Not wanting to live in the shadows any longer, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Owl and Tigger take their fight to the town of Ashdown, leaving a bloody trail of death and mayhem in their wake.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield director of The Area 51 Incident (2022), The Killing Tree (2022), Firenado (2023) and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023).
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 somehow ends up being far better than its predecessor, that really does not mean that much at all. However I will give credit to Waterfield and his team for at least trying to the boat around.
For starters the creature designs are a lot better, in the previous movie they came off as $5 party city masks with the increased budget the creature designs as well as the makeup are far more realized and actually have a decent amount of attention to detail as well. The camerawork is a bit better as well, visually I do think Blood and Honey 2 is far better looking than its predecessor. The kills are also pretty fun as well especially with the better makeup work.
With that said the movie suffers from the same sort of problems the previous movie did which comes down to taking itself way to seriously and the characters falling completely flat. Despite the movie being about killer Winnie The Pooh characters with Owl and Tigger thrown into the mix this time, the movie still tries to play it seriously. The characters are all about as interesting as cardboard cutouts, they try to do something with Owl but a lot of it doesn’t end up leading to much at all.
Honestly not a whole lot else to really say here, there’s definitely some improvements but not nearly enough to recommend this movie to anyone.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is available on all VOD platforms.
Hoping to leave his dark past behind him, former assassin Finbar Murphy leads a quiet life in a coastal Irish town, far from the political violence that grips the rest of the country. When menacing terrorists show up, Finbar soon discovers that one of them has been abusing a local girl. Drawn into an increasingly vicious game of cat and mouse, he must choose between exposing his secret identity and defending his friends and neighbors.
In The Land Of Saints And Sinners is directed by Robert Lorenz director of Trouble With The Curve (2012) and The Marksman (2021).
After so many Liam Neeson action thriller movies that ranged from bad to below average, here is one that is actually quite decent (which is shocking since Lorenz directed The Marksman (2021) It’s not anything groundbreaking and is most definitely flawed, but this is a bit different from what we normally get from these movies.
For one thing Liam Neeson’s character is far different than any of the characters he’s been playing for awhile now, the performance as Finbar Murphy is a bit more grounded and actually does get some character development. He also works well with Kerry Condon who I would argue is the best part about the film. She delivers a solid performance that is quite effective at certain points.
The atmosphere is also pretty effective as well, it matches this mysterious feel the film is going for and actually moves the story along well…until the second act. The second act is rough to get through there’s absolutely no getting around that, the pacing goes from being nice and breezy to slow as molecules and it does hurt the film in the long run. Having that said the third act delivers quite well and rewards the viewer for being patient, there are some script issues along the way that cause a few bumps in the road but for the most part the movie does get back up on it’s feet during the final act rather than staying down.
In The Land Of Saints And Sinners is available on all VOD platforms.
Jeanne uses her charms and intelligence to climb the social ladder step by step. She becomes one of the favourites of King Louis XV and falls madly in love. Against all convention, Jeanne moves to Versailles.
Jeanne Du Barry is directed by Maïwenn director of Pardonnez-moi (2006), All About Actresses (2009), Polisse (2011), My King (2015) and DNA (2020).
The thing about historical drama pieces like Jeanne Du Barry is you have to have strong performances as well strong, sharp and investing writing. This movie has neither of those, which ultimately takes away a lot of what the movie is trying to go for.
The landscape shots of rural France are undeniably beautiful as well as telling a small story on their own, the costumes are solid as well. While there are far better examples of films that have had much more captivating costume design, Jeanne Du Barry still has some really appealing design choices that do capture the eye of the viewer.
Having that said everything else completely falls flat, as I said before the main problem here is the performances and writing. Johnny Depp’s French accent (who plays Louis XV) is on a comedic level of bad and has absolutely no chemistry with Maïwenn (who plays Jeanne Du Barry). It’s not just Johnny Depp either everyone else turns in incredibly lacking performances that needed so much more power and a far bigger push to put these performances over the finish line.
The movie attempts to be lighthearted and tragic at the same time, something Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite played into only that film understood a balance and had the acting plus writing to back it up. Unfortunately with Jeanne Du Barry it comes off as a mishmash of confused ideas that I’m not entirely sure Maïwenn herself knows what she was trying to do.
Finally the movie wants you to buy Louis XV and Jeanne Du Barry’s bond, the problem is it’s very lacking both in development and interest from the viewer. There isn’t anything compelling or memorable here at all, it really feels like a bunch of wall of text that really does not mean anything.
I definitely think there could have been something here with Jeanne Du Barry. The end result is completely lacking and needed so much more power put into the script and performances.
Jeanne Du Barry is available on all VOD platforms.
A special forces commando returns to her hometown after her father’s sudden death, only to run afoul of a violent gang when she starts asking questions.
Trigger Warning is directed by Mouly Surya director of Fiski (2008), What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love (2013) and Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017).
Look I’m happy to see Jessica Alba out of retirement, she’s a fun actress that I do genuinely root for a lot of the time. However Trigger Warning is horrendous, it’s very obvious Netflix needed a recognizable name to advertise their next cliche Netflix original action film (much like with Heart Of Stone and Apex).
Jessica Alba and the choreography are the only positives here, it does shock me to see this movie actually have quite decent up close combat. Usually with a lot of these movies you get one or two scenes of it and they tend to be a “blink and you miss it” moment, but here you actually get a healthy amount.
Having that said just about everything else is terrible, the story is incredibly predictable and the writing is abysmal. It doesn’t help that the story being told isn’t very interesting at all, this is your usual terrible revenge action thriller affair that does absolutely nothing new or investing with it’s plot.
I really have nothing else to say here, Trigger Warning is one of those movies where you immediately forget about it by the next week. It’s not here to say anything or do anything interesting, it’s here to be put on as background noise.
Tanya finds her summer plans cancelled when her mum jets off for a last-minute retreat and the elderly babysitter unexpectedly passes away.
Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter is Dead is directed by Wade Allain-Marcus director of French Dirty (2015). The film is also a remake of the 1991 film of the same name.
As someone who didn’t really care for the original film, I went into this one not really expecting much and that’s kinda of what ended up being the result. Granted it’s definitely not as bad as expecting (considering how awful the trailer was), but that really is not saying a whole lot.
Simone Joy Jones gives a fine enough performance here and the rest of the cast have occasional moments of charm throughout the movie, but it’s nowhere near enough to really land any memorable performances. I will admit that I do like some of the attempts that Allain-Marcus makes to try and make this version a bit different from the original. There’s this modernized lens that has this coming of age story element that could have worked had the writing been a lot better.
Speaking of which the writing is where the movie crumbles, a lot of the humor is a huge miss and despite wanting to be different than the original the movie does follow the original quite identically which leads to the question of why even bother in the first place?
Unfortunately Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter is Dead is one of those remakes that tries to do too much with very little time, there’s some decent acting here but that’s really all your getting.
Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter is Dead is available on all VOD Platforms.
I want to apologize for the absence, I was having technical difficulties with my old phone (the top of the screen was broken) plus I had a lot more going on as well. I’m back luckily and will resume doing reviews starting tomorrow, I’ve watched quite a lot while I was gone so get ready!
Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is directed by Wes Ball who previously directed all three of The Maze Runner films. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is a standalone sequel to War Of The Planet Of The Apes. It’s the fourth film in the Planet Of The Apes reboot films and is the tenth overall film of the franchise.
Planet Of The Apes is a film franchise that I truly love and I’m always excited to hear when a new installment is releasing, I wasn’t sure how they could follow up from the excellent Matt Reeves trilogy (Rise, Dawn and War) but I was interested to see what they were going to do.
This film takes 300 years after War the previous film, Ceaser is dead and almost immediately one of the film’s main themes comes into play…manipulation and twisting someone’s words to mean something else entirely. In this case that someone is Ceaser who taught peace between humans and apes, the film’s main villain Proximus completely alters that and manages to create a clan of apes that believe whatever he says.
The introduction of Proximus is really excellent here, he’s a manipulative monarch that uses others to get what he wants. What really makes him excellent is he’s played by Kevin Durand who gives my favorite performance of the film, what really fascinates me is Durand’s performance whether intentional or not comes off as a direct opposite of Andy Serkis’s performance as Ceaser. Ceaser used his emotions accordingly and was genuinely excellent leader, that came with Andy Serkis completely hitting it out of the park. Proximus is manipulative and has so much power in his voice.
Proximus as a villain is also a lot of fun as well, every time you see him on screen you just sort of want to be the fly in the room to hear the conversations that are being had to get the full impact. It all comes from Kevin Durand’s performance that always makes sure to never go over the top and to truly capture Proximus’s manipulative nature.
The rest of the cast are quite great here Owen Teague plays the main protagonist Noah who the film centers around, a lot of the film is sort of creating a hero’s journey type of story which although not entirely new everything else around it really makes up for it. Peter Macon as Raka and Freya Allan as Mae are also some standouts as well. I don’t think the three are as strong character wise as Proximus is, but they are still a lot of fun and the world around them does compliment them well.
One of the best parts of Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is the atmosphere and the world itself, almost immediately we are struck by incredible visuals that completely capture the beauty of the Reeves trilogy. The film’s beginning moments really set up and give the viewer an idea of what to expect as it takes you on the journey. The atmosphere during the action scenes and the third act is truly fantastic, it’s suspenseful and truly leaves you at the edge of your seat. There’s so much going on and the amount of detail the film goes over is truly great, what’s also great here is that you genuinely care about these characters. Noah starts out as a very basic protagonist but as the film goes on you really start to care for him, you want him to save his family and to succeed in his goal.
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is a worthy sequel to War and is a very promising start to a new trilogy, I am very interested to see exactly where they go with this series!
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is playing in theaters.
A 40-year-old single mum begins an unexpected romance with a 24-year-old boy band singer.
The Idea Of You is directed by Michael Showalter who previously directed The Big Sick (2019), The Lovebirds (2020), The Eyes Of Tammy Faye (2021), Spoiler Alert (2022) and a few others.
Really not a whole lot to comment on with The Idea Of You. It’s a decent surprise that ends up actually exploring a bit more with it’s themes than expected and has some really great moments that compliment the cast quite well.
What’s really keeping this movie afloat are the performances from Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine both put in so much work here and genuinely have excellent chemistry between one another. There’s absolutely no denying that the two truly light up the screen in any given opportunity during the film, especially Anne Hathaway she really gives such a charming performance that explores a bit of her character Solène. Granted it’s not anything spectacular but the fact it’s even there at all is something that can’t be said for a lot of other films that are loosely based on fan-fiction.
The movie is surprising because for a film that was loosely based on Wattpad fan-fiction you would expect these characters to act far more goofy and over the top, but here you get a bit more grounded. Sure you can definitely tell that a lot of the movie was based on a fan-fiction. But due to Michael Showalter’s more grounded approach and a desire to explore the characters you get something a bit different than you usually get with these movies.
I definitely think the movie falters a bit towards the end due to being a bit more on the predictable side of things and does go for some very familiar tropes. But I do think The Idea Of You is a solid film that’s genuinely quite fun!
The Idea Of You is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Passionate about exotic animals, Kaleb brings a venomous spider home, but it accidentally slips away. Soon, residents of the apartment building are battling an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders.
Infested is directed by Sébastien Vanicek which is his directorial debut.
I definitely think it’s fair to say that Infested is the best spider horror film in recent memory. If you recall earlier this year we got Sting which while it had some decent kills and gore that can only get you so far. Luckily Infested is much more focused on the spiders (rather than uninteresting family drama) and there’s solid enough balance between the human characters and the spiders.
Right off the bat the mixture of practical and CG spiders is really strong and gives the film a much more dirty and suspenseful look, that’s also complimented by the camerawork there’s a lot of up close up shots that brings this claustrophobic feel into the film. Especially when you combine it with the location, if you have arachnophobia it’s sure to kick in during the film as it doesn’t hold back at all. There’s some genuinely nasty scenes with these spiders, I think what I do appreciate about these scenes are that they aren’t over the top or incredibly goofy. They have this raw punch to it that makes the film much more effective.
The acting is solid enough, there really isn’t any standout performances here which is to be expected. The writing is solid as well, it’s not anything groundbreaking as the whole being stuck in mostly an apartment building has been seen before such as [REC] (2007). However as I said earlier the film does a great job of taking advantage of the setting, finally there’s a soundtrack that’s focused on rap that I had no idea what to think of at first. But it strangely fits the film quite well, plus it does add some personality to the film to help it standout.
Overall Infested is quite great, now that I have watched this film I think it’s safe to say that the Evil Dead film that Sébastien Vanicek is going to direct will be quite fantastic!
Terry cares for his injured nephew, a 19-year-old Moroccan model, in strict quarantine at his ex-husband’s Brooklyn home, drawing attention from everyone in his life.
Stress Positions is directed by Theda Hammel which is her directorial debut.
I got to say I was not expecting to really like another COVID-19 era film so soon, usually there’s one great one that comes out of a small batch. The Listener I quite liked even if it did not reach it’s full potential and the same can be said for Stress Positions.
John Early gives a very fun performance here and is doing some incredible face acting as well, which I would argue actually makes the movie much more memorable. Theda Hammel is also in the film while also being one of the writers, is the director, one of the editors and does the music for the film. She gives a quite strong performance as well and is quite charming as well, the film mostly focuses on building and exploring these characters plus what their backgrounds are.
It’s the everyone has a story type of deal which works in this case due to Hammels direction that while does drastically switch in tone at times, still comes off as genuine and earnest in the film’s messaging. The humor is bizarre and I say that in a good way, as it does land some genuinely great laughs. It’s the type of chaotic humor that has so much fun energy to it that you just want to keep seeing more and more.
Stress Positions is at its weakest when it tries to play serious, immediately what comes to mind is the voiceover that is used (mostly during the first act). The voiceover itself is not necessarily bad it’s with the context of the rest of the movie, a lot of the movie as I said before is this bizarre humor that is genuinely a lot of fun. The narration does do a few things that are quite interesting and meaningful during the third act, but unfortunately doesn’t go all the way with said ideas.
Having that said I did have a fun time with Stress Positions it’s a fun and bizarre movie that is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea (especially with the humor) but if you are looking for something a bit different this is a decent choice!
Stress Positions is available on all VOD Platforms.
Jerome Reviews... 