SXSW Review: Stay The Night

A failed work opportunity prompts chronically single Grace to pursue a one night stand with a stranger. Turns out he’s an on-the-outs professional athlete in town with a problem of his own. Maybe they can help each other?

Stay The Night is a very serviceable romance movie that doesn’t break any new ground, but has some strong character moments that are just enough to make this sort of interesting. I do like the whole idea of a film just being a conversation between two people and walking around a city, there’s a lot of compelling moments that really add to the story and the filming is actually not too bad either. Unfortunately what holds this movie back from being anything more is the acting, Andrea Bang and Joe Scarpellino are definitely trying their best but the script is just not letting it happen. It’s a simple enough premise that you would think would be very easy to nail down, but instead the third act tries to do way too much with the characters. The movie also leaves you wondering what we’re they trying to go for, I wouldn’t say Stay The Night is a bad movie as it is so close from being a decent time. But it’s just not memorable.

Stay The Night currently has no release date.

5/10 C

SXSW Review: Deadstream (2022)

After a public controversy left him disgraced and demonetized, a washed up internet personality tries to win back his followers by livestreaming himself spending one night alone in a haunted house. When he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit, his comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life (and social relevance) as he faces off with the sinister spirit of the house and her own powerful following.

Very solid start to the SXSW film festival, Deadstream is one of those screen-life films examples are Searching, Unfriended movies, The Den, Spree, CAM and several others. It’s one of my favorite subgenres so I was very excited to check this one, Deadstream is a satire on popular Youtubers and streamers from the piss poor apology videos to the way they act it’s all there but mixed with Evil Dead elements. The first act of the movie is rather rough with some writing that isn’t funny and tries a little too hard with the satire. However by the time the second act rolls around the movie becomes incredibly enjoyable, there’s a ton of gore that is actually very well done. The atmosphere is very effective and the setting (a haunted house) compliments it very well, the jumpscares are actually very effective here. It’s refreshing to see a film that doesn’t use cheap jumpscares every five seconds and instead uses them when it’s most appropriate. Joseph Winter I thought did a decent job with his performance mostly because it seemed like he was having the time of his life, the writing does have it’s issues at times particularly when it tries to use humor. There are moments where the movie is genuinely funny but it’s a lot more successful when it builds a creepy atmosphere and scares the viewer. Overall Deadstream is a very solid movie that is perfect for a midnight viewing, definitely check this one out once it releases!

Deadstream currently has no release date!

7/10 B

SXSW Review: Spaz (2022)

Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams is a little-known pioneer in computer animation. This intimate account examines his life story and events surrounding the historical moment when his digital dinosaurs walked onto the silver screen in JURASSIC PARK. Steve and a chorus of expert witnesses recount a dramatic tale of rebellion and revolution at Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic in the early 1990s–a time when creating realistic creatures with a computer was considered impossible. As the industry changes at breakneck speed, Steve’s longing for acknowledgement triggers a humble reckoning with his chaotic past.

Spaz is a very straightforward documentary about the pioneer of computer effects Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams, this is the man who gave us iconic moments from Jurassic World, Star Wars, Terminator 2 and many others. It’s very refreshing to see computer effects artists get praised for their work as it often does feel like they are put on the sidelines, there’s a lot of great archival footage and interviews in the documentary that really show how beautifully made Williams’s work was and still is. Plus Williams is a great speaker he’s the type of person where you could just listen to him talk to you forever and not get tired of it. The documentary does struggle when it comes to the last half, as it does struggle to to keep both conversations of Williams success and his career’s fall balanced. There’s a lot of one conversation talking over the other, however that doesn’t stop it from being a very interesting piece about someone who gave us some of the most iconic moments in film history.

Spaz currently has no release date.

7/10 B

SXSW Review: Spin Me Round (2022)

A woman wins an all-expenses trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined.

Spin Me Round was one of my most anticipated of the festival and sadly it’s one of the weakest I watched, Jeff Baena is a director who’s films have always been a mixed bag for me Life After Beth, Horse Girl both had great concepts but needed far stronger writing while Little Hours was actually pretty decent but not a movie I look back at often. Spin Me Round has great performances from Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza who both easily steal the show in this huge mess, the comedic moments with the two of them are pretty decent. There’s some jokes that did get a few laughs out of me, the main issues come in when you look at everything else. The rest of the cast is really nothing special at all, the writing is very tonally confused it truest to be a comedy then a drama and then a thriller. Which is the straw that breaks this movie the last 20 minutes try to go for something completely bonkers, which I’m all for filmmakers to go wild and make their films as unhinged as possible but there has to be some sort of build up. Which unfortunately there wasn’t any in this case, plus it just didn’t fit the movie at all, had the movie focused on build up rather than just throwing it in for the sake of wanting to be bonkers it might have worked. Overall Spin Me Round is terrible and a huge waste of potential that had all the right Ingredients the chef just wasn’t in the kitchen for this one.

Spin Me Round currently has no release date!

3/10 D-

SXSW Review: Jethica (2022)

When Jessica’s stalker surprises her in New Mexico, she must seek help from beyond the grave to get rid of him for good.

I really wish I liked Jethica a lot more than I did but for what the movie is it’s not bad. It’s a simple ghost story that has beautiful filming combined with it. What makes this movie is the atmosphere as there are a bunch of atmospheric moments that really capture the film well, the cast does a pretty solid job in their respective roles. What holds Jethica back from being far better is the pacing combined with the rather surface level execution, despite being a 70 minute film it feels much longer mostly due to it trying to be slow burn. Which is fine I love slow burn films especially slow burn horror films, however there is no reason for it to be one and when you combine it with a very interesting idea that is only explored a little bit but not fully realized it becomes a mixed bag. Jethica is definitely something I will have to rewatch once it releases maybe it will grow on me but for now it’s not a bad movie just one that could have been a lot better.

Jethica currently has no release date

6/10 C+

SXSW Review: The Prank (2022)

Ben and his slacker friend, Tanner play a prank on their high school physics professor. When she fails them on a test, they teach the demanding instructor a lesson by falsely accusing her of murder on social media.

The Prank is easily one of the weakest of the bunch I saw at SXSW, while there are some great performances from Rita Moreno and Ramona Young, decent comedic bits that did get a few laughs out of me and the last 15 minutes going completely off the rails. Everything else is way too predictable which is fine in some cases but the execution is just not exciting enough to gather much interest from the viewer. The side characters end up being some of the highlights rather than the main characters and the writing definitely needed to be a lot stronger. There’s a lot of jokes that completely fall flat as well, I appreciate the movie trying to go for a comedic thriller type of movie as we don’t get that very often, but the comedy definitely outweighs the thriller element. Having that said The Prank is not the worst but it’s just begging for a better script.

The Prank currently has no release date

4/10 D+

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+

The Exorcism Of God is a disastrous exorcism movie.

Peter Williams, an American priest working in Mexico, is considered a saint by many local parishioners. However, due to a botched exorcism, he carries a dark secret that’s eating him alive until he gets an opportunity to face his own demon one final time.

Sometimes there are movies that are so bad it’s almost unbelievable, that’s the case with The Exorcism Of God right off the bat this movie is no different from any other exorcism movie. Any cliche or plot line you can think of is in this movie only it’s done far far worse, the acting is atrocious a lot of it feels like the cast just walked up on set screamed their heads off for 1 hour and 38 minutes and walked off set. The movie also only relies on jumpscares, it’s fine to have jumpscares in your movie it’s completely another to heavily rely on them especially when they are completely unoriginal and lazy. The writing like the acting is atrocious and honestly takes itself way too seriously, I feel like if this movie didn’t take itself so seriously and went for a more campy type feel to it the movie would have been acceptable to some degree. But that’s not the case here instead it’s a very annoying movie that becomes a chore to sit through within the first 5 minutes. What else can be said here? As I said before It’s the exact same thing as any other exorcism movie except it’s far worse..

The Exorcism Of God is available on all VOD Platforms.

Disgrace To Cinema F

Sundown is a beautifully crafted film with a strong performance from Tim Roth!

Neil and Alice Bennett (Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg) are the core of a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico with younger members Colin and Alexa (Samuel Bottomley, Albertine Kotting McMillan) until a distant emergency cuts their trip short. When one relative disrupts the family’s tight-knit order, simmering tensions rise to the fore in this suspenseful jolt from writer/director Michel Franco.

Sundown has been on my watchlist since it released in January and I’m glad I finally sat down and watched it! I had my issues with Michel Franco’s previous film New Order but this was a massive improvement, Tim Roth does such a fantastic job here and gives one of my favorite performances so far this year. It’s a film that takes it’s sweet time to tell a story that’s quite powerful a story of a man grieving in his own way and what he plans to do for his final days, which in this case is spending time on the beach. His family however gets in the middle of it, it’s such a compelling film that has a lot of quite scenes where there’s little dialogue. It let’s the viewer absorb wants happening and how to feel, the cinematography is very well done during a lot of moments. There’s so much care and passion put into the film that leads to a ton of thought provoking and gorgeous moments! Definitely go into this one knowing as little as possible!

Sundown is available on all VOD Platforms.

8/10 B+