Belfast is a solid feel good movie that misses big marks.

A semi-autobiographical film which chronicles the life of a working class family and their young son’s childhood during the tumult of the late 1960s in the Northern Ireland capital.

Belfast is a very charming movie that unfortunately didn’t fully work for me, I’ll start with what absolutely worked and work our way down. For starters a lot of the performances were quite great Caitroina Balfe is quite great and gives a very emotional and raw performance, Ciarán Hinds (who was personally my favorite) did an incredible job of really capturing a portrait of a wise and hilarious grandfather who also gives great advice. Every single time he was on screen he stole the show and made the scene in question ten times more powerful, Judi Dench also did quite a great job as well. Jamie Dornan gave a decent performance but it really wasn’t anything truly incredible as he was honestly not given a whole lot to do, he showed up in a number of scenes and that was really about it. On a technical level Belfast succeeds really well, the filming and editing are both truly beautiful that captures the setting in such a mesmerizing way. Unfortunately what did not work was some of Kenneth Branagh’s direction he wants to make this a feel good movie which it does that pretty well, but then you remember when it’s taking place during a turmoil in the 1960s that left several people dead. I get the film is about a certain family but I do wish they talked a little bit more about what was going on. Sure they had the news stations talking about updates and there was the beginning (which I do think is one of the best scenes of the film). Finally there’s the ending which has a nice message but it’s not nearly enough, I’m not saying you can’t make a feel good movie during a time of war or disturbing events. But you have to make sure it doesn’t overfill which is unfortunately what happened here. Outside of that Belfast is a solid feel good movie that unfortunately did not do much for me, I do recommend checking it out as some people absolutely love this movie.

Belfast available in theaters and on all VOD Platforms!

7/10 B

Mixtape is surprisingly heartwarming coming of age movie!

In 1999, 12-year-old Beverly discovers a broken mixtape made by her late parents. She sets out to find the songs — and learn more about her mom and dad.

Mixtape is a very solid coming of age story that while does feel familiar actually hits you hard towards the end of the film with heart warming messages. The acting is overall pretty strong, Gemma Brooke Allen does a really solid job in the leading role and is definitely one of the better child performances I’ve seen this year. What makes this movie is the music and the movie’s theme of tying the music to the story in a way that isn’t particularly new yet still charming, “The Wrong Song” in particular really hits you hard and really does a good job of fitting into the movie and the scene it appears. The main flaw with Mixtape is the writing, while most of the movie is written decently with some very effective moments there are a number of scenes with jokes that feel very out of place and don’t work very well. Mixtape does fall into a very standard coming of age film path, but the movie makes up for it with it’s charm and characters are surprisingly quite great! Overall Mixtape is a flawed but very decent coming of age movie that’s worth a watch!

Mixtape is available on Netflix!

7/10 B

Shaun The Sleep: The Flight Before Christmas is a short and sweet Christmas special! Diary Of A Wimpy Kid animated is forgettable.

Shaun’s seasonal excitement turns to dismay when a farmhouse raid to get bigger stockings for the Flock inadvertently leads to Timmy going missing.

Just a few short thoughts mainly because it is essentially Shaun The Sheep but a Christmas special. Everything what makes Shaun The Sheep in general so great is here, the characters, the humor, the fast pacing and so on. It’s a 30 minute special that does a wonderful job of getting it’s message across in a very Shaun The Sheep type of way. I do feel the last 10 or so minutes are on the weaker side as it does fall in familiar territory. However that isn’t enough to stop this special from being incredibly solid and a very fun time! If you are a Shaun The Sheep fan you will definitely love this one!

Shaun The Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas is available on Netflix!

8/10 B+

Greg Heffley dreams of becoming famous while surviving middle school with his best friend, Rowley.

I’m not going to pretend that Diary Of A Wimpy Kid is this legendary source material, but having that said for a movie that felt like it was trying to follow the book more closely it really doesn’t work nearly as well as the live action movie that came out in 2010. I thought the first three live action movies were overall really fun movies that know what they are trying to be and do that very well. We don’t ever discuss the Long Haul so let’s just move right along to this movie, I was under the impression that this animated movie was going to be longer than 58 minutes. So it really took me by surprise however that isn’t the major problem, the major problem is that it’s the exact same movie as the one in 2010 but animated and with different actors. While that isn’t a necessarily a bad thing because what else are you supposed to do? What hurts this new one is the lack of charm. The 2010 one had a lot of charm and was genuinely funny mostly due to how well the cast worked plus it’s very memorable. You just don’t get that here, sure the animation is nice at times and did a decent enough job with getting the main events from the book in. But none of it feels really charming or fun at all, it feels very manufactured and lifeless which completely goes against what the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books are about. Which is a shame because I do think an animated Diary Of A Wimpy Kid movie could have worked they just really did not try all that much with this movie. I hear they are coming out with a sequel (Rodrick Rules) so I do hope they learn their lesson and try to make it more charming and more memorable. Overall this version of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid really does not have much to it, you are better off watching the 2010 version. I’m sure kids will absolutely eat this movie up but for everyone else I don’t recommend.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid is available on Disney+

3/10 D-

Most Anticipated Films Of December 2021!

Well we are here! The final month of 2021, what a year it has been! We have seen fantastic films that I’m excited to talk about when I do my top 100 best films of the year and we have seen terrible movies that I’ll be talking about with my top 100 worst films of the year. But before all that let’s talk December 2021! It’s a month that is filled with very interesting releases that I’m quite excited to see, since the format I did last time was successful and a lot of people loved it I will be sticking with that. Name the movie and release date then move on to the next movie. There’s only so many times I can say “I’m super excited for this movie” or “I saw the trailer and I’m hyped” until it becomes redundant. So here’s the list folks!

20. Mother/Android – December 17th (Hulu)

19. Silent Night – December 3rd (VOD)

18. Swan Song – December 17th (Apple TV+)

17. Shaun The Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas – December 3rd (Netflix)

16. Being The Ricardos – December 10th (Theater) and December 21st (Amazon Prime Video)

15. The Unforgivable – December 10th (Netflix)

14. Spider-Man No Way Home – December 17th (Theater)

13. Bendetta – December 3rd (Theater) and December 21st (VOD)

12. Flee – December 3rd (Theaters)

11. The Hand Of God – December 3rd (Theater) and December 15th (Netflix)

10. The Novice – December 17th (VOD)

9. Red Rocket – December 10th (Theaters)

8. Matrix Resurrections – December 22nd (Theaters and HBO Max)

7. The Lost Daughter – December 17th (Theater) and December 31st (Netflix)

6. Don’t Look Up – December 10th (Theater) and December 24th (Netflix)

5. Memoria – December 26th (Theaters)

4. The Tragedy Of MacBeth – December 25th (Theater) and January 14th (Apple TV+)

3. The Power Of The Dog – December 1st (Netflix)

2. Nightmare Alley – December 17th (Theaters)

1. Licorice Pizza – December 25th (Theaters)

And there you have it! I will be making a list of films I need to watch and review before I finalize my best and worst list very soon! Some 2021 films are going to be releasing in 2022 as usual so it will be a wait. But I promise you the lists will be worth it as I’m going to make things more interesting!

Tick Tick Boom is an emotional and inspiring film!

Based on the autobiographical musical by playwright Jonathan Larson. It’s the story of an aspiring composer in New York City who is worried he made the wrong career choice, whilst navigating the pressures of love and friendship.

Fun fact Jonathan Larson the man that Andrew Garfield went to the same college I did and graduated with the same degree as well (Adelphi University with a BFA)

2021 has been year filled with musicals, some of which have really stood out and remain as some of the best films of the year. While others have completely failed and have either been forgotten or end up being some of the worst of the year. Tick Tick Boom is truly one of or arguably the best musical I’ve seen this year. Andrew Garfield gives easily one of the best performances of the year, in fact this role is most definitely going to be a highlight of his career he truly captures the broadway aesthetic type of performance that makes you feel like you are there watching a broadway show. In fact the whole film itself feels like the closest to a Broadway show, from the sets, to everyone’s acting and facial expressions it really does hit the Broadway feel out of the park. Alexandra Shipp and Robin de Jesús both do a fantastic job as well, the singing voices are all beautiful and truly make this film standout. The film itself is a huge gut punch as well especially towards the end because it is indeed a sad but very inspiring story that really hits your emotions at all times. It’s a film that truly gets to you and inspires you, in some ways I can relate to this film being worried I made the wrong choice and navigating through tough pressures. Overall Tick Tick Boom is one of the best films of the year and is something that I highly recommend watching especially if your a fan of Broadway!

Tick Tick Boom is available on Netflix!

10/10 A+

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is massive improvement over it’s predecessor!

Eddie Brock is still struggling to coexist with the shape-shifting extraterrestrial Venom. When deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady also becomes host to an alien symbiote, Brock and Venom must put aside their differences to stop his reign of terror.

I’ve said in the past how much I don’t like Venom (2018) it felt like it was trying to take itself way too seriously a lot of the time plus it felt like one of those awful early 2000s super hero movies that were coming out of nowhere. The trailer for Venom Let There Be Carnage gave me hope that this would be a massive improvement over the first movie and luckily that was the case. First off this one knows exactly what it wants to be, it owns that it’s a comedy movie and almost never takes itself seriously and even when it does those moments aren’t bad at all. The director this time around is Andy Serkis who did quite solid job, there’s some actual character moments here that sure might not be anything spectacular but do feel like there is a little more to this one. Woody Harrelson as Carnage was really strong, It’s clear Harrelson is having a blast on set and it really shows in his performance. I do wish they could have went a little deeper with Carnage as a character but for what they went over and showed it was much better than expected. Tom Hardy as Venom this time around I thought was a lot better, Hardy actually sounds like he’s having a blast unlike in the last movie. The action scenes were actually not too bad, they aren’t anything to write home about but they are massively entertaining. Especially the scenes towards the end which are a great way to close the movie! Finally there’s the end credit scene which I won’t spoil that yes is pretty neat! Overall while there really isn’t that much to Venom Let There Be Carnage it is a huge improvement over the first movie that actually wants me to see a third movie!

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is available on all VOD Platforms!

7/10 B

The Card Counter is a meditative and hypnotic beautiful film!

William Tell is a gambler and former serviceman who sets out to reform a young man seeking revenge on a mutual enemy from their past. Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk.

The Card Counter is definitely one of the more underrated films of 2021, it’s a movie I rarely ever see get brought up outside of a few people. Which is a shame because it’s really quite great, for starters the film does a magnificent job of building it’s characters. The pacing compliments that really well to give the viewer some very grounded characters that pull you in, Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish in particular do a fantastic job. Both of which have really strong chemistry between one and another and absolutely steal the show when they are on screen together. The film is very meditative as well as being hypnotic which is to be expected from a film by Paul Schrader, The Card Counter is a dreamlike film that feels very real. From the actions of the characters to how they feel it’s a very nice combination of dreamlike and rawness, the writing is also incredibly strong with a handful of powerhouse moments to really set the tone for the rest of the film! Overall The Card Counter is a fantastic film that If you haven’t already definitely check this one out!

The Card Counter is available on all VOD Platforms!

8/10 B+

Bruised is unfortunately not a knockout.

Jackie Justice, a disgraced MMA fighter who has failed at the one thing she’s ever been good at – fighting. When 6-year-old Manny, the son she walked out on years ago, returns to her doorstep, Jackie has to conquer her own demons.

Bruised is a film that I really wanted to like badly, because there is a lot to like about Bruised. Such as the action scenes especially the fight during the climax, they are captured in such a raw and powerful style where it actually feels like you are there in person watching the fight. Halle Berry also gives a fantastic performance, her performance is filled to the brim with emotions and strength which makes the performance all the more interesting and investing. The problems however stick out like a sore thumb, the film is unfortunately very formulaic if you have seen other wrestling films like Southpaw in the past you will have a pretty good idea of what’s going to end up happening in Bruised. I do want to say being formulaic isn’t always a terrible thing, it’s just a matter of doing something interesting and making sure the positives outweigh the negatives. Bruised however is not so lucky as there’s also the running time which feels much too long. There’s a lot that could have been cut or shortened to give the movie more of a focus, the writing is very stuffed it feels like the writers wanted to go with something meaningful at times and at other times it feels like they wanted to do something traditional with not much substance. The strongest moments are definitely during the last portion of the movie as it does have some admittedly powerful scenes that wrap up the movie nicely. Overall Bruised is very surface level, it has a great performance from Halle Berry but that isn’t enough to save Bruised from being very forgettable and disappointing.

Bruised is available on Netflix!

4/10 D+

The Strings is a beautifully haunting experience!

In the dead of winter, a musician travels to a remote cottage to work on new material, but soon finds herself under attack from a mysterious dark presence.

The Strings will most definitely not be for everyone, as it is the very definition of a slow burn. With that said The Strings is one of the most hauntingly beautiful films of the year, Tegan Johnston gives a haunting but at the same time gorgeous performance. Johnston is a star in the making, there isn’t a whole lot of dialogue however it’s replaced for cold cinematography and Johnston’s acting which does a fantastic job of telling the viewer how she feels and what they she is thinking. The music is beautifully done it captures the atmosphere that the film is going for, which is something I haven’t seen in too many movies as of late and that is the sense of loneliness. The film takes place in a remote cottage during the winter while it’s snowing, which is the perfect opportunity to use such a haunting atmosphere that really brings you into the film. Tegan Johnston also has a beautiful singing voice, her voice also captures the sense of loneliness type feel to it as well. Overall The Strings is one of the best films of the year that I can’t recommend enough!!

The Strings is available on Shudder!

9/10 A

8-Bit Christmas is a familiar yet charming Christmas Family Movie, Black Friday is a missed opportunity.

In 1980s Chicago, a ten-year-old sets out on a quest to get the Christmas gift of his generation – the latest and greatest video game system.

8-Bit Christmas definitely surprised me, although there really isn’t a whole to discuss here since the movie pretty much is A Christmas Story but with Nintendo. The movie still manages to be a whole lot of fun and actually hits pretty hard at the end as well, the performances are what you expect however Steve Zahn gives such a fun performance that it was worth bringing up (think of his performance in Diary Of A Wimpy Kid it’s pretty much the same here!) the movie also has some surprisingly decent jokes. Sure not all of them hit but there was definitely effort to make this movie actually pretty funny, which I can’t say the same for a lot of Christmas family comedies. Then there’s the heart of the film which I genuinely thought was very touching, it doesn’t come off as very tacky or forced it actually feels genuine. Which is what separates it from a lot of the clutter, also the style of the film was surprisingly pretty decent. It doesn’t have that cheap feeling a lot of these Christmas family comedies have, overall 8-Bit Christmas is familiar but still a very fun time to watch!

8-Bit Christmas is available on HBO Max!

A group of toy store employees must protect each other from a horde of parasite infected shoppers.

Black Friday desperately wants to be Krampus (2015) but fails to recognize what made Krampus actually pretty solid. For starters while the movie has a very fun premise it’s executed in such a lazy way that it’s almost surprising. Bruce Campbell and Michael Jai White are the best parts about this movie and easily give some good laughs, what mostly hurts this movie is the terrible writing, the characters feeling almost identical to each other and the humor almost never working. The humor has it’s moments towards the beginning but quickly wears off as it goes on, it’s another one of those horror comedies that tries to do way too much at a time. The characters really don’t bring anything interesting to the table as most of them are cliched characters with little to no personality, with that said there are fun moments to be had with Black Friday but it’s an overall a misfire that really shouldn’t had been.

Black Friday is available on all VOD Platforms!

3/10 D-