and matches the imaginative and emotional tone the film is going for. But the couple that really standout are Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh and Dave Bautista. Bautista plays the Parakeet King who doesn’t show up until the later half of the film, but when he does show up he truly captures the wackiness of the character. It’s a performance that should not work at all, but Bautista’s performance is genuinely hilarious it’s probably due to the Parakeet species in this film’s world being genuinely funny while a very emotional and serious plot is going on. It works strangely well and even if Bautista doesn’t stay for very long he remains as a very memorable part of the film.
Florence Pugh plays Kiriko both the young and old version, her performance is truly incredible and actually unbelievable when it comes to her voicing the old Kiriko. Her character is a huge highlight of the film, a character that we are introduced to at the very beginning who might seem like a comedic relief character at first but later becomes important. The young version of Kiriko helps Mahito Maki and points him into the right direction of his journey to rescue Natsuko, she’s a classic mentor type character that you can’t help but love. Pugh’s performance really sells the character well and almost immediately makes the character quite lovable.
Robert Pattinson as The Grey Heron is my absolute favorite performance from an animated film this year and I don’t think it’s even close, when the trailer for this film dropped I instantly thought the Heron was Willem Dafoe which while yes Dafoe is in this film he’s not in it for very long but still gives a haunting performance. I don’t know how Pattinson did it but this performance is truly unbelievable and truly effective right from the Heron’s first appearance, Pattinson completely matches the tone the film is going for and mixes it with a bit of humor and the Heron himself as a character has fantastic character development. It’s a classic case of not getting along with someone at first in this case not getting along with Mahito, but slowly but surely their bond builds and it’s truly delightful to see. The Grey Heron is such a fun character that balances humor and the more serious moments and Pattinson’s performance only adds on to that.
The writing much like other Miyazaki films is truly incredible, there’s a large theme here of grief and mourning the loss of someone very close to you. In this case Mahito losing his mother. There’s a lot of moments in this film that really tie it together, the world building of the world we are introduced to can be a bit confusing at first. But as the film goes on it starts to piece itself together and tell the viewer the full story about this world, it’s visually some of the absolute best Miyazaki has ever done, that’s something that consistently gets better and better with each film and this felt like a natural build up all of these films later.
Something that really stands out with this film is the masterful balance between humor, wackiness and the dramatic moments of the film. A film that’s about loss and dealing with grief has scenes where funny looking Parakeets want to eat people and their leader the Parakeet King is a presented as a serious but goofy boss voiced by Dave Bautista…yet it all strangely works. It comes down to just how beautiful the storytelling really is, it combines so many anime elements and genres we have seen throughout the years and presents it so well. From the classic adventure genre to the goofy villains who actually have a quite serious side to them it’s all here and delivered in such a fascinating, emotional and hilarious way that puts a smile on your face.
Overall The Boy and the Heron is yet another homerun for Hayao Miyazaki and one of the absolute best films of the year. It’s such a creative film with so much to say that it will surely go on to be a classic.
Jerome Reviews... 