Mountainhead (2025) Film Review

A group of billionaire friends get together against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis.

Mountainhead is directed by Jesse Armstrong which is directorial debut.

Jesse Armstrong tries to recapture the energy and power he put into Succession but completely misses here for a number of reasons that quickly pile up as the movie goes on. Combine that with the movie really not saying all that much with what it’s trying to be a satire of (billionaires) and you have yourself a very forgettable and dull ride.

The performances are fine enough here, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef have some fun chemistry between one another and even manage to stick a few jokes in here that are decently funny. With that being said they can only do so much, the characters are just not that interesting, they are very unlikable which I get is the point. But they are unlikable to the degree where it’s not investing mainly due to everything surrounding the movie being completely empty.

The writing has its moments of humor but that is where it really ends, when it comes to actually tackling themes the movie either does not say anything new or completely drops the ball. It meanders for way too long and ultimately does not have a main point, it kind of just wastes the viewer time by making them think it’s going to say something towards the end and shoehorns half a dozen empty ideas into the movie.

The third act really plays out like Armstrong ran out of concepts to explore so he threw in a bunch of fluff that ultimately does not serve any point to the story. It’s quite honestly the most bare bones way you could satirize billionaires, everything that is said here has either been done before or is incredibly common knowledge that does not need to be repeated for the thirtieth time.

Overall Mountainhead is incredibly forgettable, the cast is by far the main appeal which in fairness they all do a great job. It’s just a shame the movie surrounding them wasn’t the same quality.

Mountainhead is available on HBO Max.

4/10 D+

The Parenting (2025) Film Review

Boyfriends Josh and Rohan plan a weekend getaway to introduce their parents, only to discover that their rental is home to a 400-year-old poltergeist.

The Parenting is directed by Craig Johnson director of True Adolescents (2009), The Skeleton Twins (2014), Wilson (2017) and Alex Strangelove (2018).

The Parenting is what happens when you take The Evil Dead (1981) and comedies where the parents of each party dating each other meet. Nothing exactly we haven’t seen before, but I got to say this surprised me. There’s some genuinely good bits here that did get some laughs out of me, that’s probably due to the cast having a blast (also a surprisingly packed cast as well?)

Speaking of which the acting while not exactly anything excellent is still quite a lot of fun. Brandon Flynn and Parker Posey in particular do a great job here, Brian Cox has some hilarious parts as well and Nik Dodani worked well with Brandon Flynn. Both have great chemistry and the comedic timing for the two is actually quite solid as well.

Admittedly there really isn’t a whole lot going on here, the plot is about what you expect but I do have to give credit for the sort of chaotic energy the movie goes for. It’s very reminiscent of Scary Movie (2000) where the parody movie genre was at least entertaining, there’s some moments like that here that do actually work in this movie’s favor.

As I said before it’s mostly the cast that makes this work, each character is at the very least given something to do which in turn gives everyone a few moments to shine. Even if Cliff (played by Dean Norris) is really not given so much to work with, the moments we do have are genuinely fun and he actually does end up being likable. Directing wise this was alright, Craig Johnson has showed better direction before with some of his previous films mainly The Skeleton Twins (2014) but I do think he did a decent job with the comedy here and some of the horror (even if that took a backseat for most of the film.)

Overall The Parenting isn’t too bad, it’s absolutely not going to be for everyone and I don’t think this is something I’m ever going to watch again. But I will say this was a fun time and if it sounds like your thing I say check it out.

The Parenting is available on HBO Max or Max

6/10 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+

Quick Review: Caddo Lake (2024)

When an 8-year-old girl disappears on Caddo Lake, a series of past deaths and disappearances begin to link together, altering a broken family’s history.

Caddo Lake is directed by Logan George and Celine Held directors of Topside (2020).

Caddo Lake has an interesting setup that ultimately does get quite convoluted, having that said what makes this one at the very least decent is mainly the acting and the atmosphere that’s captured.

The performances from Dylan O’Brien and Eliza Scanlen are both quite great, combine that with the thrilling atmosphere that slowly but surely develops throughout the movie and you got yourself a decent ride. The character development is missing sadly as we really don’t get to learn a whole lot about our characters, but luckily the performances are just enough to make up for it.

The twist is a bit too messy for the movie’s own good, it gets way too convoluted with a lot of story elements that seem to be missing. In these cases development in both the movie’s world and story were much needed.

Overall Caddo Lake is still decently fun just not a whole lot going on here and is held back from some serious plot holes.

Caddo Lake is available on MAX or HBO Max.

6/10 C+

Salem’s Lot (2024) Film Review!

Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.

Salem’s Lot is directed by Gary Dauberman director of Annabelle Comes Home (2019). The film is based on the 1975 novel by Stephen King and is the first film adaption of the book after the two miniseries versions from 1979 and 2004.

After being delayed, shelved and even at one point being questioned if it would even release at all, Salem’s Lot finally releases and well It’s very easy to see why this movie took so long to release…because it’s a very empty adaption that struggles to really capture what the source material is all about.

The performances here are passable, but nobody here is really doing any special. Lewis Pullman is the best of the bunch, but even he is struggling with a script that really doesn’t offer any strong atmospheric moments. The rest of the cast just feel kind of there, a lot of the characters have very little development and are mixed into a world that doesn’t bother to really explore them all that well.

There’s a few neat shots and some fun scares at certain points but it’s not nearly enough to really justify how much the movie completely misses the source material, the movie might have this dark feel to it but it’s devoid of any actual thrilling atmosphere or suspense. The logic here seems to be “let’s throw a vampire in here because Salem’s Lot had vampire’s right?”

It doesn’t help that throughout the movie it really does feel like there’s so much missing such as character arcs, important details of the plot and even lore behind the world. What this ultimately acts like is one of those “last time on *insert tv show here*” recaps now imagine that but in movie form that’s what you get a lot of the time in Salem’s Lot.

Overall Salem’s Lot is a very messy adaption, while I’m not too huge on the 1979 miniseries. At the very least that knew what it wanted to be, I definitely think this movie would have been better as a miniseries.

Salem’s Lot is available on HBO Max or MAX.

4/10 D+

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+

Gray Matter is yet another tired X-Men clone.

Aurora has known all her life from her mother that the superhuman abilities they have also make them dangerous. Now, Aurora will discover if her mother was speaking the truth on one fateful and fatal night.

Gray Matter comes the documentary series Project Greenlight a series in which filmmakers are given a chance to direct their first feature film. I’ve seen some of the series but not a whole lot to say that I’m an expert on it. Anyway there isn’t a whole lot to comment about Gray Matter as a lot of elements used in this movie have been done far better else where.

Mia Isaac is quite fantastic here and once again shows she has a really strong future as an actress, she easily steals the show even when the script is begging to be better written. The rest of the cast aren’t too bad either but Isaac just runs circles around all of them.

Honestly the major problem here is this is just another X-Men clone combined with the young adult sci-fi genre, which isn’t necessarily a terrible idea but like many other clones this one just doesn’t do a whole lot with it’s premise. A lot of it is beat by beat “parent tries to protect kid who has powers or is just learning them” type of stuff that really doesn’t go into further detail. The world building is nonexistent and really doesn’t even try due to a script that doesn’t give the movie the time to do so.

In fact the script gives the movie barely anytime to even use it’s own ideas, it gives a very confused backstory, explains what the powers are in a very messy way and introduces characters yet doesn’t give them a whole lot to do or make them compelling. It’s a bit of a shame because a movie like Gray Matter can work it just comes down to storytelling and world building which the movie is neither good at.

Gray Matter is available on HBO Max (MAX)

3/10 D-

Love Lizzo is a very personal documentary.

Lizzo gets candid about body positivity, self-love, and recognizing black women for their contributions.

It’s honestly such a shame Love Lizzo had incredibly poor advertising (you would think a documentary about one of the biggest stars right now would have so much better advertising) but with that aside this documentary is truly an honest one. The documentary serves as almost a personal diary for Lizzo to tell the viewer everything, from body positivity to self-love and much more, there’s some really strong discussions here that are absolutely worth listening to. Lizzo talks about her early life, her dad’s death and so much more. But perhaps what makes Love Lizzo standout as a documentary is how authentic it really is, there’s tons of personal moments where it feels like you are sitting in the room with Lizzo having a discussion. There isn’t a whole lot more to say here, if you are a fan of Lizzo you will most definitely love this one.

Love Lizzo is available on HBO Max.

8/10 B+

Christmas Streaming Movie double feature: Scrooge: A Christmas Carol and A Hollywood Christmas.

On Christmas Eve miserly businessman Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future in the hope that he will learn the error of his ways.

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is exactly what you expect it to be, it’s basically yet another take on the classic story by Charles Dickens. And it pretty much plays out all of the events of the story you expect to, only this one is a musical. The songs are surprisingly very charming and are by far some of the best parts of the movie, there’s a ton of energy to them and the singing voices are quite great as well, unfortunately what does bog the movie down is the character designs. Which really looks like those mobile game ads you commonly see, the three ghosts are exempt from this which they actually have some pretty neat designs and are voice very well! Olivia Colman voices Ghost of Christmas Past while Trevor Dion Nicholas voices Ghost of Christmas Present, both do a really solid job and bring so much charm to their roles, plus the two are actually pretty funny. Luke Evans as Scrooge is fine enough, he gets the job done but it’s nothing really to write home about. As I said before the story plays out exactly how you expect it to and if you can past the character designs you will find a genuinely fun movie here. It’s probably not something that you will ever revisit but for what it is it’s not half bad.

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

A successful Christmas movie director begins living her own Christmas movie when a handsome network exec shows up threatening to halt production on her latest film.

A Hollywood Christmas is HBO Max Christmas movie number four (not even halfway through December yet). This is not as bad as expected but good lord is this the definition of bland, it’s essentially about a movie director who wants to make a Christmas movie and wants to keep the Christmas formula until some network executive threatens to halt production. The premise itself actually leads to a couple moments that got a laugh out of me and I’ll give the movie credit it actually tried to use it’s premise in a interesting way. Well at least at first…it slowly but surely starts to evolve into the bad Christmas type of movie we all know and it does very little to recover. The writing is very forgettable, the characters aren’t anything to write home about and the rest of the movie is sort of a mess. A Hollywood Christmas isn’t offensive or anything, it’s just another very forgettable Christmas movie that after the credits roll you won’t ever come back to.

A Hollywood Christmas is available on HBO Max.

4/10 D+

Quick Reviews: Father Of The Bride (2022), Press Play and Love & Gelato.

A father must come to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding and handle multiple relationships within his sprawling Cuban American family.

Father Of The Bride (2022) is the third film adaption of the novel of the same name, the other two being a 1950 film and a 1991 film. I’m not going to pretend I’m a super fan of either of the movies, for what they are they are solid comedy/romantic films that do a pretty decent job of entertaining the viewer. This version falls short mostly due to it overstaying it’s welcome, is a 1 hour and 58 minute movie that has horrendous pacing. It begins to feel like a chore to sit through unfortunately mostly due to not a whole lot happening, the performances are at least decent enough Chloe Fineman being the standout who’s genuinely hilarious in her delivery. Everything else just fine I guess, the writing really doesn’t do much to engage the viewer, the direction doesn’t really do anything offensive but nothing investing. It’s the type of movie where you would only watch unless there was absolutely nothing else.

Father Of The Bride is available on HBO Max.

5/10 C

Laura and Harrison have the picture-perfect romance built on the foundation of a shared love of music. After a deadly accident, Laura gets the chance to save the love of her life when she discovers that their mixtape can transport her back in time.

There’s a good idea somewhere in Press Play, it’s just sadly not fully realized. The acting is not too bad here the leads Lewis Pullman and Clara Rugaard-Larsen are both solid and Danny Glover in a supporting role isn’t too bad either. The main problem with this movie is it really doesn’t have anything going for it, everything is kept at a bare minimum level and introduces the concept of the movie but never goes further with it. Or at least doesn’t do anything noteworthy with it. It just ends up being a very safe romantic drama that surprisingly struggles with it’s more emotional moments, which is mainly due to the movie not knowing how to make the characters react to said moments. At the very least it didn’t over stay it’s welcome.

Press Play is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Lina, a high school graduate, would rather spend her summer preparing for college than fly to Rome to fulfill her mother’s last wish. Once she decides to go, she finds herself immersed in new experiences.

I’m going to be real quick with this one because to be completely honest here…I’m not exactly sure what the whole purpose of this was. From what I could gather this movie is nothing like the book and in fact doesn’t even follow it well at all, but okay that doesn’t automatically mean it’s bad right? Well In this case it does, from the acting to the writing and the pacing it’s a complete and total mess on every single level. It’s a very lifeless movie that is the very definition of release date fodder, it’s just there so Netflix can say they released something. If you have seen any of Netflix’s terrible romantic comedies before then you have already seen this one.

Love & Gelato is available on Netflix!

Disgrace To Cinema F