She Said is a respectful film that tackles sexual assault and harassment.

The New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor publish a report that exposes sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The shocking story also serves as a launching pad for the #MeToo movement, shattering decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault and harassment.

Making a film about sexual harassment and abuse is a very hard task, it’s a very heavy subject that you have to really nail down to get right and luckily She Said nails it. From the trailers it did seem like another case of Hollywood patting themselves on the back despite sexual abuse and harassment still being a huge ongoing problem in the industry. She Said tells the events of Harvey Weinstein one of the biggest Hollywood producers being finally exposed for his disgusting crimes, I do want to note that She Said is not just about Harvey Weinstein it’s about Sexual harassment and assault happening in the workplace being covered up in general. The cast is very strong here particularly Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan who truly deliver some powerful and honest performances that really bring a lot to the film, both of which play real journalists which only add to the power of their performances. The film is also claustrophobic and quite disturbing at times which it accomplishes that by never showing any of the sexual assault or harassment instead it uses it’s atmosphere combined with it’s writing to put the viewer into the victims shoes. It might be a bit disturbing yet the film is empathetic and approaches the heavy topic with a lot of respect and that has a lot to do with Maria Schrader’s direction who really nails down a huge issue that is still going on in Hollywood, she makes some very strong decisions such as letting survivors tell their stories and show tons of emotion while talking to the journalists. It creates a brutally honest experience that is very real, combined that with Kazan and Mulligan blending incredibly well together with their two very different personalities and you have a honest film that approaches a heavy subject with tons of respect.

She Said is currently in theaters.

8/10 B+

Charlotte is decent but could have been more.

An account of German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon living in the south of France between 1941 and 1943.

Charlotte definitely has the right ingredients to b a really strong movie, there’s just many parts about it that hold it back from doing so. The voice acting is quite great particularly Keira Knightly who really tries the best she can with the script she’s given, the story itself is interesting and tells the true story of German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon during World War II. The film itself is quite dark particularly the ending which is very sad and is very effective, there’s footage at the end of a small interview of Salomon’s parents it’s incredibly touching and quite powerful as well. The problems with the movie are the script being way too weak and the animation, the animation isn’t something I would call terrible. But it really doesn’t capture the life of Charlotte Salomon and what she was going through very well, the script lacked powerful moments which is something a film like this needs. There’s the ending yes but a lot of the movie’s script was very undercooked and was very rushed as well. Charlotte isn’t a bad movie just one that could have went a lot deeper than it did.

Charlotte is available on all VOD Platforms.

6/10 C+

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye Turns Jessica Chastain into Tammy Faye!

An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is interesting and sort of surprising, right from the beginning it gives this bizarre style to it that I had no idea what to make of it. There are very standard biopic bits during the first half that aren’t too exciting but not anything really bad, Jessica Chastain gives one of her best performances here and is more than likely going to get nominated when the award shows start. And as she should she becomes Tammy Faye, she nails every single thing about her from how she acted and spoke to her style of singing. Speaking of which the songs were very great, despite Christian music certainly not being my type of music I still found myself singing along and have actually listened to a few of the songs since I saw the film. Andrew Garfield is also pretty great as well, while he isn’t as good as Jessica Chastain he still delivers a fantastic performance and was very believable as Jim Bakker. There are moments when he even becomes Jim Bakker it gets pretty scary, Cherry Jones who plays Rachel LaValley deserves to be talked about more for her performance. She’s hilarious, she gives this sarcastic yet loving performance that really makes you smile. The major flaw with The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is skimming over certain subjects. Especially with her connection to the LGBT community sure it’s shown in the film a few times and it does show she genuinely cares about the community, however it doesn’t feel like it’s discussed very much. I would have also loved to see the film dive a bit deeper on the shadiness of televangelist, but for what the movie did talk about it did a solid job. The writing definitely improves as it goes on, it starts out good enough but just very strange for the sake of feeling strange, but as the movie reaches its 30 minute mark it improves quite well. Overall The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is quite great, it does feel like a very standard biopic at times but there is a lot to like about this one, I recommend watching this one solely because of the performances!

The Eyes Of Tammy Faye is available in theaters!

7/10 B

Worth is both interesting and emotional when it comes to interview scenes!

An attorney in Washington D.C. battles against cynicism, bureaucracy and politics to help the victims of 9/11.

Worth is a pretty solid movie that tells the true story of lawyer Kenneth Feinberg who battles a ton of obstacles to help the victims of 9/11. Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci both give very solid performances, Worth is at it’s best when it focuses on the victims of 9/11 particularly the interview scenes. It has a lot of human interaction during those scenes and has a huge sense of rawness to it as well, that ultimately make this movie an emotional ride at times. I do wish the writing could have been a bit stronger in some areas, particularly the first act that does take a bit to get going. Worth is overall a solid enough movie that is quite interesting and delivers the emotional moments quite well.

Worth is now available on Netflix!

7/10 B

Joe Bell (2021) Movie Review!

The true story of a small town, working class father who embarks on a solo walk across the U.S. to crusade against bullying after his son is tormented in high school for being gay.

Joe Bell is a movie where at first glance it seems like it’s trying to be meaningful and heartwarming but when you actually sit down and take a closer look at it that’s just not true at all. The only thing I can give this movie is Mark Wahlberg gives a fine enough performance and trust me when I say that isn’t enough to save this movie, my biggest issue with this movie is that it really tries to hammer in this idea that “at least I’m not AS homophobic as those guys” look I’m all for redemption stories, people can change it’s part of the human nature. However this feels like a very ignorant and a tasteless way of doing that. It doesn’t help that the writing is terrible and is a complete and total mess, the LGBT character is sidelined in favor of the father who’s homophobic. It feels like another inspiration porn but this case this movie was made for some straight people to pat themselves on the back. What makes this even more tasteless and honestly very uncomfortable is that this is based on an actual suicide, so not only is the movie just bad in general due to poor direction that has nothing to it at all. It completely fails at treating the true story with care, as for the rest of the movie it’s honestly shocking of how cheaply made despite a $33 million dollar budget (according to Deadline) I’ve seen films with a much lower budget that don’t feel anywhere near as cheaply made as this. As I said before the writing is a complete and total mess, it feels like nobody looked this over and just went with it. Overall Joe Bell is one of the worst movies of the year, it’s a complete mess, it’s tasteless and it just flat out fails on what it’s trying to do.

Joe Bell is now available on all VOD Platforms!

1/10 F

Tribeca Review: No Man Of God (2021)

The complicated relationship that formed between the FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Bundy during Bundy’s final years on death row.

I really wouldn’t blame someone if their first reaction hearing about another Ted Bundy movie being released was “another one?!?” Because quite frankly there has been a lot of them at this point, however Amber Sealey’s No Man Of God manages to be far different from the other films. For one thing the film isn’t only about Ted Bundy it’s also about FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier which is story I feel like completely goes unnoticed at times. The performances here are quite fantastic Luke Kirby does a fantastic job as Ted Bundy, he’s intimidating, acts like him and so on this is definitely one of the best if not the best portrayal of Ted Bundy in recent memory. Elijah Wood plays Hagmaier and he does an incredible job as well, the chemistry between Wood and Kirby is fantastic and feels very real. It’s disturbing but at the same time very fascinating as to what was going on between their discussions, which is where the writing comes in. Which I truly feel is the best part about this film, the writing really shares the thoughts and discussions they shared with one another. It’s a dark film that truly delivers in every single way possible, if your a fan of true crime you are going to love No Man Of God!

10/10 A+

2021 Movie catch up: Wrath Of Man, Dream Horse and Superdeep.

H, a cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week.

Wrath Of Man is a very decent action thriller movie and nothing more, Jason Statham does a solid job in his role, it’s the type of role that at this point Statham is use to and he does just as good as he always has here. Guy Ritchie does a pretty good job with the directing sure this might not be as good as some of his other movies but at least with Wrath Of Man it has that Guy Ritchie spirit in it where’s movies like Aladdin and King Arthur did not. The main criticisms are the other characters who are just not that interesting and the movie tries a little too much to give the villains a backstory, when it quite honestly didn’t need to. The running time definitely did not need to be almost two hours long, luckily the action scenes do help this movie out by making the movie move at a good pace. Wrath Of Man is definitely not bad, it’s a very serviceable action movie that gets the job done and for the most part knows what it’s sent out to do. Just don’t expect anything completely groundbreaking.

Wrath Of Man is now in theaters and on VOD!

6/10 C+

The true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely racehorse bred by small-town bartender Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete with the racing elites. Their investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope for their struggling community.

Filmmakers definitely love horses don’t they? Dream Horse is the newest horse movie and there really isn’t a whole to be said here, it’s a true story of Dream Alliance which is a interesting enough story! Toni Collette does a pretty good job in her role and is easily the best part of the movie, I would say watch this one because of her performance, the filming is actually quite nice with some beautiful shots as well. What does ultimately stop Dream Horse from being anything other than a decent crowd pleaser and nothing more is it really doesn’t do anything new. It’s a very typical underdog (or underhorse in this case…I know I’m not funny) that follows a pattern like a lot of other underdog stories do. It’s a very charming little movie that also has some decent dialogue and a few meaningful moments but that’s all there really is to this movie. It’s a very decent watch if your looking for something to just put on but it’s really nothing more than that.

Dream Horse is now available on VOD!

6/10 C+

In 1984 a Russian research team goes below the surface to find out what secret the world’s deepest borehole is hiding. On their expedition, something unexpectedly gruesome awaits the researchers.

The Superdeep is basically Underwater and The Thing, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What’s not good is how the movie executes it’s idea which is really lacking, I like the idea of it but between a ton of characters who really aren’t written well all, the pacing which really drags towards the end and a story that becomes incredibly predictable especially towards the end. The Superdeep is really nothing more of a movie that you would put on in the background for noise, sure it does have it’s fun moments but it isn’t quite enough to save this movie.

Superdeep is now available on Shudder!

4/10 D+

P!nk: All I Know So Far (2021) Movie Review!

A behind-the-scenes look at P!NK as she balances family and life on the road, leading up to her first Wembley Stadium performance on 2019’s “Beautiful Trauma” world tour

This is sort of hard to review but I’ll try my best. P!nk All I Know So Far focuses on P!nk and her relationship with her daughter which is touching and absolutely beautiful, it’s one of those documentaries where you get to see more into a celebrity’s life that feels raw and meaningful. A lot of the film is behind the scenes and home videos which again keeps it more interesting, P!nk really shows the audience how she keeps a balance between family and her career as it can be hard to balance the two. It’s a very wholesome documentary, it’s almost like those old family videos your family made when you were younger. It does surprise me how Amazon did very little advertising for this documentary because it is quite interesting. As far as filmmaking there really isn’t anything mind blowing but I feel in this case it really doesn’t have to be. If your a fan of P!nk you are most definitely going to love this documentary!

P!nk: All I know So Far is now available on Amazon Prime Video!

7/10 B

The Boy From Medellin (2021) Movie Review.!

Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin prepares for his 2019 homecoming concert amid intense political turmoil, in Matthew Heineman’s latest documentary.

I was very unfamiliar who J Balvin is , I knew of him and know some of his songs but that’s about it. I feel like the best bits in this movie are when it tackles Balvin’s depression and anxiety it starts to feel somewhat relatable…it’s too bad the rest of the documentary couldn’t do that, look I’m glad J Balvin eventually did use his platform to speak about what was going on in Colombia the problem is for way too long he felt like he “was obligated” to comment and use his platform. Which I get being scared about commenting on politics (look what happened to The Chicks previously known as The Dixie Chicks) but in this case I would argue is a little different, his fans were actually the ones who wanted him to say something. It’s very hard to actually review this movie to be quite honest because nobody really knows what was in J Balvin’s mind, as far as how well made it is? It’s nothing really special but nothing bad either. It’s something that I really don’t think I’m ever going to watch again. If your a fan of J Balvin you will probably like this one.

The Boy From Medellin is now available on Amazon Prime Video!

6/10 C+

City Of Lies (2021) Movie Review!

Russell Poole and Jack Jackson investigate the murders of rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.

City Of Lies is one of those movies that has a more interesting history than the movie itself. City Of Lies you may recognize and could almost swear this came out years ago, but this was originally supposed to come out September 7th 2018 the 22nd anniversary of the Murder of Tupac Shakur it was pulled due to a lawsuit between Johnny Depp and the film’s location manager a lot of theories were suggested that this was a cover up and that the LAPD may have been trying to suppress the film at least to my knowledge nobody has commented on any of the theories. Saban films eventually got the rights to the movie and here we are now…and it’s a very forgettable movie. I’m going to be honest here there is not a whole lot to be said at all about City Of Lies. Johnny Depp tries to do the best he can but it ultimately just does not work at all, the filming is pretty decent and there was definitely some attempt to try and make this work. But a lot of it is just not that interesting, as a lot of people have pointed how for a movie that is about the murder of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. two of the most famous rappers of all time the movie is very forgettable. The writing has it’s moments but a lot of the time the movie feels like it’s going through an identity crisis, it has no idea what it wants to be and by the end kind of just gives up. I don’t think City Of Lies is particularly a terrible movie but it is most definitely a very forgettable one.

4/10 D+