In the midst of navigating the hardships of adolescence, 12-year-old Prem Patel discovers his deceased father was a rapper. He sets out to pursue a career for himself as a rap superstar and is determined to find out if hip-hop is in his DNA.
Got to say I’m a bit surprised from World’s Best, while it does fall into the typical Disney+ movie hole where it does end up feeling like a Disney Channel Original Movie. There’s a genuine amount of fun to be had here with this one.
Utkarsh Ambudkar is a whole lot of fun here and really puts his all into a performance that may not always give him the best material, but during the music segments he takes advantage of it and really pulls some great moments. Manny Magnus is a solid lead and does a pretty solid job of making his character feel quite grounded in a lot of ways, it will be interesting to see where his career goes.
The rest of the cast while not anything necessarily amazing, they get the job done and are genuinely charming as well. As I said before World’s Best can feel like a Disney channel original movie at times with the script being the main culprit plus some of the humor isn’t quite great either. Granted it is less noticeable as a lot of other Disney+ original movies, the movie itself does follow a lot of story beats about a child (in this case son) who wants to follow the footsteps of their deceased parent (in this case father).
But what makes this one standout a bit more is the direction from Roshan Sethi (who previously directed 7 Days), he brings a handful of heartwarming moments that are just enough to push the movie over the finish line. It has a lot of heart and does manage to make some of the characters feel a bit more grounded.
Overall World’s Best is flawed but a quite charming movie that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.
Encouraged by his fiancee, a man and his father spend the weekend with her wealthy and exceedingly eccentric family. The gathering soon develops into a culture clash, allowing father and son to discover the true meaning of family.
You ever get those movies where you watch it and then say “hey that wasn’t that bad!” and then slowly but surely come to realize “oh god that was actually awful” that’s my experience with About My Father.
Honestly I really don’t have anything insightful to say about this one mostly because there just isn’t a whole lot to say, it’s a bad studio comedy that was sent out one weekend and nobody talked about it. I will say Robert De Niro is quite great and I really have to give him credit, no matter how bad a movie is he always makes his performance work and that’s the case here. There’s some genuinely great jokes here and a majority of it come from De Niro. Kim Cattrall is also quite a lot of fun as well.
The main issue with About My Father is that outside of De Niro and Cattrall everything else is very dull and really doesn’t have much going on, we have seen the same sort of story before but done far better. We have seen these exact sort of characters but once again done far better and a lot of the humor that doesn’t involve De Niro fails to land.
About My Father is available on all VOD platforms.
Following a writer on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever.
Asteroid City is directed by Wes Anderson a director that has shown time and time again he always has something a bit different up his sleeve, even when some of films don’t fully land I still always appreciate the artistry that went into making them. Asteroid City is something completely different that combines so many different elements that it ends up being one of my favorite films so far in his career.
To start with the opening credits perfectly summarize the type of atmosphere and style you are going to get with this film, the opening song “Last Train to San Fernando” by Johnny Duncan & His Bluegrass Boys (it was in the trailer) perfectly captures the atmosphere of the film, it’s beautifully used and such a fun song to open with, I’ve had this song stuck in my head ever since I saw last week and the more I think about the scene the more I truly love it. It does everything an opening credits scene should do, get the viewer invested and give a sort of thesis like statement atmosphere wise.
The cast are all phenomenal here, once again Wes Anderson uses his style but does a few things differently, a few notable performances include Jason Schwartzman who plays Augie Steenback is phenomenal and is one of my absolute favorite performances so far this year, he gives a raw performance that really blends in with the rest of the cast. Steve Carell is hilarious, Jack Ryan and Grace Edwards have fantastic chemistry. Plus Jack Ryan and Jason Schwartzman are quite hilarious together, plus they have some interactions that are genuinely touching that really bring the heart of the film. Maya Hawke while not a main character absolutely nails her role every time she’s on screen with such a fun performance that really captures her character quite well.
Tom Hanks is also quite strong here, with some pretty hilarious moments and is actually a very different type of role than he usually does, Bryan Cranston does a fantastic job at capturing the whole 1950s TV host who really makes certain portions of the film actually feel like you are watching 1950s Television. Finally there’s Margot Robbie who although gets one scene that scene in particular is a huge standout in the film that’s incredibly beautiful and quite meaningful as well.
There’s two very different styles going on here in Asteroid City, the first one being a style that really looks like a beautiful painting combined with a Looney Tunes cartoon particularly Wile E. Coyote and The Roadrunner cartoons and I mean that in a very positive way. What Wes Anderson decides to do with this style is quite fascinating, he brings so many interactions between the several characters with a huge amount of detail. Aliens are also brought into the mix which takes the approach that Jordan Peele’s film Nope did where the film is analogue to find more life which also relates to creative processes, much like Nope this film really succeeds in doing that masterfully and asks a few other questions as well.
The other style being used here is actually quite interesting it’s this black and white style, one of the main ideas is that the film Asteroid City is a play in the universe the film takes place in, meaning we get to see the actors and actresses in this portion of the film as well. It’s a very interesting blend between the two very different styles the play’s events being depicted in stylized color as well as widescreen, while the television special is in black and white Academy ratio. It has this old Vs new type feel to it that I absolutely love when films go for, both styles compliment each other incredibly well and really bring in their own ideas.
Lastly there’s the writing and direction which are both phenomenal, there’s truly some powerful themes being tackled here such as not understanding the character your playing motivations Jason Schwartzman’s character Jones Hall who plays Augie in the play is frustrated because he doesn’t know the motivation. When he meets Margot Robbie’s character an actress who was originally going to be in the play but was cut. This was the scene I was referring to earlier and it’s just phenomenal and quite honestly one of my favorite scenes I’ve seen from a film so far this year. The writing is also quite hilarious with tons of moments that perfectly blend the dramatic moments with the comedic ones.
Overall Asteroid City is a phenomenal film that I loved so much more than I was expecting, as I said before this is definitely one of my favorites from Wes Anderson and most definitely a highlight from this year thus far.
On the brink of losing her childhood home, a desperate woman agrees to date a wealthy couple’s introverted and awkward 19-year-old son. However, he proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out before she loses it all.
No Hard Feelings is the very definition of a fun little film that is a nice throwback to the raunchy films of the 2000s. While No Hard Feelings might not be the most hilarious raunchy comedy in the world, it more then makes up for that with tons of elements and performances that are truly a blast of fun.
Jennifer Lawrence is what sells this film by far and is the film’s strongest part about it. Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t done a comedic role in awhile (we do not talk about Don’t Look Up) and she still is genuinely hilarious. What’s a bit surprising to me is that the film actually has a lot of heart, we get a lot more than surface level information about Jennifer Lawrence’s character. Which is typically not something you usually get with raunchy comedies.
Andrew Barth Feldman is also quite fantastic as well, his performance really blends well with Jennifer Lawrence and the two have really strong chemistry together, Feldman is also quite entertaining there’s tons of jokes here that he delivered really well plus having his own style to them as well. A standout scene is Feldman singing Maneater (1982) by the American duo Hall & Oats, wonderful use of the song and is a scene that really shocked me mainly because of how great and touching it really was.
The writing is definitely surprising, while not every single joke lands perfectly as I said earlier there’s a huge amount of heart in the film that was not really expected. But it gives the film the extra push it needs to really standout, plus the many jokes that do land are genuinely hilarious. Most of all what makes the film work is just how fun it really is. There’s this whole element of after the film ends you and your friends talk about which scene you loved the most and list your favorite hilarious moments. That’s captured quite well here and it’s truly a beautiful thing to see.
Overall No Hard Feelings is a very straight to the point and a really fun raunchy comedy that isn’t just a throwback film but stands alongside the rest of the films of the genre, I can easily see this one become sort of a classic that gets talked about on social media very often. Check this one out!
A novelist’s long-standing marriage is suddenly upended when she overhears her husband give his honest reaction to her latest book.
Nicole Holofcener has this ability to direct films that almost instantly connect the viewers to the characters, mainly due to the very raw and grounded situations the characters are in. That’s shown here in You Hurt My Feelings.
The cast is quite incredible here with Julia Louis-Dreyfus giving such a strong performance that is another prime example of how talented she is as an actress, Nicole Holofcener using her natural style combined with having Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the lead was a very wise decision as the results are quite excellent.
The film explores the tension between being supportive and brutally honest in relationships, topics that are very important for a healthy relationship. The film shows that well with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies who love each other but want to be completely honest with one another, but are scared to say it face to face especially after Beth (Dreyfus) overhears Don’s (Menzies) reaction about her latest book.
Even if the movie doesn’t have huge dramatic moments you might expect, or the humor is not as direct it really doesn’t need to be at all, it keeps things at a very grounded level that can make the viewer connect with the characters quite easily.
You Hurt My Feelings is available on all VOD platforms.
Everything is at stake for a 40-year-old woman: her career, her ticking biological clock, and her bank account. She risks it all for an intense, secret romance with the one person who could destroy her comeback.
The Perfect Find is yet another Netflix romantic comedy movie that just sort of exists, what I’ve said about a lot of Netflix’s other romantic comedies that have come out so far this year can be said here.
Gabrielle Union and Keith Powers are solid enough especially during the first half hour of the movie, which did feel quite genuine in it’s execution. After that however the movie starts to fall in line with a lot of Netflix’s other romantic comedies, the typical inoffensively made romantic comedy that has decent acting and incredibly forgettable. It’s the type of movie where after you finish watching it you will soon forget about it 2 hours later.
The only couple things that makes the movie standout are the cast and the whole age gap thing an older woman and younger man, which I guess congratulations on doing something different however that doesn’t make it good. Putting in an idea that isn’t often done while putting in so many cliches doesn’t blend well together at all.
I’m not entirely sure what else to say here, The Perfect Find isn’t terrible and at the very least there was some level of attempt during the first half hour to make it work. But the rest is compilation of elements that have been done far better.
The past comes back to haunt Bert Kreischer when a murderous mobster tries to kidnap him to atone for his crimes. With help from his estranged father, Bert must retrace the steps of his younger self as a sociopathic crime family goes to war.
The Machine is based on Bert Kreischer’s true story stand up routine which was turned into a feature film, the whole idea is that the whole true Russian mobsters story is back to haunt Kreischer 23 years later. Which sounds like a good idea on paper but in execution really misses the mark quite a lot.
Bert Kreischer plays a fictionalized version of himself and at times he can be entertaining as well as Mark Hamill who gets to play a different type of role which is nice. Hamill and Kreischer are by far the best parts about the movie and actually work well together, the action is at least serviceable with a few surprisingly fun scenes that I’m actually quite shocked the movie used.
The problems come in with the writing and a majority of the humor, there’s only so many times I can say that a movie isn’t funny. But that really applies here which is unfortunate because the set up is decent, the execution however is completely lacking. Heck when the movie is focused more on the action it has so much more style and is far more interesting than when it tries to be funny.
Seven friends go away for the weekend, only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. They must pit their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies against the murderer to stay alive.
The Blackening is definitely a surprise, I’ll say this right now the trailer did not do this film justice. The trailer really made this seem like it was going to be yet another horror comedy that really comes and goes, plus it’s directed by Tim Story so I didn’t expect much. But I absolutely love to be proven wrong and this is truly something great.
While not every single joke lands and it does have a bit of a rough start, there is just so much to absolutely love here. For starters the cast is fantastic, they all have this natural connection towards one another which leads to incredibly fun performances and strong chemistry. Grace Byers as Alison I definitely think is the standout performance here, where she seems like she’s going to be only a supportive friend type of character ends up genuinely getting a ton of character development. In fact that could be really said for the rest of the cast, everyone is given their time to shine nobody feels left behind here.
The writing is quite hilarious, as I said before while not every single joke lands for most of the film there is so many jokes that land beautifully, it pokes fun at the horror genre while it does it’s own thing, it doesn’t completely rely on making fun of the genre to be funny. Even when it does make fun of the genre it goes about it in different ways, such as the delivery being different which is a breath of fresh air.
The Blackening very much leads into the comedy genre more than it does the horror genre, while yes there is a killer and it has a lot of common horror movie setups and elements. The humor is a lot of the main focus here, while this would be normally a problem due to a balancing issue it actually works quite well here. Which is due to the movie knowing what it wants to be, The Blackening knows it wants to be this silly horror comedy and that’s honestly what it sticks to being throughout the film. Plus the cast really looked like they had a blast of fun and you can really tell there was so much love put into the film.
Overall The Blackening is the biggest surprise so far this year, it’s the very definition of a midnight feature and quite an entertaining one. I can easily see this one becoming a classic in the future.
A sculptor preparing to open a new show tries to work amidst the daily dramas of family and friends.
Showing Up really highlights why I love Kelly Reichardt so much as a director, a lot of her films have this special person to person interaction where the film shows people having very grounded conversations that truly feel like you are watching real people talk to one another. That’s especially present here in Showing Up.
Showing Up focuses on the labor of making art or how it fits into life, rather than what makes an artist or who they are while that is a very interesting subject there is no denying that’s been done plenty of times before. It also focuses on the outcome such as how long did it take to create the art in question? How stressful was it to create and how fulfilling it was and so much more.
The cast is truly phenomenal here in every way possible, Michelle Williams, Hong Chau and John Magaro are the standouts and all give very raw and touching performances that really make the film unique. Michelle Williams does a fantastic job at the deadpan delivery that also quickly becomes quite emotional, she has this beautiful bond with Hong Chau who is quite amusing. There’s just an overall beautiful realness to the performances that Reichardt tends to use.
The writing is truly beautiful and really celebrates the concept of art itself, it builds the concept of art as it’s own character where it’s talked about, explored and discussed in many different angles and perspectives that it’s truly mesmerizing and really wraps the film up in such a beautiful little sequence.
Showing Up is one of the best films so far this year, if you haven’t seen this one please make sure to do so.
A down-on-his-luck publicist discovers a former mental health patient who looks just like a misbehaving movie star. He soon becomes an unlikely celebrity when he gets thrown into the bright lights and behind-the-scenes bustle of Hollywood.
I’ve always liked Charlie Day he is incredibly charming as an actor so I was definitely interested to see his directional debut Fool’s Paradise and even with Charlie Day’s charm there isn’t enough here to make the movie work.
The main problem with Fool’s Paradise is a huge lack of trying to stand out, satires on the Hollywood industry have been done before in mass. It would be one thing if Fool’s Paradise added something new to the conversation or executed it differently, that’s not the case here unfortunately. A lot of it is very unfunny with a few jokes that pop up every now and then that do get a few laughs, every other joke is very messy dialogue.
The movie itself is also pretty repetitive, by the first 30 minutes of the movie it really starts to feel dragged out. At that point it becomes a “okay we get it” type of scenario, the performances are overall fine enough but none of them are really anything to write home about. I will say that the bright colors mixed with the cinematography is actually pretty nice to look at, so at the very least it has that going for it.
Fool’s Paradise is available on all VOD platforms.
Jerome Reviews... 