Back in Action (2025) Film Review!

Former CIA spies Emily and Matt are pulled back into espionage after their secret identities are exposed.

Back in Action is directed by Seth Gordon director of Four Christmases (2008), Horrible Bosses (2011), Identity Thief (2013) and Baywatch (2017).

I don’t think anyone should be surprised that a Netflix January action comedy ends up being terrible, the whole selling point of this movie was that Cameron Diaz came out of retirement from acting. Which that’s great we all love Cameron Diaz but coming out of retirement for this movie really leaves me with a lot more questions than answers.

Cameron Diaz isn’t terrible here and is trying her best with the script given, but her performance is not exactly great here either. She’s capable of far better performances and here it just seems like we get almost absolutely nothing, a lot of what people love about Diaz as an actress is absent and feels more like “we got Cameron Diaz but everything that audiences love about her acting is not here.”

Jamie Foxx falls in the same boat, while the chemistry between Diaz and Foxx isn’t bad and has a few sweet moments, it’s not quite enough to really save the movie. Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz are stuck with such a terrible script that tells horrible jokes and throws as many sequences at the wall with none of them sticking, Glenn Close is just kind of here and is nothing more than a poorly written side character.

The movie itself as I said before is so poorly written, this is about as dull as you can get when it comes to action comedies. Everything that you expect is going to happen unfolds almost immediately, there’s no sense of direction with the plot being strangely convoluted for such a straightforward premise. The movie is also Spy Kids (2001) but instead of kids it’s adults, which doesn’t work mainly because 90% of spy films are already like that. Spy Kids at the very least had an audience in mind and is goofy fun even if the movie doesn’t hold up well, Back in Action is just a mishmash of terrible ideas and cliches thrown into a blender nothing more and nothing less.

There really isn’t a whole lot else to say about Back in Action it’s a movie you are going to remember 30 minutes after watching and then move on. The only reason why this movie is known is because of Cameron Diaz coming out of retirement, without that this movie would not have gotten a single ounce of advertising.

Back in Action is available on Netflix.

1/10 F

Most Anticipated Films Of January 2025 List + More

Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope you all had a great holiday and New Year’s Eve!

Before we begin with the January 2025 list there’s a few things I want to quickly go over.

For starters I do apologize for the large gaps of not posting that happened in 2024, so much happened during the last half of the year. Between my phone screen breaking, my computer suddenly stopped working and some family stuff it was a large mess. Luckily everything is fine now and this year I’m going to stay on top of everything.

The other thing I want to address is I’m going to be dropping the “disgrace to cinema” rating. I’ve been using it for years, ever since I was a teenager I believe. I should have dropped it years ago, it’s very immature and I have rarely used in recent years anyway. The replacement rating will probably be something like “atrocious” or “No good qualities just horrendous.”

Anyways January!! 2025 is looking to be a fantastic year for film, January of course is on the rough side of things. Most of the films on the list are ones that are 2024 films that are expanding this month, with 5/12 films that are 2025 films! This month is going to be used to finish any remaining 2024 films I haven’t seen as of yet! Anyway let’s get to the list!

12. Birdeater – January 10th (VOD)

11. Love Me – January 31st (Theaters)

10. The Room Next Door – January 17th (Theaters)

9. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – January 3rd (Netflix)

8. Better Man – January 10th (Theaters)

7. Wolf Man – January 17th (Theaters)

6. I’m Still Here – January 17th (Theaters)

5. Hard Truths – January 10th (Theaters)

4. The Last Showgirl – January 10th (Theaters)

3. Companion – January 31st (Theaters)

2. Presence – January 17th (Limited) and January 24th (Wide)

1. Sing Sing January 17th (Theaters)

Nightbitch (2024) Film Review!

An artist who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mum seeks a new chapter in her life and encounters just that, when her nightly routine takes a surreal turn and her maternal instincts begin to manifest in canine form.

Nightbitch is directed by Marielle Heller director of The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015), Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019).

Marielle Heller is one of my favorite directors working today, the way she executes these stories and brings so much emotion and connects the viewer with these films is truly beautiful. When I heard she was going to tackle the horror genre with Nightbitch I was pretty excited about it, unfortunately the movie leaves so much to be desired and is a huge step down from her previous work.

Amy Adams is by far the best performance in the movie and is really putting in the work, there’s some moments that really bring out Heller’s touches when it comes to directing. Amy Adams mixes with these moments incredibly well and is able to give some touching and emotional moments that really put you in the perspective of her character. The way the movie attempts to tackle and explore motherhood is interesting and even works at certain moments.

The main problem here is the rest of the movie, the movie starts to repeat itself quite a lot and even gets lost as to what it’s trying to say exactly. There’s some nice dialogue between Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy but that ultimately gets lost when it’s followed up with unfunny quips that feel like they belong in a late night show rather than a film. The body horror elements are unfortunately incredibly underwhelming, when the movie does focus on them they are neat but there’s just not a whole lot going on with them to get the viewer fully invested.

I do think Nightbitch has the right ideas to make a great film, those pieces are just placed in the wrong spots and ultimately build a very incomplete picture that really does not have as much depth to really dive into as the movie was leading on.

Nightbitch is available on Hulu

5/10 C

A Real Pain (2024) Film Review

Mismatched cousins David and Benji tour Poland to honor their grandmother. Their adventure becomes complicated as old tensions resurface while exploring their family history.

A Real Pain is directed by Jesse Eisenberg who previously directed When You Finish Saving The World (2022).

Something I absolutely love seeing in film is a director improving, Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut When You Finish Saving The World (2022) was incredibly flawed and overall very forgettable. A Real Pain is the direct opposite of that, what we have here is such a personal and powerful story that quite clearly means so much to Eisenberg and he shares that with the viewer in such beautiful ways.

The performances are really what make this film work as wonderfully as it does, Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are fantastic and work so naturally together. We get to explore the two’s characters in great detail, David Kaplan (played by Jesse Eisenberg) has a wife and kids in New York City, has his life together and while is yet another one of Eisenberg’s socially awkward characters it actually really works here. Benji Kaplan (played by Kieran Culkin) does not have a job and hides a lot of pain that bothers him, sure he might seem like he “lights up the room” when he enters it. But on the inside he is hiding battles that do get to him.

The character is truly fascinating and really builds the bond of the two and leads to some incredible moments. Culkin is of course fascinating throughout the film, one moment he’s a jokester who means well in what he’s saying. Then the next moment he takes a stance of how the way the tour guide talks about the Nazi Germany Holocaust tour wanting more emotional authenticity rather than focus on statistics. Jesse Eisenberg gives a career best moment during the dinner table scene, Benji makes uncomfortable comments and leaves which leads to David to explain that Benji tried to kill himself which ended up drifting the two apart. Eisenberg’s acting in this scene is truly beautiful and so gut punching that it makes you cry, it’s such a powerful way of previously setting up a character (Benji) who seemed to be happy and comfortable with himself be shown to be going through a whole lot. Eisenberg really puts in the work for this scene alone he should absolutely be nominated for an Oscar (as well as Kieran Culkin).

The haunting yet beautiful piano score that’s used throughout the film is truly beautiful and really captured the atmosphere the film is going for. The theme of pain is present throughout the score and ultimately delivers some truly touching quiet moments, it’s a score that’s also very therapeutic that slowly brings you into the film. It’s a very smart way of easing the viewer in, getting you comfortable and just setting up beautiful scenes.

The writing and direction from Jesse Eisenberg is just absolutely brilliant, Eisenberg creates some of the most raw and human performances of the year. The scene where the group visits the concentration camp is absolutely haunting and is about as perfectly directed as you can get. The silence, the atmosphere, the cinematography and the sound of the group’s steps as they look at the remains of the camp it’s all there. It’s one of those scenes that never leaves your mind after watching, Eisenberg proves he can write a meaningful scene after meaningful scene, everything in this film really mixes so well together in the end and paints this beautiful and emotional picture that you never want to stop looking at.

Overall A Real Pain is one of the best films of the year. The compare and contrast element of David and Benji as characters is fascinating, their bond rebuilding is absolutely beautiful and the film is just so well done. I am absolutely interested to see what Eisenberg does next as a director.

A Real Pain is currently in theaters!

10/10 A+

Y2K (2024) Film Review

On the last night of 1999, two high school juniors crash a New Year’s Eve party, only to find themselves fighting for their lives when Y2K becomes a reality.

Y2K is directed by Kyle Mooney which is his directorial debut.

Y2K is a film about the whole Y2K scare that was going on and what if it actually happened. A simple enough idea that for the most part executes its premise decently well, since Kyle Mooney really goes all out to make something incredibly fun.

The cast are quite solid who each deliver some funny moments, Jaeden Martell and Rachel Zegler are charming and the bond that slowly builds over the course of the movie is cute. It’s not anything really special and does have the typical love interest cliches you come to expect but they fit the 90s callback atmosphere going on here. Although I do wish the movie did a lot more with Zegler’s character there’s moments where you could tell they were attempting to do something but kind of forget about it. Kyle Mooney gives a humorous performance that got a lot of laughs out of me, he’s a very basic stoner character but once again it matches the atmosphere.

Fred Durst is the standout and the moment he enters the film he completely steals the show. He matches the atmosphere and really goes all out with his performance, easily connects with the rest of the cast and doesn’t feel forced. Durst’s inclusion could have easily felt forced and would have basically killed the movie right at the moment he enters. However due to how charming the film is, the atmosphere working in his favor and the energy he brings it completely works.

The robot designs are incredibly neat, seeing all the different parts together and the detail of them is fascinating. The music is a nice throwback to the 90s and the kills are a lot of fun, all of these little things really help to mold this movie into something incredibly fun.

The weakest part of Y2K is by far the character writing, outside of Fred Durst a lot of the other characters really don’t have a whole lot going on. Which is to be expected it’s a very silly film about Y2K, but I don’t think some of the characters were exactly strong enough to really make the viewer remember them. Eli (played by Jaeden Martell) is a fine enough main character but if you have seen any coming of age films, sex comedies like American Pie (1999) or teen comedies you basically have seen Eli. The same can be said with the other characters Laura (played by Rachel Zegler) is your usual love interest, Garrett (played by Kyle Mooney) is the typical stoner, Danny (played by Julian Dennison) is the typical best friend and so on.

Despite my problems however I do think Y2K is a surprisingly charming film, there might not be a whole lot going on here writing wise (hence why it’s a bit hard to really go into detail) but the movie undeniably oozes with charm and keeps that up all the way through the film. It’s a very fun watch that I do recommend taking a look at.

Y2K is currently in theaters.

7/10 B

Nutcrackers (2024) Film Review!

A strait-laced man finds his life suddenly upended when he becomes the caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews.

Nutcrackers is directed by David Gordon Green director of George Washington (2000), Pineapple Express (2008), Joe (2013), Stronger (2017), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), Halloween Ends (2022), The Exorcist: Believer (2023) and many others.

I’m not going to spend this short review trashing David Gordon Green and highlighting his downfall, because I do think despite Nutcrackers not being something I would call good at the very least it’s a huge step up from his last movie The Exorcist: Believer (2023).

I’ve always rooted for Ben Stiller and even if he really doesn’t give a very noteworthy performance of his career he is still pretty solid here, you can definitely tell during a handful of moments he put heart into them and did what he could to make them work. To his credit there are a bunch of scenes here that actually are kind of sweet and do make you smile a bit, even when the movie falls into cliche territory.

Unfortunately that’s really where the highlights end, the rest of the movie is this weird mishmash of wanting to be a comedy and be taken seriously. The movie makes it clear it’s a comedy, but it also has this indie movie type of style that makes it look serious especially with the atmosphere that acts like it’s going for this depression feel. It’s very odd considering some of the comedic scenes that take place, I get what it’s trying to do but I really don’t think this was planned out well at all.

The finale of the movie needed so much more development, we aren’t really given a lot of information or shown that the kids can do ballet. So the Nutcracker show that’s performed at the end sort of just feels like nothing, it does feel like a giant waste of time considering the movie barely explored the kids’s talent. It’s a shame because I do think what the movie was trying to do with connecting the plots together was interesting, but it was just done in such a sloppy and rushed way that it loses the viewer almost immediately.

Nutcrackers isn’t anything terrible, it has decent performances from Ben Stiller and the kids. But being filled to the brim with cliches, a very unfocused plot and mishmash of atmospheres costs this movie big time.

Nutcrackers is available on Hulu.

5/10 C

Sweethearts (2024) Film Review!

Two college freshmen make a pact to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break, leading them on a chaotic night out in their home town that puts their co-dependent friendship to the test.

Sweethearts is directed by Jordan Weiss which is her directorial debut.

Sweethearts is one of those movies you instantly think of when someone says “straight to streaming movie” while I definitely think this is better than a lot of Netflix’s romantic comedy output recently. That’s really not saying all that much since Sweethearts ends up suffering from some of the exact same issues.

If there’s one major positive here it’s the performances from Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga who really do the best they can with such a shotty script that quickly loses its charm during the second half of the movie. There are at least some moments you believe their characters Jamie (played by Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (played by Nico Hiraga) have this bond, it’s just a shame all of these moments are in the first half of the movie and not the second half. Where the movie kind of needs to pick up the pace with the development of these characters.

The second half of the movie boils down to a terrible version of Booksmart (2019), we have seen plenty of movies trying to replicate what Booksmart (2019) did and most have failed. That’s most certainly the case here, the movie goes about it in the most predictable and lazy way possible that you can see coming from a mile away. Unfortunately Shipka and Hiraga can’t really sell you the bond between their characters mainly due to a huge lack of development, sure we are told they are good friends but we never actually get anything more concrete than that.

Despite my issues I don’t think Sweethearts is one of the worst romantic comedies out there, it’s just a very underwhelming one that is bound to be forgotten about very quickly.

Sweethearts is available on MAX or HBO Max.

4/10 D+

Dear Santa (2024) Film Review!

A young boy accidentally mixes up his spelling and sends his Christmas list to Satan instead of Santa.

Dear Santa is directed by Bobby Farrelly who by himself directed Champions (2023) and with his brother Peter Farrelly directed Dumb and Dumber (1994), There’s Something About Mary (1998), Osmosis Jones (2001) and many others.

The only reason I’m even aware of the existence of Dear Santa is because someone on Twitter was complaining about Satan being in this movie and how it’s propaganda. Well Satan is definitely in it but let me tell you most people who decide to watch this will probably turn it off immediately before Satan even appears on screen. Because good lord this is one of the worst movies of the year.

Look the whole idea of a kid accidentally sending a letter to Satan instead of Santa could have been funny, however the writing is some of the worst you will hear in a movie this year, it goes back and forth between jokes that are aimed for adults and jokes that are way too juvenile for adults. It’s an incredibly odd and out of place mishmash of nonsense that leads to none of the jokes landing.

Jack Black should be excellent here but due to the writing he gives a terrible performance, Satan spends the whole movie making terrible jokes, being a Wish.com version of Beetlejuice and Black’s performance is just a dull take on Satan. The movie wants you to laugh at the antics going on here but doesn’t give any justification of why you should, this is all lazily done in the worst possible way. There’s scenes in this movie that had they actually been written decently could have been funny, but they go about as well as you would expect.

The main character Liam Turner (played by Robert Timothy Smith) is a very nothing character, sure later on we learn about why he’s troubled but that is until halfway through the movie. Mind you Turner had not mentioned it up until that point, it’s such a whiplash of tone and kind of sums up the exact problem with this movie…who is this for?

This most certainly isn’t for children given a lot of the raunchy humor (even some pedophillia jokes) and it’s not for adults given that juvenile humor is placed all over this movie. This honestly felt like it was trying to be Good Boys (2019) in some areas, I’m not even that huge on that movie but at the very least it was funny and actually pretty alright. There was at least a level understanding how to make your audience laugh and knew who their audience was. Dear Santa does absolutely none of that which leads it to be one of the worst movies of the year.

Avoid this.

Dear Santa is available on Paramount+

Disgrace To Cinema F

A Different Man (2024) Film Review!

An aspiring actor undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. However, his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare as he becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.

A Different Man is directed by Aaron Schimberg director of Go Down Death (2013) and Chained For Life (2018).

A Different Man is brilliant, both in execution and how it uses the themes of exploitation and identity. Combine that with some of the most masterfully done performances of the year and you have something truly special.

Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson are both absolutely incredible here, for Stan this is a career best worthy performance. He starts out as this actor who is suffering from neurofibromatosis, the makeup done here is absolutely phenomenal and really does a fantastic job of capturing the frustration and pain that of the condition. Stan shows all of this through the makeup which just makes his performance all the more impressive, the next part of his performance comes in when he gains a cure and when Adam Pearson enters the film. Pearson is comfortable in his skin and is more well liked than Stan is which sends him into pure jealousy as well as bitterness, Stan plays this part so well and gives his characters Edward and Guy so much depth and we do get to see in the mind of someone incredibly jealous which is just fascinating. This is a performance I would love to see in the best actor conversation at the Oscars.

Adam Pearson is the best part of the film, the rest of the film is brilliant as I said before. But Pearson brings something truly incredible to the table, his character Oswald constantly one ups Guy mostly from self-confidence and just being charming, a good person and funny. It’s the traits any person loves, the two different personalities of Oswald and Guy setup some darkly humorous scenes and just completely capture how investing the film really is. What sold this film for me is when Adam Pearson sings “I Wanna Get Next To You” it’s not only the best moment of the film but one of the best of the year, this is the prime example of self-confidence that Oswald has going up there not caring what anyone says and starts singing. It’s such a brilliant scene that displays Pearson’s charm as an actor and truly makes me excited to see what he’s going to do next. Pearson deserves a best supporting actor nomination as this is truly a beautiful performance.

The film’s writing is magnificent, as I said earlier there are moments where it’s darkly humorous and I’m happy to say those moments don’t take away from the more dramatic ones. If anything the humorous moments add to the dramatic ones, they create the many conversations the characters have with each other, the set up plenty of memorable moments between Guy and Oswald. The writing creates this contrast of the two giving us both perspectives and really giving the viewer so much information in such brilliant ways.

The cinematography combined with the way New York is portrayed is absolutely beautiful, it’s very authentic from the people to the personalities it’s all there. The moments inside the bars are especially a nice touch, you have an ice cream truck blocking the ambulance it’s all there in this fun and quite investing picture. The film itself and its shots almost feel like you are digging through old photographs, maybe it’s because the way it’s shot, but I feel like at any moment I as the viewer want to be dragged into said old photograph and witness the event unfold.

Finally Aaron Schimberg is such an excellent director, the way he creates this authentic world and creates these characters who tell a story on their own is so mesmerizing that you never want to look away. The script from Schimberg as I said before is masterfully done, almost immediately when the film begins you know you’re in for something truly special. The interactions these characters have is so down to earth and completely drags you in.

Overall A Different Man is one of the best films of the year, it’s one of those films you are going to remember for a long time after viewing. I really can’t wait to see what Schimberg does next in his career.

A Different Man is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

My Old Ass (2024) Film Review

An 18th-birthday mushroom trip brings Elliott face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self. When the older Elliott starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, she realizes she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what’s becoming a transformative summer.

My Old Ass is directed by Megan Park who previously directed The Fallout (2021).

The Fallout (2021) is one of my favorite films of the 2020s so far, it’s a powerful film that I never stopped thinking about. So I was excited to see what Megan Park had in store for her second movie and unfortunately it’s a huge step down.

Maisy Stella gives a strong performance and really ends up being quite likable as well if there’s one thing to take away from this movie it’s that I’m excited to see Stella’s acting career evolve. While the movie is nowhere near as well written as The Fallout (2021), Stella is able to turn some parts of the writing into something grounded (I say parts because there’s a lot of dialogue here that’s just flat out not good), her conversations with Aubrey Plaza who plays an older Elliot (Elliot is played by Maisy Stella) is some genuinely touching stuff and really brings in the theme of “what would you ask your older self?” Had the movie stayed where it was with the first act I think this could have been something special.

Unfortunately when Percy Hynes White enters the movie that’s when things go downhill quickly, White as an actor is terrible and very easily the worst part about this movie. Stella and White have no chemistry between one another, White seems more focused on playing generic love interest number 402 we have seen in multiple other movies rather than giving a grounded performance. It’s a shame because Stella is really trying to make the scenes involving her and White work, but White’s bad acting really sticks out like a sore thumb that never goes away.

The third act is way too surface level for its own good, sure it’s emotional and executes the message fine enough. But there really isn’t enough meat on its bone to bring a powerful punch to the mix, something this movie needed after a very bumpy second act. The dialogue during the third act is not necessarily terrible it’s just very lacking in the power department, you can absolutely see what it’s trying to go for here but unfortunately misses the mark.

My Old Ass is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C