An intimate portrait of Robin Williams and his invulnerable spirit, Robin’s Wish is the story of what really happened to one of the greatest entertainers of all time – and what his mind was fighting.
This might seem biased of giving this my highest rating because I’m a huge Robin a Williams fan, but trust me when I say this Robin’s Wish absolutely deserves this rating. The documentary is about Robin Williams final years as he was battling Lewy body dementia which was only diagnosed after his death, the whole movie is a very uncomfortable conversation about death and how it really effected everyone that loved him, Shawn Levy and Williams’s family are both perfect examples. You can hear the heart and pain in their voices as they are trying to live with that Williams is gone. It’s truly sad to see and depressing to see, as a documentary it’s really well made as well. It’s well shot, it’s very interesting and gives a lot of information about Williams‘s final days. It goes into great detail of what happened and how it effected Robin, it truly gets depressing and quite sad. I highly recommend giving this a watch especially if your a fan of Robin Williams..
Artist Matt Furie, creator of the comic character Pepe the Frog, begins an uphill battle to take back his iconic cartoon image from those who used it for their own purposes.
Feels Good Man is surprising, the idea of making a whole documentary about a cartoon frog and actually dissecting the topic in a surprisingly heroic way sounds bizarre on paper. But this movie does just that as Matt Furie tries to get his creation Pepe The Frog back which became a hate symbol due to the Alt-Right. Matt Furie himself really shows how much he cares about Pepe and does everything in his power to get his creation back, the documentary does a really great job of digging into the mindset of the Alt-Right such as Alex Jones and many of the people on 4chan who started all of this. But at the same time this movie manages to have a ton of wholesome moments, it’s the balance of digging into mindsets and the wholesome moments that make the film work. Matt Furie also shows this sense of kindness that really brings a lot to the film as well, while he is fighting to get control of his creation again. He still keeps this kind attitude that is really inspiring as well, overall this is a fantastic film that highly recommend. Going into this movie I did not think I would love as much as I did, but life is full of surprises and this movie is the definition of a surprise. About a man wanting to make things right and taking back what was rightfully his.
The story of songwriter Howard Ashman who penned the lyrics for Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast before he died of AIDS at the height of the AIDS crisis in 1991.
Howard Ashman was one of the best lyricists of our time, this documentary about how an incredible of a human being he was really shows that. The documentary goes over quite a bit and really goes into many emotional aspects, plus what inspired him to write certain songs. Take “The Mob Song” from Beauty And The Beast for example, Howard Ashman had AIDS by the time he wrote this song, Ashman viewed the Beast’s curse as an allegory for AIDS. He was inspired to write this song from a public sentiment at the time that was against AIDS and the gay community. Which is honestly something I would never think that would be what the song’s inspiration was but it shows there’s a story even for songs you wouldn’t expect. He also wrote several classics Arabian Nights, Under The Sea, Belle, Prince Ali, Be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast and several others. The man was a mastermind and really seemed passionate at what he does, then there’s the emotional parts of the documentary that almost made me cry. It’s honestly really sad and shows how much of a good person Howard Ashman was to everyone around him, it’s heartbreaking to watch. Overall what else is there to say really? It’s a very straightforward documentary yet something truly special and one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year, I highly recommend watching it as soon as you can!
A modern take on Charles Dickens’s classic tale of a young orphan who is able to triumph over many obstacles.
I’m actually quite surprised I liked this as much as I did, I’m going to be brutally honest…I did not think this look really good from the trailers. But I love being proved wrong and in this case I most definitely was, it’s directed by Armando lannucci director of “The Death Of Stalin” my favorite thing about this movie by far is Dev Patel as the leading the role, he does such a fantastic job and gives this beautiful performance. Same goes for everyone else in the film, they all really give it their all and the end result is quite great. The writing is pretty solid, I wouldn’t say anything mind blowing but still some really great stuff that captures the era the movie is supposed to be taking place. The direction was quite great, I don’t think Iannucci’s direction wasn’t as good here as it was in Death Of Stalin, but it still has the elements and they worked very well here to get the job done. The costumes and filming in particular really captured the time period this movie was going for, it feels incredibly realistic and to the point! Overall a very solid film that I would recommend!!
7/10 B
Actor David Arquette attempts a rocky return to the sport that stalled his promising Hollywood career.
David Arquette is a really interesting person and this documentary shows that quite well. It’s a very straightforward documentary that shows the rise and fall of David Arquette, it also shows him not giving up on his career which is really inspiring. Which is honestly what I describe this movie as inspiring, it shows a man that does not give up on his dreams and keeps fighting for it. As far as filmmaking it’s quite great, it’s one of those documentaries where you actually begin to feel for the person the film is about (in this case David Arquette) the documentary is a little slow at times but I do feel the payoff is really worth it in the end. I’m glad they included his wrestling career because it’s always strange whenever a conversation about wrestlers who started acting careers David Arquette always seems to be forgotten. Which brings a very interesting point, David Arquette has 139 acting credits (according to IMDb at the time this was written) yet a lot of people seem to only remember him from The Scream movies and without the Scream movies a lot of people seem to forget him. Which is really baffling, it’s great to see that David Arquette never gave up! Overall this is definitely worth checking out!!
9/10 A
A married couple find themselves trapped in their frozen vehicle after a blizzard and struggle to survive amid plunging temperatures and unforeseen obstacles.
First things first the movie claims it’s based on a true story, however I found nothing about the story it’s actually based on. I do believe it’s based on a mix of stories that are related to this one. Anyway Centigrade is another survival movie that really doesn’t have anything special going for it, it got the atmosphere down pretty well. But the characters are just really idiotic, some of the decisions they make are truly baffling and just not realistic at the slightest. The acting is fine enough but the writing feels like they just played way too safe with this one. It never really goes anywhere and the movie just kind of ends. This is a very common problem with a lot of these survival movies is they really can’t invest the audience because they just don’t have enough going on and really do the bare minimum. Centigrade is definitely not the worst survival movie out there but it’s definitely one of the most forgettable.
A documentary that explores the rise and fall of The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991) and its controversial creator, John Kricfalusi.
I’m just going to throw this out there right now, this is the type of movie where people are going to have very different opinions. Because of this it was sort of hard to come up with an actual rating for this movie but I think I got it, anyway growing up Ren & Stimpy was one of my favorite cartoons, it was actually one of the first I sat down and watched. It’s not a secret anymore that the creator John Kricfalusi is a horrible person, he’s a pedophile who took advantage of his fans because they really liked his work. The movie does talk about that, but I also highly recommend doing some research about the whole situation because it is a lot. The documentary goes over a lot of topics such as the show itself and how it was created, a rise and fall type portion (yes the adult party cartoon is mentioned) and then about John Kricfalusi himself. As far as filmmaking the documentary is pretty solid, it isn’t anything mind blowing but it’s definitely enough to keep the viewer’s interest. The reason why I said at the beginning that this movie is going to be where people will have different opinions is because some people are going to see this movie portrayed John Kricfalusi as a good person who was misunderstood. Then others will see John Kricfalusi portrayed as he should be a monster that he really is, I feel like it all comes down to the viewer and what they think they movie did, I’m sorry if this review felt like a lot of rambling. It’s very hard to actually sit down and review something like this, I do recommend giving this one a watch.
A thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
Boys State was a interesting one, it shows a program in Texas that has teens learn about American Democracy and has them organize political parties for a mock government. The subject matter is quite great, you have a lot of teens who are genuinely into this whole program, some really strong speakers such as Rene Otero being the standout who really gave me goosebumps every time he made a speech. As far as filmmaking it’s really well done, I really like how raw it feels and doesn’t feel like it was staged at all. Some documentaries unfortunately have that problem but here you really don’t feel that, it’s also really interesting to hear and see the different backgrounds of some of the teens and why they believe what they believe in. Boys State also shows the horrors of getting into politics and it does a pretty solid job at it, the movie really doesn’t sugarcoat anything either which is nice. There are also some pretty powerful moments as well, heck I found some of these teens speech’s much more powerful and interesting than some actual politicians. Sorry if my review was very vague, it’s very hard talking about this movie without spoiling it which I certainly don’t want to do. Go check this one out!!
Students and their families share personal stories of profound trauma and loss in the wake of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. It’s quite hard to review something like After Parkland it’s a documentary on the aftermath of the Parkland shooting and how it effected the survivors or victims families. Plus many people trying to create change In gun violence which is definitely needed, it goes without saying but the film is very hard to watch. You see the several emotions from the survivors and the victims families such as Andrew Pollack, the film shows that there are several people who do not want to see this happen again. It’s very inspiring and a fantastic to see, as for the documentary itself..it’s very well done. It’s crafted very well, it gets straight to the point and goes over quite a bit about the topic. This is definitely the documentary to watch if you want to know more about Parkland, I also do recommend to give this a look it’s a very strong film!
A look at the life of genre blending artist and style icon, Lil Peep. Everybody’s Everything isn’t something that’s very easy to review, it shows not only how lil peep was as a person (who seemed like he was a genuinely nice guy) but it’s also a celebration of his life and the way this movie shows that is just incredible, of course when you have someone like Terrance Malik involved you are bound to make it look really great. But not only Malik but everyone involved with this movie does fantastic, they put something beautiful together to celebrate lil peep’s life, he did have a full life ahead of him. Lil peep’s death in 2017 shocked a lot of people and it was quite sad as well, this movie does dive into that and there are some very sad scenes which yes I did cry. It’s really sad seeing all these people in shock, pain and very sad, the movie really does a good job of showing how good of a person lil peep was and how he got his career going as an artist, overall Everybody’s Everything is one of the standouts of the year I highly recommend this film to anyone really, even if you haven’t heard of lil peep I still encourage you to give this a try. 10/10 A+
In Florida, parents can hire Wrinkles the Clown to scare their misbehaving children. Pretty much what happens every time the media blows things out of proportion, the tide pod/bird box challenge, the momo statue where the media claimed some people died. But the reality is nobody actually died but this movie focuses on the clowns that were said to be stalking children back in 2016. It also focuses on one particular clown named Wrinkles, I thought it was pretty well done for the most part. Although I would had like to see a lot more scares, the first two acts weren’t too bad there was some jumping the shark moments but it wasn’t too bad…that is until the third act where this movie for whatever reason has a twist and starts going a little too crazy with the dialogue. It starts to become not very believable especially with some of the lines the kids start speaking. There were several moments where I just said out loud “kids do not talk like this” as for the twist I thought it was incredibly unnecessary the movie would have been just fine without it. Overall the movie is a good time killer but not much more. 6/10 C+
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott’s Alien – rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O’Bannon and H.R. Giger. A contemplation on the symbiotic collaborative process of movie-making, the power of myth, and our collective unconscious. I’ll give the movie this, I can appreciate at what it actually did do. It gave more spotlight on the writer of the first Alien movie and a few other people rather then just Ridley Scott. The movie also did share some interesting facts that I found pretty great, having that said the movie really doesn’t go to “incredible documentary” status it kind of just sits on the line of being decent and below average, it’s pretty well crafted for the most part. It does feel a little too long at times which is unfortunate because I was very interested in this movie, I feel like this is the type of documentary where unless you don’t know the topics this movie has to say you aren’t really going to like it all that much. I know it seems like I’m rambling but it’s hard to just describe this one in great detail especially when it just doesn’t do very much. 6/10 C+
Jerome Reviews... 