Lovers Rock (2020)


A single evening at a house party in 1980s West London sets the scene, developing intertwined relationships against a background of violence, romance and music.


Lovers Rock is the second of the five parts of Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” series, Lovers Rock is one of the most beautiful films of the year! There’s so much to absolutely love about this film, first off the acting is perfect Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn Michael Ward’s chemistry is quite honestly some of the best I’ve seen in a film this year. It’s raw, emotional and just downright beautiful. In fact that’s the best word to describe this film beautiful, it goes above and beyond to show how beautiful the setting, filming, the writing and so on are. The music is another key factor for this movie, it brings so much emotion and a lot of fun to the movie! The music also tells a lot of the story which I absolutely love, I really haven’t seen a film do that like Lovers Rock in a very long time. All of this is done in just 70 minutes, those 70 minutes are some of the most compelling it truly delivers on every single level! Overall Lovers Rock is something that must be seen, please give this a watch if you haven’t already!

10/10 A+

Black Beauty (2020)


A wild horse and a teenage girl forge an unbreakable bond which keeps them connected for a lifetime.

Black Beauty is one of those stories that has been adapted into film a number of times, luckily this version is actually pretty decent. There is some decent acting with a pretty strong voice from Kate Winslet as Black Beauty that carries the movie pretty well. The writing has some genuine heartfelt moments that do give this movie some strength, it does suffer some pacing issues that ultimately do hold the film back. But it’s still a recognizable story that many people will love especially if you liked the other film adaptions.

7/10 B

Stardust (2020)


Stardust will chronicle the young David Bowie’s first visit to the US in 1971 – a trip that inspired the invention of his iconic alter ego Ziggy Stardust.


Stardust is honestly one of the worst things I’ve ever seen and that is no exaggeration. First off it’s worth noting that David Bowie and his family didn’t allow this movie to use his music. When David Bowie sadly passed away, his family said NOT to release this movie. But they went ahead and did that anyway, what do I even say about this movie? The acting is dreadful there isn’t one scene that has a good performance. The writing feels like a first draft that wasn’t even completed, it’s a gigantic mess of a movie that truly feels like nobody gave a crap while making it. If you thought Bohemian Rhapsody was a bad Biopic of a famous singer Stardust makes Bohemian Rhapsody look like a masterpiece. The direction is horrid it really shows nobody had any idea what they were doing with this movie, luckily Stardust has seemed to fall into the cracks and got almost no attention after it’s release. Which I’m glad but my point is this should had never been released especially when the family of a person you are making a movie about flat out tells you “don’t release this movie” it’s a dreadful mess that I recommend avoiding at all costs.

Disgrace To Cinema F

Happiest Season (2020)

A young woman with a plan to propose to her girlfriend while at her family’s annual holiday party discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.

Happiest Season is some of the most fun I’ve had with a film all year and it’s hands down one of the best Christmas films in a very long time. First off the acting is much better then I expected everyone is truly giving it their all Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Daniel Levy, Aubrey Plaza and Alison Brie are the highlights (at least for me). Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis’s chemistry really works here, there is so much added into their relationship and the rawness adds to it. Speaking of which this feels like one of the most realistic Christmas movies I’ve seen in a long time, a lot of Christmas films tend to go for some wacky plot while Happiest Season keeps things grounded. Sure there is one particular scene that does feel a bit over the top but even then it’s definitely not a bad scene at all, because luckily the film has the humor to back it up. It’s a genuinely hilarious movie that I found myself laughing throughout the film. Happiest Season is also one of those movies where it balances between the serious moments and the comedic moments, it’s a perfect balance that really adds to the film. The writing has tons of powerful moments one in particular that really got me, which is a scene towards the end of the film with Daniel Levy and Kristen Stewart about how it’s easy for some people to come out more then others, each person has a story and you never know what’s someone’s story is. It’s a really powerful scene that really sticks to you even if you aren’t LGBTQ it still sticks with you. Overall Happiest Season is one of my favorite films of 2020, it truly is a fantastic film that I highly recommend checking out!!

10/10 A+

Uncle Frank (2020)


In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for the family patriarch’s funeral, they’re unexpectedly joined by Frank’s lover Walid.


Uncle Frank is another film from Sundance I was very excited about watching, it’s definitely going to be one of those movies where it doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of attention that it deserves. Uncle Frank shows the reality of being gay in the south especially back then, Paul Bettany and Peter Macdissi both have beautiful chemistry, you believe their relationship and really care about their characters. The acting all around was really solid combined with the writing there were some incredibly powerful moments, especially the final act when events turn into some really powerful moments and emotions are high. Alan Ball’s direction is also spot on, the build up towards the final act is fantastic. Which is mostly due to the steady pacing of the film, overall Uncle Frank is pretty fantastic and definitely something I recommend giving a look!

8/10 B+

Life In A Year (2020)

17-year-old Daryn who finds out that his girlfriend is dying. He sets out to give her an entire life in the last year she has left.

The amount of films where there’s a sick boy or sick girl that have come out this year is unbelievable. It’s becoming a very tired trope and a very predictable one, Life In A Year follows the same basic formula as the rest of the movies, Jaden Smith actually tries in this movie but he’s just not that great, there is a few moments where he actually does pretty well but for the most part it’s just not happening. The same can be said for Cara Delevingne while she does a better job than Jaden Smith that really is not saying much, this is definitely one of her weaker roles. The rest of the movie goes exactly how you would expect, the first half of the movie is painful to sit through a lot of it is incredibly poorly written and does absolutely nothing for the viewer. The movie sort of redeems itself with the second half of the film feeling much more grounded. Unfortunately it’s far too late and the movie quickly ends, there is absolutely no reason to watch Life In A Year when movies with the exact same premise and are far better exist.

3/10 D-

Hillbilly Elegy (2020)


A Yale law student drawn back to his hometown grapples with family history, Appalachian values and the American dream.

I’m not going to harp on Hillbilly Elegy for too long because talking about this movie is just not interesting, which is something I believe I have never said before about a film I’ve reviewed. First of all Ron Howard has seriously gone downhill, I truly thought we were seeing a redemption arc with Solo but here we are talking about Hillbilly Elegy one of the worst films of the year. To get the positives out of the way Glenn Close and Amy Adams were what kept me watching, both of them really tried their best with such a horrendous script. Gabriel Basso was by far one of the worst parts about it, none of his delivery was any good and it’s painful to watch. The whole movie can be summed up by the words “poverty porn” Hillbilly Elegy is what Hollywood thinks poverty looks like when in reality it looks nothing like this. It’s the most embarrassing and ridiculous portrayal of poverty I have ever seen. Hillbilly Elegy has the same garbage editing as The Goldfinch did which in fact both films share a similar element they both go back and forth through different periods of the main character’s life. But like The Goldfinch Hillbilly Elegy does a terrible job at it, the story is not engaging, you don’t feel for any of the characters at all, the character development is piss poor and feels like nothing but stereotypes and so on. From what I’ve heard the book is absolute garbage which just begs the question of who thought it was a good idea to make it into a film? The writing is shockingly worse than I thought, it truly feels like this was written on the first draft and it was never checked on again. Overall Hillbilly Elegy is a waste of time, it’s truly one of the worst films of the year don’t waste your time..

1/10 F

Superintelligence (2020)


When an all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study average Carol Peters, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As the A.I. decides to enslave, save or destroy humanity, it’s up to Carol to prove that people are worth saving.


Superintelligence serves as a very forgettable release, Ben Falcone who has directed Tammy, Life Of The Party and The Boss (all terrible movies) continues his streak of garbage. At this point Falcone’s movies boil down to putting Melissa McCarthy in different situations, slap in some terrible comedy and call it day. Superintelligence is uninteresting and painfully unfunny, the only couple positives I can give it is Melissa McCarthy like in all of these movies is really trying her best with what she has to work with. Then there are maybe one or two moments that I found pretty okay but that’s really about it, James Corden is honestly just whatever. He gives a very basic performance that really doesn’t have anything special going for it, the writing is awful which leads into the humor which as I said before is not funny. My major problem with this movie is that some of the jokes go on for far too long, the movie painfully stretches out unfunny jokes to the point where it becomes painful and a chore to watch. The fact Superintelligence was intended to be a wide theater release just scares me, the movie is the very definition of a modern unfunny comedy. Please give this one a pass..

3/10 D-

Taylor Swift: Folklore The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020)


In “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions,” Taylor Swift performs each song in order of her album, “folklore,” and reveals the stories and secrets behind all 17 songs.


I’ll keep this brief! This is the second film featuring Taylor Swift that has come out this year and just like Miss Americana this one is just as fantastic! It’s concert film featuring of all Taylor Swift’s songs from Folklore, an album that is massively different from Taylor Swift’s other work. Just hearing Swift talk about the songs in a brief but informative detail is quite great, she explains the songs with very little words but you as the viewer completely get it. Plus the songs themselves are all fantastic they remind you of why and how Taylor Swift is such a talented young artist, the location chosen by Taylor Swift and the crew was an excellent one and matches the tone the songs are going for. It gives you this cabin with a fire going out in the middle of the woods type feeling, it’s truly a nostalgic feeling type film which works on every single level! Overall this is an excellent film that I highly recommend watching especially if you are a fan of Taylor Swift!

10/10 A+

Let Him Go (2020)


A retired sheriff and his wife, grieving over the death of their son, set out to find their only grandson.


Let Him Go is another pretty big surprise from this year, it’s from Thomas Bezucha who directed Monte Carlo which was the previous movie he directed and I have to say this was quite the jump. Let Him Go is very atmospheric with tons of very thrilling moments that catch you off guard, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Lesley Manville are all pretty fantastic here. They give some really incredible performances, Diane Lane plays a villain straight out of The Texas Chainsaw movies (to specific the the 4th Texas Chainsaw Movie) but only this time it’s meant to be taken seriously….and it somehow works? There’s a balance between her acting full on psycho and her being grounded. Lesley Manville does such a fantastic job of doing just that, the writing was also pretty strong it definitely has it’s not so good moments but it still really works. I do feel some scenes dragged on for a little too long and the movie does struggle to find it’s place at times. But when it does find it the movie does really well. As I said before the atmosphere really works, it’s just the right amount of tension that gets the audience invested. Overall a very satisfying thriller that’s definitely worth watching!

8/10 B+