Quick Review: Tales From The Other Side (2022)

Three kids sought out to have the most legendary Halloween night ever. Their Trick-or-treat adventure brings them to the home of the local town legend “Scary Mary”. Legends say that she is a woman of pure evil, but one thing is for certain – She knows just the right spooky tales to give these three kids the scare of their life. Sharing six unique stories that will lead the children down a mysterious path to the unexpected.

I’ll be quick about this one, it’s another anthology horror film that has some decent ideas but ultimately doesn’t come together in the end. There’s definitely some fun to be had such as the last segment “Krampus vs Elf” and I found the story that overlaps with the other segments “Three Kids” charming enough with some decent atmosphere as well. But between the acting and writing from the other segments it really isn’t enough to save this movie, a lot of the segments feel more less the same thing or slightly worse versions from other anthology movies. Overall Tales From The Other Side isn’t horrendous it’s just another run of the mill bad anthology horror movie.

Tales From The Other Side is available on all VOD Platforms.

3/10 D-

Most Anticipated Films Of June 2022!

We are now at the halfway point of 2022 and so far it’s been a pretty strong year for film and June looks like it will continue to deliver hits! Before we get into the list here are some movies that I have already seen that I highly recommend checking out!

Sewer Gators – June 3rd (VOD Platforms) I did a review for this one a few days ago, sure it might not be a good movie but it’s such a hilariously bad movie that I can’t help include it.

Poser – June 3rd (Theaters)

Watcher – June 3rd (Theaters) and June 21st (VOD Platforms)

Pleasure – June 7th (VOD Platforms)

Cha Cha Real Smooth – June 17th (Apple TV+)

Slash/Back – June 24th (VOD Platforms)

Now here’s the list!

13. Unhuman – June 3rd (VOD Platforms)

12. Flux Gourmet – June 24th (VOD Platforms)

11. Dashcam – June 3rd (VOD Platforms)

10. Official Competition – June 17th (Theaters)

9. Good Luck to you, Leo Grande – June 17th (Hulu)

8. Lightyear – June 17th (Theaters)

7. Elvis – June 24th (Theaters)

6. Happening – June 21st (VOD)

5. Mad God – June 16th (Shudder)

4. The Black Phone – June 24th (Theaters)

3. Dinner In America – June 7th (VOD)

2. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On – June 24th (Theaters)

1. Crimes Of The Future – June 3rd (limited Theaters) and June 10th (Wide Theater release)

Father Stu is a forgettable biopic.

When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he’s meant to be a Catholic priest.

I can respect the true story that Father Stu is trying to tell, a story about Stuart Long a boxer turned catholic priest who suffered from inclusion body myositis. Having that said the story was not told well or wasn’t given any of the type of power and emotion it needed. Mark Wahlberg gives a very forgettable performance, he’s certainly not bad but he’s definitely not great either especially mixed with a script that feels like it’s trying to be much more than really is. A lot of scenes are very overwritten to the point where it becomes baffling, there’s even some other scenes that should be simple enough but for whatever reason the movie over complicates itself. The first act is at least somewhat okay and actually tries to tell the true story, but what’s missing is a lot of spirit and heart. Father Stu ends up being a bad biopic that doesn’t do anything new to a genre that’s been released constantly over last several months at a much faster rate. The 2 hour and 3 minute running time does not help at all either, there’s so many scenes that could have easily been cut and not much would have changed. Overall Father Stu is a terrible biopic that was definitely put into the wrong hands, I recommend reading the true story rather than sitting through a huge missed opportunity.

Father Stu releases tomorrow on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

Sewer Gators is a new “it’s so bad it’s hilarious” classic.

When killer alligators unleash chaos on a from the sewers of a small Louisiana town, it’s up to a local sheriff, an alligator expert, and an old gator hunter to kill the beasts.

I often try to find films where they are so unbelievably bad that they are a genuinely good time and hilarious. Luckily Sewer Gators is one of those movies, I was expecting another terrible killer alligator movie that I forget about almost immediately after watching. The first scene opens with a stereotypical trailer trash couple arguing, the husband goes to the bathroom what proceeds is a bunch of fart noises and an alligator that bites the guy’s genitals off. What makes this even better is it’s hard to tell if the movie is a parody or if it’s own thing, there are some elements from Jaws such as the corrupt mayor who completely ignores the attacks and wants to proceed with the alligator festival. So I’m definitely leaning towards it being a parody of Jaws, the acting and writing is about what you expect both are completely awful with every sense of the word but they lead to some hysterical moments. The reactions from the characters are priceless, the music is surprisingly catchy particularly the main theme! Sewer Gator’s is something that should truly be seen to be believed, it’s the perfect movie to watch with friends while having drinks. It fails on every single level filmmaking wise but it has so much charm and has that B movie spirit.

Sewer Gators is releases on Friday on all VOD Platforms.

1/10 F

Zero Contact the first NFT movie and hopefully the only NFT movie completely fails.

Finley Hart is the eccentric genius behind a global data-mining program. Upon his death, five remote agents — including his son — are contacted by a mysterious AI entity to reactivate the initiative, which may enable time travel. As sinister events occur at each of the agents’ homes, they must decide whether entering their passwords will save the world or destroy it.

What’s hilarious about the timing of the release of Zero Contact is that even though it’s the first NFT movie, the whole NFT craze is dying pretty quickly. The movie itself is some of the most poorly put together scenes I’ve seen so far this year, not even Anthony Hopkins is enough to save this movie. In fact I’m not convinced Hopkins was aware what was going on and someone just randomly started filming scenes while he was present because that about describes 90% of the movie. The writing is completely nonsensical, the acting is horrendous and the direction is completely soulless, this is also yet another movie that takes place on Zoom. Which that in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing but very few movies actually get the premise right and well this isn’t one of them. If there’s one good thing about this it’s that this will hopefully be the only NFT movie as the craze is dying rapidly.

Zero Contact is available on all VOD platforms.

Disgrace To Cinema F

Top Gun: Maverick soars and delivers a one of a kind experience!

After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. Training a detachment of graduates for a special assignment, Maverick must confront the ghosts of his past and his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who choose to fly it.

Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun, a film that I’m not a fan of, it’s a fine enough action movie that does it’s job. Top Gun Maverick on the other hand is truly something special, the quality difference of Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick is the biggest I’ve ever seen from a sequel in a very long time and in a good way. Top Gun Maverick takes everything from the original and improves it from the filming, action scenes, characters, writing and so on it completely transforms itself into something massive. The performances from the cast are brilliant particularly Tom Cruise who once again shows how dedicated he is to his craft, Jennifer Connelly who’s performance is genuinely touching and leads to a ton of sweet moments and Miles Teller who gives possibly his best performance of his career. The action scenes are wonderfully done and is everything an action film should strive for, not only are the action scenes well filmed but they have so much atmosphere in them a very thrilling one that makes the viewer grab the edge of their seat. The score is brilliant it’s very diverse in tone and really brings the viewer into the film, there isn’t a scene where the music feels like it’s taking over or doesn’t fit, all of it is perfectly aligned and compliments the scenes in question really well. The world of the film is just massive yet there’s a few tricks that the film uses to make it more close to the viewer, we never actually see the villains of the movie faces which in a way makes the film even more suspenseful and in a way brings a more raw type feel as well. Top Gun Maverick also has a ton of beautifully written moments that balance well with the action scenes, romance scenes and the dramatic scenes, plus there’s the rare comedic moments that are genuinely funny as well. It all blends together into one truly masterfully crafted film. Top Gun Maverick is a film I absolutely recommend seeing as soon as you can, it’s an experience that’s truly massive and knocks it out of the park in every single way possible.

Top Gun: Maverick releases tomorrow in theaters!

10/10 A+

Men is a haunting film with bizarre elements.

In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to find a place to heal. However, someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread soon becomes a fully formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears.

If there’s one film that I still don’t know how I feel about Men is definitely that film, Men is directed by Alex Garland which is his third film. The previous two being Ex Machina and Annihilation both of which are fantastic with the former being one of my favorite films, Garland attempts to do something different here which I do appreciate. First off the performances are quite phenomenal, Jesse Buckley as always is fantastic and gives a very raw performance with a few scenes in particular that really stand out that show how truly talented she really is. Rory Kinnear also does quite fantastic here and gives one of the creepiest performances I’ve seen in awhile, like Buckley there’s certain scenes that display his talent and the strength of his performance. The film is very well shot, showing the countryside of the United Kingdom with beautiful detail, it captures the atmosphere the film is going for very well. The last thirty minutes admittedly are going to be a situation where you are either going to absolutely love it or feel that it comes out of complete nowhere. I personally really loved the last 30 minutes mainly due to how bonkers it was plus the body horror element of it was really well done. The major problem with Men is the way it tackles misogyny and really doesn’t add anything to the conversation, there’s one scene in particular I thought did a excellent job of stepping into the topic. But unfortunately the rest doesn’t really follow suit, you could definitely make the argument that THE WAY the movie talks about misogyny is a bit different. On the top of my head I can’t think of too many slow burn horror films that have tried to talk about misogyny, but Men would have been a lot stronger had it dived deeper in the topic. Outside of that however the film itself is incredibly solid and very strange, Men is most definitely the type of film where you are going to walk out loving it or absolutely hating it. It might be Alex Garland’s weakest film but it’s certainly nowhere near bad, it just could have been expanded upon more to be even better.

Men is currently in theaters!

8/10 B+

The Bob’s Burgers Movie cooks up an entertaining ride!!

A ruptured water main creates an enormous sinkhole right in front of Bob’s Burgers, blocking the entrance indefinitely and ruining the Belchers’ plans for a successful summer. While Bob and Linda struggle to keep the business afloat, the kids try to solve a mystery that could save their family’s restaurant. As the dangers mount, these underdogs help each other find hope as they try to get back behind the counter.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie is based on the animated tv series of the same name, I’ll start out by saying Bob’s Burgers is the only animated adult tv show that is currently still airing that I actually care for. There’s already been big discussions of why a lot of the shows in the genre have dropped massively in quality such as The Simpsons and Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers however has managed to stay consistent and actually be really strong. Granted I haven’t seen every single episode of Bob’s Burgers but I have seen enough to say that I quite like the series, so I was pretty excited to hear that a movie was being released. Luckily The Bob’s Burger Movie does not disappoint and is what you expect, the film has a lot of the same humor and style that both blend so well together. Not every single joke is a hit but the charm mainly comes from the characters who are truly well written, the musical segments are quite fantastic and are genuinely hilarious as well. One main fear I did have with the movie going in was I was worried it was going to feel like an extended tv episode, and while sometimes it does feel like that mainly due to the many plots. For the most part it feels very cinematic mainly due to the animation having a more clean look to it and the energy of the film being very energized, the voice acting like the show is really strong one of the key aspects that make Bob’s Burgers so great is how well the cast blends together and that is displayed here quite well! Overall there might not be much to The Bob’s Burgers movie however it’s still a very entertaining ride from beginning to end, fans will most definitely love this one and the film is pretty accessible to people who haven’t seen the show!

The Bob’s Burgers Movie releases in theaters on Friday!

8/10 B+

The Valet is a sweet rom-com that tackles the theme of fame!

Movie star Olivia faces a PR disaster when a paparazzi snaps a photo of her with her married lover, Vincent. The hard-working valet Antonio accidentally appears in the same photo and is enlisted to pose as Olivia’s new boyfriend as a cover up.

The Valet is a remake of the 2006 film The Valet or La Doublure, I went into this one with very low expectations as it did come off as a romantic comedy that was a few steps above the average romantic comedy. Luckily this one was a surprise there’s a lot to like here, Eugenio Derbez and Samara Weaving are both fantastic here. Their chemistry works surprisingly well and the performances themselves are just very well acted, what’s a bit interesting about this one is that it does tackle some themes such as fame feeing empty at times and does become tiring, plus the movie points out the ridiculousness of celebrity importance. Which Derbez and Weaving make work with the script they are given and that leads to some genuinely touching moments as well as some hilarious ones. There might be too many side characters that could have gotten more development and the 2 hour and 3 minute running time does feel a bit much after awhile, however that doesn’t stop the movie from being a really solid romantic comedy!

The Valet is available on Hulu

7/10 B

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a decent Who Framed Roger Rabbit clone.

Chip and Dale live amongst cartoons and humans in modern-day Los Angeles, but their lives are quite different now. When a former cast mate mysteriously disappears, Chip and Dale must repair their broken friendship and save their friend.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is surprisingly not too bad, what could have been an unfunny IP and cameo fest turns out to be a movie that has some pretty decent jokes and solid voice work. John Mulaney and Andy Samberg work very well together and truly hit it out of the park with some of the delivery from the jokes, J.K. Simmons is also pretty entertaining as well. The cameos are luckily very limited and the movie itself doesn’t spend too much time on them, plus they don’t over stay their welcome. What does stop this movie from being anything really strong however is mostly the villain Sweet Pete and third act, if you are aware of Bobby Driscoll’s story (actor who voiced Peter Pan in the original) Sweet Pete’s backstory has some very noticeable similarities, which lead to a controversy. While it may seem not a huge deal at first the more you read into Driscoll’s story and how he was treated the more uncomfortable this decision really becomes. Even if you took away this controversy Sweet Pete as a character still falls flat, he’s a very run of the mill villain to the point where his henchmen are actually more interesting. Then there’s the third act which while it’s not exactly bad it’s just not anything noteworthy and does feel like the movie ran out of steam. Overall Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a decent movie that definitely could have been a lot better had their been some better decisions and a stronger third act.

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is available on Disney+

6/10 C+