Three friends decide to spend the weekend hunting, but when they venture out of their cabin and into the woods, they soon become the hunted.
Out Come The Wolves is directed by Adam Macdonald director of Backcountry (2014) and Pyewacket (2017)
Adam Macdonald brings us a second film of his that has a wild animal attacking people, first there was Backcountry (2014) (which I actually quite liked!) now there’s Out Come The Wolves and well it’s the same sort of stuff only not as good due to being way too similar.
Missy Peregrym who was also the lead in Backcountry (2014) is here in this movie once again as the lead. The setup, filming and even writing are very similar to Backcountry (2014). Much like the previously mentioned film, the filming is quite beautiful which is mainly due to the location which is Dundas, Ontario. The location adds suspense to the movie and does a pretty solid job of building atmosphere all the way through the movie. Missy Peregrym much like in Backcountry (2014) gives a solid performance, she does the same sort of acting but at least it fits with the theme.
What’s holding this movie back from being solid is mainly the characters, while the first few moments of the movie gives some actually quite interesting character moments without a ton of dialogue. The movie suddenly decides to spend a bit talking about the character’s backstory, which would be perfectly fine if any of the history between Kyle and Sophie the movie is trying to tell us actually mattered or developed their characters. The rest of the movie after that is a mishmash of a character drama, love triangle and backcountry thriller.
Having that said I don’t think the movie is necessarily bad, there’s a lot of solid moments here such as some of the wolf attacks that are pretty nasty, some of the character stuff is interesting even if the conclusion to said moments doesn’t really amount to anything grand.
Out Come The Wolves is available on all VOD platforms.
A group of college friends rents an airbnb for the biggest music festival of the year. However, their weekend of partying soon takes a deadly turn as a masked killer murders them one by one according to their sins.
All My Friends Are Dead is directed by Marcus Dunstan director of The Collector (2009), The Collection (2012), The Neighbor (2016) and Unhuman (2022).
Not a whole lot going on here, All My Friends Are Dead is your very basic slasher film a group of college friends rent out an Airbnb for a music festival and are killed off one by one. Nothing wrong with being a traditional slasher movie but unfortunately the movie itself is not very good.
Jade Pettyjohn is definitely the best of the cast and her character gets slightly more interesting moments and even some development, something that the rest of the cast is sadly missing. Admittedly the kills are quite fun with some pretty solid gore which isn’t a surprise given Dunstan’s work in the Saw franchise, however good kills can only get you so far especially when the script is really saying a whole lot of nothing.
The movie attempts some commentary on social media culture which is incredibly forgettable, it’s a topic that we have seen discussed multiple times before and this movie really isn’t saying anything new at all. The movie also tries similar ideas that Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) did but ultimately fails due to characters that are incredibly one note and a script that is very unfocused.
I definitely think there was something here with All My Friends Are Dead but nothing ends up adding up in an interesting way that makes the movie standout. Outside of the kills and some occasionally decent acting there really is nothing here unfortunately.
All My Friends Are Dead is available on all VOD platforms.
August was a very productive month for me, I finally caught up with reviews (although I have 8 reviews left of films I saw last month but it’s not that bad). I cleaned up my watchlist quite well and the ball is rolling. September surprisingly has a lot of great looking films this year with tons of films being some of my most anticipated of the year!
18. Child Star – September 17th (Hulu)
17. Booger – September 13th (VOD)
16. Abruptio – September 27th (Theaters)
15. The Line – September 27th (Theaters)
14. Will & Harper – September 27th (Netflix)
13. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeves Story – September 21st (Theaters)
12. Never Let Go – September 20th (Theaters)
11. Sleep – September 27th (VOD)
10. Omni Loop – September 20th (VOD)
9. Apartment 7A – September 27th (Paramount+)
8. Azrael – September 27th (Theaters)
7. The Front Room – September 6th (Theaters)
6. His Three Daughters – September 6th (Theaters) and September 20th (Netflix)
5. Red Rooms – September 6th (Theaters)
4. Rebel Ridge – September 6th (Netflix)
3. A Different Man – September 20th (Theaters)
2. The Substance – September 20th (Theaters)
1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – September 6th (Theaters)
Inside his book, adventurous Harold can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself off the book’s pages and into the physical world, he soon learns his trusty crayon can set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible. However, when the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of his creativity to save both the real world and his own.
Harold and the Purple Crayon is directed by Carlos Saldanha director of Ice Age (2002) (Co director), Robots (2005) (Co director), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009), Rio (2011), Rio 2 (2014) and Ferdinand (2017).
This won’t be a surprise to many but Harold and the Purple Crayon is terrible, just the idea of a live action adaption of the 1955 children’s book by Crockett Johnson leaves a bad taste in your mouth. What’s interesting is that at one point this was going to be animated film which would have been far more appropriate and make more sense as well. Steven Spielberg was even involved at a certain point to help with the project, but instead we got this mess which is quite easily one of the worst movies of the year.
The performances here are just awful, Zachary Levi in particular turns an already terrible movie into something incredibly obnoxious, throughout the movie he plays the usual annoying man child type of character that if you thought couldn’t get any more annoying this movie will show you how much worse it gets. The idea of having Harold as an adult was a bad one to start with, but to make him an obnoxious character who has no character outside of being loud and annoying. The rest of the cast while not as bad as Levi aren’t much better, Jemaine Clement plays an incredibly one note villain (yeah there’s a villain in this movie I’m not sure why either), Lil Rei Howery could have gotten a few good jokes in there if the script wasn’t so horrible and everyone else just sort of exists.
For a movie that’s about using your imagination, Harold and the Purple Crayon certainly lacks the imagination and creativity of it’s source material. This is just a mishmash of terrible family movie cliches from the last several years, slapped into a beloved children’s book adaptation. The writing is horrendous, there isn’t one line here that is at least chuckle worthy, creative or has anything to really say.
The storytelling is especially horrible due to giving us a story that quite frankly did not need to be told, I don’t think anyone was really begging for a continuation of the book where Harold grows up to be a man in his 40s and act obnoxious for 90 minutes. If anything this is a complete one eighty from the book that quite frankly misses the entire point of its source material.
Overall had they stuck with an animated adaption I think there could have been something here, but instead we are given one of the laziest and worst movies of the year.
Harold and the Purple Crayon is available on all VOD platforms.
An American-led fracking crew working deep in the Serbian wilderness uncover the unimaginable: a dormant parasitic monster.
Hell Hole is directed by John Adams and Toby Poser directors of The Deeper You Dig (2019), Hellbender (2021), Where the Devil Roams (2023), Halfway to Zen (2016) and a few others.
Hell Hole is the type of movie where you really want to like it as there are a lot of things to like about it, the movie itself just sadly doesn’t really come together all that well.
The creature design is really neat and there’s some over the top gore that’s quite a lot of fun, heck there are some genuinely funny moments that got some laughs from me (some of it being a bit unintentionally funny), you can definitely tell there was effort put into the movie there’s points where it genuinely tries to tell an interesting story but is held back by a lot of different elements sadly.
One of the main ones being the very mixed acting and writing, the overly serious dialogue is incredibly misplaced and doesn’t match the over the top tone the movie goes for during certain portions of the run time. The rock soundtrack while neat, is incredibly out of place much like the serious dialogue.
I do appreciate the movie for taking advantage of the location which has factory ruins and debris that were forgotten about, it’s just a shame that the abandonment like atmosphere does not stay in the movie for very long. It’s not really explored much at all either, sure we see it and there are moments that are discussed but we really don’t get anything concrete unfortunately.
Overall Hell Hole is a bit of a disappointment, there’s a lot of neat ideas here that are just sadly not executed all that well. I think with a higher budget, better acting and a more focused script this could really be something interesting.
Four freshmen in high school get ready for their first school party, they’re preparing themselves for something unfamiliar and terrifying.
Incoming is directed by Dave Chernin and John Chernin which is their directorial debut.
Incoming is Netflix’s version of Superbad (2007), Booksmart (2019) and Good Boys (2019)…not in a good way either.
This movie is another one of those coming of age story comedies that has a tons of parties and is raunchy, but lacks so much comedic power that you start to wonder what was the point of this? I’ll give credit where credit is due, the acting isn’t the worst as there are a few scenes that are decent enough. But nobody here gives a memorable performance that manages to stick out to the viewer, the writing doesn’t give these actors and actresses breathing room to actually deliver something of note.
If you have seen any coming of age film comedy you have already seen this one, there’s a lot of scenes here that are very similar to the films I mentioned at the beginning. The only slight difference here is the plot is tweaked around a bit (even that’s being generous), Project X (2012) just has overall better party scenes and Superbad (2007) and Booksmart (2019) are just overall better written and actually hilarious.
Seventeen-year-old Gretchen reluctantly leaves America to live with her father at a resort in the German Alps. Plagued by strange noises and bloody visions, she soon discovers a shocking secret that concerns her own family.
Cuckoo is directed by Tilman Singer director of Luz (2018).
Cuckoo has been on my radar for awhile now and I’m happy to say that the wait for it was well worth it. This is one absolute insane and atmospheric horror film that is bound to be a midnight film classic in a few years.
The performances were excellent here, Hunter Schafer is one of the most exciting new talent and she only proves that even more here. She gives such a fun and investing performance that quickly grabs the viewer’s attention, her character Gretchen is incredibly intriguing as soon as she enters the film and really makes for a great protagonist. Schafer has incredibly strong screen presence that is truly exciting, her actions and quiet yet strong approach to the film acting wise is truly special and her performance shows she was destined to act in crazy horror films such as this one.
Dan Stevens already gave a very strong performance this year in Abigail and he does it again here, his character Herr König is creepy, crazy and a ticking time bomb that is incredibly enjoyable to watch when he becomes deranged. He’s an interesting character that while may not get the most character moments, but due to Stevens’s insane performance that more than makes up for it.
The film’s world is incredibly fascinating, it’s a mixture of Italian horror/giallo feel and David Cronenberg. It’s a mysterious atmosphere that doesn’t tell you what’s really going on here until the the third act, even then it can be difficult to figure out what exactly is going on here due to just how bizarre everything unfolds during the third act. Which works for this film since the film establishes right from the beginning that this is going to be much different, it’s a film where the more you sink into the film’s world the more you get invested and truly want to explore.
Cuckoo is definitely one of those films you need to go into as blind as possible, it’s got excellent kills, incredibly fast paced editing and is just an overall blast for fun! Definitely give this one a watch!
An assassin is on a mission to kill a demonic crime lord.
Aggro Dr1ft is directed by Harmony Korine director of Gummo (1997), Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), Mister Lonely (2007), Trash Humpers (2009), Spring Breakers (2013) and The Beach Bum (2019).
One of the many reasons why Harmony Korine is one of my favorite filmmakers is because you never know what you are going to get with him, you could get something narratively traditional like The Beach Bum (2022) something disturbing like Gummo (1997) or something downright bizarre like Trash Humpers (2009). Aggro Dr1ft definitely falls more in line with the bizarre territory and in the best ways possible.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, the film is entirely in infrared photography which is an incredibly bold move because this could have easily went horribly wrong, luckily how it’s executed is strangely beautiful? There’s a lot of shots here that are genuinely gorgeous and actually add to the narrative of the film, as well as the narration of a tormented assassin. It’s incredibly dreamlike and really does feel like we are inside somebody’s head it’s an incredibly clever use of infrared photography that I truly have to give credit where credit is due.
The plot being about assassin on a mission to kill a demonic crime lord is very strangely tender and soulful, the film takes place in apocalyptic world where everything is taken over by demons, monsters and such. Most of the characters talk like NPCs from a video game (which can be incredibly hilarious) it feels like a world that truly is no longer functional, but there’s a hero that steps up to the plate and uses the power of love, memory and wants to go back to his family. As the film goes on we hear more and more about thoughts, his journey and his struggles, it’s a very strange direction this film takes but it actually works incredibly well in the film’s favor.
The film’s score from araabMUZIK is absolutely fascinating, it fits the film incredibly well and tells the story of the film so well. There’s a ton of favorite tracks here but Rejoice, Arrival, The Wild, The Awakening, Wild West Bill and my absolute favorite Medieval are the standouts. Each of the scenes that use these songs are scene stealers and really build on the film’s world, speaking of which the world building is much like other parts of this film strangely effective. Even though everything is shot with Infrared photography just looking around at the backgrounds and listening to the narration is enough to give you a good idea of what this world is like. The film doesn’t over explain the world, or it doesn’t give all the details way immediately, it lets the viewer explore and leaves it up to the viewer what exactly is going on with this world.
Aggro Dr1ft is most certainly not going to be for everyone, staring at infrared photography for 80 minutes could be hurtful to the eyes for some, but if you are up for it I do recommend checking this one out.
Deadpool’s peaceful existence comes crashing down when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse. He soon unites with his would-be pal, Wolverine, to complete the mission and save his world from an existential threat.
Deadpool & Wolverine is directed by Shawn Levy director of Free Guy (2021), The Adam Project (2022), Real Steal (2011), Date Night (2010), Night At The Museum (2006) and many others. Deadpool & Wolverine is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and serves as a sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018).
A Deadpool 3 was inevitable it was just a matter of when it was going to release especially due to Disney buying 20th Century Studios, some people thought it would never come out and some people thought Disney would tone it down. I actually liked the last two Deadpool films, am I as crazy about them as I was back when they first came out? Not at all, but for what they were they were fun enough films that had a lot of positives. Deadpool & Wolverine I would say is around the same although I do think it’s not as good as the first film.
Before I start I do want to put a spoiler warning as there are going to be spoilers so be aware!
So for starters the biggest positive of the film and the one who steals the show is Hugh Jackman who returns to play Wolverine from the X-Men films and the Wolverine films, he’s just as a great as he was in those films and shows that he still has it. There’s a few scenes in particular that standout quite well, Jackman adds some much needed emotional depth to the film. Granted it’s not anything mind blowing but it’s something and Jackman’s great acting is able to get the viewer invested which was part of Jackman’s portrayal of Logan/Wolverine in the first place. Ryan Reynolds is perfectly fine here, he isn’t anything special. But he works well with Hugh Jackman and there’s some comedic bits that do work between two, but then there are moments that are eye roll worthy that do end up hurting the movie in the long run.
The cameos I have to say this time around were actually fun, usually with a lot of the recent Marvel films it really does feel like they are shoving cameos in just for the audience to point and say “oh my god I know that guy.” While yes that argument can be used here, at the very least the cameos themselves are given more to do rather than blink at the camera, say a one liner and then leave. They actually tie into the story decently well and while some are definitely better handled than others I do think for the most part the movie does a decent job with them.
I’m not going to name every single cameo as there are quite a few of them and some of them such as Sabertooth who’s played by Tyler Mane (from X-Men (200)), really only serve as henchmen for the main villain Cassandra Nova (played by Emma Corrin) and then quickly get disposed of, sure it’s really cool to see that he’s here but that’s really all you can really say about him.
The main ones worth mentioning here are Chris Evans as Johnny Storm from Fantastic Four (2005) and it’s sequel Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007), Jennifer Garner as Elektra from Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005), Wesley Snipes from the Blade trilogy (1998-2004), Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 from Logan (2017) and finally the biggest surprise which I will say was quite clever of the film Channing Tatum as Gambit from the Gambit film that was planned but never ended up coming out. All of these performances at least contribute something to the film, Dafne Keen in particular shows some really great acting here especially the bonding moments between her character Laura and Wolverine. It’s some of the best moments of the movie with some nice character development that was very needed. Channing Tatum is a delight to see even if Gambit is given the least to do out of the bunch, Tatum is clearly having a blast doing this performance which in turn makes it a lot of fun to watch.
As far as everything else goes it’s pretty alright, the action scenes combined with some of the song choices are quite fun, one of the biggest standouts being Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC which happens to be the opening of the movie. So it does start out with a huge bang. The humor is definitely one of the weaker parts about this movie, while there are some hilarious moments a lot of it is the exact same thing from the previous two movies. Which I get it the movie is pulling from the source material and that’s just how Deadpool’s personality is but it really is a bit repetitive at this point and does start to really to become incredibly noticeable very quickly.
I will say the end credits combined with clips of the old 20th Century Studios Marvel films and behind the scenes footage of those films while using Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) by Green Day (I’m surprised it took a film from the MCU this long to use a Green Day song) is actually quite nice. Does it scream graduation slideshow? Absolutely but growing up with these movies despite the wide range of quality and seeing them go like this is decently touching.
Overall Deadpool & Wolverine is fine for what it is, a lot of it is the same thing the MCU has been doing for the last couple years. But at the very least this one is entertaining, I’m probably not going to ever revisit it this movie but it made for a satisfying watch.
Enthralled by her own imagination, 11-year-old Lacy spends the long summer at home with her mother and three strangers.
Janet Planet is directed by Annie Baker which is her directorial debut.
Janet Planet is one of those films where you digest every single scene due to just how beautiful everything looks, from the actions of the characters, to the Western Massachusetts location including the foothills of the Berkshires and the town of Cummington. This film is the very definition of compelling and really does make your jaw drop.
The performances are some of the best so far this year, Julianne Nicholson plays Janet the mother of 11-year old daughter named Lacy (played by Zoe Ziegler) and it’s pretty incredible how raw Nicholson’s performance really gets, there’s so much character, emotion and heart put into this performance that you would think you are watching an every day person on your screen. The mother and daughter bond between Nicholson and Ziegler is also incredibly powerful, filled to the brim with so many heartfelt and emotional moments that really grab the viewer incredibly quickly. It takes awhile for Janet to figure out exactly how to connect with her daughter even though it’s clear she truly does love her. Lacy wants affection and attention she wants to see her mother listen to her and connect with her, this is shown in beautiful and quite emotional ways that really do tug at the heart strings.
The film itself is just beautiful to look at, the many gorgeous shots really take in that summer feel and capture the Western Massachusetts setting flawlessly. The little things such as the sounds of the chirping of the bugs, the Janet’s family eating outside on the porch it really captures this summertime lifestyle that is truly beautiful to see really do make this film all the more special and compelling.
The direction from Annie Baker is masterful, the bond between mother and daughter that evolves slowly but surely throughout the film is done in a very grounded and touching way. The film’s script (which is also written by Baker) compliments the film and gives these characters so much development and captures the feel of growing up and showing our loved ones have layers, the film does such an excellent job of exploring these layers that can have their weaknesses and strengths. The final moments of the film really compliment this well and really brings the story home.
Overall Janet Planet is a phenomenal film that I can’t recommend enough! It’s a beautifully told film that captures everything it needs to!
Jerome Reviews... 