Ivy + Bean Movies Review (2022)

Ivy and Bean never expected to be friends. Ivy is quiet, thoughtful and observant. Bean is playful, exuberant and fearless. However, sometimes an adventure reveals that opposites can become the best of friends.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about Ivy + Bean since it is basically a 56 minute kids movie that really doesn’t do anything new. However that doesn’t make it bad at, Madison Skye Validum and Keslee Blalock are both fantastic here and have a wonderful chemistry, they really do capture two kids starting a friendship. The movie itself has a nostalgic feel to it, the type where you made friends with other kids around the neighborhood and the movie does such a good job of showing that. Some of the jokes actually land quite well to the point where I found myself actually chuckling at times, the movie doesn’t overstay it’s welcome either. It establishes what it wants to do early on and does that quite well, as I said before Ivy + Bean is not going to break any new ground and it is very formulaic. But if you have 56 minutes to spare and are looking for a very easy watch this is most certainly not a bad option.

Ivy + Bean is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

When Ivy discovers the school bathroom is haunted, Bean helps Ivy to harness her powers. With the help of their classmates, Ivy and Bean orchestrate a ritual that will free the ghosts, save the school, and also mess up Nancy’s day.

Ivy + Bean: The Ghost That Had To Go is the second of the Ivy + Bean movie and is probably the best one, I say probably because all three movies are about the same (although I do think the third movie is the weakest). It might be because this one is a kid horror movie a subgenre (if you want to call it that) that I’m glad exists. Once again Madison Skye Validum and Keslee Blalock are fantastic here, the chemistry is still very strong and they are both genuinely hilarious. The kid horror elements are actually quite great here, I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t completely work and would stick out like a sore thumb. But luckily the elements are worked into the story and actually blend in quite well with the cutesy atmosphere the movie started with, Jane Lynch is one of my favorite parts about this movie by far. I’m not sure if I’ve said this before but Jane Lynch is such a fun actress even when the script she is given isn’t always great, she finds a way to make it entertaining and here is no exception. The script while once again isn’t going to break any new ground but is still genuinely fun and Jane Lynch’s parts are truly great, this movie definitely has the spirit of a Halloween special I would have saw back when I was a kid. It’s a genuinely fun little movie that like the previous movie is a quick and easy watch.

Ivy + Bean: The Ghost That Had To Go is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

Ivy and Bean are ecstatic to sign up for ballet class until they realize there will be no sword-fighting, kicking or “dancing to the death” allowed in class. When Bean’s parents won’t let her quit, Ivy agrees to stick it out with Bean through the big dance festival performance.

Ivy + Bean: Doomed To Dance is the third Ivy + Bean movie and as I said in the previous review I do think this one is the weakest. Madison Skye Validum and Keslee Blalock are fantastic yet again and like in the other movies have great chemistry, by this point you are already sold that they have a very grounded friendship. There’s some decent jokes here and the movie does get quite creative as well with certain scenes, this one falls a little short mainly due to the pacing being very uneven and it’s more less the same thing as the other two movies except with a dance theme to it. The pacing is very weird here the beginning and ending are smooth sailing but the middle moves way too slowly, while I get what they were going for with the dance theme as it is a very common plot that a lot of kids media uses. It’s very flat here and doesn’t do anything very interesting that invests the viewer at all, with the other two movies yes you can argue that those plots are also used quite a lot in kids media. But at least the other two movies made themselves interesting and genuinely fun, Doomed To Dance just sort of exists because they needed a third movie and only releasing two movies would look and feel incomplete. Having that said Doomed To Dance is very harmless to kids, it’s just not something I would call good.

Ivy + Bean: Doomed To Dance is available on Netflix.

5/10 C

Alienoid is a wild blend of ideas and elements.

Gurus in the late Goryeo dynasty try to obtain a fabled, holy sword, and humans in 2022 hunt down an alien prisoner that is locked in a human’s body. The two parties cross paths when a time-traveling portal opens up.

Alienoid is what happens when you combine so many different ideas and elements from other movies and TV Shows then proceed to go wild with it. The movie is a mess but it’s the type of mess that is a whole lot of fun and strangely has charm to it as well. There’s bits that reminded me of Power Rangers, Terminator, Transformers, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and so on. That’s a very crazy movie that isn’t afraid to go all out, the performances are pretty solid, the writing is engaging and genuinely hilarious plus has a lot of charm as well. The main flaw comes from the almost two and a half hour running time that really stretches itself for far too long, it really starts to overstay it’s welcome but luckily it’s enjoyable for most of it. Alienoid is flawed but it has a lot of charm and is wildly entertaining that you just can’t help but like it.

Alienoid is available in theaters.

7/10 B

Quick Review: Glorious (2022)

a heartbroken man who encounters a primordial deity in a nearby bathroom stall, that requires him to satisfy it through the stall’s gloryhole.

Glorious is if you took Saw and made it into a cosmic horror movie with comedy and it for the most part works quite well. Ryan Kwanten is very entertaining here he gives a solid performance that is quite hilarious as well, J.K. Simmons does something completely different and it works wonderfully. He’s given so much to work with and he really does a good job of making into something you really would not expect, there’s definitely some issues with the ending as it doesn’t completely work but everything that came before it is genuinely fun and quite entertaining.

Glorious is available on Shudder.

6/10 C+

Quick Review: Mister Limbo (2022)

Two strangers wake up in the middle of the desert, with no memory of anything – including their names. Are they dead, or did they just party too hard at burning man?

The premise of Mister Limbo is quite interesting on paper and actually does a decent job with the execution for the first act of the movie, plus the acting is honestly not the worst. But as the movie goes on it runs out of steam pretty quickly which is mostly due to being repetitive and way too slow paced, definitely not horrible but needed more time to be worked on.

Mister Limbo releases on all VOD Platforms Friday.

4/10 D+

Funny Pages is a decent coming of age story.

A bitingly funny coming-of-age story of a teenage cartoonist who rejects the comforts of his suburban life in a misguided quest for soul.

I definitely think there is something here with Funny Pages it just didn’t quite land for me. Daniel Zolghadri does a pretty solid job in the leading role. He gives quite a raw performance and captures a lot of the energy of what the movie is going for, the comedy is a huge hit or miss there’s a few moments that are quite clever and that tie into the movie’s main theme. The Safdie Brothers influence (they are some of the producers of this movie) is definitely there and actually do help the movie stay afloat and build it’s atmosphere. The writing unfortunately falls apart during the final act, where the end result isn’t as strong as the movie itself was building up to be. I definitely don’t think Funny Pages is a bad movie, it’s a decent watch and there’s a lot to like about it. It just could have went a lot further.

Funny Pages is available on all VOD Platforms.

6/10 C+

Me Time is another Kevin Hart and Netflix painful mess

Follows a Dad who finds time for himself for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away. He reconnects with a friend for a wild weekend.

Me Time is yet another Kevin Hart and Netflix movie collaboration, two months ago we got The Man From Toronto but I guess that wasn’t enough. Finding anything to say here is a struggle because this is the exact same thing as a lot of other Kevin Hart movies, instead of The Rock it’s Mark Wahlberg who gives such a dull performance that it’s actually quite hilarious at times. The positives mostly come from a few comedic bits and at times the chemistry of Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg somehow breaking through the script to deliver some great moments. There’s also the chemistry between Kevin Hart and Regina Hall plus this family dynamic that is genuinely sweet. But everything else is a complete and total mess particularly the writing that has no clear goal of what it wants to do, the family dynamic I mentioned earlier while sweet does not get explored as much as it should have. It’s sort of tacked on with the rest of the movie that’s filled to the brim of unfunny scenes, the climax just sort of happens it’s like they realized they had to finish the movie up and quickly tried to think of a way to end it not caring if it ends up being a mess. Finally there’s the tone of the movie that clearly wants to be comedic but tacks on the serious family dynamic that is barely explored and is only decent enough thanks to Regina Hall being such a great actress. Overall Me Time is definitely better than The Man From Toronto but that is most certainly not a compliment. This is exactly what you would expect a movie starring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg to be like.

Me Time is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

Easter Sunday means well but is sadly not funny.

Set around a family gathering to celebrate Easter Sunday, the comedy is based on Jo Koy’s life experiences and stand-up comedy.

Easter Sunday is yet another comedy that just sort of exists, I definitely think there were good intentions with this movie and it means well with it’s message. But the problem is the movie isn’t funny and the script goes all over the place with it’s humor. It tries to appeal to so many demographics which is fine itself but becomes a problem when you constantly switch back and forth, the acting is honestly not terrible here Jo Koy, Brandon Wardell and Eva Noblezada are all decent in their roles and there are very cute moments that do give the movie personality. But unfortunately that only goes so far when the movie quickly becomes a chore to sit through, which is shame because there are good ideas here in this movie, it’s just not working due to a lot of comedy movie cliches that completely bury the movie.

Easter Sunday is available on all VOD Platforms.

3/10 D-

Sharp Stick is an unfunny waste of potential.

Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth) is a sensitive and naïve 26-year-old living on the fringes of Hollywood with her disillusioned mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and influencer sister (Taylour Paige). Working as a caregiver and just longing to be seen, she begins an exploratory affair with her older, married employer (Jon Bernthal), and is thrust into a startling education on sexuality, loss and power.

The fact Sharp Stick is one of two films directed by Lena Dunham that have released/going to be released this year is truly baffling (the other being Catherine Called Birdy). It should be a surprise to nobody that Sharp Stick is dreadful with every sense of the word, the only positives are Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal and Taylour Paige (who is very underused here) their performances aren’t anything amazing but considering the script they were given they didn’t do terrible. That’s where Sharp Stick ends for me because the rest of the movie is ridiculously juvenile, it’s supposedly a “comedy” I say comedy very loosely because there was not a single moment here that was even chuckle worthy. The premise itself is interesting and what the movie tries to communicate might look and sound like something worth listening to, however that falls apart due to Lena Dunham’s direction and writing. Lena Dunham understanding of the movie’s ideas is the equivalent of a 6th-8th grader sitting in the middle of health class and giggling every time the teacher describes genitalia. I get the movie is trying to be some coming of age awkward sex story, but it’s done in such a horrible way and treats the topic of sex like it’s some practice from another universe. Which I’m yes not everyone is going to know everything there is to know about sex but this is truly unrealistic and really doesn’t make much sense when you think about it for at least seconds. Outside of that there really isn’t much else to this movie it’s a terrible plot with sex scenes and that’s it, I’m not exactly sure what the whole point here was but if it was to make an awkward coming of age story about sex it completely failed.

Sharp Stick is available on all VOD Platforms

1/10 F

Quick Review: The Day After Halloween (2022)

Two lifelong buddies must unravel the circumstances that led to a corpse in their bathtub in the wake of a Halloween party.

The Day After Halloween is like if you took The Hangover and parts of Kevin Smith’s films and made them dreadfully unfunny, the pacing is dreadful to the point where it would be far more entertaining to watch pain dry. The acting is terrible as well as the writing there seems to be no sense of direction of where the story wants to go or wants to accomplish, the characters are one dimensional and have absolutely no interesting qualities to them. It doesn’t help that the movie has that “lol random events keep happening for the sake of trying to get a few laughs” type of style that a lot of movies don’t really use anymore (at least from what I’ve seen), this was a whole lot of nothing and just an overall painful time.

The Day After Halloween is available on all VOD Platforms.

Disgrace To Cinema F

Vengeance is a surprisingly darkly funny comedy thriller.

A journalist and podcaster travels from New York City to Texas to investigate the death of a woman whom he hooked up with.

Vengeance was a bit of a surprise as the trailer did not really do this movie justice, it’s a genuinely well written dark comedic thriller that explores quite a lot of themes. The characters are decently well written and the cast do a pretty good in their roles. Many characters talk about morality, relationships, regret, isolation and so on, sure it might not be in a very deep discussion but it’s enough to be noteworthy. The tonal shifts are a bit distracting at times and sometimes take away from a moment that could have been far stronger, but it’s not enough to completely take the viewer out of the movie. There’s plenty of great moments here especially with a solid cast and decent writing that may not break any new ground, but it is entertaining enough to warrant a watch.

Vengeance is available on all VOD Platforms.

7/10 B