My Father’s Dragon is an imaginative little film!

Elmer, who is having trouble adjusting to his new life, decides to set out to find a wild island and rescue a young dragon. His adventures will lead him to encounter ferocious beasts, discover a mysterious place and make a new friendship.

While My Father’s Dragon might not be up to par with some of Cartoon Saloon’s other films such as Breadwinner, Song Of The Sea or Wolfwalkers. There is still the imagination and charm here that was present in the other movies. Despite being based on the 1948 children’s book of the same name, there is still tons of imagination here mostly through the animation that really gives a lot of scenes a chance to pop out to the viewer. Jacob Tremblay and Gaten Matarazzo are both very solid here and give plenty of strong moments that really make the film stand, the friendship between Elmer (Tremblay) and Boris The Dragon (Matarazzo) is genuinely sweet even when they fully like each other at first. The main criticism mostly stems from the other characters and the third act, the other characters don’t really get a whole lot to do unfortunately. There was some interesting parts with the mother that I thought the movie was going to elaborate on but unfortunately never got around doing that. The rest of the characters are just kind of there for the purpose to move the story forward, the third act goes exactly how you would expect it to and really doesn’t offer anything that hasn’t been done many times before. But luckily the charm is still there and as I said before the imagination is still creative, there’s plenty of cute moments that kids will definitely love.

My Father’s Dragon is available on Netflix.

7/10 B

Falling For Christmas a solid return for Lindsay Lohan.

A young, newly engaged heiress has a skiing accident in the days before Christmas. After she is diagnosed with amnesia, she finds herself in the care of the handsome cabin owner and his daughter.

After a weird and quite terrible small return back in 2019 which was Among The Shadows, Lindsay Lohan makes her true return with Falling For Christmas. Something that falls more in line with her previous work and captures the best parts about her as an actress, while admittedly the movie has a lot of that hallmark channel spirit and the movie is filled to the brim with cliches. There’s something about this movie that actually makes this one standout, it’s mainly due to the cast connecting with each other pretty well and there is a genuine heart put into this one. Which is very rare for a lot of these Christmas Netflix movies, as mentioned before Lindsay Lohan is truly great here, sure it might not be a groundbreaking performance but this is the type of performance that got everyone to love Lohan in the first place. There’s a huge amount of charm that goes into the chemistry between Lindsay Lohan and Chord Overstreet as well, overall while Falling For Christmas is most certainly not going to break any new ground and it is heavily flawed it’s still a genuinely fun ride. It’s a welcome return for Lindsay Lohan and this is definitely something to watch to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Falling For Christmas is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm stays true to the series’s bizarre nature.

Everyone’s favourite rascals Frylock, Master Shake, Meatwad and Carl fight the corporate overlord Amazin, led by tech mogul Neil and his trusty scientist sidekick, Elmer.

It’s both confusing and frustrating how poorly the advertising for Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm really is. You would think one of Adult Swim’s biggest names The Aqua Teen Hunger Force would get so much more respect than this instead it was very quietly put on to VOD platforms. Which is ridiculous because much like Beavis and Butthead and The Bobs Burgers Movie from earlier this year Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm captures a lot of what made the other show so great and entertaining. The movie does have a bit of a rough start with the beginning but once the film starts to kick it in with the classic humor and character interactions it’s smooth sailing from there. The characters of Frylock, Master Shake, Meatwad and Carl are just as hilarious and cleverly written as they were in the series, the bizarre nature of the interactions of the characters are still present, heck the movie still does a really solid job with the characters even when they aren’t all together. There’s a lot of well written jokes that are genuinely funny and actually some of the best fourth wall breaking jokes I’ve seen in a film in quite awhile, there’s a huge amount of charm that went into this film. It compliments the show’s bizarre nature very well and stays true to the characters. Overall Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm is a blast of fun, this is definitely something that fans will absolute enjoy!

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

Bros is a charming enough romantic comedy.

Bobby is a neurotic podcast host who’s happy to go on Tinder dates and content not to have a serious relationship. That all changes when he meets Aaron, an equally detached lawyer who likes to play the field. Repeatedly drawn to each other, both men begin to show their vulnerable sides as their undeniable attraction turns into something resembling a commitment.

Bros is completely fine for what it is, despite many flaws that stick out like a sore thumb the good parts really help the movie stand. There’s some genuinely funny jokes here that actually work surprisingly well, the cameo from Debra Messing in particular is quite great and I do have to hand it to Luke Macfarlane who gives both a quite funny yet very charming performance that actually had some emotional bits to it that I didn’t see coming, the same can’t really be said for Billy Eichner unfortunately. While there are times he does a decent job particularly a mini monologue scene that actually gives his character Bobby a bit more depth than the rest of the movie did, a lot of the time his performance feels like it’s from a completely different movie. The strange part here is as far as the writing goes Billy Eichner actually did a really solid job it’s just the way he executes his lines is what the issue is. While the movie does have a lot of representation from a lot of races and sexualities and it’s a great thing to see, a lot of the side characters just don’t get a whole lot to do and are mainly pushed aside. Which I do get they are side characters, but here they are given so little to do outside of appearing in a few scenes every once and awhile. The movie doesn’t take full advantage of the rest of the cast it could have and you can’t help but feel some scenes should have given the other characters something to do. Despite that problems however Bros is not a bad movie, it hits a lot of beats that make a good romantic comedy and there’s plenty of entertainment to get out of this one. This might not be something I’ll ever come back to but it was a decent watch.

Bros is available on all VOD platforms.

6/10 C+

R.I.P.D. Rise Of The Damned…so this exists.

Recruited by the R.I.P.D., a resurrected sheriff returns to Earth to save humanity from a gateway to hell.

Like I said In my review for Blade Of The 47 Ronin who honestly asked for this? R.I.P.D is yet another movie from 2013 where it was a critically and financial failure, the moment it came out audiences already moved on and it was quickly forgotten about. To be absolutely fair a sequel was announced a little after the movie released so I guess rather than cancel it they turned into a prequel which I’m assuming because Ryan Reynolds or Jeff Bridges didn’t want to return (rightfully so), R.I.P.D.: Rise Of The Damned is ultimately a terrible western movie with horrible acting, writing, action scenes and costumes. It’s absolutely painful to sit through and the characters are very poorly written. If you thought the characters from the first movie were horribly written wait until you take a gander at these ones, the humor is once again not funny there’s just no personality to the movie at all and is nothing but short of a horrible idea that somehow didn’t get left in the concept stage. I genuinely have no idea what on earth they were trying to go for here, if it was to make a prequel to R.I.P.D. they definitely failed to do that as it fails to really tell the backstory in a compelling way, if they wanted to make some western movie well they got some elements right but not in a way that’s any good. I mean sure we get to learn about Roy who was played by Jeff Bridges in the first movie and is played by Jeffery Donovan in this one. But much like in the other movie Roy isn’t interesting, heck I would argue Roy is less interesting in this one mainly due to him being a very typical western movie cliche hero in this one. In the first movie at least they tried to give him some personality (Jeff Bridges made the performance at least a bit unintentionally funny) with this movie you get nothing but a dreadfully told backstory that you are going to forget about 15 minutes after you watch it.

R.I.P.D.: Rise Of The Damned is available on all VOD platforms.

Disgrace To Cinema F

The Banshees Of Inisherin is a film filled with powerhouse crafting and talent.

On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, Pádraic is devastated when his buddy Colm suddenly puts an end to their lifelong friendship. With help from his sister and a troubled young islander, Pádraic sets out to repair the damaged relationship by any means necessary. However, as Colm’s resolve only strengthens, he soon delivers an ultimatum that leads to shocking consequences.

The Banshees Of Inisherin has so many layers to it that I truly did not expect, it’s directed by Martin McDonagh (director of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths) who does a masterful job here. Instantly when the film starts you already sense a unique type of atmosphere it’s dark but at the same time very humorous as well which you easily see why that’s the case as the film goes on. The set up is quite simple Padraic (Colin Ferrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) use to be great friends until one day Colm decided not to be friends anymore due to Padraic being “dull” so now Padraic keeps trying to talk to Colm and find out why they aren’t friends. it takes that setup and truly goes pretty meaningful and deep with it. With some symbolism and character study of the characters, plus the town they live in as well. The acting here is tremendous Collin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan truly give powerhouse performances that are very natural. Each of them truly give something unique to the film Colin Farrell gives a humorous yet honest performance of someone who is naturally upset and wants to know why their friend no longer wants to have anything do with him, Brendan Gleason plays a cross between an intimidating but also humorous performance that is truly baffling in the best possible way. Kerry Condon plays Padaric’s sister Siobhan who is very kindhearted and like the previous mentioned performances a very honest one as well, finally there’s Barry Keoghan’s performance that really is the definition of a friend, he plays Dominic who is Padaric’s friend who is always listening and is there for him. It’s truly a honest performance that is actually quite emotional. The writing is truly flawless from the character study, to the natural interactions the characters all have it’s truly the type of writing that really compliments each scene. Speaking of which the cinematography is some of the best of the year. The film was shot in Achill island which is in County Mayo the largest of the Irish isles and the beauty of it all really shows in the film. It really compliments the film’s overall beauty nature while adding very dark humor into the mix that truly works. Every shot has so much detail and a lot going on which leads to it being a massive film that the viewer can explore with the eyes, overall The Banshees Of Inisherin is one of the best films of the year, it’s one of those films that will stick with you for awhile once you watch!!

The Banshees Of Inisherin is currently in theaters.

10/10 A+

Spirited is a decent Christmas movie featuring Will Farrell.

A musical version of Charles Dickens’s story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey.

So Regal had a second mystery movie night last night and it turned out to be Spirited, the movie did not have a strong start. The first bit of the movie is very obnoxious and a lot of the jokes completely don’t land, but if you can get through that you will find that Spirited is actually not half bad, Will Farrell is pretty great here and is definitely one of his better performances in awhile, Octavia Spencer is very charming and actually has a decent singing voice. Speaking of which the songs themselves are actually not too bad, some are definitely better than others and stand out much more. However I wouldn’t call any of them bad, Tracy Morgan is actually pretty fun here despite really not having much to do, I will give the movie credit where credit is due there is a plot point here that was decently clever. Which was the movie connecting itself to the classic Charles Dickens Christmas Carol story, Will Farrell’s character Ghost Of Christmas Present was Scrooge when he was alive. It’s a fun little plot that kind of makes the movie an unofficial sequel to A Christmas Carol (although the movie itself brands itself as a modern twist or take on the story). Ryan Reynolds is easily the weakest part about it, he once again plays the exact same sort of character he does in a lot of previous movies he’s been in. The jerk type character who tries way too hard to be funny, admittedly he does get better as the movie goes on but it really just blends in with the rest of his performances. Overall Spirited is not as bad as expected, it’s a fun little Christmas musical movie that will be nice to put on during the holidays!

Spirited releases in theaters on Friday and on Apple TV+ November 18th.

6/10 C+

Triangle Of Sadness is an insane right from beginning to end.

A cruise for the super-rich sinks, leaving survivors, including a fashion model celebrity couple, trapped on an island.

To say Triangle Of Sadness is truly insane and completely out there (in a good way) would be the understatement of the year, right from the beginning there’s a huge sense of style. Particularly with the cast the standouts being Dolly De Leon who does a tremendous job during part three of the film and becomes one of the film’s biggest highlights. Zlatko Burić gives a quite hilarious performance that offers many laughs and much like De Leon really gets strong in part 3, Woody Harrelson who although doesn’t get the biggest amount of screen time is still a delight to see and much like Burić is quite humorous. Finally there’s Charlbi Dean Kriek who gives a tremendous performance that is one of the year’s best, it’s very unfortunate that we will never get to see more of her as she sadly passed away back in August. She truly gave a really strong performance that really connected the characters in part 3. The film is a satire of the rich and the class element, while it is very on the nose about it that’s part of the fun about the whole film. It really let’s loose it’s insanity while also being very well written, there’s a lot of attention to detail with the filming as well. There’s some personal character moments that help evolve the characters from being just background characters to actual main characters who have much more to say, the only slight criticism is the bit of the third part sort of deflated, it doesn’t quite match with what the rest of the movie was saying and does draw out a tiny bit. But that’s not enough to stop Triangle Of Sadness to be such a really strong film that will definitely make you laugh.

Triangle Of Sadness is currently in theaters.

9/10 A

Wendell & Wild is a creative stop-motion film filled with fascinating topics.

The two devious demon brothers Wendell and Wild have to face their arch-enemy with the help of the nun Sister Helly, who is notorious for expelling demons. However, the brothers are not only plagued by her, but also by her altar boys.

Henry Selick (director of Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline and James and The Giant Peach) is back in the directors chair and it’s such a beautiful sight to see. Wendell & Wild is such a creative film that has a lot more to it than you would expect. The movie has a lot of commentary on capitalism and the prison system and it establishes that quite quickly, a private prison company known as Klaxton Korp has taken over a town and the viewer can tell how damaged and lost the town is due to the clever use of color. Speaking of which the animation is truly beautiful, it’s great to see stop-motion animation still kicking as it’s a genre of animation that is truly creative in every single way possible. There’s so much atmosphere and color to the film that it really makes the film it’s own character, speaking of which the characters are truly well written. Wendell and Wild are truly fun characters with a huge amount of depth to them as well being humorous, Wendell is played by Keegan-Michael Key and Wild is played by Jordan Peele. The film is just another reminder of how well the two work together, their comedic timing is truly unstoppable and when the two want to display serious moments they will definitely display some very strong ones. The protagonist Kat played by Lyric Ross is truly fantastic, the depth to her character goes a very long way. Including some flashbacks and her strong desire of wanting to see her parents again, the cherry on top is the Raúl Cocolotl a character who is trans played by Sam Zelaya. Raul is such a very well written character that adds to the overall film especially the bond between Raul and Kat which develops over time. Wendell & Wild is truly a bold film that really hits it out of the park with it’s themes, characters, character development and atmosphere. This is a film that will definitely go on to be a classic during Halloween time for years to come.

Wendell & Wild is available on Netflix.

9/10 A

Clerks III a surprisingly heartfelt film.

After suffering a massive heart attack, Randal enlists friends and fellow clerks Dante, Elias, Jay and Silent Bob to help him make a movie about life at the Quick Stop.

Clerks III starts with what is quite possibly one of my favorite film openings of the year, the first five minutes is My Chemical Romance’s Welcome To The Black Parade. I could go on forever how this opening really sums up of what ends up happening throughout the film, but in short it‘s old times being becoming new again, the shop is back, the characters we have grown to love over the years in these movies are dancing around having a grand old time. Plus you have a few callbacks to the other movies as well that are truly great, after that we are treated to a surprisingly emotional film…which is something I completely did not expect at all. Clerks III is surprisingly very heartfelt especially with the final act that really tugs at your heartstrings, there’s of course the humor that works quite well not every joke lands of course. However most of the jokes are pretty cleverly written and really entertain the viewer which is something Kevin Smith has always been good at despite what you think of his films. He’s always been good at entertaining an audience and here is no exception, there’s a surprising amount of character moments where they talk about the old times and think about the future, not letting go of the old times and wanting to continue them. It’s actually something that can be very relatable to the viewer and could easily hit said viewer hard, there’s a genuine amount of heart put into the film that you can’t help but smile at. This is one to definitely check out!

Clerks III is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A