Maria (2024) Film Review!

Famed opera singer Maria Callas retreats to Paris in the 1970s after a glamorous yet tumultuous life in the public eye.

Maria is directed by Pablo Larraín director of Jackie (2016), Ema (2019), Spencer (2021), El Conde (2023) and many others. Maria is the third film in Larraín’s trilogy about important 20th century women the other two being Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021). Maria tells the story of opera singer Maria Callas and her final years.

I was pretty excited about this one going in, I really loved both Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021) especially the latter it’s a film that I consider one of the best of the decade so far. Unfortunately Maria is a huge step down from the other two films of the trilogy, it’s not a bad movie by any means it just falls in line with a lot of other biopics where as Jackie and Spencer did not.

Angelina Jolie undeniably gives a phenomenal performance, it’s one of those performances where you can tell the performer really captured the soul of the person they are portraying. There’s brilliant moments during this film (mostly around the last 25 minutes) that standout quite well, you can absolutely see the pain of Maria Callas through Jolie’s eyes and acting. Jolie’s singing voice is also incredibly beautiful and really captures Callas’s voice, it’s huge and powerful to the point where her singing voice really speaks for certain scenes themselves. Much like Natalie Portman portraying Jacqueline Kennedy or Kristen Stewart portraying Princess Diana, Angelina Jolie completely captures Maria Callas and even when the script falls into typical biopic territory she’s able to still give a phenomenal performance.

The cinematography from Edward Lachman (who was also the cinematographer for Larraín’s previous film El Conde) and the direction from Pablo Larraín both mixed together work well, much like a lot of Larraín’s work the film is beautiful to look at especially when combined with the setting. While I do think Spencer’s more dreamlike filming style is a lot better it still nice to see Lachman again and much like last time with El Conde he nailed it here as well. Larraín’s direction this time around does have its weak points, but it’s still quite great. When you combine his direction with Angelina Jolie’s performance you truly get fascinating results.

The downside of Maria ultimately comes down to the script from Steven Knight, which is a bit of a disappointment since he also wrote Spencer and that wasn’t written like a traditional biopic. As I said before Maria plays out much like a usual biopic which coming off of Jackie and Spencer you can’t help but feel disappointment, granted nothing is particularly bad here. The movie does a solid job of telling the final years of Maria Callas it’s just not anything really noteworthy, the last 25 minutes or so I will admit are some very powerful moments that do get the ball rolling a bit when it comes to leaving the line of traditional biopics.

Overall Maria is just fine, if you are going to watch the movie watch it for Angelina Jolie’s performance.

Maria is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

Venom: The Last Dance (2024) Film Review

Eddie Brock and Venom must make a devastating decision as they’re pursued by a mysterious military man and alien monsters from Venom’s home world.

Venom: The Last Dance is directed by Kelly Marcel which is her directorial debut, this film serves as the final film in the Venom trilogy and is the fifth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

Going into this one I was hoping it would be somewhat fun. I liked the last film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) decently enough but did not like Venom (2018). Unfortunately The Last Dance is a very nothing movie, it really does seem like everyone involved had no clue how to wrap up the trilogy so they threw as many ideas as the wall as they possibly could.

Tom Hardy is still quite fun here, the interactions between him and Venom are still great and have some decently funny moments. They aren’t on the scale as they were in the past but considering how empty the rest of this movie is that should be considered a compliment. I also do like some of the action scenes, the special effects are quite bad in some areas but the action is just silly enough to be considered entertaining.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie is a mess, we are introduced to a lot of new characters who quite frankly should have been in the previous movies. Because tell me why this is the last movie of the trilogy and we are only now getting introduced to bare bone characters? Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple in particular have very little to work with, the movie also wastes so much potential with Knull (played by Andy Serkis) as the villain. Knull suffers from not being in the movie that much and really fails to show how interesting the character can be. Instead the movie wastes so much time on plot points that should have been explored far earlier in more depth.

Perhaps the most jarring thing about this movie is the final moments, it ends with Maroon 5’s Memories in just such a so bad it’s hilarious type of way that is so baffling. It’s by far the most memorable part of the movie in all the wrong ways, it makes you wish that the rest of the movie at least attempted to try and be that silly. But that’s not the case here, unfortunately you are stuck with dull characters that you couldn’t care less about with some mediocre action and a very bland wrap up to a trilogy.

The ending also really makes you question what was even the point of the trilogy to begin with, it’s obviously trying to go for this emotional “let’s look at the old times” sort of deal but it doesn’t work narratively and that it’s just so laughably bad.

Overall Venom: The Last Dance is a very nothing movie and adds nothing to the trilogy, it’s a shame because as I said earlier the stuff with Knull had potential. There was just absolutely no focus whatsoever at all in this movie.

Venom: The Last Dance is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Memoir Of A Snail (2024) Film Review!

After a series of misfortunes, a snail-collecting, melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself amid the clutter of everyday life.

Memoir Of A Snail is directed by Adam Elliot who previously directed Mary and Max (2009).

When I heard Adam Elliot was going to direct another film I was incredibly excited, Mary and Max (2009) was such a fantastic film that I don’t think enough people talk about. I’m happy to say Memoir Of A Snail is yet another fantastic film from Elliot, a film that is both an incredibly dark tragedy yet a very inspiring and hopeful film that’s blended with a mix of comedy.

For starters the stop motion animation is absolutely beautiful especially when combined with the use of color. The dark colors used throughout the film really set the mood and completely capture the atmosphere that is present throughout, the color and stop motion animation itself tells the story of each scene and what’s going on in great detail. Speaking of which the detail is just wonderful, it’s like reading a pop up storybook it’s all in your face but you are constantly in awe of how beautiful everything is especially the film’s world. If there’s an example of a film that immediately takes you into the world as soon as it starts Memoir Of A Snail is one of them!

The voice acting is just brilliant, Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Magda Szubanski and everyone else make their characters come to life. They add so much to what at first may seem like straightforward characters, but as the film goes on we learn more about them. Sarah Snook in particular blends so well with Adam Elliot’s work and style that it’s just incredibly satisfying to watch unfold, the story of Grace (played by Sarah Snook), Pinky (played by Jacki Weaver and Gilbert (played by Kodi Smit-McPhee) is so powerful, so well done and just absolutely filled to the brim with touching moments that will leave you shedding tears.

The writing is absolutely beautiful, a story about good things that get taken away from you or go horribly wrong. Yet still finding the positives in life and have this inspiring feel despite all of that is truly fascinating. It’s a film that hits even harder since it’s actually loosely inspired by Elliot’s own life, which isn’t too surprising to hear given that the film definitely has this personal feel to it. Like Elliot is inviting you to listen as he tells his story, it’s all very beautiful to listen to and really makes you feel like you’re getting to know Elliot as a friend.

Memoir Of A Snail is one of the best films of the year, I absolutely do hope we get to see Adam Elliot’s next film somewhat soon. But if we don’t I’m sure the wait will be absolutely worth it!

Memoir Of A Snail is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Juror #2 (2024) Film Review

A juror for a high-profile murder trial finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma that could influence the verdict and potentially convict, or free, the accused killer.

Juror #2 is directed by Clint Eastwood director of Unforgiven (1992), Space Cowboys (2000), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Gran Torino (2008), American Sniper (2014), The Mule (2018), Richard Jewel (2019) and so many others.

It is an absolute shame what Warner Bros did to what might be Clint Eastwood’s last film Juror #2 only putting it into 50 theaters, while the movie did end up getting released in 300 theaters in the UK. It still felt like a huge slap to the face to a director who has been working for years and has given audiences so many fantastic films.

If Juror #2 is indeed Eastwood’s last film then he finished incredibly strongly, while yes the film is a lot like 12 Angry Men (1957) and is a very traditional courtroom drama. The film itself does a lot more than that and really manages to have this old school feel that tackles the themes of justice, what doing the right thing really means and a haunting examination of guilt. All of this combined together paints a very interesting picture that the viewer slowly examines throughout the film.

The performances are fantastic especially Nicholas Hoult who plays Justin Kemp the main character we follow and we slowly but surely get to know more about him throughout the film. Hoult’s performance is incredibly authentic and really captures the mind thinking of many different scenarios, when he’s interacting with the rest of the jurors we get to see inside his mind or even when he’s at home with his wife Ally Crewson (played by Zoey Deutch.) sure the interactions may not seem like much but you can tell from his facial expressions that he’s hard at work thinking of both outcomes of the case. Deutch is also the heart of the film as well, even if she doesn’t get a lot of character development she still gives such a great performance that really lifts Justin Kemp as a character.

Toni Collette is also quite great here as well, her acting is incredibly raw much like everyone else in the film and while her character Faith Killebrew is a bit of a traditional prosecutor type of character her performance is what makes it worth it.

The direction from Eastwood is fantastic here, you can absolutely feel the tension between the characters. Especially when they challenge each other. When they question each other’s viewpoints on the cast, it’s all very fascinating and is once again an example of how Eastwood captures the old school feel of the courtroom drama film while also adding his touch to the mix.

The film tackling themes of justice, doing the right thing and guilt are all very well done. Almost immediately when the jurors start to deliberate they want to find the man guilty, with one of the main reasons being that they just want to go home and get it over with. Which brings the question is this really justice? Eventually when we do get to know more about Justin and his past he changes his position from wanting to not convict to convict due to a twist that I won’t spoil here. That’s where the theme of guilt comes in and we see it play out through the rest of the film in a very haunting way that is sure to shock the viewer.

Overall Juror #2 is a fantastic film that might seem simple enough at first, but gets much more interesting and has a lot of twists that are sure to keep the viewer on a excellent ride from beginning to end.

Juror #2 is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

Y2K (2024) Film Review

On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Year’s Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives when Y2K becomes a reality.

Y2K is directed by Kyle Mooney which is his directorial debut.

Y2K is a film about the whole Y2K scare that was going on and what if it actually happened. A simple enough idea that for the most part executes its premise decently well, since Kyle Mooney really goes all out to make something incredibly fun.

The cast are quite solid who each deliver some funny moments, Jaeden Martell and Rachel Zegler are charming and the bond that slowly builds over the course of the movie is cute. It’s not anything really special and does have the typical love interest cliches you come to expect but they fit the 90s callback atmosphere going on here. Although I do wish the movie did a lot more with Zegler’s character there’s moments where you could tell they were attempting to do something but kind of forget about it. Kyle Mooney gives a humorous performance that got a lot of laughs out of me, he’s a very basic stoner character but once again it matches the atmosphere.

Fred Durst is the standout and the moment he enters the film he completely steals the show. He matches the atmosphere and really goes all out with his performance, easily connects with the rest of the cast and doesn’t feel forced. Durst’s inclusion could have easily felt forced and would have basically killed the movie right at the moment he enters. However due to how charming the film is, the atmosphere working in his favor and the energy he brings it completely works.

The robot designs are incredibly neat, seeing all the different parts together and the detail of them is fascinating. The music is a nice throwback to the 90s and the kills are a lot of fun, all of these little things really help to mold this movie into something incredibly fun.

The weakest part of Y2K is by far the character writing, outside of Fred Durst a lot of the other characters really don’t have a whole lot going on. Which is to be expected it’s a very silly film about Y2K, but I don’t think some of the characters were exactly strong enough to really make the viewer remember them. Eli (played by Jaeden Martell) is a fine enough main character but if you have seen any coming of age films, sex comedies like American Pie (1999) or teen comedies you basically have seen Eli. The same can be said with the other characters Laura (played by Rachel Zegler) is your usual love interest, Garrett (played by Kyle Mooney) is the typical stoner, Danny (played by Julian Dennison) is the typical best friend and so on.

Despite my problems however I do think Y2K is a surprisingly charming film, there might not be a whole lot going on here writing wise (hence why it’s a bit hard to really go into detail) but the movie undeniably oozes with charm and keeps that up all the way through the film. It’s a very fun watch that I do recommend taking a look at.

Y2K is currently in theaters.

7/10 B

Quick Review: A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter (2024)

Pop icon Sabrina Carpenter jingles all the bells in her first ever variety music special.

A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter is directed by Sam Wrench director of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023) and a whole lot of other concert films.

This is going to be short because there really isn’t a whole lot to be said. That being said A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter is exactly what you expect. Fun performances, celebrity guests, duets and a few skits all done in 50 minutes.

The songs are great and do show how great of a performer Sabrina Carpenter really is, by the far the best moment of the special is her and Chappell Roan singing Wham’s Last Christmas. Their voices go so well together like peanut butter and jelly, it feels natural and the two’s voices bounce off of each other incredibly well. Tyla, Shania Twain and Kali Uchis are the other singers Carpenter has a duet with.

The best solo song is Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do an excellent performance that really shows Carpenter’s powerful voice, very well done and I do think this one of the few moments where the special was visually interesting.

Everything else about the special is just fine enough, the filming is nothing really special, the skits are chuckle worthy but not really anything you are going to remember (although I will say I do think Sabrina Carpenter’s acting has gotten better) and the special itself definitely could have benefited with being a bit longer, you can absolutely feel the special cramming in so much with very little time towards the end.

Having that said from what was presented this was not bad, it’s a very fun time and Sabrina Carpenter is quite likable to really make this special stand on its feet. I don’t think this is something I’ll ever go back to but it’s definitely not a bad way to spend 50 minutes.

A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter is available on Netflix.

7/10 B

Here (2024) Film Review!

Multiple generations of couples and families inhabit the same home over the course of a century.

Here is directed by Robert Zemeckis director of Back To The Future trilogy (1985, 1989 and 1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Forrest Gump (1994), Flight (2012), The Walk (2015), Pinocchio (2022) and many others.

Here gave me some sort of hope that Robert Zemeckis could put his directing career back on track, the premise (having one camera angle and have the camera sit there the entire movie) seemed interesting and Tom Hanks with Zemeckis is also welcoming. Unfortunately the movie’s premise is about the only thing going for it, I don’t think Here is as terrible as some reviews make it out to be. However I do think the movie settles with such a paper thin script and characters that ultimately bring this down quite a lot.

The acting is decent enough, Tom Hanks gives a good performance just not one of the best in his career. It’s very much like a lot of roles he’s played in the past, Paul Bettany is the standout here, he gives a very believable performance that matches the atmosphere the movie is going for. His last moments in the movie are truly great and the back forth conversations he has with the rest of the cast is at the very least some of the better moments. In terms of characters Leo and inventor (played by David Fynn) and Stella Beekman a model (played by Ophelia Lovibond) are by far the most fun and interesting, sure at times they do feel very out of place but their delivery with some of the jokes actually works and they are quite likable as well. It really makes you wish that the movie revolved around them and their bond between one another.

The single camera angle premise is undeniably ambitious, it tells the story of this one spot of land from the dinosaurs, Benjamin Franklin and many eras in history. It’s a fantastic idea on paper and at times does live up to the idea, when the movie wasn’t focusing on paper thin characters it was at its best. Just seeing the different times in history of this spot of land brings this idea that every spot in our world has history to it, which is fascinating to really think about.

Unfortunately the movie’s script really fails to bring this idea full circle, while it’s neat to see how the inhabitants of the single spot change throughout the years. It doesn’t help when you have such a dull script that fails to give a lot of these characters depth, Richard Young (played by Tom Hanks), Margaret Young (played by Robin Wright), Al Young (played by Paul Bettany) and Rose Young (played by Kelly Reilly) although well acted are very much typical family drama characters that we have seen multiple times before. You want to feel for these characters but the movie itself doesn’t give these characters the opportunity to have strong moments.

The digital de-aging is very noticeable, that’s part of the reason why these characters don’t work and can’t really connect to the viewer. It’s a huge whiplash when you have the beautiful score from Alan Silvestri and the atmosphere that it takes you out of the movie, the over reliance on CG also doesn’t help at all. It really conflicts with the whole one camera angle idea and even ruins some potentially great shots.

Overall Here is very disappointing, it has its moments, but a lot of this is a huge missed opportunity. Having that said I don’t hate the movie. It’s far more disappointing than it is bad.

Here is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

Nutcrackers (2024) Film Review!

A strait-laced man finds his life suddenly upended when he becomes the caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews.

Nutcrackers is directed by David Gordon Green director of George Washington (2000), Pineapple Express (2008), Joe (2013), Stronger (2017), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), Halloween Ends (2022), The Exorcist: Believer (2023) and many others.

I’m not going to spend this short review trashing David Gordon Green and highlighting his downfall, because I do think despite Nutcrackers not being something I would call good at the very least it’s a huge step up from his last movie The Exorcist: Believer (2023).

I’ve always rooted for Ben Stiller and even if he really doesn’t give a very noteworthy performance of his career he is still pretty solid here, you can definitely tell during a handful of moments he put heart into them and did what he could to make them work. To his credit there are a bunch of scenes here that actually are kind of sweet and do make you smile a bit, even when the movie falls into cliche territory.

Unfortunately that’s really where the highlights end, the rest of the movie is this weird mishmash of wanting to be a comedy and be taken seriously. The movie makes it clear it’s a comedy, but it also has this indie movie type of style that makes it look serious especially with the atmosphere that acts like it’s going for this depression feel. It’s very odd considering some of the comedic scenes that take place, I get what it’s trying to do but I really don’t think this was planned out well at all.

The finale of the movie needed so much more development, we aren’t really given a lot of information or shown that the kids can do ballet. So the Nutcracker show that’s performed at the end sort of just feels like nothing, it does feel like a giant waste of time considering the movie barely explored the kids’s talent. It’s a shame because I do think what the movie was trying to do with connecting the plots together was interesting, but it was just done in such a sloppy and rushed way that it loses the viewer almost immediately.

Nutcrackers isn’t anything terrible, it has decent performances from Ben Stiller and the kids. But being filled to the brim with cliches, a very unfocused plot and mishmash of atmospheres costs this movie big time.

Nutcrackers is available on Hulu.

5/10 C

Sweethearts (2024) Film Review!

Two college freshmen make a pact to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break, leading them on a chaotic night out in their home town that puts their co-dependent friendship to the test.

Sweethearts is directed by Jordan Weiss which is her directorial debut.

Sweethearts is one of those movies you instantly think of when someone says “straight to streaming movie” while I definitely think this is better than a lot of Netflix’s romantic comedy output recently. That’s really not saying all that much since Sweethearts ends up suffering from some of the exact same issues.

If there’s one major positive here it’s the performances from Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga who really do the best they can with such a shotty script that quickly loses its charm during the second half of the movie. There are at least some moments you believe their characters Jamie (played by Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (played by Nico Hiraga) have this bond, it’s just a shame all of these moments are in the first half of the movie and not the second half. Where the movie kind of needs to pick up the pace with the development of these characters.

The second half of the movie boils down to a terrible version of Booksmart (2019), we have seen plenty of movies trying to replicate what Booksmart (2019) did and most have failed. That’s most certainly the case here, the movie goes about it in the most predictable and lazy way possible that you can see coming from a mile away. Unfortunately Shipka and Hiraga can’t really sell you the bond between their characters mainly due to a huge lack of development, sure we are told they are good friends but we never actually get anything more concrete than that.

Despite my issues I don’t think Sweethearts is one of the worst romantic comedies out there, it’s just a very underwhelming one that is bound to be forgotten about very quickly.

Sweethearts is available on MAX or HBO Max.

4/10 D+

Most Anticipated Films Of December 2024!

Well we are here, 2024 is coming to an end quite soon. I still have some reviews from November to post, which will be posted this week. December is going to be a busy and packed month! So let’s just get right to it!

20. A Nonsense Christmas With Sabrina Carpenter – December 6th (Netflix)

19. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 – December 20th (Theaters)

18. Nightbitch – December 6th (Theaters)

17. Oh Canada – December 6th (Theaters)

16. The Fire Inside – December 25th (Theaters)

15. The End – December 6th (Theaters)

14. Maria – December 11th (Netflix)

13. The Order – December 6th (Theaters)

12. A Complete Unknown – December 25th (Theaters)

11. Y2K – December 6th (Theaters)

10. Queer – December 13th (Theaters)

9. The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim – December 13th (Theaters)

8. Juror No 2 – December 3rd (VOD)

7. Babygirl – December 25th (Theaters)

6. Hard Truths – December 6th (Limited Theaters) and January 10th (Wide Theaters)

5. The Last Showgirl – December 13th (Limited Theaters) and January 10th (Wide Theaters)

4. Nickel Boys – December 13th (Theaters)

3. Flow – December 6th (Theaters)

2. The Brutalist – December 20th (Theaters)

1. Nosferatu December 25th (Theaters)