Jess and Hannah, at 13 years old, made a pact to have the perfect prom. However, 24 hours before the big event, everything is ruined when they break-up with their dates. Now they have one night to find new dates and make the fantasy comes true.
Prom Dates is directed by Kim O. Nguyen which is her directorial debut.
Prom Dates is basically if you took Booksmart (2019) and watered it down quite a bit, although there’s some genuine attempts to differentiate itself the movie can’t seem to avoid the shadow of Booksmart (2019).
With that said not everything is terrible here, the performances from Julia Lester and Antonia Gentry are solid enough to deliver some funny lines. The two work well together and do have some comedic timing that is worth praise, the friendship of the two is genuinely touching at times even if some of the development is lacking you can still buy their friendship.
Unfortunately the heavy reliance on cliched situations really stops this movie in it’s tracks, a lot of the resolutions to the conflicts is very by the numbers and quite predictable. Which is unfortunate because the movie does talk about complexities of real world friendships and those moments in particular are very intriguing, how the movie goes about solving the resolutions is incredibly frustrating and takes a lot away from the story that was being told.
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.
A group of would-be criminals kidnaps the 12-year-old daughter of a powerful underworld figure. Holding her for ransom in an isolated mansion, their plan starts to unravel when they discover their young captive is actually a bloodthirsty vampire.
Abigail is directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett or as some people know them as Radio Silence. They previously directed Devil’s Due (2014), Ready Or Not (2017), Scream (2022), Scream VI (2023) and various segments from some of the V/H/S films.
2024 is looking to be a repeat of 2022 in terms of fantastic horror films, it was a bit of a rough start but we have already gotten a bunch of memorable and quite excellent horror films this year such as Immaculate, The First Omen, Late Night With The Devil, Lisa Frankenstein and a few others. Abigail adds to that list and quite honestly ends up being one of the most fun releases so far this year.
Starting from the cast, we have another case where everyone just works incredibly well together. Nobody turns in any bad performances mainly due to the material that is worked with here. Melissa Barrera and Kathryn Newton continue to show that they are scream queens here to stay, both of them give excellent and fun performances that absolutely blends well with Radio Silence’s atmosphere and style. Dan Stevens continues to show he can bring so much fun and intrigue to almost any role he does, that especially applies here with his performance as Frank who much like Barrera and Newton matches the tone and atmosphere Radio Silence is going for.
Alisha Weir gives one of the best child performances I’ve seen in awhile, her as a vampire was just such an excellent casting choice, one that she naturally fits into without any issue. The humor that’s thrown into the mix also makes her character Abigail incredibly fun. Kevin Durand and the late Angus Cloud both give fun performances as well, there might not be much to their characters but the fact they are instantly fun characters makes up for that.
Abigail is another instance where Radio Silence does a lot of attention to detail especially with the makeup and sets. It’s very reminiscent of Ready Or Not where the attention to detail to the sets was instantly recognizable and made the film all the more natural and investing to watch. The same can be applied here with Abigail the many different rooms, the lighting and such really compliments the thrilling and humorous atmosphere that all blends together to make an incredibly fun film.
Abigail really felt like the natural next step of Radio Silence, it shares a lot of similarities to Ready Or Not but it does it’s own thing. It uses a lot of what made the film so investing to audiences and applies here, Abigail really does feel like the film that Radio Silence’s last couple films have been building up to. One key part in all of this is the gore which Abigail has…a ton of it, which is where a lot of the fun elements come into play. The kills have that signature brutal but absolutely fun feel that Radio Silence loves and I would argue that it works best here simply due to the characters and how quickly they match the tone.
Overall Abigail is another excellent film by Radio Silence, they continue to be some of the most exciting and one of most notable eyes for attention detail when it comes to horror film directors. I truly can’t wait to see what they do next.
Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer who’s struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an art world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realise his dream.
Problemista is directed by Julio Torres which is his directorial debut.
If there’s a couple words that could describe Problemista it would be creative and unique, Julio Torres brings a very sharp narrative told in both a humorous and dramatic way. The film explores adulthood and how it can be quite bizarre at times along with the immigration process which I was honestly not expecting. The film really explores both these topics well, the adulthood part is explored in mostly a comedic way with tons of incredibly fun dialogue. When the film talks about the immigration process the film is much more serious and has so many touching moments that really shine through the performances.
Speaking of which Julio Torres is excellent here, he gives a strong performance as Alejandro who quickly becomes a very interesting character. The writing builds this character so fluidly and carefully that it’s quite touching to see. Tilda Swinton is the other half that really brings this film together, she’s funny, has excellent chemistry with Torres and her character Elizabeth much like Alejandro is written fluidly.
The surreal humor is quite fascinating as well, there’s a blend of fantasy to it that the film compares and contrasts fantasy and reality in incredibly fun ways. Whether it be bits and pieces or dialogue or some fun visuals it always manages to get its point across very well. Julio Torres has a great eye for storytelling and it can easily be seen with the amount of character moments between Alejandro and Elizabeth or just visually.
Problemista is an incredibly creative film that is a ton of fun to watch, give this one a watch!
A drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.
Hundreds Of Beavers is directed by Mike Cheslik which is his directorial debut.
Hundreds Of Beavers is a film that really needs to be seen to be believed, picture a Looney Tunes cartoon combined with the silent film era, throw in some Monty Python and Sin City and this is what you get an absolutely fascinating film that is quite honestly one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a very long time.
Honestly what makes the film is the amount of charm that’s shown throughout the film, every single moment is filled to the brim with it and really seems like everyone involved had such a blast making this film. The slapstick comedy is masterfully done especially with the comedic timing that Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brockton Cole Tews, Kurt Ravenwood and Matt Sablijak have in their script.
What amazes me the most about Hundreds Of Beavers is they manage to keep up the slapstick comedy and insanity throughout the film, it never once gets dull, repetitive or tiring it’s all 108 minutes of pure fun that really celebrates the art of slapstick comedy and in some ways the silent film era as well. It’s such a wonderful film that really shows incredible passion to the art form and delivers such a hilarious story while doing so.
The visuals combined with the music just make it all the more fun and much like everything else really compliment the slapstick comedy, the music captures that Looney Tunes feel incredibly and really reminds you of that era of cartoons. The visuals are truly delightful and in their own ways quite hilarious as well.
I won’t say much else because I truly do think it’s best to go into Hundreds Of Beavers knowing as little as possible, please do anything you can to support a film like this!
Hundreds Of Beavers is available on all VOD platforms.
A young man with synesthesia faces an uncertain future while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture in Newark, N.J.
Música is directed by Rudy Mancuso which is his directorial debut.
Música is yet another pretty huge surprise so far this year, much like The Greatest Hits I was quite honestly not expecting all that much. To say that I’m kind of impressed with what the end result is would be an understatement.
Rudy Mancuso creates a coming of age story as well as a romantic comedy that blends in music in quite creative ways, while there are some familiar story beats and the third act doesn’t work quite as well as what came before it. There is so much to appreciate here, including Mancuso’s direction that captures a lot of genuine moments between the cast.
Camila Mendes is an actress I’ve quickly become a fan of, I haven’t seen Riverdale so I was largely unfamiliar with her before Palm Springs (2020). But ever since then she’s done a pretty solid job between Do Revenge (2022), Upgraded (2024) which came out in February and now her performance in this film, which could be argued that it’s her strongest. Her performance as Isabella feels incredibly genuine and the chemistry between her and Rudy Mancuso’s character Rudy is filled to the brim with charm. The script by Mancuso and Dan Lagana truly captures the film’s heart and the character’s bond between one another. It really makes these character’s seem like actual people that the viewer can grow attached to.
Maria Mancuso who is the mother of Rudy Mancauso and is his mother in this film as well just adds to the film’s heart, her performance isn’t anything groundbreaking but it’s still incredibly sweet and she brings her own charm that only adds to the film’s strength.
The music portions I think are quite fun, there’s definitely arguments to be made that they could have been a bit stronger and I definitely agree in some areas. But I do think for the most part the film does a great job of combining music with the story and doing something a bit different than other films.
Overall Música definitely surprised me, there’s so much to really like here that I actually do recommend giving this one a look.
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.
A coming-of-age “traumedy” that follows 16-year-old Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) who is unexpectedly diagnosed with a reproductive condition, MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis upends her plans to have sex, her presumptions about womanhood and sexuality, her relationship with her mother (Emily Hampshire), and most importantly, herself
Fitting In is directed by Molly McGlynn director of Mary Goes Around (2017).
Fitting In is a quite interesting one, the film centers around Lindy (played by Maddie Ziegler) a 16 year old who is diagnosed with a rare reproductive condition called MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis disrupts her understanding of womanhood and sexual identity. Plus it hurts her relationship with her boyfriend, friends and mother.
What makes Fitting In quite great is how the film approaches its subject matter, it does it in such a pretty authentic way. Which mostly comes from Maddie Ziegler’s excellent performance, she really makes the film work due to her capturing the mannerisms and speech of a 16 year old. The panic and not knowing what to do when you find out you’re diagnosed with a rare disease at such a young age is felt throughout the film. Sure the film does have its comedic moments but for the most part the movie focuses on Lindy’s thoughts of what the hell is going on.
The rest of the cast do a phenomenal job as well, Ziegler’s interactions with each of them feels very natural and quite powerful at times as well. There’s some genuinely touching moments that are made truly special thanks to the screenplay by Molly McGlynn, what’s especially great is McGlynn explores each of Lindy’s relationships in great detail. Each of which feel like different chapters that go on at the same time, each of which having their conclusion.
I can easily see some people relating to this film incredibly well which is always a positive and really does make me happy the film exists. While I may not be able to relate to it, I can say that it’s a very well acted and written film that uses its subject matter in very interesting ways.
A young man gets recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to making white people’s lives easier. Although initially enamored with his new powers, he begins to question the value of using supernatural means to do the very thing he’s felt obligated to do his whole life.
The American Society Of Magical Negroes is directed by Kobi Libii which is his directorial debut.
The American Society Of Magical Negroes is what happens when you have very little understanding on how satire works, it’s unfortunate because there are some decent performances here particularly from David Alan Grier (easily the best part in the entire movie) and An-Li Bogan (who gives a very sweet performance).
Satire is a tool that can make someone laugh but also provoke someone, make them look at an issue more carefully under a different lens that they may have not of done before. Unfortunately with this movie it fails to do both, the writing comes off as way too awkward to be funny that’s especially evident with Justice Smith’s character Aren who is clearly going for this awkward type of character. While Justice Smith tries his best, the performance almost immediately falls flat due to the writing and Aren just being flat out annoying, unfunny and uncomfortably (not in a good way) awkward.
Then there is the out of place romance subplot, which quite honestly has no reason to be here. It doesn’t help that the chemistry between Justice Smith and An-Li Bogan is about as bland as you can get, which is mainly due to the writing. It doesn’t offer any investing character growth or development that could potentially make these characters interesting. Instead we are presented with some incredibly dull satire that the viewer forgets after viewing.
The American Society Of Magical Negroes is available on all VOD Platforms.
In search of a fresh start, two women embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, Fla. However, things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Drive-Away Dolls is directed by Ethan Coen which by himself and not with his brother Joel Coen he previously directed the documentary Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind (2022).
Drive-Away Dolls is a very bizarre one, it has a lot of what make the Coen brothers films so great but also feels like it’s in it’s own world. I can easily see why this one is quite divisive however I came out of this one quite liking it, but will say there are parts of it that didn’t quite work for me.
The best part of the film hands down is the cast, everyone here turns in absolutely bizarre and quite energetic performances that I can’t help but love. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan have this natural chemistry almost immediately at the film’s beginning moments, the comedic timing between the two is excellent, they bounce off of each other incredibly well and their overall performances range from being goofy (in a good way) to being highly energetic and genuinely hilarious. The rest of the cast like I said earlier are just as great, Colman Domingo in particular who although doesn’t get a lot of screentime is still quite solid and actually delivers quite a few laughs throughout the film.
Drive-Away Dolls goes for this bizarre and energetic feel which for the most part works quite well, it’s a very fast paced film that’s only 84 minutes long and manages to wrap the story up in a fair amount of time. That being said I do think choices such as the screen transitions that look like something out of Microsoft Word are a bit too much. I get that the joke is that it’s supposed to be bad and you can absolutely make the argument that it fits the film, however I do think the joke runs dry after the first time or two it’s used. Granted this isn’t really something that completely ruins the film (far from it) as the strong performances and solid humor overshadow it, it’s just something worth pointing out.
The character’s personalities are quite entertaining, you have a lot of characters who are so out there and can go completely insane in a matter of minutes that it actually fits the world Ethan Coen and Tricia Coen wrote and want the viewer to explore. Granted outside of Jamie (played by Margaret Qualley) and Marian (played by Geraldine Viswanathan) we don’t get the most character writing however I do think the fact the viewer doesn’t know too much about the other characters outside of the leads actually benefits the film’s whole bizarre nature.
Overall Drive-Away Dolls is bizarre and quite a lot of fun, as I said before it’s definitely not for everyone. But I think it really works as a breezy and entertaining comedy.
Drive-Away Dolls is available on all VOD platforms.
Jerome Reviews... 