The true story of a small town, working class father who embarks on a solo walk across the U.S. to crusade against bullying after his son is tormented in high school for being gay.
Joe Bell is a movie where at first glance it seems like it’s trying to be meaningful and heartwarming but when you actually sit down and take a closer look at it that’s just not true at all. The only thing I can give this movie is Mark Wahlberg gives a fine enough performance and trust me when I say that isn’t enough to save this movie, my biggest issue with this movie is that it really tries to hammer in this idea that “at least I’m not AS homophobic as those guys” look I’m all for redemption stories, people can change it’s part of the human nature. However this feels like a very ignorant and a tasteless way of doing that. It doesn’t help that the writing is terrible and is a complete and total mess, the LGBT character is sidelined in favor of the father who’s homophobic. It feels like another inspiration porn but this case this movie was made for some straight people to pat themselves on the back. What makes this even more tasteless and honestly very uncomfortable is that this is based on an actual suicide, so not only is the movie just bad in general due to poor direction that has nothing to it at all. It completely fails at treating the true story with care, as for the rest of the movie it’s honestly shocking of how cheaply made despite a $33 million dollar budget (according to Deadline) I’ve seen films with a much lower budget that don’t feel anywhere near as cheaply made as this. As I said before the writing is a complete and total mess, it feels like nobody looked this over and just went with it. Overall Joe Bell is one of the worst movies of the year, it’s a complete mess, it’s tasteless and it just flat out fails on what it’s trying to do.
It’s the summer before Elle Evans is set to head off to college, and she has a big decision to make.
Netflix stood there and said “you know what there isn’t enough pain in this world” and then proceeded to release The Kissing Booth 3.
Joking aside The Kissing Booth 3 is a disaster, the first movie while I thought was a very bad movie I’ve seen far far worse. The second movie is horrendous and was one of the worst movies of 2020 but get this….it gets worse. The Kissing Booth 3 is hands down the worst of the series mostly due to a number things, first off the acting seems like it’s gotten worse. Yes the acting in the second movie was terrible as well but in this one it feels like the type of acting you would see on the LifeTime channel or the Sy-Fy channel. It really sucks because Jacob Elordi is a talented actor (he’s fantastic in Euphoria) but he gets stuck in garbage movies like this that don’t give him anything to work with at all. The characters continue to be unlikable, they are almost the exact same from the last movie and continue to be that way to the end. The writing gets even worse I understand that this series was originally a Wattpad story but did anyone look at this and say “you know what maybe that could have used a rewrite”? And like the other movies this is another example of writers not knowing how teenagers talk or act, I know I hate using this word in my reviews but I feel like it’s 100% needed in this case…the writing is cringe. There isn’t one moment where I felt the writers knew what they were doing, not one moment where there was an attempt to tell an interesting story or write any character development. The pacing combined with the running time is one of the most painful parts about this movie, the second movie was 2 hours and 11 minutes (still to this day I’m trying to figure out exactly why) this movie is 1 your and 52 minutes which at first before watching I was thinking “maybe they learned their lesson and trimmed it down and the pacing will be far better!” That’s not the case here and far from it, I would argue that the pacing is even worse in The Kissing Booth 3, mostly due to nothing happening throughout this entire movie. You feel every single minute of those 1 hour and 52 minutes it’s painful, what can I really say about the plot? It’s what you expect and it ends how you expect it to, this is really the bottom of the barrel when it comes to teen movies, I apologize if my review is sort of a mess but there really is not much to be said about the plot or anything interesting about each of the acts. It’s a bunch of cliches mixed into one horrendous movie, the fact there’s three of these movies is truly incredible. The most positive I can say about it is at least it’s the last movie (until Netflix says “money!” and makes a fourth one) Joey King and Jacob Elordi are free of this series. Overall The Kissing Booth 3 is one of the worst movies of the year, poorly acted, poorly written, horribly paced and just an overall huge waste of time.
Following a tragic car accident in Greece, Beckett, an American tourist, finds himself at the center of a dangerous political conspiracy and on the run for his life.
Beckett is the type of movie where you feel like you get almost nothing out of it. John David Washington is really solid in the role and the writing has it’s moments where it lets the characters have some development, it’s just a shame there wasn’t enough of those moments. The movie itself is also very lifeless with very little personality and seems to follow in every other thriller’s footsteps, the filming is very mixed at times you will get some okay shots and then other times you will get shots that look actually quite uninteresting to look at. Directing wise it’s painfully okay, there really isn’t much style to it at all, I really don’t have much else to say here very forgettable.
A reclusive man conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born.
Nine Days is a film that has been on my mind ever since I saw it a few weeks ago, this was one of my most anticipated films of the year and I’m so glad to see that it didn’t disappoint. Nine Days is a very human film that tackles a lot of topics, but let’s start with the performances because they absolutely shine here. Winston Duke gives one of the best performances so far this year, he delivers so much into one role and makes you feel all sorts of emotions, his character is explored in great detail we slowly learn about him as the film goes on and about the world around him. Plus how he feels about the world in question, his performance gets even better during the final act of the film which is a very powerful scene that had me in tears. Other performances such as Benedict Wong and Zazie Beetz are also pretty fantastic as well, like Winston Duke both give very raw and quite powerful performances! The writing is what really adds so much to this film, as I said earlier it goes through many topics and it reaches to the point where it actually becomes relatable. There were moments where I found that Nine Days speaks to me on a personal level which made the experience all the more powerful to the point where I cried, feeling like you aren’t good or enough or you have those moments where you think you have nobody who supports you/likes you when in reality that’s not true is something that has happened to me quite a few times. And I feel this film does a pretty great job of explaining that situation, it’s a very depressing yet very thoughtful film that really gets to you. The cinematography combined with the score is absolutely beautiful as well, both compliment each other really well and turn this film into a one of a kind experience. It’s quite honestly some of the most beautiful filmmaking I’ve ever seen and that’s really saying something, it adds so much detail to the setting and makes it standout. Overall Nine Days is a film I highly recommend, I also do recommend going into this film knowing little as possible to make the experience even greater. Trust me you won’t be disappointed just bring tissues.
King Arthur’s headstrong nephew embarks on a daring quest to confront the Green Knight, a mysterious giant who appears at Camelot. Risking his head, he sets off on an epic adventure to prove himself before his family and court.
It took me awhile to review The Green Knight mainly due to how much I had to think about the film and I mean that in the best way possible. David Lowery is at his best when he does independent films or art house films take A Ghost Story (2017) for example (which was one of my favorite films of the 2010s) so when I heard that he was directing The Green Knight I got really excited and I’m seriously glad this didn’t disappoint! It should be noted that if you are going into this film expecting a Lord Of The Rings type adventure with a bunch of action scenes you are going to be very disappointed. Because that’s just simply not what the film is, first let’s get the obvious out of the way the cinematography is absolutely beautiful. It’s some of the absolute best so far this year, it completely takes you into the film’s world and presents itself like you are actually there. The color palette really matches the tone of the film with each scene it sets the tone of the tale that’s being told, the performances are all fantastic but the two that stood out to me the most were Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander, Vikander having a smaller role yet when she’s on screen delivers such a fantastic performance that is at the same time surprisingly haunting at the same time! Dev Patel does such an incredible job as the lead, it truly shows how talented Patel is as an actor his performance is raw into which he shows a ton of emotions on how he feels about his journey. Which leads into my next point the character development, Patel’s character Gawain isn’t your typical super powerful Knight sure he’s had some experience but inside and out he’s a young man who slowly realizes the truth of what made a knight during the time a true hero which makes his character all the more interesting and realistic it’s a very clever plot point that David Lowery did such a fantastic job with. The writing is fantastic there’s a lot of symbolism in the film that’s written and shown in a very clever way, plus it all comes together at the end of the film as well! The direction from David Lowery is absolutely outstanding, he takes an adaption of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and completely makes it his own, his direction is truly unique and really delivers on every single level, he creates an atmosphere that puts you into the film and it also makes you feel that anything can happen at any given moment. The Green Knight highlights why I love film so much, it shows so much creativity, storytelling through symbolism and atmosphere, incredible character development attached to a raw and interesting character. Overall The Green Knight is incredible and definitely a film I highly recommend, it’s certainly not going to be for everyone but if you are fan of anything that I talked about you will most certainly love this film, oh and technically this is a Christmas movie so watch this during December too!!
The government sends the most dangerous supervillains in the world — Bloodsport, Peacemaker, King Shark, Harley Quinn and others — to the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Armed with high-tech weapons, they trek through the dangerous jungle on a search-and-destroy mission, with only Col. Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave.
Before I start talking about The Suicide Squad I’m just going to warn you right now that it’s going to be next to impossible (at least for me) to talk about this film in great detail (or any detail for that matter without making my review sound boring) without including some spoilers. Don’t worry I’m going to include when the spoilers are and when they end so you skip around the review, thank you for understanding on to the review! So The Suicide Squad is directing by James Gunn who previously did the two Guardians Of The Galaxy films both of which I consider some of the best of the MCU (heck GOTG 2 is my favorite of the MCU) so I was pretty excited for The Suicide Squad….and this really surpassed my expectations, right from the beginning SPOILER ALERT the film kind of does a Scream type element in this case with Michael Rooker and his character Savant who you would expect to live but he dies very quickly along with some other characters! SPOILER ENDS so let’s talk about performances and a few characters, well for starters Viola Davis does such a fantastic job as always like in the 2016 movie Viola Davis absolutely kills it as Amanda Walker, casting her back in the role was such a smart move and her character shines even more in this film. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn like Viola Davis as Amanda Walker have become the equivalent of Hugh Jackman as Logan, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool where you can’t see anyone else doing those roles. Margot Robbie completely owns the character at this point and she does just as amazing in this film as she has in the other movies, she’s also given a script that really makes Harley Quinn really interesting and quite hilarious as well! Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag is quite incredible, his character is a lot of fun and truly one of my favorite parts of film SPOILER AHEAD his death I thought was the most impactful of the film, it’s an effective death that I was honestly not expecting at all. SPOILER ENDS John Cena as Peacmaker I wasn’t too sure how that was going to go but he really did an excellent job, he brought a lot to the character between a lot of hilarious moments and the serious moments that are quite brutal as well. Peacemaker is the complete opposite of Rick Flag which I found quite interesting it being a Ying and Yang type thing. Sylvester Stallone as King Shark is just a lot of fun and has some of the most hysterical moments sure there wasn’t a lot of development but did there really need to be? It’s a shark that says “nom nom” before eating people giving us some fantastic kills and gore throughout the film! Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2 was a surprise for me, see a lot of the marketing didn’t focus on her character yet she was a lot of the heart of the film, I’ll get more into that when I get into more of the writing (I promise we are almost done with the characters and performances, I told you on Twitter I had a lot to say now didn’t I?) she gets some really strong character development that is actually quite meaningful and really cares for her teammates (oh and Sebastian the Rat is quite fantastic as well.) Finally I saved the best for last…Idris Elba as Bloodsport, whoever made this casting decision deserves a raise because this is one of the best performances so far this year. Idris Elba delivers so much into the film from being hilarious to a ton of character development through his past and his bond with his teammates Idris Elba truly knows how to lead a film and this just proves it even more. Plus his character is an overall badass who gives us some great kills and gore, the bit of the beginning of the film with Storm Reid sets a perfect tone for his character someone who can be full of humor but also be very serious at the same time. Now let’s get into the writing, as I said earlier Ratcatcher 2 is a lot of the heart of the film, it’s mostly due to the writing which blends a lot of comedy, action and the character development moments extremely well. They are all given certain moments to shine in the film, one moment you have some comedic bits with King Shark or Harley Quinn, other moments you will have action moments with most of the main characters that lead to some fantastic stunts, a clear camera that doesn’t shake every 25 seconds and some fantastic kills and gore lastly you will have the character development moments like with Ratchatcher 2, Bloodsport and a few others! It’s a fantastic blend that has not worked well for a lot of films, but works here perfectly which leads me to James Gunn’s direction. James Gunn really knows how to take the source material and make it his own, he’s shown that with the GOTG films and he’s once again shown it here, he creates an atmosphere of fun elements, character development elements and really brings you into the experience. It’s truly quite amazing how much Gunn packs into the film 2 hours and 12 minutes may seem long but it’s truly not with the film’s pacing. It’s one of those films that doesn’t even feel like it’s 2 hours, mostly due to so much going on that it keeps you invested thinking “who’s going to make it out alive.” Overall The Suicide Squad is a fantastic film and hands down one of my favorite films of 2021, I can easily see why a lot of people have been calling this “one of the best comic book films” because it does everything it’s supposed to and adds so much more into it! I highly recommend seeing this one!
The Suicide Squad is now available in Theaters and On HBO Max!
A music-loving kinkajou embarks on the journey of a lifetime to fulfill his destiny and deliver a love song for an old friend.
Vivo is a film that I really wish Netflix put a lot more effort into advertising…because what they did here to this surprisingly quite solid movie is shameful. Vivo is another movie that Sony was going to originally release until Netflix offered to (Mitchels Vs The Machines and Wish Dragon were the other two). Anyway on to the movie itself, right from the start Vivo opens with a very energetic song that really displays how this movie is going to be, the songs are surprisingly quite great! They have a lot of personality included in them as well as a lot of passion, plus they all fit the movie quite well. The animation combined with the environment the movie is taking place in is also quite great as well, like the songs it matches what the movie is trying to go for! The writing is overall pretty solid, while there are some cliches we have seen quite a few times I will say that at least Vivo makes them fun. Lin-Manuel Miranda does a really solid job here as his style works pretty well and delivers some great moments especially during the songs. Overall Vivo is an incredibly solid movie that I highly recommend giving a watch!
Documentary centering on the daily life of actor Val Kilmer featuring never-before-seen footage spanning 40 years.
Val is a very straightforward documentary about Val Kilmer, it’s a heartfelt and at times moving documentary about his life and career as an actor. Kilmer himself is in the documentary and goes into detail of his experiences in certain films he’s been in, there’s also a lot of home movies (that’s mostly filmed by Kilmer himself) and behind the scenes footage that’s used and it’s quite enjoyable to watch. Val is a very personal documentary that Kilmer share’s with the audience, I’ve said this in past but this is the type of documentary where you feel like your having a conversation with someone, in this case Val Kilmer. He’s telling you his experiences as an actor and about his life and the end result is a moving and touching conversation. As far as filmmaking there really isn’t anything noteworthy but in this case there really doesn’t have to be, it’s a personal film that gets the point across pretty well. I say give this one a watch it’s a solid documentary that’s a very enjoyable and moving watch!
A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped.
I know that I am very late with this review but I’ve been thinking about Michael Sarnoski’s directional debut Pig for a few weeks now. Pig takes a very simple premise and expands more and more on it to the point where it completely turns into something you weren’t expecting at all. Going into this movie I only knew the simple premise which was the plot which basically said “Nicolas Cage’s pig got stolen now he tries to find who stole it” as I said before the film is much more than that. For starters Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff are both quite fantastic this is easily one of Cage’s best roles in his career, the chemistry between the two is very raw plus their characters feel like real people. Speaking of which if there’s one word to describe Pig it’s the word raw, there’s so much sense of realness to the film of two men talking to each other and going through their own problems that the audience learns about as the film goes on. When you give Nicolas Cage a great script he can turn that into one of the best performances of the year. There is so much to talk about his character Rob and his journey throughout the film as well as the other characters he meets, the stories they share, the interaction between them and his conversations with Amir (Alex Wolff). The pacing is absolutely perfect in every single way possible, as I said earlier the plot of the movie expands as it goes on and starts becoming something quite different. The final act is sad yet quite wholesome as well, it was truly a beautiful way to wrap the story and show the paths the characters take, what they learned throughout the journey and show how they felt about the journey, the writing is seriously some of the best I’ve heard so far this year, it truly is something special that you don’t see or hear every day, it’s the type of writing that gets you to feel what the characters are thinking and how they feel as well. Pig is the type of movie that you should absolutely go in knowing as little as possible, it makes the experience all the more powerful. Watch this one when you can!
Loki, the God of Mischief, steps out of his brother’s shadow to embark on an adventure that takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame.”
Loki is the third of the MCU shows on Disney+ and it’s hands down the best one yet, it took me awhile to finally sit down and actually come up with a review for this show due to figuring out what I ultimately felt about this series. Let’s start with the performances which I thought were all really strong, Tom Hiddleston once again does a fantastic job as Loki and arguably the best he’s played Loki in the MCU so far. I personally thought he was on a whole other level here, it’s possibly due to the script that gives Hiddleston a lot to work with and turn much as he can into something truly interesting. Hiddleston’s chemistry with Owen Wilson in particular was a standout whenever the two were on screen together there was bound for jokes that were actually quite great, some interesting back and forth dialogue and some character moments. Speaking of which Owen Wilson does quite a great job here, I’ve always liked Wilson being in more dramatic roles, what’s interesting in this case is how the balance of comedy and drama really works. One doesn’t over due the other both blend very well together and this is the type of series it really works, finally there’s Sophia Di Martino who does quite a fantastic job I’m very excited to see what they do with her character as the MCU goes forward (as well as Season 2 of Loki). She really brings a lot to the show and her chemistry with Hiddleston is top notch, each of the episodes felt different and unique to one another. I will admit the series did take a bit to get going towards the beginning but once it got off the ground it stayed in the sky, the final two episodes in particular are some of the highlights. Everything that it’s been building up to starts to happen and then we finally get to the final minutes of the last episode…which is easily some of the best the MCU has ever done. It has a huge reveal and a “oh crap!” moment that really shows that phase 4 of the MCU has just begun. Loki is what is going to cause some movies that are coming out soon or next year to take place. It’s truly an effective moment that really changes everything. Overall the series itself is quite fantastic, this is definitely something to go into without knowing too much, it’s definitely one of the most interesting parts of the MCU so far!
All the episodes of Loki are now available on Disney+
Jerome Reviews... 