MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth’s greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Mortal Kombat (2021) is one of the few video game adaption movies to actually be a great movie, the characters are pretty well done although some were very underdeveloped such as Mileena, Raiden and a few others. The character who were developed or had a lot of screentime really made up for it, Sub-Zero played by Joe Taslim was badass and just an overall perfect. He really perfected Sub-Zero’s character from his abilities to his actions and so on. Jax played by Mehcad Brooks was a favorite of mine, while Jax doesn’t get a ton of development Brook’s performance makes it work, Josh Lawson as Kano is easily one of the highlights of the film, he’s hilarious, does something very interesting with the character and is a ton of fun throughout the film. Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion is also pretty badass he’s not in the movie very long but when he does show up it’s one of the best moments of the film. Finally there’s Ludi Lin as Liu Kang who’s easily one of my favorites, every scene he’s in is just great and like some of the other actors I mentioned gives a very strong portrayal of one of the most iconic characters from the series! The writing is definitely not always perfect, there are some very cheesy lines but at least the movie embraces that it’s cheesy and has a ton of fun which leads to the gore. The fatality scenes are absolute perfection, if you go into this movie wanting a ton of gore this movie will deliver. It’s truly everything a Mortal Kombat fan would want from a fatality, combine that with some really satisfying action scenes and you have yourself an incredibly entertaining movie. In terms of story like the writing it doesn’t always work, there’s some very familiar elements that the main character Cole Young (Lewis Tan) goes through, but it’s ultimately nothing terrible just something we have seen a bunch of times before that I do feel is a bit out of place. Overall Mortal Kombat is some of the most fun I’ve had with a movie so far this year, it’s truly a satisfying adaption that I highly recommend giving a watch especially if your a Mortal Kombat fan!!
A stowaway on a mission to Mars sets off a series of unintended consequences.
Stowaway is a very serviceable Netflix Original movie and really not much else. The cast does a decent job Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette being the standouts, Daniel Dae Kim and Shamier Anderson both do a solid job as well. The visuals are great combined with a solid atmosphere that does give the movie some beautiful scenes. What ultimately stops Stowaway from being anything other then decent is the running time and the pacing, it has a 116 minute running time that could have easily been trimmed down. Take out 15-20 minutes of the movie and it wouldn’t change a thing, the pacing is very slow and the movie itself does become a chore to sit through once you reach the final act. Not much else to say here, a decent first time watch for a movie I don’t think I’ll ever revisit again.
6/10 C+
A crew of hardy road workers, led by a bickering Father and Son, must survive the night when they accidentally awaken an ancient Irish vampire.
Chris Baugh (director of Bad Day For The Cut) is back with Boys From County Hell and I have to say this wasn’t too bad. It’s another decent modern Vampire movie that manages to combine the humor with the atmosphere and actually do it quite well. It does take awhile to get going which ultimately does hurt the movie, there’s a ton of scenes that really did not need to be there. However once the movie gets going it’s well worth it, it’s a lot of fun with some pretty great scenes and vampires! Sure it might not be super original, it does use a lot of elements from other better films. But at least Boys From County Hell has fun while doing it which can’t be said for some other movies, in terms of acting and writing it’s nothing crazy. It’s better then expected but nothing really noteworthy which is perfectly fine in this case. Overall it’s a decent vampire movie, I still prefer Jakob’s Wife by a lot (when it comes to Vampire movies that came out this year). But I still recommend giving this one a try if your a fan of the genre.
A bystander who intervenes to help a woman being harassed by a group of men becomes the target of a vengeful drug lord.
Nobody is definitely one of the biggest surprises so far of 2021, before going into the movie I heard that it was great but I didn’t know if I would like it or not! But this really impressed me I have to say, Nobody is from IIya Naishuller the director of Hardcore Henry which is a fantastic action movie, once again Naishuller does a fantastic job with doing something different with the action genre. Nobody is this hybrid of dark comedy with some very heavy action combined with brutal kills, which definitely makes the film itself standout among a lot of other movies in the genre. Bob Odenkirk does a fantastic job in the leading role and truly delivers throughout the film, the action scenes are really well shot and quite beautiful to watch as well. There is no shaky camera or tons of terrible editing it feels very raw which you quickly start to notice. The writing is quite great it combines a lot of dark humor with a lot of traditional action movie type plots but manages to make it it’s own, so it doesn’t feel like you are watching just another action movie. It keeps things fresh and interesting throughout the film, it’s also a very fun movie as well. Nobody truly knows how to entertain the audience and knows when to get serious or be comedic, Nobody is truly one of the strongest action films to come out recently! I highly recommend giving this one a go especially if your a action movie fan.
Cold War spy Greville Wynne and his Russian source try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Courier is based on a very interesting true story that I highly recommend reading about! The film itself is quite great, it’s a very strong and suspenseful thriller packed with tons of great performances and a lot of emotional moments. Benedict Cumberbatch gives one of the strongest performances of his career, he steals the show and completely dives into his role. The atmosphere of the film is seriously well done and completely matches for what the film is trying to go for, the dialogue is very well written and compelling as well! Jessie Buckley is also fantastic in her role, like Cumberbatch she dives into her role and goes all out. The score gives the right mood and atmosphere that the film is going for, The Courier is a really well put together film that I highly recommend checking out!
A spark on a Friday can lead to a sizzling weekend fling, but what happens when you get to the inevitable Monday?
I really don’t have much to say about Monday, it’s a just passable movie which is mainly due to Sebastian Stan’s and Denise Gough’s performances. Both of them really give it there all and truly deliver some great performances. The filming is also quite nice especially when combined with the setting. The major problem is how drawn out the movie feels which ultimately leads into more very noticeable problems such as the writing. Which while does have it’s meaningful moments a lot of the time it doesn’t feel nowhere near as powerful as the movie wants it to be, as I said earlier the movie really draws out and becomes sort of a chore to sit through. Luckily the two main characters Mickey and Chloe are both at least interesting and are given character development throughout the film which helps. This is definitely a movie I’m not going to ever watch again but it’s an okay watch if you are looking for good performances and don’t care much for pacing.
6/10 C+
A ballerina discovers hip-hop by chance and is faced with an impossible choice: Does she pursue her family’s legacy or her newfound love.
This is another instance where I had no idea this movie existed until the day it came out. Into The Beat is your typical dance movie, if you have seen any given dance movie from the past congratulations you have already seen this movie. It plays beat by beat (no pun intended) in terms of story and each act of the movie. The soundtrack is at least very good which is typical for these dance movies and the acting is honestly not the worst. It just mostly suffers from being way too familiar and does absolutely nothing to standout among the several other dance movies. Especially when it’s on a platform in this case being Netflix where they already have two better dance original movies (Work It and Feel The Beat). The writing is very bare minimum and gives the cliched story and the rest of the movie is forgettable, unless your a dance movie fanatic I don’t recommend this one.
Hey guys the reason why I didn’t post this weekend, is because I took a small break from social media! I will be posting today as I did watch 4 new releases this weekend!! So keep an eye out for that!!
The Banishing tells the story of the most haunted house in England. In the 1930s, a young reverend, his wife and daughter move into a manor with a horrifying secret.
The Banishing is a below average haunted house movie, it has the atmosphere and right creepy elements. But they aren’t used to their full potential, it comes off as a movie you have seen plenty of times before only done far far better. The acting is fine enough but the writing is lacking with little to no substance at all which is a huge shame considering the style of the movie is interesting with some decent looking settings. Really not much to this one unfortunately
5/10 C
A summer adventure under the Sicilian sun soon becomes a painful love story
I’m seriously getting tired of these “sick boy or sick girl find love” movies or Fault in Our Stars clones. I found this one through Netflix which I had no idea came out, as far as this certain genre goes it isn’t the worst of the bunch. But it’s still not anything good, the beaches and the soundtrack are at least nice and the filming is genuinely decent. But the acting is just not that great, especially from the parent characters who feel like they phoned it in. The same can be said with the writing it’s very below average and has no substance to it at all, the movie itself definitely has good intentions but it feels empty with nothing very interesting going on. I really don’t know what else to say here, it’s a very below average movie of this subgenre. Give this one a skip.
I apologize this is pretty late between festivals and other stuff I’ve been delaying this for a bit. But here it is better late then never, I do want to clear up that I’ll be going back to a Top 60 Best and Worst when it comes time to do the 2021 lists. The only reason why I decided on doing a top 100 for 2020 was to give other films a chance to shine due to COVID-19. For 100-26 I won’t be talking about them at all except for maybe a few movies that just missed the top 25. For the Top 25 I’ll say a few things about them but nothing too crazy. With that said I hope you enjoy and hope this helps you find movies you want to watch.
#100-85#84-#69#68-#53#52-#37#36-#29
So a few here that just barely missed the top 25.
Wolfwalkers is a fantastic animated film that really tells a beautiful story in great detail and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom gives arguably Chadwick Boseman’s best performance of his career!
#28-#26
The Lodge is definitely a strange but fantastic horror film, it released in early February of 2020 and I definitely feel a lot of people missed it. It’s a pretty interesting horror movie that keeps you guessing on what’s going to happen next definitely recommended. And Happiest Season I wanted to put in the Top 25 really badly but the competition in 2020 was really tough. It’s a fantastic film and as I said in my review I can definitely see it becoming a classic to watch during the holidays.
Now for the Top 25!
25. Miss Americana – This film was an early favorite of 2020 coming out in January and on Netflix. This is one of the few documentaries where you actually get to see a human side to an artist in this case Taylor Swift. Which she share’s pretty much everything with the audience, I absolutely admire the energy of this documentary Taylor is telling everyone who attacked or made stuff up about her that she’s not going to be pushed around anymore. You also actually start to feel for her as well seeing the media pretty much slander her, create false narratives that doesn’t exist and much more. Truly a fantastic documentary that I haven’t forgotten about
24. Time – This is a personal about Fox Rich fighting for the release of her husband, the documentary is power that’s honestly the best way to sum it up. It shows how much Fox loves her husband to the point where you feel the pain and sadness she’s going through, this is seriously a beautifully made documentary that will most definitely make you cry.
23. Hamilton – Not much to say here to be quite honest, before I saw the performance on Disney+ I actually had never seen Hamilton before but I always wanted to. So it was great opportunity when Disney+ had recording Hamilton, what’s even better is it makes you feel like you are right there in the theater.
22. Dick Johnson Is Dead – A fantastic idea that is executed perfectly, the documentary is effect due to Kristen and her father’s relationship it’s both hilarious and meaningful.
21. Relic – A very horrifying take on Dementia, Natalie Erika James absolutely knocks it out of the park in the director’s chair, she knows how to make interesting character development and how to make a film as haunting as possible. When you combine that with the atmosphere it’s truly horrifying!
20. Euphoria: Trouble Don’t Last Always – Again another one with not much to say, it’s a fantastic look at Rue and Ali’s characters. Both are going through several problems and they talk out, it’s a very realistic and emotional look at a conversation about drug addiction. Levinson does a fantastic job with the directing and the character development as I said before is fantastic.
19. Host – Host just sort of came out of nowhere and ended up being on a lot of people’s favorite films of 2020 lists and mine is no exception. I’m a huge fan of the social media horror/thriller movies, like Searching, Cam, Unfriended, The Den and a few others! Host ends up being one of the absolute best, it’s entirely on a Zoom call which ends up giving the film a much more realistic approach as well, the film itself is very atmospheric, haunting and just an overall a incredible ride that may only be 56 minutes long but it’s much more effective than a lot of Hollywood horror movies.
18. Shirley – 2020 was definitely Elisabeth Moss’s year when it came to film, She absolutely knocked it out of the park with her role in Shirley. It feels like a dreamlike horror of a fairytale, Josephine Decker’s direction feels like a fantasy come to life combined with beautiful cinematography and a hypnotic feel to the film. It’s truly a beautiful display of storytelling!
17. Bad Education – Cory Finley did a fantastic job with his previous film Thoroughbreds and he did a fantastic job here! Hugh Jackman and Alison Janney both do an incredible job, the film does a fantastic job of telling the story of the largest public school embezzlement in American history, the writing is flawless and leads to incredibly raw moments. Make sure to watch this one if you haven’t already!
16. The King Of Staten Island – Pete Davidson also had a strong year when it came to movies, first with Big Time Adolescent and then with King Of Staten Island. The best way to sum up King Of Staten Island is that everything about it is raw, the acting is raw, the writing is raw, the film is shot in this very raw style. The story is simple yet very interesting as well, it has that “showing the daily lives or life of a certain person or group of people” type feel. Truly a remarkable film!
15. One Night In Miami – The idea of having four different black icons (Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke) telling their thoughts on topics such as civil rights movement, the black community and much more makes a very interesting concept that results in a flawless execution. One Night In Miami gets even stronger when all four have a discussion with each other. Sharing their agreements, disagreements and topics they feel neutral on, it really explores who they are and what they ultimately think about the topic. The four sharing very different viewpoints and ideas is truly fascinating. Regina King knocks it out of the park with her direction as well!
14. Soul – One of Pixar’s strongest films, it hits you with all sorts of questions that you start to think about in a very deep way, Soul is definitely a very human movie about our choices, what we want to do in the future and so on. The storytelling is just that strong and magical truly masterful!
13. The Devil All The Time – “Some people are born just made to be buried” “It is our delusions that lead us to sin” those quotes really sum up how dark this film is, it’s truly an incredible film that looks at a small town and just how messed up pretty much everyone in the town is Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland are both fantastic as well as Sebastian Stan and Bill Skarsgard!! Truly a messed up film that I recommend!
12. Lovers Rock – 70 Minutes of some of the most beautiful scenes I’ve seen in a film of 2020, from the acting, to the writing to the absolute beautiful “Silly Games” scene it made me cry at least 3 different times Steve McQueen really did a fantastic job!
11. The Invisible Man – Leigh Whannell has proven he’s an Incredibly talented director after his previous film Upgrade there came Invisible Man which is truly an incredible horror film. Elisabeth Moss slays it in her role and truly gives a raw performance that is quite powerful! The film tackles PTSD In a very respectful manner as well which is again because Whannell set out to make this movie as good as possible. It’s haunting, surprising and truly one dark horror film that doesn’t hold back at all.
10. Possessor – kicking off the top 10 we have Possessor a disturbing horror film that Brandon Cronenberg did a wonderful job with. Between the brutal kills, the haunting atmosphere, the writing and acting being as realistic as possible and so much more Possessor really hits it out of the park when it comes to horror films that will definitely go on to be modern classics
9. Promising Young Woman – Carey Mulligan is fantastic in the leading role, Emerald Fennell’s realistic direction makes this film all the more powerful, the aesthetic of the film is just wonderful and the thrilling atmosphere really gives this film so much strength, the paths this film took were smart. It’s definitely not for everyone but for me it’s quite great!
8. I’m Thinking Of Ending Things – Definitely 2020’s “what the hell did I just watch?” Movie in the best way possible, it’s a very well acted film that really keeps you guessing of what’s real and what’s not. Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons and Toni Collette all do a fantastic job in their roles, Kaufman’s direction is masterful and the film itself is a one of a kind experience!
7. The Assistant – One of the most powerful films of 2020, it depicts sexual abuse In the work place in the most realistic way possible, Julia Garner does a fantastic job, the film also never ends up showing the boss which I still think is really clever of the film. Kitty Green does a great job of creating the mannerisms of the co-workers in the type of environment and so much more. It’s an incredible disturbing watch that I still think about.
5. First Cow – it’s a film that says a lot while doing the smallest things. John Magaro and Orion Lee both hit it out of the park, both of them give raw performances combined with incredible writing truly makes them some of the best performances of the year. Just the discussions the both of them have with each other is fascinating to watch, it feels very grounded and it sticks with you as well. The friendship element I absolutely loved, the direction from Kelly Reichardt is very special she shows how realistic she wants this movie to be. She shows that showing the simplest things such as two characters having a simple discussion can be one of the strongest elements In a film, the music and the filming both are incredible. They both match the setting extremely well and give the viewer a feel of where it’s taking place.
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always – This the type of film that just sticks with you, I’ve thought about this film constantly. The best word to describe the film is powerful, Sidney Flanigan gives one of the best performances of 2020 and truly does a perfect job, there are tons of scenes that ripped me to shreds truly an incredible film.
3. Minari – it’s the American Dream in a film, it’s everything that the dream stands for and Lee Isaac Chung showed just that on every single level.
2. Sound Of Metal – A film that makes you thankful for what you have, asks you what would happen if you woke up one day and lost something that is your happiness and it can slip away just like that. In this case it’s hearing which is important to a drummer, Riz Ahmed gives one of the most emotional and truly impactful roles.
1. Nomadland – Chloe Zhao really went and directed one of the most beautiful films out there, Nomadland takes the spot of number one because of how meaningful, beautiful, emotional and raw it really is. From the music, to the acting, writing, direction and so much more. It really does feel like you are on a trip with Fern. Nomadland is simply a masterpiece that is on a whole other level, it’s truly something you don’t see often at all in film. Chloe Zhao is truly Incredible and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
“One of the things I love most about this life is that there’s no final goodbye. You know, I’ve met hundreds of people out here and I don’t ever say a final goodbye. I always just say, “I’ll see you down the road.”
Thank you for your patience with this list! I hope you enjoyed!!
A young man in 1981 South Africa must complete his brutal and racist two years of compulsory military service while desperately maintaining the secrecy of his homosexuality.
Moffie is a powerful and meaningful war coming of age film. It’s a movie about a young man struggling to accept himself while he’s in a very torturous environments in this case being in a war and battlegrounds. When you take those two elements together it truly creates something haunting and emotional all at the same time, Kai Luke Brummer does a fantastic job in the leading role, he absolutely delivers on every single level and gives a beautiful performance that really leaves a huge impact on you. The use of coming of age story during war and other dangerous situations is really well done here, you can feel Nicholas’s pain and how he is trying to manage it. Moffie also has very beautiful writing, directing and filming as well each feel as authentic as possible and make this film unique in it’s own ways! Moffie is definitely going to be a hidden gem of 2021, check this one out when you can!
In a world where supervillains are commonplace, two estranged childhood best friends reunite after one devises a treatment that gives them powers to protect their city.
It seems like every single person and their grandmother is throwing their hat in the ring when it comes to superhero movies, so here’s Ben Falcone’s attempt at one because why not? Thunder Force starts out promising enough but then quickly falls into the typical Ben Falcone Melissa McCarthy comedy, every single element, joke and more are in this movie that were in his previous movies. Thunder Force might not be as painful as Tammy or as bad as Superintelligence but oh god that doesn’t mean anything. Octavia Spencer does a fine enough job heck even Melissa McCarthy isn’t too bad this time around. The problem is the writing plus just how forced and terrible it really is, all of the jokes are the exact same thing it’s either Melissa McCarthy falling over (wow we have never seen that before!) or a joke that goes on for a painfully uncomfortable amount of time to the point where it just gets awkward. Jason Bateman gives a “it’s so bad it’s funny” performance which I guess is welcoming because the rest of this movie is just not funny. The superhero elements aren’t anything interesting either a lot of it is just very surface level which is fine I wasn’t expecting anything incredible. But the movie doesn’t do anything fun with it, there could have been something here if there was an entirely different handling this movie. But it’s basically another Ben Falcone plus Melissa McCarthy comedy…
Jerome Reviews... 