New Order (2021) Movie Review!

A lavish high-society wedding unexpectedly turns into a class struggle that leads to a violent coup.

New Order feels like it was trying way too hard to be Parasite with a mix of Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!” That isn’t even the biggest issue with New Order, the acting I thought wasn’t bad Naian González Norvind was really solid in her role and was definitely the standout. Everyone else did a really great job as well there were plenty of raw moments that were quite powerful especially combined with the filming that felt up close. However New Order fails to make its message to make any sort of sense, the movie wants you to believe that the rich and powerful are evil while the lower class are fighting hard to survive and get hurt financially and so on. Which I would have thought this movie had something interesting to say if it didn’t all of a sudden make the rich look oppressed and the lower class some sadistic villains. It’s very strange how quickly the movie completely switches it’s own idea and does it so poorly, there are some very brutal scenes in this movie that I feel are completely unnecessary. I am all for disturbing cinema and brutal scenes heck some of my favorite films of all time are considered disturbing cinema (Martyrs, Kids, Requiem For A Dream, Eraserhead, Clockwork Orange and so on) however something about this movie just made me flat out hate it, It was trying way too hard to be disturbing and it came off more as shock value that did have some build up to it but still felt forced. New Order is one of those movies where people are absolutely going to be divided, if any of what I just said sounds interesting then definitely check it out. Just know what your getting into.

New Order is now available on VOD platforms

4/10 D+

The Ice Road (2021) Movie Review!

After a remote diamond mine collapses in far northern Canada, a ‘big-rig’ ice road driver must lead an impossible rescue mission over a frozen ocean to save the trapped miners.

Has Liam Neeson ever turned down a role for an action thriller movie? All joking aside I do like some of the action thrillers he’s done over the years such as Taken, The Commuter, Non-Stop, Run All Night (that one is highly underrated) and a few others. However The Ice Road is the type of movie where things start to cross a line, I mean sure Liam Neeson is decent in this movie and he definitely knows how to sell a movie. However I’ve Road does a lot wrong that ends up sticking out like a sore thumb, the movie tries to ground itself as being realistic which is perfectly fine (of course it is) but at the same time it tries to throw ridiculous scenes that just sort of happen out of nowhere. The action in The Ice Road is really not interesting especially when you compare it to the other films Neeson has been, this sort of feels like if the Lifetime Channel decided to make action thrillers, Lawrence Fishburne wasn’t actually too bad either he’s just a far better actor than this. But I do feel like Neeson and Fishburne were phoning it in at times, The Ice Road is also really predictable as well if you watch at least 10 minutes of the movie you are more than likely going to figure out the twist. Especially if you have seen these types of movies before, overall The Ice Road is a movie that I really hope is not going to be the new normal with Liam Neeson’s action thrillers, at least with a lot of the other movies there’s a lot of fun and actual care put into some of them. With The Ice Road it feels like they threw whatever remaining scripts were around mixed them together and called it a day, its interesting about The Ice Road is it’s directed by Johnathan Hensleigh the director of The Punisher (2004) which is a huge guilty pleasure of mine…Ice Road however is just horrendous.

The Ice Road is now available on Netflix!

2/10 F

An Unquiet Grave (2021) Movie Review!

A year after the death of his wife, a man enlists her sister to help him bring her back.

This was the longest 72 minutes of my life, An Unquiet Grave is one of those movies where it would have been so much better as a short film, however it feels like a short film that went on for way too long. It has very interesting premise and setup but does nothing very interesting with it, the acting for a very low budget movie is not that bad so I’ll definitely give credit where credit is due, however the writing completely destroys so many potentially interesting moments with very basic plot elements that either don’t go anywhere or aren’t interesting at the slightest. The pacing is what seals this movie’s fate it’s horrendous as I said earlier the movie is 72 minutes long but feels like an eternity, it’s a combination of having good ideas but using them in the most uninteresting ways you could possibly do and the story just completely getting lost that make this movie feel so long. Not much else to be said here An Unquiet Grave has potential but completely missed.

An Unquiet Grace is now available on Shudder!

3/10 D-

Holler (2021) Movie Review!

To pay for her education, and the chance of a better life, a young woman joins a dangerous scrap metal crew.

Holler wasn’t too bad, there’s definitely elements in this movie that have been done far better in other movies, however what makes this all worth it is Nicole Riegel’s direction who has a very promising directing career and Jessica Barden who does a fantastic job in her role and easily steals the show. Barden gives a very raw performance to the point where you feel like your seeing an actual person you may know, the filming is also quite beautiful with tons of captivating moments from the setting. The writing definitely could have been stronger in some areas, I do feel the movie struggled in the middle mostly due to running out of steam. But I do think it’s a decent little movie just not something I will ever watch again.

Holler is now available on VOD platforms!

6/10 C+

Good On Paper (2021) Movie Review!

After years of putting her career first, a stand-up comic meets a guy who seems perfect, smart, nice, successful and possibly too good to be true.

Good On Paper is like the title suggests, it’s a interesting idea that ultimately leads to being another generic romantic comedy. Iliza Shlesinger is decent in her role and I do like the idea that this is based off of a real love story by her. However a lot of the movie fails to be any different than a lot of romantic comedy movies, a lot of it is the same jokes, the same plot lines but tweaked just a bit and a lot of the same type of characters. The acting and writing are nothing to write home about, none of it is terrible but at the same time none of it is really good (outside of Shlesinger) sorry if I sound like I’m throwing a bunch of thoughts together, Good On Paper did absolutely nothing for me at all. It’s one of those movies where you just don’t have much to comment on because there really isn’t much to say other than being a very below average romantic comedy movie that Netflix released.

Good On Paper is now available on Netflix!

4/10 D+

Tribeca Review: The Novice (2021)

An obsessive novice rower climbs the ranks of her college’s rowing team.

Finally at number one we have The Novice, which those who participated in the festival could easily see why. Everything in The Novice just blends so well together that leads to some incredible results. First off Isabelle Fuhrman gives her best performance to date, as well as giving one of the best performances of the year. She truly delivers in her role it’s raw, impactful and really shows how talented she really is. The atmosphere is thrilling to the point where it can almost be considered a horror film, the style of the film is up close and really beings you into what’s going on in certain scenes. The music also turns this film into a horror film by having a beautifully haunting feel to it, the film heavily reminded me of Whiplash which makes sense Lauren Hadaway who directs the film did the sound for Whipslash and you can easily tell. There’s so much level of care and attention to detail as well, it’s extraordinary and leads into disturbing territory. It’s a very interesting film about self destruction and how quickly it can happen. Hands down one of the best films of the year, I really hope this releases soon!

10/10 A+

Tribeca Review: No Man Of God (2021)

The complicated relationship that formed between the FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Bundy during Bundy’s final years on death row.

I really wouldn’t blame someone if their first reaction hearing about another Ted Bundy movie being released was “another one?!?” Because quite frankly there has been a lot of them at this point, however Amber Sealey’s No Man Of God manages to be far different from the other films. For one thing the film isn’t only about Ted Bundy it’s also about FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier which is story I feel like completely goes unnoticed at times. The performances here are quite fantastic Luke Kirby does a fantastic job as Ted Bundy, he’s intimidating, acts like him and so on this is definitely one of the best if not the best portrayal of Ted Bundy in recent memory. Elijah Wood plays Hagmaier and he does an incredible job as well, the chemistry between Wood and Kirby is fantastic and feels very real. It’s disturbing but at the same time very fascinating as to what was going on between their discussions, which is where the writing comes in. Which I truly feel is the best part about this film, the writing really shares the thoughts and discussions they shared with one another. It’s a dark film that truly delivers in every single way possible, if your a fan of true crime you are going to love No Man Of God!

10/10 A+

Tribeca Review: Catch The Fair One (2021)

A former champion boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.

Catch The Fair One is one of the most intense and disturbing films so far this year, Kali Reis gives such a fantastic performance and definitely one of the best of the year. She really dives deep into her role and shows an incredible amount of talent that is showed throughout the film, the thrilling atmosphere that makes the film very uncomfortable adds so much to it as well, it brings a sense of realness to it that hits hard whenever it can. Director Josef Kubota also does a fantastic job of building an atmosphere that grabs your attention, there’s a lot of brutal moments that truly leave an impact on the viewer as well. Combine all of this with Darren Aronofsky who is one of the producers and you really have yourself a disturbing ride, this is one of those films where although a certain director is producing the film you can still feel their energy or their marks in this case Darren Aronofsky. Catch The Fair One is a revenge story that truly is one of the stronger ones, it’s an incredibly raw film that keeps things as grounded as possible. From the writing to the acting there’s so much to absolutely love about this one, if your a fan of the revenge genre be sure to watch this one once it releases!

10/10 A+

Tribeca Review: The Kids (2021)

In the early 1990s, before New York City’s mass gentrification, a group of disparate youth venture outside their broken homes into the city’s brutal streets. United by skateboarding, they cultivate a family and build a unique lifestyle that inspires Larry Clark’s 1995 groundbreaking film, “Kids.” The crew become overnight commodities, thrust into the spotlight. Left adrift under the bright lights, some discover transcendent lives and careers, while others suffer fatal consequences.

The Kids is a documentary that’s not going to be easy to talk about and it’s definitely going to be hard to review as the documentary is very self explanatory, but I feel like this discussion needs to be talked about. Almost immediately when I saw this being confirmed for the Tribeca Film Festival I knew this was going to be one of the ones I’m going to watch. The documentary is about the actors and actresses who were in the controversial film and disturbing film that released in 1995 and how they were treated terribly, felt used and taken advantage of by Larry Clark. Before I say anything about the documentary…Kids will always be one of my favorite films of all time, it was one of my major influences of getting into photography and I really appreciate what it did for indie films back in the 90s. HOWEVER I am willing to call out disgusting behavior from directors who take advantage of people and treat them horribly like what Larry Clark did in this case (Harmony Korine isn’t much better either he never stood up for the cast and pretty much abandoned them as well) the documentary itself has Hamilton Harris and a lot of other cast members talking about what happened behind the scenes and so much more. It’s a very disturbing documentary that I almost guarantee will make you very angry and question why people were actively ignoring this. The documentary goes over the deaths of Justin Pierce (who won Best Debut Performance at the Spirit Awards in 1996) and Harold Hunter the lack of never reaching out to these kids to make sure they are okay or anyway trying to help is truly gross. The kids struggled to find work and Larry Clark did nothing to help them at all, Harris ultimately does find peace with Korine and Clark’s decision not to be interviewed in the documentary. A lot of the cast members now have families of their own (Harris included) but that doesn’t erase how disturbing this whole situation was. As far as filmmaking goes the documentary is nicely crafted with tons of information that you definitely need to know about the topic, it’s truly one of the best films so far this year. I truly hope this releases soon.

10/10 A+

Tribeca Review: See For Me (2021)

When blind former skier Sophie cat-sits in a secluded mansion, three thieves invade for the hidden safe. Sophie’s only defense is army veteran Kelly. Kelly helps Sophie defend herself against the invaders and survive.

See For Me was the first film I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival and it was definitely a very strong start to it, the film uses a very interesting premise that only makes it better and authentic by having disability representation (Skylar Davenport who is actually blind) it’s truly an incredible thing to see, on top of that it’s one of the best home invasion movies in quite sometime. A lot of problems I have with the home invasion genre is a lot of it is more less the same thing, See For Me changes things up quite a bit, it gives development to Sophie (the main character) and keeps things as grounded as possible. Davenport is what truly makes this film shine, they give such a fantastic performance that really sticks with you. The atmosphere is thrilling it keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. The cinematography combined with the setting and filming is another huge highlight of the film, the absolute best parts are when the house is dark with very few lights it creates something beautiful and feels like a painting almost! See For Me is a film I can definitely see a lot of people absolutely loving and rightfully so, it’s a blast of fun and at the same time a fantastic film!

10/10 A+