For teenage misfits Hunter and Kevin, the path to glory is clear: Devote themselves to metal. Win Battle of the Bands. And be Worshipped like gods.
As far as tackling the theme of the metal music genre, Metal Lords feels like it’s written by people who know the bare minimum of the genre and just go off of stereotypes. As a coming of age movie it’s fine enough as there are a few genuinely good moments but the characters are on the weak side and really don’t add much to the genre, the acting is actually quite okay and I do think the movie has some interesting ideas it wants to tackle. But the movie itself isn’t interested in getting into more detail about them, I’m not going to deny that teenagers like Hunter don’t exist and act like their music is the best. But a lot of this movie feels way too cartoonish for it’s own good, the cameos of famous musicians are enjoyable but really only amount to “oh hey I recognize that guy!” moments and quickly wear off as the movie goes on. Metal Lords is a harmless movie and isn’t as bad as some of Netflix’s other movies, but it’s very forgettable and does not have a lot to offer.
A group of actors and actresses stuck inside a pandemic bubble at a hotel attempts to complete a film.
I’m not the biggest fan of Judd Apatow’s work but I can definitely respect them for what they are and their impact, Apatow’s previous film The King Of Staten Island is hands down my favorite by him. Mostly due to it being beautifully told, there’s a lot of meaning to it, it’s well written and acted, plus Pete Davison just gives a fantastic performance. So I was hoping his next film The Bubble would be great but unfortunately that’s not the case here, The Bubble is a very unfunny COVID-19 related movie that attempts to try be a satire however it’s not a good one at the slightest. The only positive I can say is the cast tries to make the script work mainly Karen Gillan and Pedro Pascal, outside of that the rest of the movie consists of dreadful pacing combined with a 2 hour and 6 minute running time that feels more like 4 hours and dreadful writing that has very unfunny jokes. It’s baffling to me how Apatow someone who was actually pretty great with the comedy genre could directing something as unfunny as The Bubble, the best way to describe The Bubble is that it’s an extended SNL skit a very unfunny one that despite making COVID-19 jokes they feel strangely very outdated, overall The Bubble is hands down one of the worst movies so far this year. It’s baffling how many talented people were involved with this movie and it turned out to be THIS bad, make sure to avoid this one at all costs.
In a future where Mars is terraformed, two college students sneak onboard a space shuttle from Earth to Mars in order to be united with their significant others.
Something that I quite like so far this year when it comes to film is that the romantic comedy genre is having a sort of comeback in terms of quality, Marry Me, I Want You Back and now Moonshot. Moonshot is a movie that could have easily been a very below average romantic comedy movie but the highs make this one standout. Lana Condor does a really solid job here, and easily the best part of the film. The same can be said with Cole Sprouse and the two together have great chemistry between one another, which really makes the movie work quite well. Despite the sci-fi setting the movie doesn’t break any new ground and the side characters are very standard but that’s not enough to take away the movie’s charm, it’s entertaining and actually builds Sophie’s (Lana Condor) and Walt’s (Cole Sprouse) characters to the point where the viewer actually cares for the chemistry. If you are a fan of romantic comedies this is definitely something worth checking out, it’s a cute little movie that could have went a little more in depth but as it stands is a pretty decent watch!
Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city’s lost treasure from her latest story. Determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her.
I honestly don’t have a whole lot to say here but The Lost City might be a nothing special about it adventure comedy movie, however it’s entertaining enough due to the cast who work incredibly well with each other. Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt (although I wish he was in it for much longer because he really is one of the strongest parts of it) all do a great job and bring so much charm to the movie. There’s quite a few jokes that I found surprisingly quite hilarious and definitely makes the movie very entertaining, there are jokes that don’t land very well at all and the movie does kind of run into the same problem I had with Uncharted. It doesn’t do anything new for the adventure movie genre, however as I said before the movie is entertaining and the cast is very strong. The music choices are actually pretty fun as well and add to the charm of it all, the chemistry between the cast is truly great especially Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum who really know how to entertain audience. This is definitely the movie to watch if you are just looking for a fun night out to the movies and not expecting anything new.
A hopelessly estranged father catfishes his son in an attempt to reconnect.
I Love My Dad is a film that shouldn’t work but somehow it does. The film is about a dad who misses his son so he catfishes him, what makes it work however is James Morosini (director and one of the leading roles) takes his life experience (yes it’s based on a true story) and make it very strangely entertaining. Patton Oswalt is another major factor on why the movie works, his performance as Chuck is both hilarious and very well fitting, Claudia Sulewski also does a really solid job. There’s a lot of cringe comedy here but it actually works in this movie’s favor mostly due to combining the comedy with some genuinely touching moments that actually do a great job of building the characters of Franklin and Chuck, the ending is a bit on the weak side it kind of feels like a cop out after such strong development and a very solid story. It just doesn’t really go into much depth as the rest of the movie does however that isn’t enough to stop it from being such an entertaining ride, is this going to be for everyone? Definitely not but if you are intrigued by the plot you should definitely check this one out when it releases.
With a dog named Lulu by his side, Army Ranger Briggs races down the Pacific Coast to make it to a soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, Briggs and Lulu drive each other completely crazy, break a handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.
Dog is pretty much a buddy road trip movie but instead of two people it’s Channing Tatum and a German Shepherd named Lulu. I’m going to be honest there is not a whole lot here to talk about, Dog is a movie that has it’s good bits such as Channing Tatum’s performance and some decently funny interactions between him and Lulu. But that’s really where the movie ends for me, the first half of the movie feels like a chore to sit through and is way too slow for no reason at all. Most of the jokes are just not funny, as I said earlier there are some decently funny scenes but they aren’t anything I’ll come back to. There’s definitely some charm in the movie and I guess it’s a decent enough time killer to watch when you have absolutely nothing else to watch. But really Dog is just forgettable all around.
Dog is available on all VOD Platforms.
5/10 C
Chasing his dream to join an elite K-9 unit, a state trooper partners with a fellow underdog: clever but naughty shelter pup Ruby. Based on a true story.
Rescued By Ruby is based on a true story about a man who wants to join an elite K-9 Unit which instead of training a German Shepard he instead trains a border Collie named Ruby. The movie itself is a straightforward telling of the true story, it definitely has that “made for TV” feel to it but at least it’s somewhat interesting. The acting is mixed bag, I sort of liked Grant Gustin in the leading role everyone else did fine enough. Outside of that there really is not much to this movie, reading the plot is about all you really need to know about Rescued By Ruby. The writing again is very mixed, there’s some very sweet moments that are heartwarming and then there’s some jokes that completely don’t land at all. Rescued By Ruby is definitely one of the better dog movies to come out but that is seriously not saying much.
Rescued By Ruby is available on Netflix!
5/10 C
What starts out as a weekend away in a remote luxury villa, turns into a tale of horror, death and alien invasion.
The Seed has a straightforward concept three women are on a weekend trip and some egg crashes into their pool, when it hatches it causes hell. The creature design itself is really great and actually pretty creepy, the movie has a decent atmosphere added on that’s also not bad either. The main criticism just comes with the characters, this is unfortunately another one of those movies that’s very heavy on having one of the characters be an obnoxious influencer. Which really got tiring after ten minutes and just completely takes you out of the movie, the other two characters just not very well written. The performances are fine enough and get the job done for the most part, but there’s really nothing much to it. The Seed isn’t anything bad it’s just very forgettable and misses a few marks that stop it from being passable.
A realtor pursues a new career as a Dolly Parton impersonator.
Seriously Red is a blast of a film, there’s so much to the film that creates such a humorous picture. The cast are absolutely incredible Rose Byrne as an Elvis Impersonator and Krew Boylan as an Dolly Parton impersonator in particular are very strong here, they both do such a fantastic job and really nail the impersonations in both a beautiful and hilarious way. The music is top notch it’s a huge celebration of several different music artists and really captures why people love them so much, Gracie Otto’s direction is brilliant she really did a fantastic job of creating the most musical like atmosphere you can think of. What truly makes this great is how much fun the movie is and how much fun it has with itself, it knows what it’s sent out to do and accomplishes just that beautifully. There’s a few jokes that don’t completely land but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives in this case! If you are fan of any of music in general this is something you might like!
A woman wins an all-expenses trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined.
Spin Me Round was one of my most anticipated of the festival and sadly it’s one of the weakest I watched, Jeff Baena is a director who’s films have always been a mixed bag for me Life After Beth, Horse Girl both had great concepts but needed far stronger writing while Little Hours was actually pretty decent but not a movie I look back at often. Spin Me Round has great performances from Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza who both easily steal the show in this huge mess, the comedic moments with the two of them are pretty decent. There’s some jokes that did get a few laughs out of me, the main issues come in when you look at everything else. The rest of the cast is really nothing special at all, the writing is very tonally confused it truest to be a comedy then a drama and then a thriller. Which is the straw that breaks this movie the last 20 minutes try to go for something completely bonkers, which I’m all for filmmakers to go wild and make their films as unhinged as possible but there has to be some sort of build up. Which unfortunately there wasn’t any in this case, plus it just didn’t fit the movie at all, had the movie focused on build up rather than just throwing it in for the sake of wanting to be bonkers it might have worked. Overall Spin Me Round is terrible and a huge waste of potential that had all the right Ingredients the chef just wasn’t in the kitchen for this one.
When Jessica’s stalker surprises her in New Mexico, she must seek help from beyond the grave to get rid of him for good.
I really wish I liked Jethica a lot more than I did but for what the movie is it’s not bad. It’s a simple ghost story that has beautiful filming combined with it. What makes this movie is the atmosphere as there are a bunch of atmospheric moments that really capture the film well, the cast does a pretty solid job in their respective roles. What holds Jethica back from being far better is the pacing combined with the rather surface level execution, despite being a 70 minute film it feels much longer mostly due to it trying to be slow burn. Which is fine I love slow burn films especially slow burn horror films, however there is no reason for it to be one and when you combine it with a very interesting idea that is only explored a little bit but not fully realized it becomes a mixed bag. Jethica is definitely something I will have to rewatch once it releases maybe it will grow on me but for now it’s not a bad movie just one that could have been a lot better.
Ben and his slacker friend, Tanner play a prank on their high school physics professor. When she fails them on a test, they teach the demanding instructor a lesson by falsely accusing her of murder on social media.
The Prank is easily one of the weakest of the bunch I saw at SXSW, while there are some great performances from Rita Moreno and Ramona Young, decent comedic bits that did get a few laughs out of me and the last 15 minutes going completely off the rails. Everything else is way too predictable which is fine in some cases but the execution is just not exciting enough to gather much interest from the viewer. The side characters end up being some of the highlights rather than the main characters and the writing definitely needed to be a lot stronger. There’s a lot of jokes that completely fall flat as well, I appreciate the movie trying to go for a comedic thriller type of movie as we don’t get that very often, but the comedy definitely outweighs the thriller element. Having that said The Prank is not the worst but it’s just begging for a better script.
Jerome Reviews... 