Wander Darkly and Let Them All Talk (2020)

New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.

Wander Darkly is about trauma and a troubled relationship that both parties have went through. Siernna Miller and Diego Luna both do a fantastic job in their roles, both give performances that feel very realistic and captivating. The story itself is very interesting and has a lot of great ideas that the movie for the most part does a pretty good job with. I do wish Wander Darkly went a little deeper with the trauma, while we do explore the character’s trauma the movie doesn’t necessarily dive very deep into it. Which could have really helped this movie out a lot more, however that does not mean it’s bad at all. It has a ton of beautiful and emotional moments that truly do shine, I see Wander Darkly being compared to Eternal Sunshine in some cases I definitely see that. It’s just not as good as Eternal Sunshine, the acting and writing as I’ve said are very good! The writing can be repetitive at times and can be somewhat predictable. Overall Wander Darkly is a very solid movie, it could have been a lot better had it took more time to explore the characters but it’s still something I would recommend giving a look!

7/10 B

A famous author goes on a cruise trip with her friends and nephew in an effort to find fun and happiness while she comes to terms with her troubled past.

People really need to stop overhyping Meryl Streep with every single performance, she’s a great actress but I’m tired of people acting like she is flawless when films like Let Them All Talk exists. She gives a very decent performance but that’s about it, there is absolutely nothing here that stands out at all. Let Them All Talk is also one of those films where the story is just not that interesting, for some people it might but this just did not work for me. It had plenty of good ideas but it ultimately really fell flat. The writing wasn’t anything particularly interesting, I completely get what the film was trying to go for but it just did not work. The conversations the characters have did not come off as authentic, there’s a few moments that work but it’s overall a mess. This is definitely better than Steven Soderbergh’s last film The Laundromat (you know the film where Streep does brown face) but that’s honestly not high compliment.

5/10 C

Mank (2020)

1930’s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.

Mank truly is a time capsule of 1930s Hollywood, while yes it is about Citizen Kane it also focuses on some of the politics and basically how 1930s Hollywood was. Mank is something completely different from any of David Fincher’s previous work, you get that sense from the very beginning. The movie is absolutely beautiful from the filming, to the black and white it’s all there. It blends so well together to make the film represent a 1930s film heck the sound of the characters talking matches very well, it’s the little things that really help this movie become stronger as it progresses. Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried and Lily Collins are the standouts (at least for me) they all did an incredible in their roles especially Seyfried. They really matched who they were playing and dived deep into their roles. The direction is absolutely incredible, as I said earlier it’s a lot different from Fincher’s other films so this was sort of a risk but I feel Fincher nailed it. The best way to describe Mank is that matched a 1930s film really well, from the incredible amount of detail and stacking up the little things it’s quite the accomplishment. It’s a huge lover letter to old Hollywood and succeeds at doing that! Mank is definitely not going to be for everyone which is completely understandable, but this is definitely one I highly recommend checking out!

9/10 A

Godmothered (2020)

A young and unskilled fairy godmother ventures out on her own to prove her worth by tracking down a young girl whose request for help was ignored.

One thing Disney+ really needs to work on is advertising their original films, this is another case like Togo, Clouds and a few others where the advertising was just nonexistent. As for the actual movie it’s actually not too bad, Godmothered is essentially this year’s Noelle only that I would say it’s much better. Godmothered also does feel like a clone of Enchanted as it does borrow a lot from it, but at least the movie is fun and has some very genuine moments. Isla Fisher and Jillian Bell both do a very solid job in their roles, there are some jokes that surprisingly do work sure some of it is very Disney Channel type humor. But then you have some moments where the jokes are actually quite okay, speaking of which Godmothered does fall on the line between Disney Channel Original Movie and Disney+ Original Movie, but that’s not necessarily a bad case here because the movie embraces it. Godmothered knows what it wants to be and is straight to the point about it, it doesn’t try to be more then it really is or any less. Overall I say give Godmothered a go it’s a quick and easy watch!

6/10 C+

Free Lunch Express (2020)

A satirical look at the life of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, from his youth in Brooklyn, N.Y., to presidential candidate.

There’s those moments in film where you find movies that leave you left wondering “how does this exist” Free Lunch Express is one of those movies, it’s a parody about Bernie Sanders. Every single joke in this movie is child like insults and playground humor. It’s bottom of the barrel garbage how anyone looked at the script and thought “wow this is hilarious! Better release this!” Is just amazing to me. For whatever reason Malcolm McDowell is in this, he plays some narrator character but he’s barely in it and he usually just makes some unfunny side comments so it really doesn’t matter. Free Lunch Express ultimately reminds me of that garbage parody movie area the film industry was going through you know like Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Meet The Spartans and a few others. Nobody really tries to pull off a somewhat tolerable performance, the only reason to actually watch this is to actually believe this is real. Overall Free Lunch Express is garbage you can find much more enjoyment from Jib Jab videos that do parodies off of political figures.

Disgrace To Cinema F

Happiest Season (2020)

A young woman with a plan to propose to her girlfriend while at her family’s annual holiday party discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.

Happiest Season is some of the most fun I’ve had with a film all year and it’s hands down one of the best Christmas films in a very long time. First off the acting is much better then I expected everyone is truly giving it their all Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Daniel Levy, Aubrey Plaza and Alison Brie are the highlights (at least for me). Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis’s chemistry really works here, there is so much added into their relationship and the rawness adds to it. Speaking of which this feels like one of the most realistic Christmas movies I’ve seen in a long time, a lot of Christmas films tend to go for some wacky plot while Happiest Season keeps things grounded. Sure there is one particular scene that does feel a bit over the top but even then it’s definitely not a bad scene at all, because luckily the film has the humor to back it up. It’s a genuinely hilarious movie that I found myself laughing throughout the film. Happiest Season is also one of those movies where it balances between the serious moments and the comedic moments, it’s a perfect balance that really adds to the film. The writing has tons of powerful moments one in particular that really got me, which is a scene towards the end of the film with Daniel Levy and Kristen Stewart about how it’s easy for some people to come out more then others, each person has a story and you never know what’s someone’s story is. It’s a really powerful scene that really sticks to you even if you aren’t LGBTQ it still sticks with you. Overall Happiest Season is one of my favorite films of 2020, it truly is a fantastic film that I highly recommend checking out!!

10/10 A+

Superintelligence (2020)

When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study average Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to Carol to prove that people are worth saving.

Superintelligence serves as a very forgettable release, Ben Falcone who has directed Tammy, Life Of The Party and The Boss (all terrible movies) continues his streak of garbage. At this point Falcone’s movies boil down to putting Melissa McCarthy in different situations, slap in some terrible comedy and call it day. Superintelligence is uninteresting and painfully unfunny, the only couple positives I can give it is Melissa McCarthy like in all of these movies is really trying her best with what she has to work with. Then there are maybe one or two moments that I found pretty okay but that’s really about it, James Corden is honestly just whatever. He gives a very basic performance that really doesn’t have anything special going for it, the writing is awful which leads into the humor which as I said before is not funny. My major problem with this movie is that some of the jokes go on for far too long, the movie painfully stretches out unfunny jokes to the point where it becomes painful and a chore to watch. The fact Superintelligence was intended to be a wide theater release just scares me, the movie is the very definition of a modern unfunny comedy. Please give this one a pass..

3/10 D-

The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)

Kate Pierce, now a cynical teen, is unexpectedly reunited with Santa Claus when a mysterious troublemaker threatens to cancel Christmas – forever.

As far as Christmas Netflix Original movies go this one is pretty okay, the first Christmas Chronicles was fine enough and this one is on pretty much the exact same level. Kurt Russell is still pretty solid as Santa Clause and at least they changed the story up a bit even if it’s not very original at all. What bogs this movie down is the villain he’s really not interesting at the slightest in fact he’s very annoying and really holds the movie back from being anything other then “fine” the humor is really not great a lot of the jokes are a huge miss or just don’t make any sense at all. On the top of my head I can remember only 1 or 2 jokes I laughed at during this movie. Despite what I said I can definitely see kids loving this movie, it has all the elements it needs to be a very safe kids/family Christmas movie and sometimes that’s really all you need. Also this is a huge step up for Chris Columbus since the last movie he did was Pixels.

6/10 C+

Freaky (2020)

After swapping bodies with a deranged serial killer, a young girl in high school discovers she has less than 24 hours before the change becomes permanent.

Christopher Landon’s career as a director has certainly evolved over the years, his first major movie was Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones easily the worst of the series and one of the worst films of the 2010s, then he followed up with Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse, which was a very forgettable zombie movie that hardly anyone ever talks about. It also doesn’t help that it wasn’t good or did nothing to standout either, then came the turning point Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U some of the best slasher films in a very long time both of which actually surprised a lot of people as well. The same can be said about Freaky, it’s another surprisingly strong slasher movie that really stands out. Freaky shares a lot in common with Happy Death Day what I mean by that is Landon uses some of his same directing elements and style. Such as giving the characters actual character development something that was very present in the Happy Death Day movies. Kathryn Newton’s character Millie gets a ton of character development and a lot of moments are actually strong as well, Freaky is a huge throwback to The Friday The 13th series! But what I found very interesting is it takes those elements and makes them it’s own, it creates something truly special and quite humorous as well. The comedy is quite great, there are a few jokes that don’t land quite well but a lot of the time combines serious moments and comedic moments very well. The acting and writing are overall really strong Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn are both very solid in their roles, the kills also standout pretty well. They are classic slasher movie type kills that never get old at all, overall Freaky is a movie that could have went horribly wrong but luckily that’s not the case. It’s some of the most fun I have had with a film this year! Also worth pointing out that Freaky is the first movie I saw since March due to COVID-19.

9/10 A

Chick Fight (2020)

When Anna Wyncomb is introduced to an underground, all-female fight club in order to turn the mess of her life around, she discovers she is much more personally connected to the history of the club than she could ever imagine.

Chick Fight is the very definition of release fodder, a movie that the studio just puts out there because they need to and gets little to no advertising. I only found out about this movie was because Bella Thorne is in it and I hate to say it but…she’s the best part in this garbage. Chuck Fight is basically a Fight Club clone, the biggest issue with this movie is the lead Malin Åkerman looks like she was held at gun point to be in this movie and I don’t blame her either. The writing is filled with cliches, terribly written dialogue and horrible attempts of trying to be funny. As I said the only positive about this is Bella Thorne which is quite honestly surprising given how bad she is in almost every role she’s in. But that is not nearly enough to save this movie from being a complete disaster, it leaves absolutely no impression on the viewer after watching it. That’s what really is the worst thing about this, it just sort of exists and has no reason to. Overall give this one a skip…

2/10 F

Operation Christmas Drop (2020)

Congressional aide Erica (Graham) forgoes family Christmas to travel at her boss’s behest. At a beachside Air Force base, she clashes with Capt. Andrew Jantz (Ludwig), who knows her assignment is finding reasons to defund the facility.

Here we go Christmas Netflix movie number two in 2020. Holidate was at least harmless and had Emma Roberts, Operation Christmas Drop has almost nothing going for it at all, the chemistry between the two main leads is just no there. It comes off as awkward and not believable at the slightest, the writing is horrendous it’s on the same level as a LifeTime Channel movie. Which is basically what Operation Christmas Drop is, it’s a LifeTime channel movie that somehow became a Netflix Original which is a very common problem with a lot of Netflix Christmas movies. The whole movie itself is cliched and predictable as well, there’s really nothing in this movie that hasn’t been done before. Completely worthless…

1/10 F