Turning Red is a beautiful film filed with meaningful metaphors!

Mei Lee is a 13-year-old girl who is torn between being her mother’s obedient daughter and the chaos of her youth. As if that were not enough, when she gets too excited, she turns into a big red panda.

Turning Red is Pixar’s most recent film and once again they hit it out of the park. There’s a lot to absolutely love here but I’ll keep things simple, right off the bad the animation is quite great especially combined with the characters who are truly fun in their own ways. What makes the film successful is the writing, it’s truly what turns what could have been just a solid Pixar film into something truly special, the use of several different metaphors for growing up and being yourself are really clever. There’s a lot for the audience to relate to as well each of the characters are given there moments that some may seem small but end up being very important. There’s so much charm that is put into the film to the point where you just can’t help but smile, Domee Shi does an excellent job in the director’s chair, she really brings the film together with surprisingly raw writing at times despite the movie you know being about a girl that turns into a Red Panda. Which leads me back to the metaphors, it’s such a unique way of telling the viewers to be themselves, there’s clearly a lot of love put into the film which only makes it that much stronger. It’s such a sweet blend of a coming of age film and a Pixar film that compliment each other beautifully. Definitely give this one a watch!!

Turning Red is available on Disney+

9/10 A

The Adam Project is a bland Sci-Fi movie that doesn’t come together.

After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self for a mission to save the future.

The Adam Project did not work for me at all, this is another Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds collaboration the previous one being last year’s Free Guy which I did not like. The Adam Project is somehow even weaker, for starters Ryan Reynolds once again plays the exact same character as he does in a lot of his other movies, which is no surprise at this point but it hurts the movie badly. Zoe Saldaña and Mark Ruffalo have some great bits here but what’s holding them back is the writing, it’s very half baked and almost feels incomplete at times. It’s like the writers had a ton of different ideas written down but had no idea which one to go with, there’s also some very decent family drama that have genuinely touching moments that I actually found myself being very interested in. But the action is incredibly forgettable despite having some great music to go along with it. It tries to be this 80s throwback movie but this is an example of a movie simply referencing the 80s over and over again and not doing anything special with it. Overall The Adam Project is something that definitely could have worked had there been much stronger writing, action and better direction.

The Adam Project is available on Netflix!

4/10 D+

Three Months is a solid coming of age film with strong chemistry!

On the eve of his high school graduation, Caleb learns he’s been exposed to HIV. While he waits three months for his results, he finds love in the most unlikely of places.

Three Months is a gay coming of age story that’s really solid, what holds this movie together is mainly the cast and their chemistry between one another. Particularly Troye Sivan (who I was very unfamiliar with, apparently he’s an Australian singer who got noticed on YouTube) and Viveik Kalra (who was previously in Voyagers and Blinded By The Light) the chemistry between the two comes off as very authentic and leads to some quite powerful moments. The writing is overall pretty strong, there are some very familiar beats the movie hits but that really isn’t enough to hold back this movie from telling a very touching story. Brianne Tju (Scream TV series, I Know What You Did Last Summer TV series and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged) gives a very strong performance here and is by far the strongest performance I’ve seen from her. Three Months does take a bit to get going as the set up is a bit familiar and something we have seen before, but what follows is a very solid little movie that has strong chemistry, characters and a sense of rawness to it.

Three Months is available on Paramount+

7/10 B

Studio 666 is an entertaining bonkers ride featuring The Foo Fighters!

Members of the rock band Foo Fighters move into a mansion to record their 10th album. Once in the house, singer Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the band members’ lives.

Look Studio 666 is a VERY flawed movie, but that does not take away how fun and bonkers this movie really is. The premise of The Foo Fighters in a haunted mansion so they can record their 10th album alone is a very interesting premise. The Foo Fighters themselves are actually not bad at acting, some members are definitely better than others but even the bad moments are hilarious. There are a lot of jokes that don’t land and some writing that makes you question what they were trying to go for. But most of it is genuinely hilarious in the type of way where this is the type of movie I would have friends over for drinks and to laugh, it has some surprisingly great kills that while are sloppy are still very enjoyable. I feel what makes Studio 666 successful is that it’s one of those movies where you can tell everyone involved had an absolute blast being part of the movie, it’s a genuinely entertaining ride that definitely loses steam towards the end. Mainly due to the movie going on for a bit too long I feel like 10 minutes could have easily been cut and nothing would really change. It also does play out like a lot of haunted mansion movies but at least the movie knows it isn’t trying to do anything new. Speaking of which Studio 666 knows what it wants to be, it’s a entertaining movie with The Foo Fighters that has so many hilarious moments nothing more and nothing less.

Studio 666 is available in theaters!

6/10 C+

A Madea Homecoming is a nothing special about it installment into the Madea series.

Madea’s back, and she’s not putting up with any nonsense as family drama erupts at her great-grandson’s college graduation celebration.

So what’s there to say about the latest Madea movie? Well it’s definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be, for starters unlike some of the other movies in the series this one actually got some laughs out of me. Granted not any jokes I’ll be quoting but the series hasn’t done that in such a long time to where I’ll give credit where credit is due. David Mann I actually thought was genuinely pretty funny and even Tyler Perry got a few laughs out of me. There’s also some genuinely sweet moments that actually worked, with all that said the movie isn’t good. It still has the exact same issues that a lot of the other movies in the series suffer from, most of the jokes just not being funny, the pacing still feels way too long yet it’s 1 hour and 45 minutes and the writing is just not well done. There’s definitely some interesting bits with the writing as it does mention politics but really does not expand beyond just mentioning them. Overall A Madea Homecoming isn’t one of the worst of the series, it’s a very forgettable installment that at least somewhat tries.

A Madea Homecoming is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

Big Gold Brick is a messy movie that has no idea what it wants to be.

An enigmatic, middle-aged father of two enlists the help of fledgling writer Samuel Liston to pen his biography. The circumstances leading up to the arrangement are astonishing, and efforts to write the biography are quickly stymied by ensuing chaos.

The major problem with Big Gold Brick is that it’s so uninteresting, this is the very definition of a movie saying or showing so much but saying and showing so little. There was some interesting stylistic choices at times and there’s a few moments that did get a laugh out of me due to how bad they were, but that was not worth enduring 2 hours and 12 minutes of complete and total nonsense, what baffles me is how Megan Fox, Oscar Isaac (although he’s really not in it that long it’s a cameo.) and Lucy Hale are in this. Megan Fox definitely tries her best with what she’s given but the problem is her character is very flat and has no personality, but the same can be said for the rest of the characters. I completely understand the type of comedy Big Gold Brick was trying to go for but it completely misses it’s mark. Lastly there’s the running time which has absolutely no reason to be 2 hours and 12 minutes long, there is so much here that could have been cut and the movie would not have changed at all. Overall Big Gold Brick is a terrible movie that feels like you just wasted your time.

Big Gold Brick is available on all VOD Platforms.

2/10 F

Heckle leaves you with no laughs.

A stand up comedian encounters a seemingly insane heckler, who becomes his stalker. This is a heckle on a whole new level…

Heckle is a complete and total mess that despite having a budget of $750,000 feels even cheaper. I have been trying not to be so harsh with films that are obviously meant to go straight to DVD recently, but there comes a point where something this bad can’t be ignored. Everything from the acting, writing and directing is painful and very very hard to get through. The movie is very unappealing to look at and for a movie that’s centered around stand-up comedy it doesn’t have any idea what makes a good routine, this is the type of slasher film that does absolutely nothing for the genre. There’s a great idea in here it’s just surrounded by a terrible movie.

Heckle will be released March 8th on all VOD

Disgrace To Cinema F

I Want You Back is a energetic and genuine romantic comedy.

Peter and Emma are total strangers. When they meet, they realize they were both dumped on the same weekend. Their commiseration turns into a mission when they see that each of their ex-partners have happily moved on to new romances.

Jason Orley returns with his second film (his first being Big Time Adolescence) I Want You Back and what a surprise this one was. It’s another romantic comedy that is definitely a step in the right direction for the genre, there’s a lot to like about this one. The cast does a really solid job particularly Jenny Slate and Charlie Day who both have strong chemistry between one another, while yes I Want You Back is predictable it still manages to be very entertaining between it’s cast and humor that actually really works. It gives the movie a lot of breathing room to come up with clever lines and add a few of it’s own ideas. What surprised me was how genuine some of the dialogue really was, at times the movie goes for a more grounded approach and other times it knows it has a premise that would not likely ever happen. But the two blend so well together that it works quite well, I Want You Back is truly a great time and definitely something that should not be overlooked!!

I Want You Back is available on Amazon Prime Video!

7/10 B

Tall Girl 2 fails to stand tall.

Jodi Kreyman deals with her newfound popularity. Her miscommunications, however, start causing rifts with those around her and now she really needs to “stand tall.”

I can only assume Tall Girl is Netflix’s next attempt into making it a series, last year was the end of both The Kissing Booth and To All The Boys the latter actually being alright. So I guess something has to fill that mandatory teen movie extends to a series spot. Tall Girl came out in 2019 and was universally destroyed by critics and audiences, enter Tall Girl 2 which the best thing I can say about this movie is it is better than the first movie. Sabrina Carpenter is still the best part and at least this time around Anjelika Washington is given more to do rather than just appearing every now and then to hype up Jodi like she did in the first movie. Still that doesn’t make it a good movie, it still suffers from the exact same issues as the first movie. The acting ranges from being very poor to very dull, the writing is once again written like nobody has actually ever talked to a high school student before (which is a very common problem with a lot of these Netflix teen movies). The biggest problem with Tall Girl 2 is it’s a prime example of a sequel that has absolutely no idea what to do, it really feels like the script was made up as it went on and I would not be surprised if that was the case. A lot of the movie boils down to being a very uninteresting coming of age story that leaves you thinking “what was the point of all of that?” Tall Girl 2 is a terrible sequel that does not have a whole to it at all, there’s very little discussion to be had about it. By the middle of the year nobody is going to remember this came out and rightfully so.

Tall Girl 2 is available on Netflix

1/10 F

Quick Reviews: Alone With You and Bigbug.

As a young woman painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend, their apartment begins to feel more like a tomb when strange voices, shadows and hallucinations reveal a truth she’s been unwilling to face.

Alone With You is an interesting little movie that is very flawed but has a lot to like about it. Emily Bennett gives a decent performance and it’s always nice to see Barbara Crampton as well, the atmosphere combined with the setting definitely adds to the movie giving it a creep feeling at times. I do wish the writing was a bit better and did a little more with it’s premise, especially during the last half of the movie where I do feel like it loses a bit of steam. But the movie does wrap up nice enough to warrant a watch.

Alone With You is available on all VOD Platforms!

6/10 C+

Suburbanites are locked in for their own protection by their household robots while an android revolt rages outside.

I was hoping Bigbug was going to be Netflix’s first good original film of the year, sadly that’s not the case. Bigbug feels like so much yet so little, there’s some nice color palettes used here and some decent humor here and there. But good lord was this tough to sit through, mostly due to the acting and writing not blending well together at all. A lot of it is just not funny at all either, the sci-fi elements work fine enough here but don’t nowhere near as effective as they could have been. There was definitely effort put into it, the film is definitely well made and as I said the color palettes used are very interesting and actually do add to the film. It’s just a huge shame this came from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, overall Bigbug is a very forgettable movie with not much going for it unfortunately.

Bigbug is available on Netflix!

4/10 D+