Big Time Adolescent and Star Girl (2020)

A suburban teenager comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, an aimless college dropout.

Big Time Adolescence is a movie I’ve been waiting to watch since last year, luckily the wait was worth it. It’s a coming of age story that is a really solid one, it has a lot of heart and emotion put into it. With some really well written characters and meaningful ones as well, the movie also has some very well written drama that leads to some pretty memorable scenes that standout among the rest. The direction is quite great from Jason Orley, Griffin Gluck and the rest of the cast are fantastic and the overall movie is just really solid! If you need a new coming of age movie to watch check this one out!

8/10 B+

A boy becomes intrigued by a mysterious and quirky student named Stargirl and spends his time trying to know more about her.

I got to say the newest Disney Plus original film “Stargirl” is not too shabby, it might not be as good as “Togo” but it’s definitely better than Timmy Failure, Noelle and The Lady and The Tramp remake. First off Grace VanderWaal (winner of America’s Got Talent season 11) is actually pretty darn great, the songs in this movie are actually pretty good due to her singing. The movie does have a nice sense of style to it which is very surprising to see from a movie that feels a lot like a Disney channel film…..which then enters some of main issues with the film. While yes Grace VanderWaal is no doubt a great singer, the acting on the other hand is not too great, I understand this is her first actual performance (not counting the shorts) and for what it is it’s an okay start. Everyone else is about the same nothing that bad but nothing memorable at all. The writing does feel very basic at times but nothing really harmful. I feel like if I were a lot younger like maybe 10 or 11 I would enjoy this a lot more. But overall Stargirl isn’t a bad movie, it’s just a movie that I’m really not going to look back at. If you loved a lot of the Disney channel movies I think you will have a decent time with this one.

6/10 C+

The Postcard Killings (2020)


A New York detective investigates the death of his daughter who was murdered while on her honeymoon in London; he recruits the help of a Scandinavian journalist when other couples throughout Europe suffer a similar fate. Somebody needs to fire Jeffery Dean Morgan’s agent immediately, he is the only reason why I even bothered with this movie. Let’s just say this movie isn’t worth your time at all. I hate repeating this over and over again but it applies here so might as well, if you have seen any given crime or thriller movie like this before you have already seen this one. This movie is basically that but much worse, on paper the story sounds interesting but the way the story is executed is way too slow for it’s own good and not very interesting. Which you would think having someone like Jeffery Dean Morgan on set would make things interesting but unfortunately that’s not what we get, instead we get a very basic story that’s been done to death and misses every opportunity. With that said Jeffery Dean Morgan is the only thing good about this movie otherwise this movie is just simply awful.

3/10 D-

Onward (2020)


Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there. Onward is definitely the movie that shocked me the most so far this year. Dan Scanlon who directed Monsters University which sadly I was not the biggest fan of. Plus I really think the advertising for Onward was not that great, however life is full of surprises and this movie turned out to be extremely great! First off the chemistry between Chris Pratt and Tom Holland was fantastic, I was really impressed with how well they both worked together, the animation was both stunning and really strong! It gave the movie it’s own unique feel which I really loved, one of the biggest reasons I was very skeptical about this movie at first was the character design and the style of the movie (adventure type) . I didn’t know if the movie could pull off something interesting with these types of characters, or pull off something new. However the movie takes a similar concept and turns it into it’s own, it throws in some Lord Of The Rings elements for the story and for the characters the movie gives them some great character development. Plus the movie does have it’s emotional moments which I will say almost made me cry, the final act is definitely worth the wait. It’s emotional, heartwarming and really well done, I had my doubts about this movie at the beginning but it proved me wrong which it ends up being one of my favorites of the year!

9/10 A

Swallow (2020)


Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her new obsession. Swallow was a very interesting film, I won’t say too much because I could unintentionally spoil it which I most certainly do not want to do. First off Haley Bennett does a fantastic job in the leading role, she brings a lot of power to her role and it really pays off. Everyone else gives a pretty solid performance as well, the writing is some of the best I’ve heard so far this year. It feels natural and remains strong throughout the film especially towards the end of the film. I feel like one thing that’s hurting this movie and it’s not the movie’s fault is that it’s being misrepresented as a full on horror film, while yes it is in the horror category I wouldn’t say it’s a fully fledged horror movie. It has a lot of drama elements that actually really help this movie find an identity. The atmosphere combined with many other elements give this movie a raw feel to it as well! Overall Swallow is a very strong movie that I do recommend checking out when you can!!

9/10 A

Go Back To China (2020), M.O.M (2020) and Spenser Confidential (2020)


When spoiled rich girl Sasha Li blows through most of her trust fund, she is cut off by her father and forced to go back to China and work for the family toy business. This was a pretty big disappointment, Anna Akana gives a decent performance and is quite frankly the only reason why I kept watching it. I think my biggest issues with this movie are two major things, one the movie tries way too hard to get you to sympathize for the father who is just unlikable in every single way possible. Two the movie really does not have much to say plus it really doesn’t do much. The movie seems to have trouble figuring out what plot line to stick with, it feels like it recycled through at least 2 or 3 plots during the running time. At the very least the acting, writing and the filming are passable, it is still a shame however because this movie did have a lot of potential to be a decent movie.

5/10 C
A distraught mother suspects her teenage son is plotting a school shooting, but when he slips through the cracks of the system, she is forced to take matters into her own hands. Picture We Need To Talk About Kevin as a found footage movie with less character development and you have this movie. I thought what the movie was trying to go for was interesting enough, the main issue is the character development. The son is psychotic for the sake of being psychotic there really isn’t any build up or showing how or why the son is doing what he’s doing, it’s all just “oh so he’s just doing this for no reason” plus a majority of the movie is the mother character talking to the camera which would be fine if it led to something interesting but unfortunately it doesn’t. The movie is decently acted, in terms of being shot and the writing is okay at times. Otherwise the movie is very below average and is definitely one of those found footage movies that I’ll forget I watched.

5/10 C

When two Boston police officers are murdered, ex-cop Spenser teams up with his no-nonsense roommate, Hawk, to take down criminals. Awful with every sense of the word…What the hell happened to Peter Berg? This is the second terrible movie in a row (Mile 22) this is even worse and trust me that’s really saying something. If you have seen any given movie that has this exact same premise congratulations you have already seen this movie, the acting is horrendous it feels like Mark Wahlberg is phoning it in, everyone else looks miserable from just being on set. The writing is garbage it’s honestly hard to believe that this is from the same guy who did Deepwater Horizon and Lone Survivor. There is seriously not a lot to say about this one, it’s a typical action crime comedy movie except it’s horrendous. It’s one of those movies where at first you finish watching it you think to yourself “it could have been worse” but the more you think about it the worse it gets. The jokes aren’t funny at the slightest, the action scenes are piss poor and are just laughable when compared to some scenes in Berg’s other movies and the movie is predictable. This is a complete embarrassment of a movie avoid this one at all costs.

Disgrace To Cinema F

The Lodge (2020)


A soon-to-be stepmom is snowed in with her fiancé’s two children at a remote holiday village. Just as relations begin to thaw between the trio, some strange and frightening events take place. The Lodge took me quite some time to think about, it’s directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala the two directors who worked on Goodnight Mommy (highly recommend.) so let’s start off with the acting because it’s quite fantastic, especially from Alicia Silverstone, Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh. The writing was also really strong as well, it lead to some very suspenseful and very downright creepy moments throughout the film. But what I think this movie does a fantastic job in is a few things that are combined really well which are….the setting, the filming, the atmosphere and just how suspenseful and thrilling it is! I feel like all these elements combined compliment each other really well and give us some very haunting stuff, the filming for instance combined with the setting which is mostly in a remote holiday village fuse that with the snow and you have yourself a beautiful but haunting setting. The film is very suspenseful it makes you stay on the edge of your seat, I kept thinking “where the hell is this movie going?” It’s a really well written movie that I just absolutely loved! Now I will say this movie is not going to be for everyone, some people are going to flat out dislike it. I don’t want to give too much else away so I’ll end it here. But overall The Lodge is a fantastic horror movie definitely one of my favorites so far this year, check this one out if you can!

10/10 A+

All The Bright Places (2020)


The story of Violet and Theodore, who meet and change each other’s lives forever. As they struggle with the emotional and physical scars of their past, they discover that even the smallest places and moments can mean something. All The Bright Places is one of those rare Netflix teen romance movies that are actually quite great, I really did not know much about this movie before watching it. All I knew was it was based off of a book and Elle Fanning and Justin Smith were the leading roles. This film really surprised me especially with how well done it showed heavy subjects such as depression, trauma and many other sorts of mental health. This movie does fantastic job of showing just how scary these subjects can be. The acting all around is really strong especially from Elle Fanning and Justin Smith both of which have a fantastic chemistry together. You really do care about them throughout the film, the character development is also a very strong point in this movie. Usually in a lot of these Netflix teen romance movies you will get stock characters with little to no personality, but here it feels like they are actual people. Characters who you can relate to which I did find a lot of moments in this movie relatable, the writing is really strong it leads to some very powerful moments that are quite sad. Lastly the direction from Brett Haley (who has always been really strong when it comes to directing dramas The Hero, Hearts Beat Loud and a few others) is fantastic, this guy really knows how to bring tons of emotions to a story and show a lot of character building moments. Overall All The Bright Places might be a hard watch for some but trust me when I say it’s a fantastic film that I highly recommend!

9/10 A

The Jesus Rolls (2020)

Hours after his release from prison, Jesus Quintana pairs up with fellow misfits Petey and Marie for a freewheeling joyride of petty crime and romance. If The Jesus Rolls would have came out in America last year it would have easily made my top 5 worst films of the year. When I first heard they were doing a spin off of The Big Lebowski my first reaction was “why?” the trailer looked bad and that’s all I thought about it….until I watched the actual movie…..this movie is one of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve had watching a film, first off the acting, writing, direction are all garbage. The movie can’t tell a joke to save it’s life, speaking of humor the best way to describe the humor is this…a random person who was acting really creepy across the street walks over to you and starts telling you jokes. Then you kind of just uncomfortably laugh hoping that he or she will go away, that’s what the humor feels like in this movie…and you feel that every single second. One of biggest problems with this movie is it has no reason to exist, it’s based off of a character who appeared for about 2 minutes in The Big Lebowski. Somehow that warrants a spinoff….then there’s the “plot” I say that very loosely because I’m not even 100% sure what the “plot” actually was. It’s like the director had everyone do random crap for almost 2 hours and called it a day. The movie is so poorly put together to the point where it’s almost unwatchable due to how dull, lifeless, horrible and worthless this movie is. Please avoid this garbage at all costs.

Disgrace To Cinema F

After Parkland (2020)

Students and their families share personal stories of profound trauma and loss in the wake of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. It’s quite hard to review something like After Parkland it’s a documentary on the aftermath of the Parkland shooting and how it effected the survivors or victims families. Plus many people trying to create change In gun violence which is definitely needed, it goes without saying but the film is very hard to watch. You see the several emotions from the survivors and the victims families such as Andrew Pollack, the film shows that there are several people who do not want to see this happen again. It’s very inspiring and a fantastic to see, as for the documentary itself..it’s very well done. It’s crafted very well, it gets straight to the point and goes over quite a bit about the topic. This is definitely the documentary to watch if you want to know more about Parkland, I also do recommend to give this a look it’s a very strong film!

8/10 B+

Guns Akimbo (2020)


A guy relies on his newly-acquired gladiator skills to save his ex-girlfriend from kidnappers.
Jason Lei Howden’s Guns Akimbo is incredibly ironic especially when the director himself turns out to be a troll and a racist. Shortly before this film’s release Howden went on a racist rampage on twitter I’m not going to say the full story but if your interested look up his name into google or name search him on twitter. Anyway the movie itself is a mess, the standouts here are Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving they definitely try their best with such a very weak script, the action scenes are fine enough but when this movie tries to build character development is where it falls flat. This is the type of movie where if you just want good action scenes and some okay acting then this might be okay. The direction is honestly really bad, it feels like it’s trying way too hard to be a cross between Nerve and Deadpool (two far better movies.) plus the movie does feel like it was rushed towards the end, lastly I just don’t find the movie very funny at all. Maybe if this came out back in the early 2010s the humor might be more forgivable (keyword being might.) overall I really don’t know about this one it has it’s ideas but for me it’s wasted potential. I know some people like it as a mindless action movie which is perfectly okay.

3/10 D-