Turtles All The Way Down (2024) Film Review

When a 16-year-old struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder reconnects with her childhood crush, she faces the potential of finding love and happiness despite her mental condition.

Turtles All The Way Down is directed by Hannah Marks director of After Everything (2018), Mark, Mary & Some Other People (2021) and Don’t Make Me Go (2022).

When I saw that a new John Green film adaptation was being released I was very skeptical, even though I really liked The Fault In Our Stars (2014) and thought Paper Towns (2015) was fine enough. The era of John Green’s peak popularity is well passed now combined with the fact that this was releasing on MAX (previously known as HBO Max) really came off as some sort of cash grab….as I have said in the past I like to be proven wrong and I definitely was here.

Hannah Marks is a director who has really shown through her work that she can make the characters and audiences connect incredibly easily. With a story like Turtles All The Way Down that is incredibly necessary and she really does an excellent job of doing so. The performances are very grounded here especially the performance from Isabela Merced who truly gives such a touching performance combine that with some actually effective filmmaking that’s able to communicate what Merced’s character Aza is feeling and going through and you have yourself something pretty meaningful.

We follow Aza throughout the film and see what she is going through with her OCD, there’s some quite effective moments that easily connect the viewer with Aza something a lot of other films in the young adult adaption genre tend to struggle with. Isabela Merced is able to bring this grounded performance center stage and make each and every scene that much more believable, Cree who plays Daisy is also quite great here as well. She isn’t exactly the most developed character but her bond with Aza is completely buyable and well grounded.

Outside of a very underdeveloped subplot about a missing billionaire that really feels a bit tacked on, the film does a pretty solid job with its storytelling. It moves at a nice pace that keeps the story moving along and never feels rushed, the movie definitely could have went a bit deeper with Aza and her OCD but what’s presented is very sweet and absolutely works in the context of the story.

Turtles All The Way Down is available on MAX

8/10 B+

Arthur The King (2024) Film Review

Desperate for one last chance to win, Michael Light convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. As the team gets pushed to the outer limits of endurance, a dog named Arthur comes along for the ride, redefining what victory, loyalty and friendship truly means.

Arthur The King is directed by Simon Cellan Jones director of Some Voices (2000), The One and Only (2002) and The Family Plan (2023)

I really don’t have a whole lot to say here about Arthur The King it’s another one of those feel good dog movies that are based on a true story. Although Arthur himself takes awhile to enter the movie. There’s some perfectly serviceable performances, the bond between Michael Light (played by Mark Wahlberg) and Arthur is charming enough and gets the point across quickly. Simu Liu isn’t terrible here (just not really much going on with his performance) and Juliet Rylance is decent enough.

As I said Arthur doesn’t show up until about halfway through the movie, which means we are mostly stuck with Mark Wahlberg being incredibly uninteresting. However once Arthur does enter the picture the movie does get better and the final act although somewhat predictable (even if you did not know the true story you could very easily predict what happens) is still very touching.

There was a genuine amount of heart put into this when it comes to capturing the spirit of the true story, the direction is fine enough and gets the job done. Honestly the movie’s worst offense is being forgettable, it’s a very middle of the road dog movie that is admittedly charming but not something I would ever go back to.

Arthur The King is available on all VOD Platforms.

5/10 C

Challengers (2024) Film Review

Tashi, a tennis player turned coach, has transformed her husband from a mediocre player into a world-famous grand slam champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a challenger event — close to the lowest level of tournament on the pro tour. Tensions soon run high when he finds himself standing across the net from the once-promising, now burnt-out Patrick, his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend.

Challengers is directed by Luca Guadagnino director of A Bigger Splash (2015), Call Me By Your Name (2017), Suspiria (2018), Bones and All (2022) and a few others.

One thing that I truly love in film is when you see a film you knew was going to be really good and it ends up surpassing your expectations by a lot. That’s the case with Challengers. Luca Guadagnino takes the sport of tennis and what seems like a straightforward premise and flips it on it’s head. Thrilling, captivating and erotic are just some of the words to describe the film.

Starting with performances since Challengers is a very performance heavy as well as a character heavy film. Zendaya gives a career best performance, her performance as Tashi Duncan is truly exciting to watch and truly captures the film’s atmosphere. Just by looking into the eyes of Tashi the viewer is able to get a good idea of her, Zendaya truly masters the subtle and careful character moments with body language and some speech patterns that are truly investing. Her performance is one of the best so far this year and quite honestly one of the most fun performances of the year as well.

Similarly Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist are both brilliant as well, it’s some of the best pairing I’ve seen in a film so far this year. Each and every time the two share a screen together they have this natural connection that makes the scene in question all the more interesting. The dialogue the two share to each other is raw and really brings the viewer into the film’s world. What’s great is we get a ton of information about the two Art Donaldson (played by Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (played by Josh O’Connor) have a lot of their information told through some flashbacks which the film does a excellent job of jumping back and forth. It also helps build the film’s world as well.

Together all three have this chemistry that is just oozing with style and powerful development that is shown throughout the film, the more we learn about each of the three the more you get put into the film. It’s truly remarkable how natural and easily the script by Justin Kuritzkes brings in the viewer to a wild ride.

One thing that is often brought up in a ton of reviews is the score, which let me tell you right now it’s for a good reason. I was not expecting the score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to take this electronic direction that it did. Tennis is the last sport you would think of to associate with electronic music and yet it fits perfectly, especially combined with the cinematography and many camera angles during the tennis matches it creates some quite electrifying and stylized moments that really make the film standout.

I do not want to say much else because Challengers is definitely a film you have to experience for yourself, it’s a truly brilliant film that I can’t recommend enough!

Challengers is available in theaters.

10/10 A+

Civil War (2024) Film Review

In a dystopian future America, a team of military-embedded journalists races against time to reach Washington, D.C., before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

Civil War is directed by Alex Garland who previously directed Ex Machina (2015), Annihilation (2018) and Men (2022).

Part of the reason my review is so late is because I honestly had no idea what to exactly think of Civil War. There is an incredible amount that I really love about the film, even if the politics can get muddy I do get the point the film was making and in some instances it kind of works.

I’ll start with the performances because they are ultimately what really makes the film, starting with Kristen Dunst she gives a phenomenal performance. She plays a war photographer named Lee Smith who mainly focuses on the job and nothing else at all, there are tons of character moments from her. The ones that stood out were her slowly realizing that doing absolutely nothing while chaos is going on other than getting that one excellent shot is not worth it at all. Dunst gives such a raw performance and her interactions with the rest of the cast is truly investing.

Cailee Spaeny is also quite excellent here, she plays Jessie Cullen an aspiring young photographer who kind of just joins in on Lee and Joel’s (played by Wagner Moura) journey. Her depiction of someone being someone who hasn’t been in this much chaos before is absolutely top notch and at times quite scary, the scenes with her Dunst or her and Moura just having conversations are among some of the film’s best moment.

Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley are both excellent here, they work incredibly well with Spaeny and Dunst the chemistry between the four is top notch. Moura acting as this second in command figure with Dunst who tries to keep the group together is investing to watch. While McKinley’s character doesn’t get a lot of development, McKinley’s performance itself is more than enough to make up for it as it is pretty charming in some areas.

The atmosphere of the film is truly masterful, throughout the whole film and the journey we are sent on with Lee, Joel, Jessie and Sammy the suspenseful atmosphere is felt. Anything could happen at any given moment it’s investing the whole through but there’s one particular moment that really shines. I purposely left out Jesse Plemons’s performance until right now because while he does only get one scene, the scene is a masterclass of suspense. Combine that with his acting, the lines of dialogue that are used and the camera focusing on each of the character’s reactions and you have yourself a wild ride of a scene.

The film’s world itself is quite investing as well, I do like that the film shows the relics of the Civil War taking place. Buildings left abandoned, some completely intact and others completely ruined. Heck sometimes during the journey we encounter towns that flat out pretend the war does not exist. This might be a bit biased since I’ve always had a fascination with abandoned buildings and areas, but I do think the film does a really great job of showing the horrifying feel of these certain areas.

Overall Civil War is a quite fantastic film, it’s filled with suspense, excellent performances and investing dialogue that really grabs the viewer’s attention incredibly quickly!

Civil War is available in Theaters.

9/10 A

Most Anticipated Films Of May 2024!

April is over and now we are headed into the summer movie season. April was quite a fantastic month for film, between Challengers, Abigail, The First Omen, Hundreds Of Beavers, Sasquatch Sunset and Civil War there was so much to really love. I still have two more reviews from April (Challengers and Civil War) to post which will be posted either today or tomorrow so keep an eye out.

May looks like another really solid month, while I don’t think it’s as filled to the brim with releases as April. It makes up for it with having some of the most anticipated films of the year such as Furiosa, I Saw The TV Glow and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Before we get into the list we have a film that I saw at Sundance last year that’s finally coming out which is…

Slow directed by Marija Kavtaradzé: it’s a beautiful showcase of intimacy and why it’s important, the performances are excellent, the film discusses and explores asexuality in a very honest and beautiful way. I said in my review that it’s the most raw and tender approach to the topic I’ve ever seen in a film and that remains true a year and four months later. So be sure to check it out when it releases in theaters May 3rd!

Now on to the list

11. Jim Henson Idea Man – May 31st (Disney+)

10. The Idea Of You – May 2nd (Amazon Prime Video)

9. Ezra – May 31st (Theaters)

8. Wildcat – May 2nd (Theaters)

7. Babes – May 17th (Theaters)

6. Robot Dreams – May 31st (Theaters)

5. The Strangers: Chapter 1 – May 17th (Theaters)

4. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes – May 10th (Theaters)

3. In A Violent Nature – May 31st (Theaters)

2. I Saw The TV Glow – May 3rd (Limited Theaters) and May 17th (Expand Theaters)

1. Furiosa – May 24th (Theaters)

And that’s the list! Let’s have another excellent month for film!! Cheers!!

Asphalt City (2024) Film Review

A young paramedic gets a crash course in lifesaving techniques while working with a grizzled New York City veteran.

Asphalt City is directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire who previously directed Johnny Mad Dog (2008), Heat Wave (2011), Welcome to New York (2014), Bizarre (2015) and A Prayer Before Dawn (2017).

Asphalt City is one of those situations where I absolutely see what was trying to be said and what it was trying to do the movie itself just didn’t come together all that well.

Despite that however there are some positives, Tyler Sheridan gives a solid performance especially during the third act where he really goes all out on his acting ability. The cinematography is pretty sharp and has this grounded feel to it that really strikes the viewer early on, especially when the movie does end up getting gross. The main idea here is showing paramedics doing their job on a chaotic night, which is a premise that sounds interesting on paper and there are indeed some quite investing moments.

But unfortunately the writing and its characters are really what hold this movie back, the characters have no real development it goes for a more experimental approach but forgets to make what is actually happening investing. There’s a handful of scenes here that really should have had a much stronger impact but unfortunately due to how limited the writing is and how blandly written the characters are you don’t get that full impact.

At the very least I can say Asphalt City is well made, well acted and there was definitely some level of attempt to try and make it work.

Asphalt City is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

Problemista (2024) Film Review

Alejandro is an aspiring toy designer who’s struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an art world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realise his dream.

Problemista is directed by Julio Torres which is his directorial debut.

If there’s a couple words that could describe Problemista it would be creative and unique, Julio Torres brings a very sharp narrative told in both a humorous and dramatic way. The film explores adulthood and how it can be quite bizarre at times along with the immigration process which I was honestly not expecting. The film really explores both these topics well, the adulthood part is explored in mostly a comedic way with tons of incredibly fun dialogue. When the film talks about the immigration process the film is much more serious and has so many touching moments that really shine through the performances.

Speaking of which Julio Torres is excellent here, he gives a strong performance as Alejandro who quickly becomes a very interesting character. The writing builds this character so fluidly and carefully that it’s quite touching to see. Tilda Swinton is the other half that really brings this film together, she’s funny, has excellent chemistry with Torres and her character Elizabeth much like Alejandro is written fluidly.

The surreal humor is quite fascinating as well, there’s a blend of fantasy to it that the film compares and contrasts fantasy and reality in incredibly fun ways. Whether it be bits and pieces or dialogue or some fun visuals it always manages to get its point across very well. Julio Torres has a great eye for storytelling and it can easily be seen with the amount of character moments between Alejandro and Elizabeth or just visually.

Problemista is an incredibly creative film that is a ton of fun to watch, give this one a watch!

Problemista is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

Dogman (2024) Film Review

As a child, Douglas was abused by a violent father who then threw him to the dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs protected him. Traumatised and leading a life on the margins of society with his dogs, Douglas descends into a murderous madness.

Dogman is directed by Luc Besson who has directed Lucy (2014), Léon: The Professional (1994), The Family (2013), The Fifth Element (1997), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) and a few others.

As strange as the premise of Dogman might be it strangely almost works, unfortunately this is yet another one of Luc Besson’s misfires that doesn’t quite live up to the potential that the movie had. Caleb Landry Jones is what makes this movie at the very least stand on it’s legs, he gives a pretty twisted and intimidating performance as Doug Munrow a man who is being interrogated by a psychiatrist (played by Jojo T. Gibbs) he gives his backstory when he was a child, why he became obsessed with dogs and tells a lot more about his life such as him being a drag queen in a cabaret act.

The first act and even some of the second act are quite decent I must say, Caleb Landry Jones as I said before gives a very solid performance and the backstory of Doug is actually pretty interesting. The score is quite nice (might be my favorite thing about it outside of Jones’s performance) and the trained dogs are quite impressive as well especially combined with the shots of the dogs doing some quite impressive tricks and perfectly matching each of the movie’s scenes tone.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie takes itself way too seriously and ultimately turns into another version of The Joker (2019) and Taxi Driver (1976) the third act is very rushed and has trouble really blending it’s themes together to create something interesting. There are some decent enough kills but the group Doug ultimately goes against are completely bland and have very little character to them outside of wanting to kill Doug.

There is definitely something interesting here with Dogman and I think if the writing had more work on it this could have at the very least been a decently fun movie.

Dogman is available on all VOD Platforms.

4/10 D+

The Listener (2024) Film Review

Beth is a crisis helpline volunteer who gets on the phone every night, fielding calls from people who feel lonely, broken and helpless. During her latest shift, the stakes rise as she tries to save a hurting soul.

The Listener is directed by Steve Buscemi who has directed Trees Lounge (1996), Animal Factory (2000), Lonesome Jim (2005) and Interview (2007).

The Listener has been on my radar for awhile now, it just finally released last month and it’s quite a solid one. The main idea here is we follow Beth who is a helpline volunteer played by Tess Thompson, Thompson is the only on screen performance we see in the entire film and she gives such a strong performance. The interactions she has with the callers is truly great and the film does a good job of blending its theme of just listening to someone speak can go a long way. That’s perfectly captured with Thompson’s performance especially when combined with Buscemi’s direction that has this sort of organic feel to it. Her facial expressions and overall reactions such as taking a few seconds before responding are incredibly natural and only help build her performance.

It’s no secret that The Listener is a COVID-19 film, heck it’s even mentioned a few times in the dialogue with that being said I don’t mind that so much here. The one location setting combined with the story actually makes it work decently well here, is it sort of eye rolling when COVID-19 is name dropped? Yes absolutely but at the very least unlike some other COVID related films (looking at you Locked Down) there’s a point and it compliments the story being told.

The interactions themselves are quite great that introduce a number of topics the main ones being social life and mental health, the interactions feel incredibly raw and actually quite upsetting at times. Because there are some very real cases of COVID-19 hurting people’s mental health or social life and it’s portrayed quite well here. The downside of it is that the film doesn’t really go that in depth in the topics, there’s definitely discussion and the film for the most part gets it’s point across on why these topics are important but it’s never really anything much deeper.

I definitely think The Listener is a great post pandemic film, it’s a reflection that shows that a lot of people seemed to skim how the pandemic affected people’s mental health. It’s a shame there wasn’t a bigger conversation here but for what the film is it’s quite solid.

The Listener is available on all VOD Platforms.

7/10 B

Fitting In (2024) Film Review

A coming-of-age “traumedy” that follows 16-year-old Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) who is unexpectedly diagnosed with a reproductive condition, MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis upends her plans to have sex, her presumptions about womanhood and sexuality, her relationship with her mother (Emily Hampshire), and most importantly, herself

Fitting In is directed by Molly McGlynn director of Mary Goes Around (2017).

Fitting In is a quite interesting one, the film centers around Lindy (played by Maddie Ziegler) a 16 year old who is diagnosed with a rare reproductive condition called MRKH syndrome. The diagnosis disrupts her understanding of womanhood and sexual identity. Plus it hurts her relationship with her boyfriend, friends and mother.

What makes Fitting In quite great is how the film approaches its subject matter, it does it in such a pretty authentic way. Which mostly comes from Maddie Ziegler’s excellent performance, she really makes the film work due to her capturing the mannerisms and speech of a 16 year old. The panic and not knowing what to do when you find out you’re diagnosed with a rare disease at such a young age is felt throughout the film. Sure the film does have its comedic moments but for the most part the movie focuses on Lindy’s thoughts of what the hell is going on.

The rest of the cast do a phenomenal job as well, Ziegler’s interactions with each of them feels very natural and quite powerful at times as well. There’s some genuinely touching moments that are made truly special thanks to the screenplay by Molly McGlynn, what’s especially great is McGlynn explores each of Lindy’s relationships in great detail. Each of which feel like different chapters that go on at the same time, each of which having their conclusion.

I can easily see some people relating to this film incredibly well which is always a positive and really does make me happy the film exists. While I may not be able to relate to it, I can say that it’s a very well acted and written film that uses its
subject matter in very interesting ways.

Fitting in is available on all VOD platforms.

7/10 B