Problemista (2024) Film Review

Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer who’s struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an art world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realise his dream.

Problemista is directed by Julio Torres which is his directorial debut. 

If there’s a couple words that could describe Problemista it would be creative and unique, Julio Torres brings a very sharp narrative told in both a humorous and dramatic way. The film explores adulthood and how it can be quite bizarre at times along with the immigration process which I was honestly not expecting. The film really explores both these topics well, the adulthood part is explored in mostly a comedic way with tons of incredibly fun dialogue. When the film talks about the immigration process the film is much more serious and has so many touching moments that really shine through the performances. 

Speaking of which Julio Torres is excellent here, he gives a strong performance as Alejandro who quickly becomes a very interesting character. The writing builds this character so fluidly and carefully that it’s quite touching to see. Tilda Swinton is the other half that really brings this film together, she’s funny, has excellent chemistry with Torres and her character Elizabeth much like Alejandro is written fluidly. 

The surreal humor is quite fascinating as well, there’s a blend of fantasy to it that the film compares and contrasts fantasy and reality in incredibly fun ways. Whether it be bits and pieces or dialogue or some fun visuals it always manages to get its point across very well. Julio Torres has a great eye for storytelling and it can easily be seen with the amount of character moments between Alejandro and Elizabeth or just visually.

Problemista is an incredibly creative film that is a ton of fun to watch, give this one a watch! 

Problemista is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

The First Omen (2024) Film Review

A woman starts to question her own faith when she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy to bring about the birth of evil incarnate in Rome.

The First Omen is directed by Arkasha Stevens which is her directorial debut. The film serves as a prequel to The Omen (1976) and is the sixth film in The Omen franchise.

If you told me at the beginning of this year that The First Omen was going to be an early favorite of mine this year I would not have believed you. Mainly due to the quality of The Omen franchise, outside of the 1976 original the series really does not do much for me, but life is full of surprises and not only was The First Omen good it was actually quite brilliant in a lot of ways.

First off the performances all around were quite great, nobody turned in a bad performance, Ralph Ineson was incredibly fun to have in the film especially with his voice that he’s well known for matching the tone of the film. Nicole Sorace is also quite fantastic here as well, I’m sure we are definitely going to see more of her after this performance because she completely nails down the atmosphere every chance she gets. 

But the clear as day powerhouse here is Nell Tiger Free from the very beginning she captures the tone of each scene she is in. What I did not expect was a very grounded performance from Nell Tiger Free, the many themes going on here such as bodily anatomy really makes Free’s performance all the more powerful especially since it does lead to a quite shocking third act that is incredibly effective. 

The First Omen very much goes for this 70s look and does as much as it possibly can to compliment the 1976 original film which it succeeds at doing so. Between the color palette, the classic 70s horror atmosphere and some very horrifying scares it really captures the spirit of the original film while being its own thing. The film itself also has this feel of the unknown where you get the feeling anything can pop out at any given moment, there’s some clues as to where the third act is going to go but it’s not enough to make the viewer predict just how far it will go. 

All of that can be really attributed with Arkasha Stevenson’s direction and the script from Tim Smith, Keith Thomas and Arkasha Stevenson. They all do such a fantastic job of telling this dark story that goes in several different directions when the viewer least expects it, the third act itself only adds to Nell Tiger Free’s performance which is truly horrifying to watch. Especially from a studio horror film it’s shocking to witness and is incredibly well done (especially the score).

I don’t want to say too much else, The First Omen is absolutely a film that you need to go in knowing as little as possible to get the full impact. Just know that it’s one of the best films so far this year and really makes me excited to see what Arkasha Stevenson does next.

The First Omen is playing in theaters.

10/10 A+

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024) Film Review

A colony on the edge of the galaxy fights for survival against a tyrannical ruling force, relying on the efforts of a small group of rebels.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is directed by Zack Snyder who has directed by Rebel Moon (2023), Army Of The Dead (2021), Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016), Dawn Of The Dead (2004), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), 300 (2007) and many others. 

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is only a slight improvement over the first movie, in fact a majority of my criticisms and positives I had with part one can be applied with this one. It’s honestly not that much different outside of largely taking place on a farm which does hurt the scale of the movie quite a lot. 

Anthony Hopkins at least is given more to do this time around and he remains as one of the positives of the movie. The same can be said with Sofia Boutella who really tries her very best with the script she’s given, unfortunately it’s not enough to get the viewer into the movie despite once again giving a decently fun performance. One improvement this movie does have over it’s predecessor is Ed Skrein is a bit better here, we are definitely given a lot more about him as a villain and he honestly does a better job this time around even if there are some incredibly lacking areas. 

The movie itself is once again beautiful to look at, even though we are restricted to the farm for a majority of the movie. There are still a lot of really solid shots that are undeniably beautiful, finally there’s the action scenes which are pretty neat. They aren’t anything completely mind blowing but are absolutely one of the movie’s best parts. 

Unfortunately that’s where this movie ends for me, a major issue I had with part one is it completely failed to make the viewer care about the characters and did not give them any meaningful character development. That applies with part two, sure we are given crumbs but not anything the viewer can really work with, it doesn’t help that the writing is once again very sloppy and remains completely hollow character wise. There’s nothing here that makes the viewer want to invest in these characters at all, it’s all very mindless and goes on for way too long until it decides to end.

It’s a shame really because I want to like these movies, I want to be invested in the movie’s world and it’s characters but unfortunately the movie gives very little reason for the viewer to really care at all. Perhaps Zack Snyder’s cut of this movie and part one (hasn’t been released at the time this was written) will expand on these characters and the world but for now this is a complete mess.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is available on Netflix.

4/10 D+

Dogman (2024) Film Review

As a child, Douglas was abused by a violent father who then threw him to the dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs protected him. Traumatised and leading a life on the margins of society with his dogs, Douglas descends into a murderous madness.

Dogman is directed by Luc Besson who has directed Lucy (2014), Léon: The Professional (1994), The Family (2013), The Fifth Element (1997), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) and a few others. 

As strange as the premise of Dogman might be it strangely almost works, unfortunately this is yet another one of Luc Besson’s misfires that doesn’t quite live up to the potential that the movie had. Caleb Landry Jones is what makes this movie at the very least stand on it’s legs, he gives a pretty twisted and intimidating performance as Doug Munrow a man who is being interrogated by a psychiatrist (played by Jojo T. Gibbs) he gives his backstory when he was a child, why he became obsessed with dogs and tells a lot more about his life such as him being a drag queen in a cabaret act.

The first act and even some of the second act are quite decent I must say, Caleb Landry Jones as I said before gives a very solid performance and the backstory of Doug is actually pretty interesting. The score is quite nice (might be my favorite thing about it outside of Jones’s performance) and the trained dogs are quite impressive as well especially combined with the shots of the dogs doing some quite impressive tricks and perfectly matching each of the movie’s scenes tone. 

Unfortunately the rest of the movie takes itself way too seriously and ultimately turns into another version of The Joker (2019) and Taxi Driver (1976) the third act is very rushed and has trouble really blending it’s themes together to create something interesting. There are some decent enough kills but the group Doug ultimately goes against are completely bland and have very little character to them outside of wanting to kill Doug. 

There is definitely something interesting here with Dogman and I think if the writing had more work on it this could have at the very least been a decently fun movie.

Dogman is available on all VOD Platforms.

4/10 D+

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part Two


An endless army of shadow demons seeks to destroy all realities. What mysterious force drives them; and do Monitor and Supergirl’s secrets threaten to crush the heroes’ last defense?

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two is directed by Jeff Wamester who previously directed Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One (2024), Justice League Warworld (2023), Legion Of Super-Heroes (2023), Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022) and Justice Society: World War II (2021). 

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two serves as the second part of the eighth and final installment of the Tomorrowverse, a lot of what I said about part one can be applied here. What’s baffling here is part two is a step down from part one which was already a poor opening to the trilogy. 

There is a few fine enough action scenes and much like the first part the voice acting is serviceable, but they are so far in between that it ultimately doesn’t matter. We are yet again shown characters who we haven’t been able to really connect with since the Tomorrowverse is ending in the next and final part. One problem throughout the movie that becomes very noticeable is it really can’t decide who our main protagonist should be between Jensen Ackle’s Batman, Darren Criss’s Superman or Meg Donnelly’s Supergirl the movie constantly jumps back and forth between subplots with none of the characters actually getting any real time to shine. 

It’s not just the main characters either, the side characters get no real development here either, which is baffling considering how many heroes and villains the movie has access to. The whole movie really seems like it’s not interested in exploring these characters (outside of some very cliched backstories) and if the movie isn’t interested why should the viewer? 

I really don’t know what else I can say without repeating my issues that I had with the first part. Part two somehow ends up being far more messy, disjointed and lacking than part one. At least part one had some good moments with The Flash and at the very least attempted to try and say something, part two is as if somebody put something together at the very last second and called it a day. Will this trilogy end on a high note? Guess we will wait and see with part three which is expected to come out later this year. 

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two is available on all VOD platforms.

2/10 F

Monkey Man (2024) Film Review

An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systemically victimize the poor and powerless

Monkey Man is directed by Dev Patel which is his directorial debut. 

Monkey Man is a film that was nearly flat out going to have it’s release cancelled by Netflix after feeling the film would be too gritty for Indian audiences and was concerned the reaction to the film’s political commentary. Luckily Jordan Peele and Universal stepped in and acquired it and we now have the film released…which is excellent because Monkey Man rules.

I already knew Dev Patel was one hell of an actor, he’s given some quite strong performances over the years. However his directing here is outstanding especially as the film goes on you really start to see a lot of Patel’s strengths as an actor be reflected in the director’s chair. Monkey Man is a revenge tale which obviously isn’t anything new, with that being said the way this film tells that tale and uses the revenge element is what makes this interesting. 

Throughout the film you can feel Bobby’s (played by Dev Patel) anger it’s much more quiet in certain parts of the film but it’s always there. Even with the action scenes that get progressively more violent and gory as the film goes on you can feel the anger getting more and more heated as it goes on and the closer the film reaches Bobby’s goal. His anger at the beginning starts as grief and not really knowing where to start or even to really do, but once he figures it out and has a plan set hell breaks loose from there and it’s truly satisfying to see all of this go down especially in stylistic action scenes that truly thrilling. 

The atmosphere combined with the action scenes are truly fantastic here, they really blend well with the whole revenge and anger elements I mentioned earlier. Which leaves them to be all the more satisfying to watch, I do think there are some writing issues mainly when it comes to the villains. There’s some sort of a switch of main antagonists during the film that doesn’t feel very fitting especially since this feels more of a personal revenge story of Bobby. Having that said that doesn’t stop the film in any very major ways. 

The rest of the cast are quite fantastic as well, they fit the film in their own ways and help compliment the film’s world. Even if a lot of them don’t get the most character development they are at the very least important to the story. They help guide Bobby and create this building a hero type of story that’s incredibly engaging to watch. The topic of corruption and how it can get people to fall for corrupt leaders is truly fascinating, we are shown glimpses of Bobby’s past throughout the film and how he ended up where he is now. Those flashbacks do a fantastic job of really showing how much damage corruption has done and how throughout the years there’s been no change. Until it was time to create a hero to tackle corruption In any single way possible. 

Monkey Man is truly a knockout directorial debut for Dev Patel, I truly hope we get to see more of his directing career because this was truly fantastic.

Monkey Man is playing in theaters 

9/10 A

Hundreds Of Beavers (2024) Film Review

A drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

Hundreds Of Beavers is directed by Mike Cheslik which is his directorial debut. 

Hundreds Of Beavers is a film that really needs to be seen to be believed, picture a Looney Tunes cartoon combined with the silent film era, throw in some Monty Python and Sin City and this is what you get an absolutely fascinating film that is quite honestly one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a very long time. 

Honestly what makes the film is the amount of charm that’s shown throughout the film, every single moment is filled to the brim with it and really seems like everyone involved had such a blast making this film. The slapstick comedy is masterfully done especially with the comedic timing that Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brockton Cole Tews, Kurt Ravenwood and Matt Sablijak have in their script.

What amazes me the most about Hundreds Of Beavers is they manage to keep up the slapstick comedy and insanity throughout the film, it never once gets dull, repetitive or tiring it’s all 108 minutes of pure fun that really celebrates the art of slapstick comedy and in some ways the silent film era as well. It’s such a wonderful film that really shows incredible passion to the art form and delivers such a hilarious story while doing so. 

The visuals combined with the music just make it all the more fun and much like everything else really compliment the slapstick comedy, the music captures that Looney Tunes feel incredibly and really reminds you of that era of cartoons. The visuals are truly delightful and in their own ways quite hilarious as well. 

I won’t say much else because I truly do think it’s best to go into Hundreds Of Beavers knowing as little as possible, please do anything you can to support a film like this! 

Hundreds Of Beavers is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

Girls State (2024) Film Review

A look at what American democracy would look like in the hands of teenage girls. Young female leaders from wildly different backgrounds navigate an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up.

Girls State is directed by Jess Moss and Amanda McBlaine directors of Boys State (2020) and The Mission (2023). Jess Moss has also directed Mayor Pete (2021), The Overnighters (2014) and a few others. 

Girls State follows the exact same sort of idea as Boys State did. A bunch of teenage girls go through a week long mock government experiment, which helps them learn how to build a government from the ground up. 

Much like in Boys State, seeing the girls interact with each other and sharing ideas between one another is truly fascinating, it’s worth noting that right as this week began the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade was leaked. Which in turns brings a  lot of interesting discussion to the documentary, seeing the reactions to the news felt incredibly powerful as well. 

The girls of course give speeches which are genuinely fantastic, truly touching moments that are some of the documentary’s best moments. Jess Moss and Amanda McBlaine do such a fantastic job once again, they let everything play out without interfering which leads to every reaction and speech feeling much more powerful and raw.

Girls State and Boys State are two very interesting films that work incredibly well together, they definitely have their differences. But what they both show is young people having a genuine interest in politics and wanting to change the future. 

I may slightly prefer Boys State mainly due to the idea of it being more fresh, having that said Girls State is still a really great documentary that I do recommend watching! 

Girls State is available on Apple TV+ 

8/10 B+

Música (2024) Film Review

A young man with synesthesia faces an uncertain future while navigating the pressures of love, family and his Brazilian culture in Newark, N.J.

Música is directed by Rudy Mancuso which is his directorial debut. 

Música is yet another pretty huge surprise so far this year, much like The Greatest Hits I was quite honestly not expecting all that much. To say that I’m kind of impressed with what the end result is would be an understatement. 

Rudy Mancuso creates a coming of age story as well as a romantic comedy that blends in music in quite creative ways, while there are some familiar story beats and the third act doesn’t work quite as well as what came before it. There is so much to appreciate here, including Mancuso’s direction that captures a lot of genuine moments between the cast. 

Camila Mendes is an actress I’ve quickly become a fan of, I haven’t seen Riverdale so I was largely unfamiliar with her before Palm Springs (2020). But ever since then she’s done a pretty solid job between Do Revenge (2022), Upgraded (2024) which came out in February and now her performance in this film, which could be argued that it’s her strongest. Her performance as Isabella feels incredibly genuine and the chemistry between her and Rudy Mancuso’s character Rudy is filled to the brim with charm. The script by Mancuso and Dan Lagana truly captures the film’s heart and the character’s bond between one another. It really makes these character’s seem like actual people that the viewer can grow attached to. 

Maria Mancuso who is the mother of Rudy Mancauso and is his mother in this film as well just adds to the film’s heart, her performance isn’t anything groundbreaking but it’s still incredibly sweet and she brings her own charm that only adds to the film’s strength. 

The music portions I think are quite fun, there’s definitely arguments to be made that they could have been a bit stronger and I definitely agree in some areas. But I do think for the most part the film does a great job of combining music with the story and doing something a bit different than other films. 

Overall Música definitely surprised me, there’s so much to really like here that I actually do recommend giving this one a look.

Música is available on Amazon Prime Video!

8/10 B+

The Listener (2024) Film Review

Beth is a crisis helpline volunteer who gets on the phone every night, fielding calls from people who feel lonely, broken and helpless. During her latest shift, the stakes rise as she tries to save a hurting soul.

The Listener is directed by Steve Buscemi who has directed Trees Lounge (1996), Animal Factory (2000), Lonesome Jim (2005) and Interview (2007). 

The Listener has been on my radar for awhile now, it just finally released last month and it’s quite a solid one. The main idea here is we follow Beth who is a helpline volunteer played by Tess Thompson, Thompson is the only on screen performance we see in the entire film and she gives such a strong performance. The interactions she has with the callers is truly great and the film does a good job of blending its theme of just listening to someone speak can go a long way. That’s perfectly captured with Thompson’s performance especially when combined with Buscemi’s direction that has this sort of organic feel to it. Her facial expressions and overall reactions such as taking a few seconds before responding are incredibly natural and only help build her performance.

It’s no secret that The Listener is a COVID-19 film, heck it’s even mentioned a few times in the dialogue with that being said I don’t mind that so much here. The one location setting combined with the story actually makes it work decently well here, is it sort of eye rolling when COVID-19 is name dropped? Yes absolutely but at the very least unlike some other COVID related films (looking at you Locked Down) there’s a point and it compliments the story being told. 

The interactions themselves are quite great that introduce a number of topics the main ones being social life and mental health, the interactions feel incredibly raw and actually quite upsetting at times. Because there are some very real cases of COVID-19 hurting people’s mental health or social life and it’s portrayed quite well here. The downside of it is that the film doesn’t really go that in depth in the topics, there’s definitely discussion and the film for the most part gets it’s point across on why these topics are important but it’s never really anything much deeper. 

I definitely think The Listener is a great post pandemic film, it’s a reflection that shows that a lot of people seemed to skim how the pandemic affected people’s mental health. It’s a shame there wasn’t a bigger conversation here but for what the film is it’s quite solid. 

The Listener is available on all VOD Platforms.

7/10 B