When best selling author Carl Black moves his family back to his childhood home, he must team up with oddball neighbors to do battle with a pimp, who may or may not be an actual vampire.
I’ve been very soft with giving movies my “disgrace to cinema” rating this year, mostly because I look back at some movies and feel like they were undeserving of the rating (although they are still terrible) however when something like Meet The Blacks 2 comes along I feel much better giving the rating to certain movies. Good lord what were they even trying to do with this movie? At least the first Meet The Blacks knew it was trying to be a parody of The Purge a terrible one let me remind you. This movie however feels like a random post made by a bot on Twitter, it’s nonsensical to the point where you question everything that is going on and not in a good way. The acting, writing, editing, directing are all terrible it’s not even worth going on and on about them. I would be repeating the exact same thing over and over again, I seriously couldn’t tell you what exactly happens in this movie events just keep happening until the movie ends and that’s it. Meet The Blacks 2 feels like something that was made back in the parody movie era but was never released until last month, the humor is just not funny the movie itself is so desperate for a laugh from the audience it becomes embarrassing. It’s also very poorly made as well, it feels like a college student’s failed film project that was trying way too hard to be funny. Hands down one of the worst movies of the year, avoid this at all costs….Deon Taylor needs to be stopped.
The House Next Door: Meet The Blacks 2 is now available on VOD Platforms!
A circle of teenage friends accidentally encounter the ancient evil responsible for a series of brutal murders that have plagued their town for over 300 years. Welcome to Shadyside.
Fear Street Part One: 1994 is the first part of a trilogy that Netflix is releasing throughout this month, I’ve been excited for these movies for quite some time now. They were stuck in release date hell for awhile up until this year where they finally got release dates. It’s kind of surreal to see Fear Street be a full blown rated R slasher film because it’s a adaption of the book of the same by R.L. Stine who’s famously known for the Goosebump books. So many others and myself definitely thought Fear Street was going to share the same path as the Goosebumps movies that came out Goosebumps (2015) and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Mansion (2018) which by that I mean be a very kid friendly type movie. However that is definitely not the case for Fear Street, for starters let’s talk performances!! Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch and Julia Rehwald all did a really solid job in their roles, the characters were actually a lot of fun and the atmosphere actually helped by making these characters quite great as well. The film feels a lot like Scream which usually backfires pretty badly for some movies but not in this case, Fear Street 1994 has a nice balance of horror and comedy it knows when to deliver it’s horror moments and knows when to deliver it’s comedic moments. There’s one kill in particular that gives a huge throwback to 90s even 80s slasher movies, it was a really nice touch to this movie. The soundtrack is one of the best things about Fear Street 1994 it’s a time capsule that really makes you feel like you are in that era. The direction from Leigh Janiak is quite great as well, she does such a fantastic job of creating a slasher film that feels like a throwback to the slashers of the 90s and at times even 80s. Fear Street Part One: 1994 makes me all the more excited for the other two films of the series, I highly recommend giving this one a go!
Fear Street Part One: 1994 is now available on Netflix!
A woman is left handcuffed to her dead husband as part of a sick revenge plot. Unable to unshackle, she has to survive as two killers arrive to finish her off.
Till Death definitely surprised me, I was mostly excited for it due to Megan Fox returning to the horror genre, but I wasn’t too sure if the movie itself was going to be any good. Luckily it’s a pretty solid movie and further proof that Megan Fox does best when she’s in a horror movie, Megan Fox does such a great job here she gives quite a great performance combined with a surprisingly great script as well. The premise although not original as it is Gerald’s Game but a bit more too it still does a fantastic job of dragging the viewer’s attention and having you on the edge of your seat. It’s the type of movie that really get’s your attention from the start, the writing is also really solid as well there’s a lot of moments in the film that really work well. Till Death is also a lot of fun surprisingly the way the film balances the horror and the fun aspect is really solid, I definitely recommend checking this one out!
A group of criminals are brought together under mysterious circumstances and have to work together to uncover what’s really going on when their simple job goes completely sideways.
Steven Soderbergh is a very interesting director, he’s one of those directors who tries out a lot of different genres and a lot of the time gets it right. No Sudden Move definitely feels like the more traditional Soderbergh movie but that is not a bad thing at all, the cast does excellent job here Don Cheadle, Brenden Fraser, Julia Fox and so many others give fantastic performances. Soderbergh’s direction is once again spot on and gives the film a very strong atmosphere that really makes the audience feel like they are part of the movie. The writing is filled with twists, some twists are definitely better than others (a majority of them end up working) the story is interesting throughout the film which really drags the viewer’s attention, combine that with the filming that like some of Soderbergh’s other movies was filmed with an IPhone. No Sudden Move does have a very slow start, it takes a bit to get going and to fully realize what’s going on. However once it does get going the film does such a good job of telling a story, overall No Sudden Move is quite fantastic it’s a very thrilling ride that really hits it out of the park definitely check this one out!
Now adults, Tim Templeton is a stay-at-home dad for two adorable daughters, while his estranged brother, Ted, is a big-shot CEO. They come together in an unexpected way when they take a magical formula that transforms them into babies for 48 hours. Joining forces with Tim’s secret-agent daughter, they must go under cover to prevent an evil genius from turning fellow toddlers into monstrous brats.
I’m going to be completely honest The Boss Baby Family Business wasn’t actually that terrible, is it a good movie? Absolutely not but it’s far better than the first movie, this one actually seemed like effort was put into it. There’s also a few jokes in the movie that actually worked and a few okay moments as well, having that said the rest of the movie is really not good at all. A lot of the jokes end up missing (a lot less bathroom jokes thank goodness) mostly due to either not being funny or just have very poor execution. The main problem with this movie is it ends up being an overall very generic kids movie despite some bizarre ideas that happen in the movie. Which I really do like those ideas it makes the movie have a bit more personality I just wish it could have stuck with it and did more with it as well. The animation is nice and actually detailed at times, the writing while not good isn’t horrendous. Overall The Boss Baby: Family Business isn’t the worst movie of the year, if it’s job was to be better than the first movie well it accomplished that. If it’s job was to be a good movie….it didn’t succeed.
The Boss Baby: Family Business is now available on Peacock!
On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being and a sea monster disguised as a human.
Being who you are can be hard, coming out (in any given sense) and expressing who you are as a person is not easy. Luca is a film that does quite a fantastic job of showing just that, the animation is stunning and gives the characters, the environment and the interaction between the characters so much life. It gives off this raw feel to it which is actually not very common in a lot of animated films, the story is absolutely beautifully told. It’s told in this dreamlike feel to it that feels very real but also like a dream at the same time, it’s a very interesting approach and one that I definitely appreciated. As I said before Luca uses the theme of hiding who you really are and does it in such a clever way, as the movie goes on it uses the theme in a lot of interesting and clever ways. It is a common theme to use in a tv show or a movie but I would argue that Luca uses it in the most unique and far more interesting way. The character development is also spot on, instead of quickly rushing to meet several different characters the movie takes it’s time for the audience and the movie itself to get to know the characters. Luca gets more and more meaningful as it goes on which is truly something special, the writing has tons of powerful moments that did make me cry at times. Pixar really hit this one out of the park, Luca is one of my favorite films of the year! Definitely check this one out!!
Lucky Prescott’s life is changed forever when she moves from her home in the city to a small frontier town and befriends a wild mustang named Spirit.
Out of the several films I’ve watched so far this year Spirit Untamed is one of the movies where I got absolutely nothing out of it, it’s a movie that just sort of exists for the sake of existing. Spirit Untamed is based off the Netflix series (which I haven’t seen) I honestly don’t know what to say here in fact I’m struggling to even come up with something to say, the animation wasn’t very appealing at all, the writing was terrible and completely fails when it tries to be funny. There is absolutely nothing in this movie that hasn’t been done before, I do feel that parts of this movie was begging to get people who remember the original movie, the problem is the original movie while yes it does have it’s fans are nowhere near the amount of fans this movie makes it out to be. It’s a very weird hybrid of wanting to please fans of the original movie and to please fans of the Netflix series. All I know is that it isn’t a good movie and definitely one of the most forgettable movies of the year, this is a prime of example of a studio saying “we aren’t even going to try”
A father brings up his baby girl as a single dad after the unexpected death of his wife who died a day after their daughter’s birth.
Really not a whole lot to say here. Fatherhood is definitely a nice surprise, Kevin Hart actually gives a very different type of performance than he usually gives and for the most part he does a solid job. He doesn’t hit every single emotional beat especially at the start of the movie, but as it goes on he gets better and better. As for the rest of the movie it’s a very standard parent drama movie, it doesn’t do anything new or something to write home about but it doesn’t do anything bad either. The writing can be a hit or miss at times but there’s a ton of charming moments that make up for it, it’s a sweet movie that while doesn’t say all that much is still a very decent watch!
Fatherhood is now available on Netflix!
6/10 C+
A horror film critic finds himself in a sticky situation when he stumbles into a self-help group for serial killers.
Vicious Fun is definitely one of the better Shudder Originals, it’s a fun slasher that combines the 80s soundtrack, neon lights and comedy that has some very solid jokes. It uses a lot of classic slasher movie tropes which in this case I feel actually work quite well, the characters are also a ton of fun as well. The chemistry is solid and the wiring has it’s humor that works. Overall pretty solid movie!
June flew by pretty quickly, I do have some reviews to catch up on with movies I watched last month that I haven’t reviewed yet Luca, Spirit Untamed and a few others. Which I promise I will get to within very soon, for now let’s talk about this month! At first when I looked at my release date calendar I was a bit underwhelmed however when I took a closer look July actually seems promising. It’s not going to have many large movies but a lot of the smaller ones seem really good! So here’s what July has in store!
As always let’s start from the bottom!
Mandibules or Mandibles is directed by the same director who did Rubber so it already has that “what crazy stuff is the director going to do next” type energy which I always like. Will the movie be good? Probably not but will at least be exciting! It releases on all VOD platforms July 23rd
Great White seems like an okay shark movie, I am a sucker for shark movies (despite most of them being horrendous) but I am always down to give another one a chance…not much else to say here! Great White releases on VOD platforms July 16th.
Till Death has Megan Fox in it which I really missed being in horror movies, I still think her best role was in Jennifer’s Body. So it’s nice to see her be in a horror movie again! The movie itself seems interesting definitely a Gerald’s Game type feel to it! Till Death releases July 2nd on all VOD platforms!
Escape Room Tournament Of Champions has had multiple release dates however it looks like it’s finally going to get released, I enjoyed the first Escape Room quite a bit so I’m excited to see this one! It releases in theaters July 16th!
Fin is a shark documentary that is going to be releasing on Discovery+ directed by Eli Roth, it looks interesting enough! Fin releases July 13th on Discovery+
The Price Of Freedom I already did a review on, while there really isn’t any brand new information in the movie when it comes to gun violence or the NRA it’s still a interesting watch that I would recommend. The Price Of Freedom releases July 7th in theaters!
Playing With Sharks is another documentary, I reviewed this one back in January for the Sundance film festival and it’s a pretty solid one. Can’t wait to revisit this one. Playing With Sharks releases July 23rd on Disney+
Black Widow I only put on here because of the recent positives about the movie from what I’ve heard such as Florence Pugh who is one of my favorite actresses steals the show. I wish I could be more excited for this one however it took way too long for it to have a final release date. Black Widow releases in theaters and Disney+ Primer Access July 9th.
Batman The Long Halloween Part Two is definitely going to be interesting, I thought the first part was incredibly solid so I’m interested to see where it goes with the second part. It releases July 27th on VOD Platforms.
I’m just going to combine all The Fear Street movies into one section, they are all based off of the series of the same name by R.L. Stine. What I like about this series is it’s a anthology series which I find interesting! I really hope they are great! Fear Street 1994 releases July 2nd, Fear Street 1978 releases July 9th and Fear Street 1666 releases July 16th all on Netflix!
Gunpowder Milkshake seems like an incredibly fun movie that I’m excited to check out! It releases July 14th on Netflix!
Old is M. Night Shyamalan’s next film, which I do have hope this one will be good. The premise sounds interesting and the trailers are very promising. Old releases July 23rd in theaters.
I just posted a review for Werewolves Within a few days ago, it’s an incredibly solid Werewolf movie that I highly recommend checking out when it releases tomorrow July 2nd.
Summer Of Soul I missed out on at Sundance due to the schedule being very overcrowded, from what I’ve heard it’s quite fantastic. The trailer is really great as well so I’m excited to check this one out! Summer Of Soul releases July 2nd on Hulu and in theaters!
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is another one where I just posted a review for it not too long ago, it’s a very powerful film that I still think about ever since I saw it, the more I think about it the more I actually really like it. So I’m excited to see it again very soon!! It releases July 16th in theaters.
Pig is about Nicholas Cage trying to get his stolen pig back….I’m sold! Pig releases July 16th in theaters.
No Sudden Move actually releases today and is available on HBO Max right now!!! I love Steven Soderbergh so I’m definitely excited for this one!!
The Green Knight I knew was going to be most anticipated film of July, I’ve been waiting for this to release ever since last year, it looks incredible and has a lot of potential to be one of this year’s best! It releases July 30th in theaters!
And that wraps up my most anticipated movies of July 2021 list!! What are you most excited for?
During the holidays, a brutal series of murders strike fear into the city of Gotham. Batman sets out to pursue the serial killer with the support of police officer James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent.
Batman The Long Halloween, Part One is newest DC animated movie the animated movies have definitely had their ups and downs over the years, so I was very interested how this one would turn out. Luckily it’s a very solid one that does a lot quite a lot right to give a satisfying movie to a two part series. Naya Rivera (R.I.P.) was quite great as Catwoman she does pretty well diving into the character which is quite great. The rest of the cast did very well, the writing is a very interesting the story focuses on Batman doing detective work which I always appreciate when shown, the story itself is surprisingly a slow burn that I wasn’t sure if that was going to work but did end up working in this movie’s favor. The movie is a lot less action packed as it’s more plot development or looking at some of the information and background for certain characters, the animation I thought was also really solid especially when combined with the score and sound design, it gives the film a more interesting and unique feel to it that separates it from a lot of other DC animated movies. I’m really excited to see where Part Two goes with the story!
Batman The Long Halloween Part One is now available on VOD platforms!
Batman The Long Halloween Part Two releases July 27th on VOD Platforms!
Jerome Reviews... 