An astronaut struggles to maintain his grip on reality during a possibly fatally compromised mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan.
Slingshot is directed by Mikael Häfström director of 1408 (2007), The Rite (2011), Escape Plan (2013), Outside The Wire (2021) and a few others.
Slingshot is what happens when you throw random ideas for an ending at all without thinking, you get something completely nonsensical that does not match at all with what was shown previously.
The performances are fine enough here, Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne are solid and do well enough during the first two acts of the movie. The first two acts aren’t anything to write home about, in fact they are quite forgettable but nothing I would say is necessarily terrible. Just not written in a way that’s going to grab the viewer’s attention, the movie does attempt to explore John’s (played by Casey Affleck) past but has a hard time of making a distinction when it’s the past or present which ultimately leads to a bit of a mess.
When the twist and the third act happens that’s when things go from being on the bland side of things to being a complete and total mess. Suddenly nothing makes sense, everything you just saw from the rest of the movie becomes incredibly pointless and meaningless. There’s only so far someone can suspend their disbelief, this is incredibly pushing it. It might have been one thing if what ends up happening were interesting but it doesn’t even achieve at being that.
The best I can say about Slingshot is it’s decently made and has decent acting, but ultimately ends up being incredibly forgettable and ridiculous in a very bad way.
Curtis and his family are selected to test a revolutionary new device, a digital assistant called AIA, that takes smart homes to the next level. As AIA begins to learn everyone’s behavior and anticipate their needs, it soon makes sure nothing and no one gets in the family’s way.
Afraid is directed by Chris Weitz director of The Golden Compass (2007), Twilight: New Moon (2009), Operation Finale (2018) and a few others.
I really don’t think you need me to tell you that Afraid is horrendous and completely fails on just about every single level. This is basically if you took M3GAN (2022) as well as the character and made her a smart home AI, it’s not a terrible idea on the surface but absolutely requires a lot to standout which you could probably guess it doesn’t.
John Cho is really trying here, but the script doesn’t allow him or the rest of the cast to bring any interesting moments between their characters. They are all stock characters filled with cliches, none of the family are able to have their own identity due to this and come off more as retreads from better films. Having that said the performances while not great are the only remotely fine enough part about this movie, you can tell the cast are trying their best. But with a script so empty they can only work with so much.
If you hadn’t guessed already this is yet another one of those “danger of AI” movies, which the movie basically copies the same formula. AI is introduced and is proved to be helpful, strange things happen and the AI is being questioned, the AI starts fully turns against the family. If you have seen a single one of these movies you can already guess what’s going to happen. Afraid doesn’t have anything new to say or it doesn’t do anything interesting at all.
The ending is laughably bad, the movie goes from an AI wanting to destroy the family to begging for forgiveness in the most unintentionally funny way they could have possibly come up with. The messaging is immediately lost here, is the movie warning viewers about AI or is it pro-AI? What was the point of all of this? Why did the family just shrug off AIA trying to kill them? It’s absolutely bizarre and makes very little sense in the context of the rest of the movie.
Overall Afraid is terrible and a very confused mess, at the very least Subservience was attempting something a bit different (although still very much like M3GAN) Afraid however goes for the most laziest direction possible.
After the death of her best friend Izzy, Anna focuses all her attention on Booger, the stray cat which she and Izzy took in. When Booger bites her, she begins to undergo a strange transformation.
Booger is directed by Mary Dauterman which is her directorial debut.
A body horror film in which a cat bites a woman and she slowly goes through a transformation. A very straightforward premise that while doesn’t really do all that much, is still fun to watch unfold.
Grace Glowicki gives a decent performance, it’s not anything mind blowing or anything but you do feel the emotion of her grieving the loss of her best friend. Which is the center focus of the movie, the movie itself doesn’t really go into too much depth. But from the quick snippets on Glowicki’s character Anna’s phone of her best friend we can gather the information we need.
The body horror elements are fun, they don’t go incredibly far with them and instead opt to use it more as symbolism for trauma or grief. Which at times works but could have went a lot further, the twist at the end is pretty fun and does leave the viewer with questions in a good way.
Overall Booger may not have a whole lot going on, but it is a decently fun body horror movie that I do recommend and of course Booger the cat is cute!
A brilliant young misfit from Texas finds her morals challenged while serving in the U.S. Air Force and working as an NSA contractor.
Winner is directed by Susanna Fogel director of Life Partners (2014), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) and Cat Person (2023).
Despite already getting an incredibly strong film about Reality Winner last year called Reality which was directed by Tina Satter and Sydney Sweeney playing Reality Winner which was a fantastic film and performance. I had some sort of hope Winner would still be solid, the cast intrigued me and I was interested to see what the movie had to say about the topic. Unfortunately this is one of those movies where you are better off reading a Wikipedia page or other articles you find online.
The performances are decent enough, Kathryn Newton although not given a whole lot to do is great in her performance. Connie Britton and Zach Galifianakis definitely bring some emotional moments to the movie that were actually quite touching, especially during the last half of the movie where it does admittedly get a lot better and more focused. There’s a few interesting aspects of Winner’s life before her arrest and for what it’s worth the movie does do well with those moments.
Unfortunately the rest of the movie is incredibly forgettable, Emilia Jones is miscasted as Reality Winner, combine that with the movie’s strange comedic drama tone that it goes for and you have a performance that just does not land with nowhere near enough power as it should. Sydney Sweeney’s performance had atmosphere, tension, focus and attention to detail. While I do understand Jones and Sweeney’s performances were going for two completely different things it really comes down to if they fully worked or not. Obviously that’s going to be up to the viewer but Jones’s performance just doesn’t come off as sincere especially when it’s telling the story of a woman who was called a traitor and arrested, the comedic tone just doesn’t match with the story being told here at all.
We do get some very genuine moments towards the end when Winner is arrested, Britton and Galifianakis throughout the film give very touching performances but this is not enough to really save this movie from being very forgettable unfortunately.
Soulmates Eric Draven and Shelly Webster are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Draven returns to seek bloody revenge against the killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.
The Crow is directed by Rupert Sanders director of Snow White and The Huntsman (2012) and Ghost In The Shell (2017). The Crow is a reboot/reimagining/remake of the 1994 film of the same name and is the fifth film in the franchise.
The Crow (1994) is a film Hollywood studios have wanted to remake for years now, it’s become a classic over the years and there was even a time when three sequels of it were made none of which managed to capture what was so incredible about the first film. All those sequels were varying levels of terrible. Apparently this movie has been in development since 2008, many directors, actors and even writers were attached at various points in time until it landed on Rupert Sanders in 2022 and well this is about as unimaginative and terrible as you would expect.
The cast tries to give it their all but none of them can land at least a decent moment here. Bill Skarsgård an actor who usually delivers really strong performances even when the material he’s working with is on the weak side completely falls flat here. His portrayal of The Crow is a Jared Leto Suicide Squad (2016) Joker clone especially with the tattoos, it completely takes away from any of the mystery or darkness from the character and instead gives this edgy kid vibe that’s just not what The Crow is about at all.
FKA Twigs could have been decent here if the chemistry between her and Skarsgård was interesting, unfortunately that’s not the case here. We get a very long and drawn out story of how the two met which I get the movie was trying to build emotion for the eventual death of Shelly (played by FKA Twigs), having that said the buildup needs to at least be investing and not incredibly dull. Heck the movie tries to explore Eric before becoming The Crow but that is even uninteresting and never leads into anything of note, it takes 60-70 minutes just for him to become The Crow…this movie is 111 minutes long.
As far as writing goes, as I said before the movie attempts to explore the backstory of Eric before Shelly’s death and before he became The Crow. Between the performances and acting it’s absolutely rough and a slog to get through and doesn’t give this character any depth at all, it’s the very definition of a terrible revenge story that takes so much away of what made the original film so great. There’s no mystery, intrigue or atmosphere instead there’s characters standing around with terrible acting, a majority of the gothic horror elements that made the original film so recognizable are gone and replaced with such a weak atmosphere that doesn’t even come close to what the original was going for.
The only positives I can give this movie is the gore and the opera house scene towards the end of the movie, it’s a really satisfying scene that actually does have some neat camera movements and is admittedly shot quite well. The gore is also quite great combined with this scene, it shows the brutality of it and actually does measure how much Eric wants revenge, it might still not really match the gothic horror tone of the original but it’s a well done scene that I must give credit where credit is due. It’s a huge shame the rest of the movie couldn’t use what made this scene so great and share it with the rest of the movie.
Overall The Crow is terrible, it’s a complete and total misfire and fails to understand what made the original so great. Outside of one admittedly neat scene and some great gore this is very forgettable.
In a futuristic dystopia with enforced beauty standards, a teen awaiting mandatory cosmetic surgery embarks on a journey to find her missing friend.
Uglies is directed by McG director of Charlie’s Angels (2000), Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), The Babysitter (2017), Rim Of The World (2019), The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020), Family Switch (2023) and a few others.
Uglies is a movie that missed the the young adult dystopian film adaptation train that was going on in the early 2010s and you can tell right from the beginning. This movie was announced in 2006 where it was supposedly in development, the movie re-entered development in September 2020. I guess they had to release this movie at some point but at what cost? The movie itself absolutely terrible and fails in every single level.
The performances here are atrocious, Laverne Cox as the villain is by far the best but even she can’t turn her lines into something half decent. Joey King gives yet another terrible performance, her character Tally Youngblood has potential to be somewhat interesting but the movie’s script doesn’t allow for any character moments, development or investing exchanges between characters. It’s cliche after cliche taking aspects of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and Tris Prior from Divergent (who wasn’t even that interesting in the films) and somehow making them worse. Brianne Tju and Chase Stokes don’t fair much better and are basically just forgettable side characters who really don’t lead into anything very interesting.
The premise itself is icky to say the least, I doubt this would have sat well with audiences back in the late 2000s, early 2010s or whenever this was supposed to release. It’s a concept that could probably (and I am using probably very loosely here) work if you had filmmakers and writers who wanted to actually say something and do something with the message maybe change it up a bit to feel a lot less icky. Unfortunately that’s not what happened here, the movie is completely soulless and devoid of any meaning or isn’t trying to say anything.
McG really seems like he got bored almost immediately when starting the film and decided to throw every single young adult dystopian film adaption cliche at the wall to see what sticks with none of it sticking at all. What kills this premise immediately is the movie wants you to believe that Joey King, Chase Stokes and Brianne Tju three conventionally attractive Hollywood actors are ugly, the attempts to make these three unappealing is both baffling and ridiculous at the same time.
I’m not exactly sure what the goal here, the young adult dystopian film genre is pretty much dead at this point outside of The Hunger Games that found success last year but that’s part of a franchise that’s already been established. Uglies is dated movie that might have had somewhat of an audience if it was released 10 years ago, but as it stands it’s one of the worst of the year and definitely the most soulless movie I’ve seen this year.
Three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River after an unexpected family tragedy. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life soon gets turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter discovers a mysterious portal to the afterlife. When someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times, the mischievous demon gleefully returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is directed by Tim Burton director of Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Mars Attacks! (1996), Beetlejuice (1988), Corpse Bride (2005), Frankenweenie (2012) and many others! Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a sequel to Beetlejuice (1988).
A Beetlejuice (1988) sequel was inevitable, the first film became so popular incredibly fast over the years that there just had to be one. Especially when it hit the video market, the original film is still talked about to this day and is among many people’s favorites (myself included.) on the other hand Tim Burton a once excellent director who was quite consistent wasn’t doing so well, his last couple films such as Dumbo (2019), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016) and a few others were not so great and just felt like Burton did not have the magic he once had. But then Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was born and showed he still has it!
There’s so much to talk about here and how this film is just incredibly exciting but as always I’ll start with the performances, which is important since I do think the performances and characters really bring this film together.
I’ll start off by saying everyone here does a fantastic job, they each bring something to the film even if their screentime is limited. Starting with Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice his performance is just incredible to see again after all these years, he completely matches the same tone, humor and actions as he did in the first film. There’s so many great line deliveries here that are genuinely hilarious, he also does seem like he’s having the time of his life and you just can’t help but smile at that. Much like in the first movie he doesn’t appear until a bit later but also like the first film that works incredibly well and sets up for some incredibly entertaining moments, jokes and other plots. As the film goes on he amps it up with Beetlejuice and the more he amps it up the more entertaining the character really gets.
Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz is fantastic and it’s great to see Ryder on the big screen again, her bond with the cast is absolutely beautiful and quite humorous as well. But some of Ryder’s best moments is her bond with Jenna Ortega who plays Astrid Deetz the daughter of Lydia, the heart of the film comes from these two’s mother and daughter bond that really builds their characters incredibly well. Seeing their bond build over the course of the film is incredibly heartwarming and truly touching, even the little moments with the two not really saying anything to each other is meaningful.
Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe are both excellent here and make for so many fantastic comedic moments. Although Dafoe gets limited screentime he makes the most of it and really goes all out with his character Wolf Jackson, there isn’t exactly a whole to his character but I’m still glad he’s here. Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz delivers the film’s funniest moments, she’s also incredibly fantastic with tons of excellent moments with Ryder and Ortega, as well her having moments where she stands on her own.
Lastly Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz is a fantastic performance, I’ve said this about Jenna in the past but she is one of the best actresses of her generation, an actress who even competes with veteran actresses. Her performance here is so well done and her passion for the role can easily be seen here. Her facial acting and body language truly shine here, it’s something Jenna Ortega has always been absolutely great at as an actress but it’s especially shown here front and center. She’s a natural fit to the world of Beetlejuice and easily connects with the rest of the cast, as I said before her bond with Winona Ryder is the heart of the film and is so beautiful to watch. Astrid Deetz on the surface might seem like a familiar sort of character at first, however that quickly changes over the course of the film as we learn more and more about her.
The writing is so much fun, there’s so many clever jokes, touching moments and it’s done in a fun way to wrap the story together. While there are some subplots that aren’t as interesting as others I do think that leads to the incredibly bizarre final moments of the film, the dance scene is truly a lot of fun and really sums up this film’s energy in a nutshell. A chaotic ride that you really do not want to ever get off of!
The practical effects are absolutely stunning especially combined with the absolutely stunning look at the afterlife and you have yourself such a beautiful looking film which is quite refreshing to see after so many blockbusters seemed to have had this issue. The film’s use of guts and blood is both exciting and hilarious, it’s obviously not anything brutal but it’s such a fun way to work these things into the film, Tim Burton really did not hold back at all with the designs and his direction. This is absolutely a return to form for him and it’s incredibly fitting.
Lastly the film itself is just a ton of film, you can absolutely tell there was so much passion and heart poured into this film, watching interviews of Tim Burton and the cast (particularly Jenna, Winona, Catherine and Michael) you can easily tell they are proud of this film and how much heart they really put into the film. Sometimes that can really make a film and that’s most certainly a case here, without their passion for the film I don’t think Beetlejuice Beetlejuice would have been nearly as good as it is.
Overall Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a very worthy sequel to the original film, it’s some of the most fun I’ve had in a theater this year and is one of the very best of the year as well! Give this one a watch, especially if you’re a fan of the first film!
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Strange Darling is directed by JT Mollner director of Outlaws and Angels (2016).
I’ve said this before in my reviews in the past, but one thing I absolutely love about film is that you always get those handful of films a year that aren’t really on people’s radar and they suddenly blow up due to how incredible they are. Strange Darling is very much the case of this, granted I did know about it but not very much, I saw the trailer, thought it looked neat and put it on my release date calendar. What I did not expect was for this to be one of the most thrilling and best rides of the year.
Starting with the performances (as always), Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner are both fantastic here. The two capture this incredibly atmospheric and thrilling type of performances that set the film’s tone incredibly well. Fitzgerald’s character simply known as the Lady is such a compelling character to watch and she really has such strong screen presence throughout the film. Gallner’s character Demon can go from being a decent guy to an absolute maniac in seconds, Gallner has climbed the horror genre over the years I do feel like this is what all those performances were building up to. As the film goes on he gets better and better as well as more terrifying, he gives such a fun and intimidating performance that you cannot look away.
The film itself goes for an interesting storytelling approach, it uses a non-linear approach of having six chapters plus an epilogue only they are out of order. Usually this would be incredibly risk, but due to the film’s quick and easy 96 minute running time and breezy pacing. Each chapter doesn’t feel the need to cram so much down to the viewer to the point where it makes the viewer confused. Yes there are twists and turns but for the most part it’s a straight forward cat and mouse game that’s incredibly thrilling.
Something you will immediately notice when watching this film is how beautiful it looks and I mean in this grainy look, the film was shot on a 35mm camera by Giovanni Ribisi it was going for the look of films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and the classic grindhouse films. Which combine the look of the film with the kills and gore the film absolutely succeeds in doing so, the kills are actually quite brutal which gives the film this feel of brutality to it that you the viewer feel throughout the film.
Despite taking place in a very open space it does feel small and I mean this in a good way, there’s only so many places you can run and hide and the film makes sure to really bring that point across. The film also does a really good job of putting all these chapters together to bring some very interesting conclusions to each of them, they all fit together incredibly well and never feel like they take away from one another.
I don’t want to say too much more, this is definitely a film where you have to go in as blind as possible. Definitely give this one a watch!!
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love his mum.
Didi is directed by Sean Wang which is directorial debut.
It’s really nice to see a coming of age film set in 2008, it can be a bit tricky to make it work or stand out. But luckily Sean Wang has so many tricks up his sleeve that the film works perfectly.
The performances here all around are incredibly top notch, Izaac Wang is the center focus and he gives one of the best performances of the year, between the interactions he has with the rest of the cast, to the emotional moments that pull at your heart strings. He gives such a grounded performance that really brings the viewer into the film, Chris Wang is such a simple yet incredibly interesting character that you quickly fall in love with. Joan Chen is the heart of the film, her performance as Chungsing Wong really does a fantastic job of being a reminder of the sacrifices moms do for their kids. Each and every scene she is in you can see and feel her emotions, it’s truly powerful facial acting and body language that even the little moments are just as investing.
The way the film recaptures the year of 2008 is brilliant we get a bit of screen life elements and we see the classic chatroom or message programs such as AIM. It’s truly impressive how far the film goes with these details, even if these scenes don’t stick around for very long they still have a long lasting impact throughout the film and are incredibly well done.
The writing is what ultimately builds this film together, it’s incredibly grounded, focused and combined with Sean Wang’s direction and script there’s this relatability factor that the viewer can quickly grow towards the film. It’s as if you are transported back into 2008, seeing the daily lives of your friends and family and filled to the brim with memories you hold close from when you were growing up. Even if you didn’t grow up during 2008 you can still connect with the film quite easily.
Overall Didi is a brilliant film, it’s so well crafted, acted and just something truly special!
When fate brings a Belfast teacher into the orbit of self-confessed “lowlife scum” Naoise and Liam Óg, the needle drops on a hip-hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, they soon lead a movement to save their mother tongue.
Kneecap is directed by Rich Peppiatt which is his directorial debut.
Kneecap is one of I’ve heard a lot about and decided to check out because of that and I’m really glad I did, this is quite different from a lot of music biopics for one thing the members of Kneecap an Irish hip hop trio from West Belfast, Northern Ireland play themselves in the film.
Although the biopic is fictional, the film still manages to be quite grounded especially when you have the performances of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí playing themselves as I said before. This gives the film the opportunity to really go all out here and that it does.
The music was incredibly well incorporated with some beautifully done music scenes that are so appealing to look at. Speaking of appealing the film itself is very stylized and really goes out of its way to be as energetic as possible.
The performances from the trio are some of the best so far this year, each of them contribute to the film and their bond is just fascinating to watch especially over the course of the film. The dialogue incorporating the music and even some history of Ireland was incredibly clever and beautifully done, there’s so much love and passion here that it almost feels like a celebration to this trio, language as a concept and Ireland.
Overall Kneecap is a fascinating film and definitely one of the best music biopics I’ve seen in quite awhile, it goes for a very different approach that completely works in the film’s favor. Check this one out!
Jerome Reviews... 