IF (2024) Film Review

After discovering she can see everyone’s imaginary friends, a girl embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten imaginary friends with their kids.

IF is directed by John Krasinski director of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009), The Hollars (2016), A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2020).

I really do not have a whole lot to say about IF it’s a kids movie that is very well intentioned and even has some genuinely heartfelt moments, but is surrounded by some clunky execution especially during the last half of the movie.

Steve Carell is by far the standout here, while not every single joke lands and the character of Blue is sort of standard. Carell still manages to be entertaining as well as charming, it’s sort of hard to really mess up when it comes to Steve Carell (heck I don’t a lot of the Despicable Me movies but really like Gru) plus I do think he fits the charming imaginary friend feel the movie is going for. Cailey Fleming is also not bad here, while she isn’t perfect, much like Carell she gives a sweet and charming performance that is effective and matches the tone of what the movie is going for. Ryan Reynolds strangely feels miscast here, he sort of just exists and his character Cal is incredibly forgettable who while does have a few strong scenes really fails to connect with the viewer.

The idea of the movie surrounding the imaginary friends is solid and isn’t as much as a repeat of the Cartoon Network show Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends as the trailer made it out to be. Having that said the main problem with IF is a lot of the Imaginary friends being voiced by Hollywood celebrities, it takes away a lot of the whimsical and magical feeling of imaginary friends and becomes a cameo fest. A bunch of moments where you point at the screen and say “oh I know that person’s voice!” Had this been one or two times it would not be so much of a big deal, however this is a common occurrence throughout the movie and that sort of becomes the imaginary friends’s whole character that they are voiced by Hollywood stars.

It’s a shame too because there are some genuinely heartfelt moments here that do actually work, but are unfortunately not exactly the main focus. The movie works best when it focuses on the bond of Bea and Blue and the more human moments, which is incredibly surprising to say given that this movie is about the imaginary friends.

I think IF will do well for younger audiences since it does immediately have bright visuals and creature designs are admittedly quite fun, IF is not necessarily a terrible movie but this is a very forgettable one that could have been a lot more.

IF is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

A Family Affair (2024) Film Review

A surprising romance kicks off comic consequences for a young woman, her mother and her movie star boss as they face the complications of love, sex and identity.

A Family Affair is directed by Richard LaGravenese who has directed P.S. I Love You (2007), Beautiful Creatures (2013), The Last Five Years (2014) and a few others.

Yet another Netflix original film from this year that completely falls flat, you would think with a pretty solid cast there would be some attempt to try and make this work. Unfortunately that’s not really the case here, while I don’t think the movie is as bad as say Madame Web, Night Swim or Unfrosted that really is not saying all that much.

The cast is fine enough and really tries the best they can with such an unfunny script, Nicole Kidman and Kathy Bates are definitely the best of the bunch. Zac Efron is really trying but unfortunately the comedic timing really throws him under the bus and Joey King while actually not terrible here (this is one of her better performances) really does not have a whole lot going on with her character.

The first 20 minutes or so aren’t bad, the movie has a decent setup and actually some okay jokes in the mix. However after that things fall apart very quickly, the movie turns into a very typical bad Netflix romantic comedy movie that throws just about every cliche in the book it possibly can until the movie ends.

There’s bound to be comparisons to The Idea With You which came out a few months ago and while the two movies are different genres (Idea Of You being a drama while Family Affair being a comedy) A Family Affair really does feel like The Idea Of You but worse, The Idea Of You was not perfect (far from it) but at the very least the performances were incredibly solid, the writing was interesting and the characters were enjoyable. You really don’t get that from A Family Affair outside of the first 20 or so minutes. Instead you get a very repetitive 114 Netflix romantic comedy that feels like it should have ended ages ago.

A Family Affair is available on Netflix.

3/10 D-

Jim Henson Idea Man (2024) Review

A look at interviews of fans of Jim Henson, interspersed with footage from his works, including Wilkins and Wontkins Commercials that were previously lost.

Jim Henson Idea Man is directed by Ron Howard who has directed A Beautiful Mind (2001), Rush (2013), Apollo 13 (1995), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Cinderella Man (2005) and many others.

Jim Henson Idea Man is a documentary that talks about the career of Jim Henson the man who created The Muppets, Sesame Street, Dark Crystal and many other incredible pieces of work that have gone on to be beloved to this day. The documentary mostly focuses on Henson’s early career and does go over some works that aren’t as popular which is always nice to see.

Ron Howard’s style works quite well here with even some very nice experimental nods to Henson’s creative energy, the use of footage that was previously lost such as some of the Wilkins Coffee ads was a nice touch. The documentary also manages to capture the spirit of Jim Henson, what really makes this special is the editing incorporates the style and art that Henson really liked to use in his work, which really does give this documentary the extra push to standout.

The documentary isn’t really saying anything groundbreaking but it really does not need to, it focuses more on celebrating Jim Henson’s life, his impact on art in general and the many people interviewed (family members and collaborators) such as Frank Oz.

There really isn’t much else to be said, if your a fan of Jim Henson and his work you will definitely appreciate this very straight to the point documentary that isn’t trying to be complex it’s a tribute to such a beloved artist.

Jim Henson Idea Man is available on Disney+

7/10 B

Ultraman Rising (2024) Film Review

When Tokyo is threatened by giant monsters, an all-star athlete reluctantly returns home to take on the mantle of Ultraman, and become a legendary hero.

Ultraman Rising is directed by Shannon Tindle which is his directorial debut.

I don’t know much about Ultraman I’ve seen maybe one or two of the films, so I went into this one blindly. Luckily it does seem like (from what I’ve read from people who are fans) is that this movie takes place in a new timeline.

What sticks out immediately is the animation which is quite beautiful and incredibly fun to look at, there’s a lot of attention to detail with the character designs that add to the film’s characters. Plus the world the film takes place in has a lot of style, which only adds to the film’s already high level of charm. So when it comes to style Ultraman Rising nails it completely but what about script and character wise?

Well the characters and script are quite fun as well, there’s this whole parental/child story that’s quite charming. Ken (voiced by Christopher Sean) is quite an interesting character he juggles around being a father, a baseball player and Ultraman during the course of the film. Which ultimately leads into some quite touching moments.

The film is much more about parents and children than it is about fighting monsters, which was actually surprised about but it’s a very welcoming choice that while not every single viewer will get behind if you dig these types of stories and are looking for more than just fighting giant monsters you get that here.

While I don’t think the film is doing anything brand new with the parent and children plot line, it’s charming enough to grab the viewer’s attention and really invest into these characters.

Ultraman Rising is available on Netflix.

7/10 B

Boy Kills World (2024) Film Review

Boy is a mayhem machine who’s been training to assassinate the bloodthirsty Hilda Van Der Koy and avenge his family’s murder; guided by his sister’s mischievous spirit, Boy uncovers one stunning revelation after another as he barrels toward Hilda.

Boy Kills World is directed by Moritz Mohr which is his directorial debut.

It really pains me to say that Boy Kills World did not work for me, it’s by far one of the most disappointing films so far this year and is completely dismantled due to one glaring issue…the internal monologue.

The use of internal monologue isn’t necessarily bad (far from it) what is bad is that Bill Skarsgård’s character simply known as “The Boy” only speaks through it and after awhile it becomes incredibly obnoxious. H. Jon Benjamin is a great voice actor don’t get me wrong (I like a lot of his voice work) but he doesn’t really add anything funny with his delivery, it’s incredibly lacking and doesn’t have the punch he usually delivers.

The movie does have its positives such as the gore combined with the kills that do bring this excitement factor into the mix. The performances are overall pretty solid Bill Skarsgård, Isaiah Mustafa and Jessica Rothe are quite great, the rest of the cast are pretty solid as well. The characters themselves were interesting enough to follow plus the Scott Pilgrimesc style of action was pretty charming as well.

The other problems come in during the last half of the movie where there’s a ton of plot twists and the movie tries to go for this grand finale when it quite honestly did not need to, the action also sort of fell apart at the end. It was a lot more sloppy when you compare to what came before it. Gideon Van Der Koy (played by Brett Gelman) as a villain is really not as entertaining as the movie tries to make him out to be. There’s a couple lines he delivers that are somewhat humorous but a lot of his performance is about as basic as you can get when it comes to villains trying to be comedic.

Overall Boy Kills World definitely had a lot of potential but was held back due to so many issues that stick out like a sore thumb.

Boy Kills World is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Under Paris (2024) Film Review

To save Paris from a bloodbath, a grieving scientist is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine.

Under Paris is directed by Xavier Gens director of Frontier(s) (2007), Hitman (2007), The Divide (2011), The Crucifixion (2017), Cold Skin (2017) and Mayhem! (2023).

I honestly had no idea this was releasing until I saw a few people on Twitter talk about how campy it was, I decided to take a look and well if this review was judging the last 25 minutes or so only this movie would be a 7/10 due to how bizarre and quickly the chain of events are plus how they happen. Unfortunately for this movie the rest of it is attached.

The characters who the movie really wants you to connect with and the script share a very common problem…both are incredibly boring. I’ve said before how I hate using the word boring in my reviews, but there really is no other way to describe the movie’s characters or its script. A lot of it is cliched clutter such as stupid characters who are only stupid just to move the plot along, the movie desperately tries to take itself seriously a lot of the time which I do believe is why the last 25 minutes end up being so unintentionally hilarious. But that isn’t quite enough to give the rest of the movie a pass.

There’s just not a whole lot going on here and really does not offer anything really new to the already crowded shark movie genre, there’s some hints at tension but the movie never uses the tension in a way that is going to bring the viewer in more closely.

Under Paris is available on Netflix.

2/10 F

Summer Camp (2024) Film Review

Childhood best friends Nora, Ginny and Mary used to spend every summer at a sleepaway camp together. Years later, they seize the opportunity to return to the camp for a reunion filled with food fights, river rafting, and emotional revelations.

Summer Camp is directed by Castille Landon director of Fear Of Rain (2021), After We Fell (2021), After Ever Happy (2022), Perfect Addiction (2023) and After Everything (2023).

Summer Camp (2024) is one of those movies that for some reason managed to get quite a stacked cast Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert, Eugene Levy, Josh Peck and a few others. Unfortunately despite having tons of talent the movie fails to utilize these actors and actresses talent in any meaningful way.

What really hurts this movie is the story and the pacing, it takes far too long for anything noteworthy to happen. What’s supposed to be a movie about three friend’s friendship as adults and wanting a reunion at a summer camp turns into such a chore to sit through. A lot of the jokes fall flat, granted there are hints at some good jokes but never reach the full punchline.

The direction from Castille Landon is a bit better here than a lot of her previous work but once again it’s filled to the brim with characters that are incredibly lacking in development, if anything is a positive here it’s Bates, Keaton and Woodard who really try their best to work with such a lacking script. They give fine enough performances that I’m sure fans of these three might get something out of their interactions, because to be absolutely fair the interactions between the three had some sort of promise. The final act shows this and there’s some decent enough dialogue towards the end, unfortunately it’s too little too late by then as the movie is basically over.

Overall there really is not a whole lot to discuss here, what you read in the plot synopsis is what you get a very bare bones comedy that has incredibly lacking execution.

Summer Camp is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

Most Anticipated Films Of July 2024!

So I still have quite a lot of reviews to catch up on (including a few from May) which is due to me having technical difficulties and so much going on. Which is why there was not a June list, luckily things are slowly picking up again. I’m definitely going to be using July and probably parts of August as a catch up month on reviews and working my way through my watchlist.

Anyways July seems like a very strong month (my birthday is July 5th let’s go!!)

12. Chestnut – July 2nd (VOD)

11. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – July 3rd (Netflix)

10. Deadpool and Wolverine – July 26th (Theaters)

9. Mother Couch – July 5th (Theaters)

8. National Anthem – July 12th (Theaters)

7. Twisters – July 19th (Theaters)

6. Kill – July 4th (Theaters)

5. Didi – July 26th (Theaters)

4. Oddity – July 19th (Theaters)

3. Sing Sing – July 12th (Theaters)

2. Longlegs – July 12th (Theaters)

1. Maxxxine – July 12th (Theaters)

Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 (2024) Film Review

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.

3/10 D-

In The Land Of Saints and Sinners (2024) Film Review

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.

6/10 C+