Vanessa Hudgens and GG Magree embark on a journey to Salem, where they learn about witchcraft, ghost hunting and connecting with the spirit world.
If I had a nickel for every former Disney star that was in some weird supernatural/conspiracy type of movie or show I would have two nickels, that might not be much but it’s very weird that it happened twice. (First being that Demi Lovato UFO show)
Jokes aside I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to say here, Dead Hot is basically one of those ghost hunter shows you would have watched back in the early 2000s when they were popular. Only somehow this is even less believable, Vanessa Hudgens and GG Magree learning about ghost hunting and witchcraft could be a fun idea. But a lot of this is so bare bones and really doesn’t tell the viewer anything at all, if you know anything about ghost hunting you won’t be learning anything new here. If you want to learn about ghost hunting you are better off watching any other program about it.
As far as filmmaking goes there really isn’t a lot to talk about here, the filming is fine enough but a lot of it is just not natural which is a bit strange given that it’s a documentary. It doesn’t have that organic type feel instead it has a very manufactured feel which takes away any of the believability (not that it had any to begin with) it might of had.
The story of The Super Mario Bros. on their journey through the Mushroom Kingdom.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was one of my most anticipated films of 2023, I’ve been waiting for another attempt at a Mario movie for the longest time. While I have grown to enjoy the Super Mario Bros Movie from 1993 it is very far from the source material and I definitely thought that another attempt should happen.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is more than just following the source material, it takes the material and does the absolute most it can with it in 92 minutes. I will admit that the plot is paper thin and there are moments where the movie most definitely could have done a lot more with, however that does not stop this movie from being a complete a total blast.
The voice cast really does a fantastic job of bringing these characters together, Chris Pratt does a pretty solid job as Mario, Charlie Day is also really solid as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser is incredibly entertaining and really captures the character of Bowser surprisingly really well. There’s been instances where Bowser in the games has had a very comedic side (Paper Mario series) and that really shows here so I really have to give credit where credit is due. Keegan-Michael Key as Toad is a lot of fun as well, finally there’s Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach who absolutely nails the character. I especially enjoyed what the film did with Peach, despite the common belief that Princess Peach is always captured (I mean she does get captured in a lot of games but she’s been playable in quite a few of them over the years) and the film really balances that out quite well.
I didn’t particularly care for Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong or Fred Armisen as Funky Kong, while I did enjoy seeing the characters on screen the performances were just not very good and left a lot more to be desired. The animation was absolutely stunning, it does an incredible job of building the Mushroom Kingdom as a world and really leads to some really striking moments that leave you in a state of wonder. There’s so much attention to detail that really gives the viewer so much to look at and is quite pleasing to see.
The little easter eggs are wonderful and awhile I am usually against films putting so many easter eggs into a film to the point where it takes away from the story that doesn’t happen here luckily. While there are a lot of easter eggs it actually does make a lot of sense, quite a few of the games do a similar thing where they do put a lot of easter eggs throughout the game. So in a way it did feel like the viewer was in one of the video games, whether that was intentional or not it was an interesting way to approach it.
If you are a fan of Mario you absolutely know what to expect from this film, even if you are just a casual Mario player I still recommend giving this a shot, it’s a wonderfully done film that had so much effort put into it that is such an exciting film to watch.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is available in theaters.
Allison is a young woman with a wonderful fiance, a blossoming career, and supportive family and friends. However, her world crumbles in the blink of an eye when she survives an unimaginable tragedy, emerging from recovery with an opioid addiction and unresolved grief. In the following years, she forms an unlikely friendship with her would-be father-in-law that gives her a fighting chance to put her life back together and move forward.
A Good Person is yet another road to recovery from drug addiction type of movie, as I say with a lot of these movies the heart is in the right place but it doesn’t fully come together.
A Good Person luckily has Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman who both give incredible performances, this is by far Freeman’s best performance in awhile and it’s quite honestly not even close. A lot of what he’s known for as an actor is here and he truly delivers a touching performance. Florence Pugh once again shows even when she’s given a very shallow script she can still manage to make a fantastic performance out of it and that applies here. Her singing voice is also quite beautiful and really captures the overall atmosphere of the movie as well.
Everything else however is on the shallow side, while there isn’t anything terrible a lot of it is more of “seen it and it’s been done better” the writing really fell on the weak side especially during the second act of the movie where it starts to become very repetitive. It’s 2 hours and 5 minutes long which does become very tiring after awhile and doesn’t end up mixing it’s story elements all that well.
With that said I do think what does push A Good Person to the finish line of being decent is the performances and the character interactions, there are some genuinely touching scenes here that are pretty well done and do grab the viewer’s attention quite well. It’s just when it comes to trying to differentiate from other road to recovery movies is where A Good Person struggles.
With Gary and Samantha’s parents out of town on Halloween weekend, a rager of a teenage house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing the siblings to band together to survive the night.
Kids vs. Aliens is a movie I really wanted to like because there was clearly a lot of effort and talent put into it, plus it does have that classic low budget feel that’s incredibly charming. However there’s a ton of problems here that really don’t do the movie any favors.
The gore is a lot of fun and there’s truly some pretty gnarly kills that are highly entertaining, the acting is overall not bad (some performances are much better than others) and the last half of the movie is quite entertaining that does throw in a few surprises that I’ll admit I didn’t see coming. The last half is where the movie truly finds it’s footing and manages to grab the viewer’s attention.
Unfortunately for this movie it’s only 75 minutes long which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but in this case it doesn’t benefit the movie when you take a look at the first half of the movie, it’s on the bland side and takes way too much time on establishing the character’s relationships with one another. Again not necessarily a bad thing but the characters in the movie range from being very poorly written to incredibly forgettable.
It is a shame because Kids vs. Aliens does have heart and it definitely seemed like that the production was a lot of fun, but the movie really doesn’t leave the viewer with very much and really wanting a lot more from it.
It follows five estranged college friends as they reunite for their friend’s funeral after her suicide, only for a game of “Marry, Fuck, Kill” to turn into something far more sinister.
Honestly what can I really say about Marry F*** Kill? There was very little expectation to begin with since this is a Tubi original and Tubi Originals serve as a dumping ground.
The movie itself has incredibly dull kills that a lot of them result in a blood splatter with sound effects that you could find online for free, the story could have been interesting if it weren’t so poorly told with very predictable story elements that even the most casual horror fan can see right through.
A lot of the writing with the horror elements is basic horror 101 but somehow done even worse, it’s one thing to have simple horror elements such as getting dragged underneath a bed or thrown at a tree. It’s completely another to somehow make those scenes so bland and add in the horrible blood splatter as mentioned before, I give some points to the actors for trying to make some scenes work (even though most of the acting is very dreadful) but overall there’s just not a whole lot going on here to warrant a watch.
Still dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed is thriving in his career and family life. When Damian, a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces after serving time in prison, he’s eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian — a fighter who has nothing to lose.
Creed III is the third film in the Creed series and ninth overall film in the Rocky series..and it’s one of the absolute best of the franchise!
Creed III has a very simple setup and does take a bit to get off the ground (not in a bad way) but it makes up for that with atmosphere that is very tense and gets the viewer hyped for the eventual fight scenes. The performances are all quite fantastic especially Michael B. Jordan who once again kills it with his performance as Adonis Creed and Jonathan Majors as Damian Anderson who is quite a fantastic villain as well as being very intimidating as well.
The tension that builds between Creed and Anderson is very thrilling and striking, it lasts throughout the film and eventually comes all together once the match begins. The match itself is thrilling and filled to the brim with this powerhouse strength that brings the viewer into the action, Michael B. Jordan wasn’t kidding when he said a lot of the action scenes were anime inspired. Because that is absolutely shown here (if you are a Dragon Ball fan such as myself there’s one in particular that you will instantly see), Michael B. Jordan is in the director’s chair this time around and his direction is absolutely phenomenal. Between the filming of the action scenes, the tense dialogue and the character’s development Jordan really does a phenomenal job of bringing the viewer into the film.
Creed III also combines what made the first two Creed films so incredible and turns it up into eleven, it magnifies the action and atmosphere to the point where they are both gigantic and hit every high note, the film itself wraps up wonderfully and has such an exciting ending as well!
Following two youngsters reeling from bad breakups who connect over a particularly eventful day in South London.
One major thing I love about film is every once in awhile you get that film that is so unexpectedly incredible and comes out of thin air…Rye Lane is definitely an example of that.
For starters David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah are both incredible as the leads, the chemistry between the two is compelling and very raw. The conversations between the two is truly sweet, romantic and brings the viewer into their conversation. When you combine that with the camera movement and the angles the film uses you get a personal type feel while also feeling invited to the conversations the two have.
The blend of humor, romance, heartwarming moments and a bit of drama is all incredibly well balanced that really paints a beautiful story that’s straightforward but at the same time very compelling, Rye Lane definitely has some elements from Before Sunrise and the other two movies of the trilogy. But the film makes them it’s own by presenting tons of witty dialogue and combining that with character driven moments that ask a lot of questions about ourselves and love.
Rye Lane is such an engaging film that really hits you in the right spots when it discusses love, it puts the theme of love in the spotlight and shows how two strangers can connect and really fall for each other. The film itself is handled with so much care and heart that you can’t help but smile, it’s truly a beautiful film that I absolutely recommend giving a watch.
Filmmaker Kyra Elise Gardner explores the enduring appeal of the `Child’s Play’ franchise and its iconic killer doll Chucky.
Living With Chucky is a documentary discussing the Child’s Play franchise while also discussing horror in general.
The documentary talks about each of the films in order of release (although it discusses Child’s Play III for about 3 minutes), a lot of what is talked about however is very surface level and a lot of common knowledge so if you are a huge fan and aware of the history of the series you aren’t going to get a whole lot out of this.
What makes the documentary great however is who’s interviewed from Brad Dourif and his daughter Fiona Dourif, to Jennifer Tilly, Marlon Waynes, Lin Shaye, Alex Vincent, John Waters, James A. Janisse (creator of the Dead Meat YouTube channel), Don Mancini himself and many others. Each of them really have something to contribute and it’s really interesting to hear their perspectives of the franchise over the years.
Especially with the cast and crew of the Chucky series, hearing Don Mancini talk very passionately about the series he created and has been involved with the series since the beginning is truly inspiring. The father and daughter bond Brad and Fiona have is truly charming and really shows how much fun they have working together.
That could honestly be said about the rest of the cast as well, even when Child’s Play as a series had it’s low points the films always seemed like the cast and crew were having a blast and that really shows here. They see each other as family at this point and are there for one another, it’s quite touching and genuinely beautiful to listen to how much they connect with one another.
Living With Chucky might have a lot of common knowledge but I will say if you are just now getting into the series this is a very decent way to start. Even if you are a huge fan there’s still the charm of the documentary that is definitely worth checking out!
A boy on a family trip to Mexico discovers a young chupacabra hiding in his grandfather’s shed.
Chupa is yet another one of those “group of kids discover creature and have to hide and defend it from people who want to harm it” type of movie. The problem I have with these types of movies is they almost never try to differentiate from one another and Chupa is really no exception.
While Chupa is ultimately a very harmless family movie with some actually decent acting (Christian Slater is in this for some reason) and it clearly does have heart. A lot of this is just recycled from other movies in this sub-genre, I guess the most interesting about this movie is the bond between Chava (played by Demián Bichir) and Alex (played by Evan Whitten).
The grandfather and grandson bond has it’s moments of character development but is unfortunately doesn’t fully come together, which is a shame because the movie does a far better job at that than when the movie focuses on protecting Chupa. There really isn’t anything here that is horrible a lot of it is just very blandly written, a lot of it just comes down to whether or not the viewer likes these sort of movies.
If you enjoy these types of movies you will probably like this one, if you don’t then you are going to have a bad time because there is absolutely nothing new here.
A young woman with dreams of being a superstar joins an underdog Atlanta praise-team choir in the lead up to the national competition.
Praise This is what you get when you mix Pitch Perfect and Jesus together, it has a praise team in a competition and story beats you will easily recognize from other movies.
Chloe Bailey is hands down the best part about the film, she is very talented and especially when she gets to sing. She also gives a pretty solid performance in the acting department as well, she takes the script which admittedly is on the weaker side and does the most she can with it.
There’s a few jokes here that work decently well and the first half of the movie is pretty solid for what it is. It’s mostly the second half that really starts to follow several story beats some of which are very similar to Pitch Perfect, I will give it credit that the movie isn’t preachy with it’s religious themes (it’s not even that religious to be quite honest.)
The movie does turn some songs into gospel or worship songs such as Cardi B’s “Money” some are definitely more noticeable than others, but they never get to the point of being KIDZ BOP level of bad.
Honestly there really isn’t much more to say, if you have seen Pitch Perfect or any of these other singing competition movies (heck some dance movies are a lot like this too) you have already seen Praise This. However if you are a Chloe Bailey fan I do think you will really like this one.
Jerome Reviews... 