Tar is a masterfully crafted film with a unforgettable performance from Cate Blanchett.

Renowned musician Lydia Tár is days away from recording the symphony that will elevate her career. When all elements seem to conspire against her, Lydia’s adopted daughter Petra becomes an integral emotional support for her struggling mother.

Tar is truly something mesmerizing that I’m still thinking about a week and half later since I saw it, immediately when the film starts the atmosphere hits you right in the face. It’s a mysterious and almost like a dark void, like you are the only person there in a world that is covered in darkness. It’s truly a haunting feeling that is only the beginning of what’s to come, Cate Blanchett gives one of the strongest performances of the year, there is so much to her performance mainly due to the amount of emotional, detail and power that went into it. Blanchett plays Lydia Tar who in the film is one of the greatest living composer conductors and first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, who is very passionate about her work. Right near the beginning the film starts with a monologue that Cate Blanchett absolutely hits out of the park, it’s a fantastic introduction to Lydia Tar and how she can be quite intimidating as well as surprisingly funny, in fact that’s the most unnerving thing about Lydia she can go from being funny to intimidating in a split second which only adds to what is learned about her later on in the movie. The film talks about abuse of power as well as cancel culture however it has more of a nuanced approach that carefully examines how each side reacts and the human nature of it all. It keeps the film far more grounded and more interesting as well, Lydia is such a well built character that has so many sides to her and that’s really mainly due to how well written and directed it is from Todd Fields and the performance from Cate Blanchett. Todd Fields brings so much realism to the film and truly makes every scene count, each of the scenes tell something unique and have so much detail included within them. Fields keeps things as grounded as possible especially when it comes to the themes of abuse of power and cancel culture (if that’s what you want to call it) the abuse of power part isn’t in the direct spotlight in the real world it’s done sneakily and often times covered up which is shown here in this film. Cancel Culture while it often does take place online here it’s done in a much more realistic approach and has more realistic results of what happens. The film is honest and gets the point across masterfully. Overall Tar is a masterfully crafted film that is truly something that needs to be seen, it’s one of the best films of the year and I can’t recommend this one enough!

Tar is currently in theaters.

10/10 A+

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me is a honest documented journey about mental health.

After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom. But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness.

Selena Gomez is someone I’ve always been a fan of, whether that be due to her overall personality or her determination to talk about mental health and keep the conversation going, plus her role in Wizards Of Waverley Place is a favorite of mine growing up. In this documentary Selena Gomez talks about her struggles with fame, her physical and mental health when being diagnosed with lupus and bipolar disorder. The major thing that brings this documentary together is honesty of it all, there isn’t anything that feels manufactured for a quick buck like some other celebrity documentaries tend to have. The documentary is Selena Gomez and the people who know her telling you about Selena’s mental health, which in a lot of ways could be relatable to some people. The film does that by having up close and personal shot of Selena Gomez as she talks to the camera like she’s inviting you to a conversation, it’s some pretty clever camera movements that really make it go the long way. I definitely think one of the major highlights of the film heck Selena herself says it’s a highlight of her life is the Kenya Trip. Not only does Selena Gomez share her experiences with Kenyan women but they themselves share their experiences with Selena, it’s a really touching and quite inspiring moment of seeing two perspectives both of which are very compelling in their own ways. The documentary really does a fantastic job with the topic of mental health it’s done very respectfully which isn’t a surprise since Selena regularly uses her platform when talking about mental health, as I said before the film is honest and focuses on having a conversation which it accomplishes quite well! This is something I truly recommend checking out!

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me is available on Apple TV+

9/10 A

Spirited is a decent Christmas movie featuring Will Farrell.

A musical version of Charles Dickens’s story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey.

So Regal had a second mystery movie night last night and it turned out to be Spirited, the movie did not have a strong start. The first bit of the movie is very obnoxious and a lot of the jokes completely don’t land, but if you can get through that you will find that Spirited is actually not half bad, Will Farrell is pretty great here and is definitely one of his better performances in awhile, Octavia Spencer is very charming and actually has a decent singing voice. Speaking of which the songs themselves are actually not too bad, some are definitely better than others and stand out much more. However I wouldn’t call any of them bad, Tracy Morgan is actually pretty fun here despite really not having much to do, I will give the movie credit where credit is due there is a plot point here that was decently clever. Which was the movie connecting itself to the classic Charles Dickens Christmas Carol story, Will Farrell’s character Ghost Of Christmas Present was Scrooge when he was alive. It’s a fun little plot that kind of makes the movie an unofficial sequel to A Christmas Carol (although the movie itself brands itself as a modern twist or take on the story). Ryan Reynolds is easily the weakest part about it, he once again plays the exact same sort of character he does in a lot of previous movies he’s been in. The jerk type character who tries way too hard to be funny, admittedly he does get better as the movie goes on but it really just blends in with the rest of his performances. Overall Spirited is not as bad as expected, it’s a fun little Christmas musical movie that will be nice to put on during the holidays!

Spirited releases in theaters on Friday and on Apple TV+ November 18th.

6/10 C+

Armageddon Time is a powerhouse film filled with raw interactions.

A coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American dream.

Something that I have always liked about James Grey is how different his films are from one another and that only shows even more here with Armageddon Time. The film is inspired around Grey’s upbringing and childhood experiences and examines the dangers of complicity when it comes to prejudice and inequality, the performances right off the bat are quite fantastic each of which give something special to the film. Banks Repeta plays Paul Graff and Jaylin Webb as Johnny are both fantastic, they both truly do a fantastic job in their roles and the conversations between the two lead to some of the film’s strongest moments as well as heartbreaking moments. Anne Hathaway as Esther Graff and Jeremy Strong as Iriving Graff are quite incredible, very raw performances that truly capture the rawness of the film and really center around the film’s message. Finally there’s Anthony Hopkins who plays Aaron Rabinowitz who is definitely the heart of the film and who ultimately ties the film together, his interactions whether it be with Anne Hathaway or Banks Repeta are truly mesmerizing and down to earth, it truly feels like you are watching someone’s grandfather giving you his advice and thoughts on your actions. Hopkins truly does an incredible job here and gives one of the best performances of the year, as the film goes on we see a lot of the dangers of complicity and how it hurts people when no action is taken, the cinematography truly fantastic here with lots of close and personal shots that really add to the film’s rawness as well. James Grey always this personal type atmosphere in some of his films that works each in every time, he wants the viewer to come close to the events that are happening on screen which makes them all the more effective. Armageddon Time isn’t going to completely connect with everyone, however there is so much to love here that I have to recommend it!

Armageddon Time is currently in theaters.

10/10 A+

All Quiet On The Western Front is a brutal and honest depiction of war.

War breaks out in Germany in 1914. Paul Bäumer and his classmates quickly enlist in the army to serve their fatherland. No sooner are they drafted than the first images from the battlefield show them the reality of war.

When you take a look at the war film genre you often don’t see too many anti-war films, it’s a type of film that I really appreciate it because it has an entirely different perspective plus it really shows the tragedies of war. Plus how nobody really wins at the end, two most recognizable ones are Come and See and All Quiet On The Western Front. All Quiet On The Western Front is based off of a 1929 book of the same name written by Erich Maria Remarque, the book was later adapted into a 1930 film of the same name which would go on to win best picture at the Oscars. Fast forward to 2022 and we have a new adaption that is just as powerful and meaningful as the 1930 film from all those years ago. For starters as soon as the film begins the film immediately grabs the viewer’s attention with its cinematography there’s so much attention to detail here which only adds to the gory and disturbing battle shots that show up in the film later on. The cinematography also has this perfect war like atmosphere that truly hits home the point of how terrible war really is, it hits all the beats necessary to get the viewer into a state of terror and tragedy. The performances are absolutely masterful with every sense of the word, especially from Felix Kammerer who plays Paul so well that it’s truly captivating, the very beginning really captures this well. With Paul and his friends being sent out to war, some of his friends not knowing truly how serious war really is and only hits them harder and harder when they see lives being taken. The film isn’t afraid to show how war mentally effects the people involved and how it can really kill you on the inside as well, it can completely lead people to many states such as completely shock and trauma which we the viewers get to see a lot with Paul and the others. We see the differences of how the soldiers have to survive and hopefully get to go home to their loved ones where as the generals don’t really have the same worries, I mean sure something could happen to them but they are normally very well guarded where as soldiers like Paul have to fight to survive. The film does a fantastic job of showing this by cutting back and forth between the chaos on the battlefield and dialogue scenes of the generals, a lot of this is really shown at full force during the final act of the film where Felix Kammerer’s performance get’s even more powerful. It completely blossoms into this brutally honest performance that still has not left my mind since I saw it a 2 weeks ago, it’s truly one of the best performances of the year and one that will leave you with goosebumps. The film itself is a brutally honest one, it doesn’t sugarcoat anything it’s a film that lays out the tragedies of war and tells the viewer that in the end nobody really wins during a war. Lastly there’s the atmosphere of the film which combined with the cinematography is truly striking, there’s so many scenes that capture the horror of war and add so much terror to it. Overall All Quiet On The Western Front completely nails the message of the book and the original film, it’s definitely hard to watch but it’s a very necessary watch that truly hits all the right notes.

All Quiet On The Western Front is available on Netflix.

10/10 A+

Terrifier 2 is a gory entertaining ride.

Resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County to terrorize a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween night.

Terrifier 2 is definitely a film I did not expect to love as much as I did, Terrifier 2 is a sequel to the 2018 film Terrifier which I actually thought wasn’t too bad, it definitely wasn’t a film that I would consider to be one of my favorites but it did live up to the expectations. Art The Clown became a newish horror villain thanks to the short film Terrifier (2011) and All Hallows Eve (2013). Terrifier 2 takes everything that wasn’t exactly great about the first movie and completely does a backflip and I mean that in the best possible way. There is so much to Terrifier 2 despite just being a killer clown movie, but let’s start with the basics, for starters the atmosphere of the film which it’s this low budget (has a budget of $250,000) truly works here, often times it would be a bit distracting and take away from a movie. But in this case Terrifier 2 knows what it wants to be and it does that quite perfectly, the cast is truly a huge plus for this movie. As they always seem like they are having the time of their lives on set and who could really blame them? David Howard Thornton returns as Art the Clown and he does a tremendous job, he truly makes Art into a very expressive and villain who can go from being hilarious to downright nasty with a blink of an eye, it truly works in the film’s favor. Especially when it’s going for being a very very dark comedy, Lauren LaVera is the other major standout from the cast mainly due to how well she plays Sienna and just how much fun Sienna is as a character. At first she may seem like your ordinary older sister type character but she quickly becomes quite interesting and so much fun, we get to learn more about her character and slowly but surely learn about her father as well which also gives Sienna character development. LaVera’s performance is truly fantastic and really delivers one of the most fun performances of the year. The gore combined with the kills are nasty but truly incredible, a lot of it has the spirit of the classic splatter film combined with a dreamlike slasher film that opens many doors to creative and haunting kills. A lot of the gore really shows how nasty Art the Clown is as a villain, he truly doesn’t mess around at all and gets quite brutal very quickly. The final battle scene is truly fantastic stuff as well, it’s very well filmed, the music is booming and it’s such a satisfying ending to a incredibly entertaining film. What makes Terrifier 2 so great is that it’s wildly entertaining and just keeps stacking up, as I said before it captures the spirit of the classic splatter film extremely well and really nails that down in the best possible way. Terrifier 3 has been confirmed and I truly can’t wait to see what that has in store.

Terrifier is available on Screambox.

10/10 A+

Triangle Of Sadness is an insane right from beginning to end.

A cruise for the super-rich sinks, leaving survivors, including a fashion model celebrity couple, trapped on an island.

To say Triangle Of Sadness is truly insane and completely out there (in a good way) would be the understatement of the year, right from the beginning there’s a huge sense of style. Particularly with the cast the standouts being Dolly De Leon who does a tremendous job during part three of the film and becomes one of the film’s biggest highlights. Zlatko Burić gives a quite hilarious performance that offers many laughs and much like De Leon really gets strong in part 3, Woody Harrelson who although doesn’t get the biggest amount of screen time is still a delight to see and much like Burić is quite humorous. Finally there’s Charlbi Dean Kriek who gives a tremendous performance that is one of the year’s best, it’s very unfortunate that we will never get to see more of her as she sadly passed away back in August. She truly gave a really strong performance that really connected the characters in part 3. The film is a satire of the rich and the class element, while it is very on the nose about it that’s part of the fun about the whole film. It really let’s loose it’s insanity while also being very well written, there’s a lot of attention to detail with the filming as well. There’s some personal character moments that help evolve the characters from being just background characters to actual main characters who have much more to say, the only slight criticism is the bit of the third part sort of deflated, it doesn’t quite match with what the rest of the movie was saying and does draw out a tiny bit. But that’s not enough to stop Triangle Of Sadness to be such a really strong film that will definitely make you laugh.

Triangle Of Sadness is currently in theaters.

9/10 A

Wendell & Wild is a creative stop-motion film filled with fascinating topics.

The two devious demon brothers Wendell and Wild have to face their arch-enemy with the help of the nun Sister Helly, who is notorious for expelling demons. However, the brothers are not only plagued by her, but also by her altar boys.

Henry Selick (director of Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline and James and The Giant Peach) is back in the directors chair and it’s such a beautiful sight to see. Wendell & Wild is such a creative film that has a lot more to it than you would expect. The movie has a lot of commentary on capitalism and the prison system and it establishes that quite quickly, a private prison company known as Klaxton Korp has taken over a town and the viewer can tell how damaged and lost the town is due to the clever use of color. Speaking of which the animation is truly beautiful, it’s great to see stop-motion animation still kicking as it’s a genre of animation that is truly creative in every single way possible. There’s so much atmosphere and color to the film that it really makes the film it’s own character, speaking of which the characters are truly well written. Wendell and Wild are truly fun characters with a huge amount of depth to them as well being humorous, Wendell is played by Keegan-Michael Key and Wild is played by Jordan Peele. The film is just another reminder of how well the two work together, their comedic timing is truly unstoppable and when the two want to display serious moments they will definitely display some very strong ones. The protagonist Kat played by Lyric Ross is truly fantastic, the depth to her character goes a very long way. Including some flashbacks and her strong desire of wanting to see her parents again, the cherry on top is the Raúl Cocolotl a character who is trans played by Sam Zelaya. Raul is such a very well written character that adds to the overall film especially the bond between Raul and Kat which develops over time. Wendell & Wild is truly a bold film that really hits it out of the park with it’s themes, characters, character development and atmosphere. This is a film that will definitely go on to be a classic during Halloween time for years to come.

Wendell & Wild is available on Netflix.

9/10 A

Dear Zoe a below average coming of story about grief.

Tess is a young woman who’s grappling with the shattering death of her younger sister, Zoe. As the rest of her family grieves in their own ways, Tess seeks support from her biological father and a juvenile delinquent who lives in the neighborhood.

Dear Zoe is an unfortunate case of having great idea but not doing nearly enough with them, Sadie Sink gives a fantastic performance that really shows why she’s one of the most interesting new actresses, Theo Rossi isn’t too bad either he gives a decent performance that does bring heart into the movie. The father and daughter bond that Nick (Theo Rossi) and Tess (Sadie Sink) have really works and actually leads to some emotional moments. What holds the movie back is it not elaborating on it’s themes, the main theme is grief and trauma having to move on from an accident. Which in this case is Tess trying to cope with losing her little sister Zoe (Mackenzie Noel Rusiewicz) who was hit by a car on 9/11. The movie is also a coming of age story unfortunately not a very special one, the movie is very surface level when it comes to grief, it shows flashbacks and eventually what led up to Zoe’s death but that’s really about it. It’s very bare bones storytelling that has a script that really doesn’t add anything to the conversation, there’s plenty of films out there about healing that go in far more depth than this one. Sink and Rossi are able to nail down the many emotions the movie has, but unfortunately when it comes to everyone else there is so much lacking. We aren’t given a whole lot about Jimmy (Kweku Collins) other than his mother died, the movie clearly wants to connect Jimmy and Tess together but the chemistry is just not there. Collins really tries his hardest with the script he’s given but unfortunately he’s restricted to being a love interest which leads to a lot of young adult romance cliches. Overall Dear Zoe is disappointing, there was a lot of potential here to tell such an emotional and powerful story, but the lack of depth of the themes and characters really hold this back from being anything other than a below average coming of age story.

Dear Zoe is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Enola Holmes 2 is a slightly better than the first movie.

Enola Holmes takes on her first case as a detective, but to unravel the mystery of a missing girl, she’ll need some help from friends — and brother Sherlock.

I really don’t have a whole lot to say here..Enola Holmes 2 is a sequel to Enola Holmes which came out in 2020, a movie that I found to be pretty okay for what it is, Enola Holmes 2 is definitely an upgrade from it’s predecessor although not that much has changed. There’s still the incredibly charming performances from Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill that completely steal the show throughout the film, where as the first movie felt more of a background movie this one offers more depth to the characters. We actually get some character moments that do add certain character arcs, the fourth wall breaking does get to be a bit much after awhile as it does tend to repeat the same sort of jokes that other movies have. The running time combined with the pacing in some areas also tend to drag a bit, but there’s a lot of genuinely charming bits here that make up for it!

Enola Holmes 2 is available on Netflix.

7/10 B