A recovering addict is presented with the chance to learn what happened to her missing son.
The unfortunate thing about From Black is that it had a lot of potential to be something very interesting, the idea of a recovering addict being given the chance to find out what happened to her son is a very interesting and could possibly make room for some commentary. Unfortunately that’s not what happens here and the movie executes this idea in the most underwhelming and dull way possible.
I will say considering the material that the actors were given they do a pretty good job with it especially Anna Camp and John Ales, while yes what they are given is not particularly interesting. They do dive into their characters and manage to pull out some genuine touching scenes, however those moments don’t really get any closure during the movie. The score is pretty great, it definitely makes me wonder if that’s where the majority of the budget went because it hit’s quite hard throughout the movie. You genuinely feel the dark atmosphere and this path of finding the truth about Cora’s son.
Everything else however is what holds it back, the pacing is dreadful and the whole idea of the movie has just been done better in other movies. One that immediately comes to mind is A Dark Song, while A Dark Song isn’t perfect it does execute it’s premise very well and has the emotion and more clear path than From Black does.
After mysteriously inheriting an abandoned coastal property, Ben and his family accidentally unleash an ancient, long-dormant creature that terrorized the entire region-including his own ancestors-for generations.
You know for a movie about creatures hiding in a tank we sure don’t see the creatures until the second half of the movie.
The Tank is admittedly decently made and the atmosphere combined with the location is honestly not that bad, the major problem here is what the movie chooses to focus on which is the family who moves on. It would be one thing if the characters were actually interesting, but unfortunately that’s not the case here. The characters are about as interesting as waking up in the morning, you don’t want to do it but to get through your day you need to do it (in this case have to listen to the dull character development to get through the movie.)
The second half of the movie is better than the first half mainly due to the creatures showing up and actually doing something, however by then it’s too little too late. The movie spends an absurd amount of time trying to make the audience care for characters who have nothing special about them rather than actually building a suspenseful creature feature, by the time the movie reaches the creatures the viewer has already lost interest.
A woman’s bachelorette getaway turns deadly when her bloodthirsty fiance and his backwoods friends crash the party.
Bury the Bride is director Spider One’s second film previously directing Allegoria (2022) and this isn’t much better.
Honestly there really isn’t a whole lot to comment on, Scout Taylor-Compton is fine enough here and there’s some fun moments to be had so such as the kills. But everything else is either bland or just incredibly dull, this movie definitely would make for great background noise but really not much else. It’s a combination of hillbilly horror and bachelorette/prom/slumber party type of horror. Nothing really new here unfortunately.
The summer movie season is upon us and while May not be as packed as April was (seriously April was a very impressive month for film) there are some films that look promising enough!
10. The Mother – May 12th (Netflix)
9. You Hurt My Feelings – May 26th (Theaters)
8. The Wrath Of Becky – May 26th (Theaters)
7. Reality – May 29th (HBO)
6. The Starling Girl – May 12th (Theaters)
5. Master Gardner – May 19th (Theaters)
4. The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future – May 19th (Theaters)
3. Sanctuary – May 19th (Theaters)
2. Monica – May 12th (Theaters)
1. Guardians Of The Galaxy VOL 3 – May 5th (Theaters)
Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.
Ari Aster has very quickly made a name for himself over the last few years, both Hereditary and Midsommar being both some of the best films from the 2010s it was only natural that I would be really excited to see what he does next, Beau is Afraid is a very different film, it throws a lot of curveballs that you wouldn’t really expect but knowing that Aster does something completely different with his films it was wonderful to see.
Let’s get the performances out of the way, they are all truly fantastic some being very intimidating right out the gate Joaquin Phoenix is quite fantastic. Phoenix has always been an actor who shows how much range he really has an actor and he continues to show that here. The journey his character Beau Wassermann goes throughout the film is truly fascinating, there’s a lot of character moments where we get glimpses inside his head and what he’s thinking especially when the film gets to one particular long scene that is truly some of the best moments Ari Aster has ever done. Patti LuPone is another standout who gives quite a scary performance that while she doesn’t show up until way later in the film you can still strangely feel her presence.
The atmosphere of the film is anxiety inducing there’s always this feeling that Beau is being watched or not completely alone in certain scenes it really builds tension and horror masterfully, the many different locations that Beau travels to is truly beautiful yet haunting. There’s so much attention to detail with each of the locations and with some of the more haunting moments. Between an apartment in the city, a house with a family, a forest and finally his mother’s house they each set up their own story. My favorite being the forest as I hinted at earlier there’s a long scene that is truly some of Aster’s best, it’s animated scene that is truly beautiful and really brings in more of the “what the hell am I watching” atmosphere to the film. Sure bizarre moments did happen before but this is where the film kicks it up a notch.
The third act is very divisive among a lot of people, some people absolutely love it some absolutely hate it, however I really loved it! The final act wraps everything up quite well and really shows a lot of Beau’s character in the final moments in particular where we see his character completely break and everything comes crashing down. There’s also one particular scene that is very bizarre but the symbolism is quite clever as well.
Overall Beau is Afraid is another masterful film from Ari Aster, he continues to show that he brings new ideas to the table and executes them perfectly. I truly can’t wait to see what he does next!
When her family moves from the city to the suburbs, 11-year-old Margaret navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.
Kelly Fremon Craig who previously directed The Edge Of Seventeen is back with another coming of age film called Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, I didn’t know what to really expect going into the film. I haven’t read the book so the only knowledge I really had was Kelly Fremon Craig was directing and I loved The Edge Of Seventeen so I gave this one a go and wow this is definitely a fantastic film.
I can’t really put into words how incredible the acting is in the film, it’s truly some of the best acting so far this year there’s so many standouts that truly nail each and every scene. Abby Ryder Fortson is truly incredible, she’s a star who’s going to go really far in her career and the film really shows that. She gives such a raw and nostalgic performance, what I mean by that is she truly feels like a childhood friend you might have known. If you remember the days where you had a big neighborhood when you were a kid and several other kids were there, you use to go outside and hangout together, go to each other’s houses and such. It’s such a rare type of performance that I truly appreciate, Fortson also really does capture the spirit of the coming of age film, through her character the film explores womanhood and change which the film does masterfully.
Kathy Bates is as fantastic as always, she’s always been one of my favorite actresses and here is no exception, she absolutely captures the spirit of a grandparent who absolutely loves their grandkid, yet can be a bit too pushy when it comes to wanting their grandkid to become something. She obviously means well but it’s a very real flaw that we don’t often see depicted in films (or done well at least). Finally there’s Rachel McAdams who gives one of the best performances of the year, she completely captures a mother who’s daughter is changing, she does everything to support her daughter all while having a few struggles of her own. There’s so much power to her performance especially with her interactions with the other characters is truly phenomenal.
Which leads into my next point the interactions between the characters, it’s very real and is incredibly down to earth. The way Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) interacts with her friends and family is truly fantastic, there’s comedic moments, there’s serious moments, there’s quiet moments you name it. There’s so much balance between them all that it really paints such a beautiful picture.
Finally there’s the direction from Kelly Fremon Craig who once again nails the coming of age genre, it’s a genre that a lot of attempted some more successful than others. But Kelly Fremon Craig is one of those successes by far, much like she did with The Edge Of Seventeen she creates a very realistic picture that many people can relate to, it combines so many ideas and elements that all blend together to create something truly honest and special. This is an absolute must see.
Are You There God? It’s Margaret is available in theaters.
A reunion between two estranged sisters gets cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
Much like the Scream series, the Evil Dead series is another one where you can make the case of there not being a bad movie in the series. Evil Dead Rises takes a lot of what worked in the previous films and puts it’s own little take on it.
First off the opening sequence completely captures the Evil Dead series in a short amount of time, between the kills and the title card it’s truly fantastic especially when you combine it with booming sound. The performances are quite strong particularly Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan who do such a fantastic job in their respective roles. Alyssa Sutherland gives such a campy yet haunting performance that will get under your skin but at the same time make you laugh, this is a prime example of the film taking the darker tone from the Evil Dead (2013) remake and the campiness of the older movies then blending them really nicely.
Lily Sullivan plays a badass character who has tons of fantastic moments to shine, there’s a lot of classic Evil Dead elements that follow her character and she really excels at it. The film changes up the setting this time around, we are no longer in a cabin in the woods but in an apartment. It’s interesting blend of combining two very different elements together, when you think Evil Dead you more than likely being in the woods all alone.
But Lee Cronin absolutely made it work here, he takes the elements of the previous movies and adapts them into a modern setting. Which really does feel like a cross between REC (2007) and Resident Evil but he makes it his own, the gore is top notch there’s tons of exciting gory kills here combined with camera angles that make the more all the more gruesome. The atmosphere is very thrilling and quite intimidating as well, especially with Alyssa Sutherland’s performance that truly does make for a wild ride.
Overall Evil Dead Rise is one of the best films of the year thus far, it’s yet another very strong addition to the franchise and takes the whole Evil Dead franchise and does something different.
The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with a love affair and falling out with Marie Antoinette.
The debate about biopics being oversaturated has been picking up over the years and it’s very easy to see why, a lot of criticisms tend to be either they don’t really tell anything new about the figure the movie is about (I’ve said this multiple times in some of my reviews) or that a lot of them serve as Oscar bait. So it’s quite refreshing when a biopic Chevalier comes along, it’s about a historical classical musician Joseph Bologne a very forgotten figure.
Right from the first scene you get a taste of what you are in for and it’s quite electrifying, just seeing Kelvin Harrison Jr. who plays Joseph Bologne and Joseph Prowen who plays Mozart duke it out with the violin truly makes for an incredible opening. Speaking of which let’s talk performances, as mentioned before Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Joseph Bologne and does a fantastic job as well. He gives one of the best performances so far this year and as the film goes on he just get’s better and better especially with the ending (which I’ll get to in a bit).
Other performances such as Samara Weaving who plays Marie-Josephine, Lucy Boynton who plays Marie Antoinette and Ronke Adekoluejo who plays Nanon are all fantastic, they give so many powerful moments during the film and easily grab the viewer’s attention with their acting. Combine that with some very strong writing that really tells the story of Joseph Bologne and you have such a phenomenal biopic.
The last moments of the film I have to say are some of the strongest, the build up to the final moment is what makes it even better. Throughout the movie we are given hints of the French Revolution coming and it sets up the ending with Joseph Bologne giving a performance to fundraise the Revolution, when Marie Antoinette wants him to stop he flat out refuses making a statement. With the people blocking her guards all while music is playing, everything is in slow motion as Joseph Bologne slowly walks out of the theater.
Joseph Bologne is an important figure in history that is often overlooked and I think this film does a fantastic job of being an introduction to people who don’t know about him, while yes there is a lot more to be shared about him through TV or Film I’m sure the future will give us just that.
When a detective learns that his missing daughter and a string of high profile bank robberies might be connected, he must go on a mind-bending journey to find his daughter and stop the secret government agency behind the madness.
Hypnotic was the May 1st Regal Mystery Movie and of the ones I’ve went to (I missed the ones for Missing and Sisu) this is definitely one of the better ones. There’s definitely a lot to like about Hypnotic and I applaud Robert Rodriguez for doing his own thing.
The performances can be a bit of a mixed bag at times, I like seeing Ben Affleck take on different roles especially these types of roles. With that said I wouldn’t call his performance good but I will say that it’s pretty entertaining at times, the supporting cast such as Alice Braga and William Fichtner are pretty solid especially Fichtner who does give an intimidating performance.
The many ideas of the movie are decently executed during the first two acts, as both acts are very engaging. There is definitely some questionable editing that makes some scenes a complete and total mess, but for the most part it tells a pretty engaging story. Character development is pretty nonexistent here, sure we are given some information about the characters but we are never really given a backstory, who they really are or why they are doing certain things.
What hurts this movie mostly is the third act that is way too fast paced and ends very abruptly, granted there are moments during the third act that are very unintentionally hilarious. But it isn’t quite enough to really save it from being a mess.
If it sounds like I didn’t go into much detail with Hypnotic it’s because the movie is hard to really talk about without spoiling. And I really don’t want to do that because I do think the several twists in Hypnotic are interesting and definitely should be seen going in as little as possible. Overall I definitely liked Hypnotic a bit more the more I thought about it, it’s not anything I don’t think I will ever come back to but it is something worth looking into.
Unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps her 6-year-old son, Terry, from the foster care system. They set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity and stability in a rapidly changing New York City.
I’ve seen some comparisons between Moonlight and A Thousand and One, while I do see it I do have to disagree (respectfully of course) the film does a lot of things very different and director A.V. Rockwell does those things absolutely wonderfully.
For starters the performances are some of the very best so far this year, Teyana Taylor is incredible in her role and truly captures this raw feeling that really is present throughout the whole film, she puts so much power and emotion that really brings the viewer into her story. Josiah Cross is also just as powerful and fantastic as Taylor, he brings the same raw feeling that has an incredible amount of power. Each scene Taylor and Cross are in they really show that their screen presence is truly some of the very best.
A.V. Rockwell does such a phenomenal job in the director’s chair, she really brings so many themes such as decline, falling apart, honesty in the way the story is told and much more. She balances showing the beauty and hardship New York, there’s moments where you would get beautiful shots or beautiful interactions between the characters. Then you would get moments where there are tons of hardships, you get some negative shots that don’t tell you that it’s a hardship but they rather show you. It’s a story about survival in city that is always changing whether that be money, housing, ways to get everyday items and so on.
A very good way to look at this film is like a home, a place where you often feel the most secure. But what happens when it starts to change? The pain starts to peel off, the pipes start to not work and then it ultimately all comes crashing down, you lose the place you felt the most safe. But Teyana Taylor’s character Inez does not give up, she does what she absolutely can to survive which really leads to some of the film’s very best moments.
Overall A Thousand and One is a brilliant film, it’s a striking film that you will be thinking about for a long while after it ends. One of this year’s best thus far.
A Thousand and One is available on all VOD platforms.
Jerome Reviews... 