A couple fights to hold their relationship together as a memory loss virus spreads and threatens to erase the history of their love and courtship.
Little Fish is how you do a pandemic movie, I was genuinely surprised of how much I liked this one. Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell both do a fantastic job in their roles and give very authentic performances as well. The chemistry between the two are really strong and feel like an actual relationship, the writing is also quite great something that Locked Down was missing was character development and character moments. Luckily Little Fish remembers that and puts in character development and a ton of character building moments. We take a look at what the characters are feeling and what their thoughts are about the pandemic. They are both trying to find each other which gets more and more powerful as the film goes on, especially at the end which did hit me pretty hard. Little Fish is also beautifully made and has a beautiful atmosphere as well, it gives the type of atmosphere and care that other pandemic movies should really follow. It’s also worth noting this is directed by Chad Hartigan who previously did Morris From America, overall Little Fish is about a couple finding themselves that leads to a beautifully written story. I highly recommend giving this one a watch!
Continuing the romantic life of the teenage girl and facing her good and hard times with her friends and family.
To All The Boys: Always And Forever is a nice wrap up to the trilogy, I loved the first film, the second movie was nowhere near as good on a rewatch and this one I definitely feel fixed a lot of the problems the second had. What makes all these movies however is the cast, especially Lana Condor and that applies here. They all seem like they are genuinely having fun being in these movies which is actually refreshing to see, Always and Forever is much better written than the second movie, it has much more character moments with some development for some of the minor characters who have been on the sideline for the last two films. Sure there are some typical YA film cliches that do hold this movie back from being better than the first film, but at least the movie is charming and knows what it’s set out to do. It knows it’s serving as this finale but nothing too huge which is exactly what this movie is. It’s a wrap up that’s tying loose ends together and answer some of the big questions. The acting and writing are overall great (outside of some jokes that really don’t land at all) overall there really isn’t much else to say, it’s a very solid movie that’s a nice ending to the trilogy!
Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time – ever.
I will tell you one thing I was NOT expecting, that I would end up liking Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar. The film was supposed to come out in theaters but like some other movies got switched to a premium VOD release, I knew absolutely nothing about this movie going into it. The film itself has this personality to it that I really like, it’s very bright and colorful with some great performances from Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig and Jamie Dornan, all three of which have quite a great chemistry with one another. However the chemistry between Mumolo and Wiig is quite hilarious, the jokes the two share are quite great and got a ton of laughs out of me. Something not many films have been doing as of late so I give huge props to that. The film is very silly but charming at the same time, which is what truly helps the film in the long run. It has a silly plot with very ridiculous villains but the film is aware of that, it makes jokes of pretty much any scene happening in the movie which is truly great. The writing gives the audience some cleverly written jokes which is again refreshing to see, but overall Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar is a huge blast of a movie, I highly recommend giving this one a watch!!
7/10 B
Two teens who live the same day repeatedly, enabling them to create the titular map.
Well this was a surprise, Ian Samuels who previously did Sierra Burgess is a big loser shows a vast improvement with The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things. Remember back in my Palm Springs review where I said that Palm Springs took the whole Groundhog Day concept and changed it up to make it it’s own? Well the same applies here with The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things, although it may not be as good as Palm Springs. The movie still has a ton of charm and is very well written, Kathryn Newton and Kyle Allen have wonderful chemistry with one another and both give really solid performances. As I said before the Groundhog Day concept feels very fresh here, it’s done in a way that seems familiar yet manages to be new at the same time. The writing also feels raw at times especially when we get a ton of character moments, that’s where the movie shines the most. When it focuses on the characters and talks about their backgrounds and what they are thinking in the situation in question. Overall The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things is a well made movie that I recommend giving a watch!
John Peterson lives with his partner Eric and their adopted daughter in Southern California. When he is visited by his aging father Willis from Los Angeles who is searching for a place to retire, their two very different worlds collide.
I get Falling is supposed to be a personal film to Viggo Mortensen but this was very uncomfortable to sit through and not in a way that makes the film good. The only main thing I can praise is the acting which I thought all around was pretty solid. Otherwise the rest of the film is like sitting through a disaster, the main problem I have with this movie is how it barely goes into the surface about dementia. All what happens is Lance Henriksen goes on several outbursts and keeps yelling so many slurs at Terry Chan (who’s playing Mortensen’s partner in the film) and just being downright awful to everyone else around him. But then tries to complete justify this by giving a very half assed lesson in forgiveness. Henriksen’s character is just not likable at all, no matter how hard the movie tries to throw this “forgiveness” angle into it it just comes off as very awkward and very uncomfortable. Plus the surface level of showing dementia really doesn’t help at all, it never shows what a lot of the other characters are thinking it only shows their reactions when Henriksen says slurs, racism or spews misogynistic comments. Even then it’s not done in a very authentic way, it turns into a gigantic mess of film by the end. I had a lot of hopes for this movie but the writing was just not there and neither was the direction. It’s a shame because this could have actually been something very interesting, but instead it’s very forgettable and really doesn’t do much at all.
When Nadja becomes pregnant, they make an attempt to rekindle their relationship by traveling to the north of Sweden for a hiking trip but soon thier romantic trip turns into a nightmare.
Sort of hard to say where Red Dot falls as far as being good or not, there’s some stuff such as the acting that was quite decent as well as some very atmospheric scenes that do capture a very thrilling feel. On the other hand the pacing is not exactly great there are parts where the movie really drags, as the movie does go on it becomes very familiar which is unfortunate. The 3rd act is going to be a hit for some people and for others it’s going to be a miss. I respect that the movie definitely tried something different and didn’t hold back. But I do wish the execution was a lot better as well as the build up to the final scene. It’s definitely far better than some of Netflix’s other horror movies but it just didn’t do it for me.
Zu is newly sober when she receives news that she is to become the sole guardian of her half-sister named Music, a young girl on the autism spectrum. The film explores two of Sia’s favorite themes: finding your voice and creating family.
This is from someone who was on the spectrum as a kid, while I’m not on the spectrum anymore It’s still part of who I am. With that said knowing the disgusting garbage that has come out about this movie I still gave it a chance…here’s my review.
Where to even begin with Sia’s gigantic piece of garbage known as Music, I think we should briefly go over the controversy. The main points of the controversy were so many different things one Maddie Ziegler who is neurotypical was casted as an autistic person but that’s not even the scratch of the surface there’s the whole prone restraint scene, the fact Sia complained about genuine criticism, Sia calling an autistic actor who gave criticism a “bad actor”. Sia flat out refusing to apologize and condemn her fans for sending death threats to the autistic community on Twitter. There’s so much more to it if you follow me on Twitter you are probably already caught up to where we are now. Anyway let’s talk about this garbage.
Now before any single one of Sia’s fans are going to pop up and say “you went in just to hate it” no I didn’t. I gave Music a chance just like any other film, I have something that I like to say very often and it’s “I like to give almost every film a chance to impress, surprise or disappoint” and that applies here. With that said the film is still garbage, first off let’s talk about the basics and then we will cover the portrayal or autism itself. The acting is complete garbage there is just no other words to describe it, Maddie Ziegler is given barely anything to do, Ben Schwartz (who is for whatever reason wearing cornrows) looks like he wants to leave the set, Leslie Odom Jr’s performance is very awkward and Kate Hudson is terrible. It begs the question how in the name of hell did Hudson get nominated by the Golden Globes? Her performance feels so incredibly lazy to the point where you even wonder was she even trying? The writing doesn’t help the movie either, there are some incredibly ridiculous lines that no actual person would ever say. Music wants to be taken seriously as this learning lesson but completely falls flat on its face especially when it’s trying to bring in serious moments one of which being the prone restraint scene (I will get to that more in a moment). The direction, editing and everything else is just complete garbage, it’s clear that Sia doesn’t have a single clue about filmmaking, even some bad directors have at least some sense of how to make a film. Sia seems to think slapping in so many different scenes with many characters who barely get developed or properly introduced and thinking a script that not even a college play would accept is proper filmmaking. The direction has this type of desperate energy like it wants to tell the viewer “look at me I’m talking about a subject I have no idea about!!”. Even if you took away the whole plot about autism it would still be an absolute trainwreck of a movie, finally let’s talk about how the film portrays autism…..spoiler alert it’s a stereotype. I knew right when the trailer dropped this movie was going to be another huge stereotype of how autistic people act. Maddie Ziegler’s character Music is barely given any lines, a bunch of it is offensive stereotype of what clearly some neurotypical people think autistic people talk like. It’s clear to me nobody involved with this movie Sia, the writers, the producers or anyone have never actually sat down and talked to an autistic person. I don’t care if Sia claims she did “years of research” the film doesn’t show that at the slightest, it shows that nobody involved with the film actually cares about autistic people and decided to be as ableist as possible. The scenes where the film attempts to show “autistic meltdowns” are the absolute worst, they are played off as entertainment and no lessons are given. Like something that would have been interesting is if the movie explained how to help someone when they are going through situations like that, but nope it’s done in such poor taste and once again no research. Then there’s the prone restraint scene which really angered me to the point where I had to pause the movie for five minutes to calm myself down. Prone restraint has KILLED autistic people and it’s not done in a way to show that it’s dangerous (don’t believe Sia’s fans they are complete liars). The film plays it off as “this is what you do to autistic people when they are going through trauma or a bad episode.” I hate repeating myself but ONCE AGAIN THE FILM SHOWS NO AMOUNT OF RESEARCH! Music was not made for autistic people in mind it was made for those people you have on your Facebook and Twitter pages who swear up and down they care about autistic people but turn around and bully autistic people. This movie is for those people to feel better about themselves serving as nothing but inspiration porn a genre that seriously needs to die off (oh yeah and Sia inserts herself as a savior in this film too). The music segments are absolutely grating as well, I really don’t have a whole lot to comment on the scenes. Except that they are poorly directed, acted and just not very impressive. Several films have done those types of scenes far better, besides none of them are that long so what’s the point? Overall Music is hands down the worst film of 2021 so far, with offensive stereotypes, refusing to do research, horrible acting, dreadful writing, some of the worst directing I’ve ever seen. Music is truly a whole new level of bad and offensive, I recommend watching Peanut Butter Falcon or Keep The Change (the two main leads are actually autistic and I even know them as well!) or just watch any other movie.
The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O’Neal.
Judas And The Black Messiah was definitely one of the biggest highlights of Sundance 2021 hands down. This film was also one of my most anticipated films of 2021 and it does not disappoint at all! There’s so much to talk about here so Iet’s get started, first off all of the performances were fantastic. But the standouts are definitely Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield and Dominique Fishback. All of which do an incredible job in their roles, Daniel Kaluuya captures the spirit of Fred Hampton. How he acts, how he felt, how he thought about certain situations, his relationships with other people. It’s all there and really makes the film that much more powerful, LaKeith Stanfield also does a fantastic job with playing William O’Neil in fact I feel this is one of Stanfield’s best performances so far in his career, like how Daniel Kaluuya captures the spirit of Fred Hampton. Stanfield captures the spirit of William O’Neil incredibly well it’s like you are being thrown back in the past and witnessing events take place all over again. Speaking of which I feel that’s what this film does an incredible job, it feels like a huge time capsule and a truly fantastic one. It captures the moments that will make you angry in the best way possible, mostly due to how incredibly well written this film is, given the events that happened and just how beautifully made this film is. Shaka King should really be proud of himself because this is so far one of the best directed films I’ve seen so far this year, he captures every important moment about Fred Hampton and what made him who he was. Shaka King also captures the relationships that Hampton had and why he is an important figure. The last 20 minutes of the film will make you angry and rightfully so, because of what happened to Fred Hampton. The last 20 minutes are powerful and horrifying they don’t sugarcoat anything at all, the film doesn’t hold back at all which is very important when you talk about films like Judas And The Black Messiah. Overall Judas And The Black Messiah is a fantastic film, it’s wonderfully crafted and a very powerful film that as I said before will make you so angry. I can’t wait to see what Shaka King does next! Make sure to see this film on HBO Max when it comes out tomorrow February 12th!
A bereaved woman seeks out a new life, off the grid in Wyoming.
I was originally going to skip Land at Sundance due to the film being so close from releasing, but the whole theater situation in NY right now is not 100% resolved, while yes theaters are open there is no guarantee that the theaters would get Land. So I decided to give a shot and I’m really glad I did, because Land is a very promising start to Robin Wright’s directing career. Land follows a woman is grieving and wants to get away from a lot so she goes off the grid in Wyoming, what I really appreciate about this film is how we as the audience are connected with Edee (played by Robin Wright) she feels like someone we would know and talk to on a daily basis. We get tons of beautiful moments with Edee thinking about her life, the cinematography is also beautiful. The film has plenty of beautiful shots that really compliment the setting really well, lastly there’s the overall heart and passion of this film. It has a lot of heart and passion which really makes you appreciate the film, even some of the smallest moments have a lot of passion in them. The ending is also a huge standout that has a ton of heart. What does hurt this movie is the writing, while there isn’t really anything bad about the writing it tends to be on the more basic side. There are powerful moments that do the film a lot of good, but then there are times where I could help but feel that it could have been a bit better. But despite that Land is a very solid film that I definitely recommend checking out when it comes out tomorrow February 12th if you can! It’s not going to be anything breathtaking but it’s a film made with passion and sometimes that’s just what you need in a movie.
A young man is sent to “La Maca”, a prison of Ivory Coast in the middle of the forest ruled by its prisoners. With the red moon rising, he is designated by the Boss to be the new “Roman” and must tell a story to the other prisoners.
Night Of The Kings is a film that has been on my radar for the longest time, I believe since it was shown at TIFF. When I saw that it was being shown at Sundance I was pretty excited about it!! Luckily the movie most certainly did not disappoint, there’s seriously a lot to love here. First off all the performances are quite great, everyone involved seriously does a great job of expressing how they feel not with just words or their facial expressions but their movements and actions. Which leads me to my next point, the film is about one prisoner telling stories to several people in one night, which is a fascinating concept that I strongly feel the movie does a great job with. Not only is the story told through words but with visuals, cinematography, movement and actions combined all together tells a very interesting story. The film takes all of those elements and does so much with them, it shows how the characters feel, what they think of the stories and have very authentic conversations with each other. I like to think the film is celebrating the power of storytelling in it’s own unique ways, it truly does a fantastic job with it! The story itself is quite powerful with some really emotional scenes that are remarkable. Overall Night Of The Kings is a film I strongly recommend watching when it releases on February 26th (Virtual cinemas and theses) and on VOD March 5th.
An ex-convict strikes up a friendship with a boy from a troubled home.
Palmer is a beautiful story about a man trying to move on with his life after being in jail for some time, for starters Justin Timberlake does a fantastic job in the leading role! This is by far his best performance in quite some time, it was very refreshing to see him do something a lot different from his other recent roles, he put so much heart and soul in his role and really made you connect with him. Ryder Allen is quite fantastic as well, he does a fantastic job in his role especially for a child actor. In fact he gives quite possibly gives one of the best performances from a child actor I’ve seen in a very long time. He really captures his role quite well and gives a very raw performance as well, the writing is smooth and is actually straightforward! It tells a beautiful story that has bumps in the road that Timberlake and Allen have to go through, the writing also has a lot of powerful moments as well! Especially towards the end, Fisher Stevens does a great job at directing the film. Keeping as authentic as possible and makes the audience feel connected to Timberlake and Allen! Overall this is definitely something I recommend watching!!
Jerome Reviews... 