Unpregnant (2020)

A 17-year old Missouri teen named Veronica discovers she has gotten pregnant, a development that threatens to end her dreams of matriculating at an Ivy League college, and the career that will follow.

Unpregnant could have easily went down the wrong path, but the end result gives a very surprising and meaningful movie. The acting was overall very solid, Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira both do a very solid job in their roles. The chemistry between the two can be described like Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein from Booksmart, their friendship is very believable and actually feels really raw. Speaking of Booksmart this is exactly what this movie reminded me of, although it may not be as funny or good it still has it’s own ideas. The direction from Rachel Lee Goldenberg (director of Valley Girl (2020) ) She really steps up her directing from Valley Girl (2020) and tells a very meaningful story while also putting in some comedy. Which I feel like is what stands out about this film. Unpregnant takes a very heavy subject (in this case abortion) and puts in some comedy but at the same time including the heavy scenes with the characters having a conversation about the topic through the writing. The balance of comedy and the serious moments are just perfect and really do make this movie standout, sure not every joke lands but the serious moments really do a good job of showing how it’s a woman’s right to choose. Overall Unpregnant could have easily went horribly wrong and would have bit the dust as soon as it came out. But the amount of effort that was put into it helps this movie standout among the crowd.

8/10 B+

The Personal History Of David Copperfield, You Cannot Kill David Arquette and Centigrade (2020)

A modern take on Charles Dickens’s classic tale of a young orphan who is able to triumph over many obstacles.

I’m actually quite surprised I liked this as much as I did, I’m going to be brutally honest…I did not think this look really good from the trailers. But I love being proved wrong and in this case I most definitely was, it’s directed by Armando lannucci director of “The Death Of Stalin” my favorite thing about this movie by far is Dev Patel as the leading the role, he does such a fantastic job and gives this beautiful performance. Same goes for everyone else in the film, they all really give it their all and the end result is quite great. The writing is pretty solid, I wouldn’t say anything mind blowing but still some really great stuff that captures the era the movie is supposed to be taking place. The direction was quite great, I don’t think Iannucci’s direction wasn’t as good here as it was in Death Of Stalin, but it still has the elements and they worked very well here to get the job done. The costumes and filming in particular really captured the time period this movie was going for, it feels incredibly realistic and to the point! Overall a very solid film that I would recommend!!

7/10 B

Actor David Arquette attempts a rocky return to the sport that stalled his promising Hollywood career.

David Arquette is a really interesting person and this documentary shows that quite well. It’s a very straightforward documentary that shows the rise and fall of David Arquette, it also shows him not giving up on his career which is really inspiring. Which is honestly what I describe this movie as inspiring, it shows a man that does not give up on his dreams and keeps fighting for it. As far as filmmaking it’s quite great, it’s one of those documentaries where you actually begin to feel for the person the film is about (in this case David Arquette) the documentary is a little slow at times but I do feel the payoff is really worth it in the end. I’m glad they included his wrestling career because it’s always strange whenever a conversation about wrestlers who started acting careers David Arquette always seems to be forgotten. Which brings a very interesting point, David Arquette has 139 acting credits (according to IMDb at the time this was written) yet a lot of people seem to only remember him from The Scream movies and without the Scream movies a lot of people seem to forget him. Which is really baffling, it’s great to see that David Arquette never gave up! Overall this is definitely worth checking out!!

9/10 A

A married couple find themselves trapped in their frozen vehicle after a blizzard and struggle to survive amid plunging temperatures and unforeseen obstacles.

First things first the movie claims it’s based on a true story, however I found nothing about the story it’s actually based on. I do believe it’s based on a mix of stories that are related to this one. Anyway Centigrade is another survival movie that really doesn’t have anything special going for it, it got the atmosphere down pretty well. But the characters are just really idiotic, some of the decisions they make are truly baffling and just not realistic at the slightest. The acting is fine enough but the writing feels like they just played way too safe with this one. It never really goes anywhere and the movie just kind of ends. This is a very common problem with a lot of these survival movies is they really can’t invest the audience because they just don’t have enough going on and really do the bare minimum. Centigrade is definitely not the worst survival movie out there but it’s definitely one of the most forgettable.

4/10 D+

Bill & Ted Face The Music (2020)

Once told they’d save the universe during a time-traveling adventure, 2 would-be rockers from San Dimas, California find themselves as middle-aged dads still trying to crank out a hit song and fulfill their destiny.

I really have to say I’m actually surprised by how much I really liked this movie. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter really pull it off, they are both hilarious and their performances are quite great!! The humor is genuinely funny, sure not every joke lands but a majority of the jokes landed pretty well there is even some creative ones as well. Speaking of which the writing was quite clever a lot of the time and explored other themes, it’s also pretty heartwarming as well especially towards the end. The movie is very touching and leads to some surprisingly emotional moments and manages to combine that with humor. Which is what I think I loved most about this movie, it manages to combine the humor and the serious moments really well which leads to some excellent results! Overall this is a very satisfying movie that I highly recommend giving a go!!

8/10 B+

All Together Now, Superman Man Of Tomorrow and The Binge (2020)

An optimistic high schooler with musical aspirations must learn to accept help from her friends to overcome her personal hardships and fulfill her dreams.

All Together Now is the second film directed by Brett Haley that has come out this year! The first being All The Bright Places (which I loved) while All Together Now might be not as good, it’s still one of those rare Teen movies that ends up being very solid. The acting is overall decent with Auli’i Cravalho giving a really strong performance, the writing has some genuinely beautiful moments with the music helping certain scenes standout. If I had one main criticism it would be towards the end the movie does feel like it gets a little bit weaker, it does feel a bit formulaic at times. But I can say at least this movie is interesting and is enjoyable unlike some other Teen movies. Definitely worth checking this one out.

7/10 B

Daily Planet intern Clark Kent takes learning-on-the-job to new extremes when Lobo and Parasite set their sights on Metropolis.

Not going to lie I was worried for this movie, it’s another Superman origin story so I was a bit worried that this movie was going to bring nothing new to the table. While it does bring some familiar elements it also does bring some new elements to the table as well, it has some solid character development and and actually some decent dialogue. My main issue with the film however is that it feels way too stuffed, between having way too many villains and a lot of other ideas it does fall short from being anything noteworthy when it comes to the DC Animated movies. The animation is really going to be up to the viewer, some people like the animation just fine others see it as a step down from the other movies. I personally don’t know what to think, at times it’s pretty great by giving detail for the action scenes and at other times it’s just not that interesting. Superman Man Of Tomorrow is definitely not the best of the DC animated movies but it’s passable and fans will definitely enjoy it.

6/10 C+

Set in a time where all drugs and alcohol are illegal, the only day anyone can participate in the “fun” is on Binge day.

I really don’t have much to comment on about this movie, it’s basically The Purge meets Booksmart which really could have worked. If the movie was actually funny, at times the jokes landed I found myself laughing. The problem is the rest of the movie is just not good, the acting is terrible and the originality is just nonexistent, it feels like one of those terrible Teen sex comedies that came out back in the early 2000s except here it’s drugs. Some of the humor is screaming really loudly which is something I’m really getting sick of directors putting in their films thinking people are going to laugh just because the characters scream. As I said before this movie does have it’s moments where it is genuinely funny, it’s worth noting that this is by the guy who did The Wedding Ringer, overall The Binge is just not worth sitting through…

2/10 F

Rogue, Random Acts Of Violence and Get Duked (2020)

A battle-hardened mercenary leads a team of soldiers on a daring mission to rescue hostages in remote Africa.

Does M.J. Bassett have a talent of being a garbage director? Because my god Rogue shows more of it, if you don’t know who Bassett is she is the director behind Silent Hill Revelations. Anyway Rogue has one good thing about it…and that’s Megan Fox who definitely tries her hardest with this movie, otherwise this movie is a complete and utter trainwreck. The writing is bottom of the barrel, for whatever reason some of the characters start singing “Everybody” by The Backstreet Boys and it’s not even a one time joke they do this FOUR TIMES! If it were just a one off joke maybe I could understand but four times really shows the writers had no idea what they were doing. The CGI Lions are terrible, they feel like something straight out of a SyFy channel movie. The characters are given absolutely no character development their personalities come down to their race or looks, which that in itself is pretty problematic. This really shows the writers had no ideas, no inspiration and just did not give a crap about this movie at the slightest. When a character’s personality only comes down to their race it shows the writers have no idea how to build a character and just don’t have any creative ideas. It shows that they only know how to make stereotypes and that’s it which if you ask me is embarrassing. As for the rest of the movie it’s just ugly to look at and the overall movie is not fun at the slightest and then suddenly at the end there is this “save the lions” message which is laughable because you just showed lions killing the characters and now you want to shove a message at the end of the movie? Overall Rogue is one of the worst things I’ve seen this year, if it weren’t for Megan Fox this would have easily gotten my lowest rating…avoid this one.

1/10 F

A pair of comic book writers begin to notice scary similarities between the character they created and horrific real-life events.

This is the type of movie where they definitely had the right idea but couldn’t make it interesting. The movie is definitely not all bad, the performances for the most part are fine enough, there’s some decent camerawork and the kills are actually pretty well done. The main setback is the writing, it really feels like they threw way too many ideas into this movie and forgot scrap a large portion of the filler. Plus there really isn’t anything noteworthy in this movie that makes it standout, it’s an okay movie if you are looking to kill some time. Otherwise it’s really not worth it.

5/10 C

An anarchic, hip-hop inspired comedy that follows four city boys on a wilderness trek as they try to escape a mysterious huntsman.

Yeah Get Duked really did not do it for me, I completely understand why one would enjoy this movie, heck I wouldn’t say it’s all bad. The performances are actually decent and there’s a few jokes in there that do hit. My major problem with this movie however is most of the humor, if you don’t find the humor funny you are not going to like this movie. A lot of it just really feels try hard at times and comes off as forced. The plot is very similar to The Hunt which came out earlier this year. But this movie does do it’s premise a bit better, my other main issue is the characters are just not likable at all. I really did not care for anyone in the movie at all…it’s a shame because I do feel like this could have been good if it was fixed up a bit.

5/10 C

The One And Only Ivan (2020)

A gorilla named Ivan tries to piece together his past with the help of an elephant named Ruby as they hatch a plan to escape from captivity.

The One and Only Ivan is a movie I was not expecting to like as much as I did, based on a true story we have a pretty interesting story. The acting and voice acting were both really solid, Bryan Cranston, Sam Rockwell, Brooklyn Prince, Ariana Greenblatt and Danny DeVito were definitely the standouts. The writing was overall not too bad, it did have it’s hiccups at times (a few fart jokes) but otherwise there was some genuinely meaningful dialogue in the movie that was heartwarming. The movie does start off slow but picks up quickly as it goes on, the score I thought was overall well done and matched the tone of the movie. The original song from this movie “Free” by Charlie Puth and written by Diane Warren was excellent and matches the movie really well. There are some sad moments that add to this movie that are actually well done, The One and Only Ivan is a huge crowd pleaser and is definitely one of the better Disney+ Original movies!

7/10 B

Chemical Hearts, The Sleepover and Tesla (2020)

A high school transfer student finds a new passion when she begins to work on the school’s newspaper.

Chemical Hearts is another high school romance movie, sure it’s better than some of the other ones that have been coming out recently. But that is really not saying much at all, I will say the acting is not too bad Lili Reinhart isn’t too bad and everyone else does a fairly decent job. But everything else just ranges from bad to below average, it feels like the people who worked on this movie just copied off of every other high school romance movie and didn’t do anything to change it up at all. Chemical Hearts really does not have much to say at all, sure there’s a few good moments that are supposed to give the characters some development, but a lot of it is elements that you have already seen several times before. I really don’t know what else to say, if your a fan of high school romance movies you will probably like this…otherwise skip this one.

4/10 D+

When two siblings discover their seemingly normal mom is a former thief in witness protection who has been forced to pull one last job, they team up to rescue her over the course of an action-packed night.

It can’t be a coincidence that Scott Speer who directed Endless also directed Step Up 4, but then one week later The Sleepover comes out and that’s directed by Trish Sie director of Step Up All In! Anyway The Sleepover is terrible (surprising!) it’s your classic example of movies Netflix knew was awful so they did everything in their power to not advertise it at all, The Sleepover also has a trend I’ve been noticing a lot more and more with a lot of family “action” movies. It has barely any action in it, they throw on the action label hoping it will get clicks. Which is a very cheap tactic and not an honest one either. As for the movie itself it’s garbage, the acting is terrible, the writing is a complete trainwreck. Speaking of the writing the very first joke and line in this movie is a poop joke…that is pretty much a foreshadowing of how the rest of the movie will be, there’s tons more bathroom jokes as well. The “action” feels lazily put into the movie, no thought or care was put into it. It pretty much comes down to “oh kids love action let’s do the bare minimum and put a few action scenes into the movie!” Look I’m not expecting the next John Wick, but good god it feels forced. I really don’t know what else to say? The Sleepover feels like something The Disney Channel would put on if it were the 90s, except where as some of the Disney Channel movies had charm this movie doesn’t have that.

2/10 F

A freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla, his interactions with Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan’s daughter Anne, and his breakthroughs in transmitting electrical power and light.

Why does Ethan Hawks sing “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” in a movie about Nikola Tesla? I swear if someone asked me what is one of the most uninteresting and just downright terrible movies so far this year. I would say it’s Tesla, I mean sure in concept the movie sounds pretty okay a biopic about Nikola Tesla how could you possibly mess that up? Unfortunately the writers wanted something different and then came up with whatever this was, it’s actually really hard to explain because I still don’t know what they were trying to do. The only good thing I can give this movie is Ethan Hawks’s performance, he definitely tries his best in such a terribly written movie. I feel like the worst part about this whole movie is how it is just not interesting at the slightest, it quickly loses the viewer’s interest by not doing anything really. It’s biopic that honestly felt like it did not need to be made, sitting through this movie is like doing chores around the house. You don’t want to do them but if you want to be done you have to do it, just give this one a skip..

1/10 F

Spree (2020)

Thirsty for a following, Kurt Kunkle is a rideshare driver who has figured out a deadly plan to go viral.

I really had no idea what to expect from Spree, I was especially not expecting Joe Keery to give a fantastic but at the same time creepy performance. Joe Keery really makes this movie he goes all out in his role and manages to be something straight out of American Psycho. The premise of the movie I thought was done really well, it could have easily went horribly wrong but they really managed to be smart about it. The movie shows the dark side of being obsessed with social media fame and being obsessed with influencers. Which I feel the movie nailed quite well, mostly due to the style of the movie which is really well done. The camerawork is well crafted and shot very well, a lot of detail and gives the look you are watching a video on Instagram or Facebook which is definitely what the film was going for. In fact the whole movie feels like that, it feels like one giant Instagram video and in this case that’s a good thing. The atmosphere is both thrilling and comedic, what I do like is how the film balances the two one of them never overlaps the other. It’s just the right amount of both to make it work! Overall Spree is a very interesting film that is definitely one of my favorites so far this year! Check this one out when you can!!

9/10 A

Magic Camp (2020)

Andy, at the urging of his former mentor and Magic Camp owner Roy Preston, returns as a counselor to the camp of his youth hoping to reignite his career.

Mark Waters continues down a terrible path, it’s unbelievable that he is the same guy who directed Mean Girls and Freaky Friday (2003) lately he’s been struggling to make a good film Vampire Academy, Mr Popper’s Penguins, Bad Santa 2 and now this movie are truly awful. Magic Camp is something that would have been on the Disney channel back in the early 2000s, there is absolutely nothing to this movie that tries anything different. It’s a very below average underdog team movie but with a magic theme, the only thing going for this movie is Adam Devine which is strange considering how much I don’t like him. But here he is actually giving it his all, the rest of the movie is filled with terrible jokes that aren’t funny, poor acting and way too many predictable moments. It’s worth noting that this movie was shot back in 2017 this was back when Josie Totah didn’t come out as transgender (who has since come out) something that really did not age well at all was Jeffrey Tambor..who in 2017 was accused of sexual harassment and verbal abuse (which explains why it took so long for this to release). Making a lot of scenes in this movie extremely awkward, the direction of the movie is very uninspired it really doesn’t have any identity to it. Magic Camp could easily be mistaken for some other underdog team movie Disney has done, if you have seen any other underdog team movie you have already seen Magic Camp. I really don’t know what else to say, it’s a terrible movie that nobody is going to remember by the end of the month.

3/10 D-

An American Pickle (2020)

An immigrant worker at a pickle factory is accidentally preserved for 100 years and wakes up in modern day Brooklyn.

An American Pickle takes an outrageous concept and manages to turn into a smart little movie, Seth Rogan plays two different characters in the film one being Hershel a Jewish immigrant who ends up being brined in a jar of pickles for 100 years and the other being Ben the common person in 2020 or what’s supposed to represent someone from 2020. The accent for Hershel is really impressive and is very believable, the humor in the film is quite great it has a ton of moments that are genuinely funny. The writing is actually quite clever there is some satirical elements such as pointing out how the media will be on your side one moment but then turn on you, the direction from Brandon Trost is quite great, he really makes this whole outrageous story seem believable. In fact that’s what I feel makes this movie standout from a lot of other movies so far this year, how the story itself is outrageous but has this believable atmosphere to it, the mix of the feel of the movie and the characters mentioning 2020 issues really blends together very well. This was definitely a different type of Seth Rogan movie that could have easily went wrong but that’s not the case here! Check this one out!!

8/10 B+