Abigail
Though its primary plot twist has already been spoiled to death in marketing materials and other reviews, I won’t spoil it here because that’s about all the movie has going for it and it’s a highly flat experience without the surprise. In short, a group of criminals kidnap a child ballerina and everything slowly but surely goes to hell. The film drags, has unshaded and uninteresting characters, has little suspense, and, though there are moments of exception, ultimately fails to grab hold of its audience’s attention.
Abigail needed a major rewrite before it went before cameras along with a major rethinking of its story-spoiling promotional campaign.
GRADE: C-
Alien: Romulus
This sequel/prequel set in the middle of the Alien series’ timeline is a fairly substantial improvement upon some of its latter, Sigourney Weaver-starring sequels. Unfortunately, that’s not saying a lot. While the film is technically well-made and has selectively effective moments of tension, there is no real threat created by the film’s creatures because of their hefty over-exposure and the fact that certain characters seem absurdly immune to their powers. Alien: Romulus at least tries to reach the heights of its classic predecessors, but it only truly manages to pay charmingly nostalgic homage to them without fully matching their quality.
GRADE: B-
American Nightmare
This three-part documentary examines the lives of a couple who are accused of staging a Gone Girl-like kidnapping of the girlfriend. Though it probably would have been even more engrossing and effective if it were a tighter-paced feature-length film, the miniseries still packs a sizable dramatic wallop and keeps the viewer in suspense for the vast majority of its duration. American Nightmare serves as a powerful reminder that the truth isn’t always as it appears.
GRADE: A-
The American Society of Magical Negroes
A young man (Justice Smith) is selected to join an elite, secretive, and mystical group of Black people who have the ability to read and manipulate the comfort levels of potentially dangerous white people. The film starts off brilliantly, showcasing uniquely inventive ideas, sharp and astute satire, and numerous characters who, despite the otherworldly aspects of the story they inhabit, feel real and relatable. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t quite know what to do with itself after its first-act setup and settles on exploring a familiar and safe (though moderately charming) rom-com formula.
The American Society of Magical Negroes could have been a brilliantly singular, hilariously insightful, and unforgettably bold examination of American racism, but instead chooses to be a less-provocative, pleasantly polite, and harmlessly cute reminder that human differences need to be celebrated and respected rather than feared and hated.
GRADE: B
Arcadian
Nicolas Cage stars as a father to twin teenage boys (Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins) who is struggling to survive during a monster-filled apocalypse. Solid suspense, creepy atmosphere, well-defined and likable characters, and all-around solid filmmaking make this a primarily high-quality production. While many of the monster moments around which it revolves can be a tad underwhelming and flat, there are still enough merits to the rest of Arcadian that make it worth seeing.
GRADE: B
Atlas
A solider in the future (Jennifer Lopez) is forced to face her reluctance towards AI when she has to rely on it in order to survive. Lopez carries the film beautifully and with believably fierce determination. This is all the more impressive when it is taken into consideration that she was most likely acting alone for the majority of her work on the movie because her character’s primary interactions are with an unseen technological force. While the pacing sometimes lags and the intended spectacle of action and effects underwhelms and lacks originality, Atlas is still a modestly entertaining and surprisingly emotionally moving effort.
GRADE: B-
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah deliver some truly inventive and inspired filmmaking techniques in this fourth entry to the Bad Boys series—it’s just too bad they weren’t used in a better-written film that isn’t part of an increasingly tired franchise. The fun factor of the film is periodically marred by an indecisive overall tone that too frequently gets a bit too heavy. Bad Boys: Ride or Die has some great action, exhibits some true ingenuity, and contains some great moments of humor (courtesy of the always-vivacious chemistry between leads Will Smith and Martin Lawrence), but it sometimes takes itself too seriously and goes on a bit too long to be little more than a mildly successful piece of entertainment.
GRADE: B-
The Beekeeper
This David Ayer-directed action effort stars Jason Statham as a beekeeper with a mysterious past who hunts down a group of sociopathic telephone schemers/online thieves who destroyed the life of a friend and neighbor (Phylicia Rashad). Good action, great villains (who doesn’t want to see such people be taken down by a badass like Statham?), high-quality performances (Statham, Rashad, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Jeremy Irons, and Josh Hutcherson all stand out), and overall solid filmmaking allow the film to rise above its formulaic and overall predictable revenge storyline. The Beekeeper may not be anything particularly new, but it still manages to showcase some thoroughly entertaining, gleefully cathartic, and exceptionally high-quality ass-kicking.
GRADE: B
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Successfully capitalizing on the chaotic energy and whimsical nostalgia of its near-forty-year-old predecessor, this Tim Burton-directed sequel is a fun and inventive piece of work that overall manages to make its audience forget the simple fact that it doesn’t need to exist in the first place. The sequel does suffer from a hefty over-exposure of its best aspects, as it fails to copy the effectiveness of the original film’s wise decision to selectively and sporadically showcase Michael Keaton’s brazenly brilliant interpretation of the title character. The sequel, at times, is simply too much of a good thing and could have used some major simplifications during its writing stages to help clean up a littered and overly busy plot that features far too many side characters.
However, the film’s endlessly impressive design artistry, an exceptionally talented cast, and a charmingly playful tone help to make Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a fun and worthwhile sequel that may not quite match its original’s greatness, but still has plenty of infectious fun while trying.
GRADE: B
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Eddie Murphy returns to the classic character of Axel Foley, a Detroit cop who keeps finding himself as a fish out of water on the slick streets of Beverly Hills. This latest film in the Beverly Hills Cop action/comedy series vastly improves upon the previous and abysmal 1994 third film, offering wonderful ‘80s nostalgia and smile-inducing callbacks to many of the first two films’ best aspects. It’s nothing groundbreaking or particularly unique, but Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is still a funny and action-packed piece of escapism that should entice new fans while simultaneously appealing to those who have already appreciated Foley’s antics for decades.
GRADE: B+
The Bikeriders
This film follows the everyday lives of the members of a motorcycle club in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Jodie Comer, and many others deliver endearingly charismatic and naturalistically committed performances that make you feel like you’re witnessing the sometimes-exciting and sometimes-mundane existence of those who are part of an actual biker gang. The cinematography by Adam Stone is downright beautiful, capturing the characters’ reality with both an eye-grabbing style that highlights dramatic events and a detached objectivism that gives the film a documentary-like feeling of realism.
The film’s primary but ultimately forgivable downside is that it dawdles a bit too much throughout its first two acts and sometimes lacks dramatic urgency as a result (though this issue is rectified during the last forty minutes). It could have been truly great with a little bit of tightening, a little more focus, and a little less dwelling on its more uneventful aspects. However, The Bikeriders is still a really cool and enticingly stylish film from a highly talented writer/director (Jeff Nichols, who based it off of Danny Lyon’s photography book) that undoubtedly deserves to be seen.
GRADE: A-
Boy Kills World
A deaf man with an amusingly masculine interior voice (Bill Skarsgård and the vocal talents of H. Jon Benjamin) uses the training he has received since childhood to seek vengeance against those who murdered his family. Though clever and funny at select moments, the film is far too pointless with its endless kineticism, far too obnoxiously loud, and far too exhaustively busy to receive much more of a response than a tired and dissatisfied head scratch. Boy Kills World is plenty inventive and energetic, but its failure to even occasionally slow down and tell an involving story makes it a highly numbing and overall grating experience.
GRADE: C
Brats
This Andrew McCarthy-directed documentary examines the ’80s “Brat Pack” phenomenon (a group of highly successful young film actors who often worked together and dominated the market for a brief time) with an insider’s perspective. Charmingly nostalgic, keenly insightful, and intelligently self-aware, the film examines the unforgiving influence of careless journalism along with the effects of reaching worldwide fame at a young age in a frank and thoughtful manner. While it is sometimes redundant (the actors interviewed often share the same perspective on past events) and slightly suffers from too much padding that is needed to reach its ninety-minute runtime, Brats is still a must-see for anyone who grew up with or is fascinated by the endlessly colorful insanity of the eighties.
GRADE: A-
Caddo Lake
After a young girl disappears on a lake, nearby residents begin a search and make some rather awe-inspiring and fantastical discoveries about the area they inhabit. Slow-burning and methodical, it’s impressive in theory that the filmmakers try to establish the development of characters, environment, and atmosphere before diving full force into the story. However, the resulting film, despite its thoughtful intentions, is so improperly and inconsistently paced that it’s hard to get lost in its events with any regularity. Caddo Lake is an interesting misfire that might have worked with some rethinking and retooling of its structure.
GRADE: C+
Civil War
A group of journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson to name a few) travel across the country of a futuristic, civil war-torn America on their way to investigate the status of Washington, D.C. While the film is intense and nightmarishly unsettling in a highly effective manner, it never fully takes advantage of or explores the politics behind its provocative concept. It is ultimately a film that is (somewhat confusingly) more about the dangers and thrills of war journalism than it is about the potential implosion that could take place in America very soon if its citizens continue to fail to unite.
Civil War presents a terrifying vision of America’s future with uncompromising frankness, but it doesn’t go quite deep enough to make the impact that it could and should have.
GRADE: B-
Daddio
Dakota Johson shines as a taxicab passenger who forms a unique bond with her driver (a typically excellent Sean Penn) on her long ride home from the airport. Insightful and great writing, fascinatingly complex characters, hypnotically even pacing, and classily inconspicuous filmmaking create an endlessly compelling viewing experience. Writer/director Chrisy Hall is a genuinely impressive force behind the camera.
Dramatically, emotionally, and intellectually, Daddio is a deeply and endlessly fulfilling film.
GRADE: A
Damsel
A young woman (Millie Bobby Brown) happily marries a prince (Nick Robinson), only to discover that it is a ruse for her to be the generational sacrifice to a deadly dragon and she now must fight to stay alive. The execution is overall uninspired, offering absolutely nothing new to film storytelling or technique. Despite its generic presentation and its over-reliance on sometimes-shaky digital effects, however, the film is tightly paced, sometimes thrilling, and well-acted enough to keep its audience engrossed.
Damsel is a variation of a film we’ve all seen before many times, but it still manages to succeed as a solid, though occasionally underwhelming, piece of popcorn entertainment.
GRADE: B-
DogMan
Caleb Landry Jones delivers a sensational performance (which is now predictable due to his repeatedly proven and massive talent) as a man who grows up in a dog cage surrounded by his beloved animals, then goes on to be everything from a drag show performer to a lethal criminal. Writer/director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Professional, The Fifth Element) delivers a unique and fascinating character study of a unique and fascinating character. Besson has the courage and the vision to not subscribe to one particular genre and the film displays an excitingly lifelike mixture of drama, comedy, and action throughout.
Though DogMan occasionally tests its audience’s patience with a sometimes-meandering and haphazard structure, its vivacious, adventurous, sensitive, and inventive spirit still manages to come out on top in the end.
GRADE: A-
Don’t Move
A young woman (Kelsey Asbille) is forced to outwit a dangerous killer (Finn Wittrock) after being injected with a paralysis-causing drug that renders her completely helpless. Despite being a tad formulaic and predictable, this is a taut, tantalizingly suspenseful, perfectly paced, wonderfully acted, and consistently engrossing horror/thriller that only lets up once it’s over. Don’t Move could have benefitted from a little more originality and courage in the unfolding of its overall enticing story, but it still manages to be a memorably thrilling experience, regardless.
GRADE: B+
Drive-Away Dolls
Two lesbian friends (Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan) embark on a road trip and find themselves hunted by criminals in search of sensitive and important items that are hidden in the trunk of the girls’ rental car unbeknownst to them. Co-written and directed by Ethan Coen in his first solo directorial effort sans brother Joel, the film is witty, surprising, and endearingly heartfelt in just the right moments.
Though it struggles to find its voice, pacing, and humor during its first half-hour or so, the film eventually hits its stride and manages to be an overall lively experience. The two leads shine with a magically life-like chemistry, but Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart, Lady Bird) steals the show in a highly amusing supporting role. Drive-Away Dolls may hit some bumps in the road, but its eventual destination makes it a trip well worth taking.
GRADE: B+
Dune: Part Two
Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune, is a dense and intricate piece of science fiction literature with an elaborate story that is just too complex to fit into one movie adaptation. Director/writer David Lynch tried in 1984 and created an endlessly confusing yet artistically accomplished mess. Then director/co-writer Denis Villeneuve brought us a less messy but significantly less memorable adaptation of the first part of the book in 2021. Now, in the same straightforward manner that lacks character, heart, and distinct vision, Villeneuve completes his adaptation of the book with Part Two.
The primary fault of Villeneuve’s films is that they play it too safe, showcasing little creative risk and little understanding of the strange otherworldliness of their source material. Both films feel like incomplete stories in and of themselves, relying far too heavily on one another to feel satisfyingly whole. Though Part Two is a bit more adventurous and engrossing than the first part, it still feels frustratingly dissatisfying and flat—especially when compared to the colorfulness of Lynch’s flawed but unforgettable ‘80s adaptation. Like its first part, Dune: Part Two impresses with the scale of its ambition and the technical talent of its filmmakers, but largely and disappointedly underwhelms with the inescapable tepidness of its ultimate impact.
GRADE: C+
The Fall Guy
An injured stuntman (the endlessly charismatic Ryan Gosling) gets back in the game in a production headed by his filmmaker ex-girlfriend (a lovably sassy Emily Blunt) while also wading the waters of a murder mystery involving a spoiled Hollywood star (an amusingly despicable Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Though its loose structure sporadically feels aimless, this extraordinarily funny and exciting film is still notably well-written and showcases amusing and well-staged action scenes throughout. The Fall Guy is a wonderful example of intelligent and joyous Hollywood filmmaking at its finest.
GRADE: A-
Frankie Freako
Editor/effects man/writer/director Stephen Kostanski’s follow-up to his instant 2020 cult classic, Psycho Goreman, is an amusing romp that doesn’t quite match its predecessor’s greatness. Several big laughs, impressive puppetry, awesome low-budget effects, and an endless array of creative designs help make up for the fact that the story and the characters who inhabit it are sometimes (though certainly not always) lackluster. Frankie Freako is an impressive accomplishment, but it’s one that feels a tad thin and stretched out in order to contain enough ideas for a feature-length film.
GRADE: B
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
This prequel to the 2015 George Miller-helmed masterpiece, Mad Max: Fury Road, is an equally intricate, inventive, and impressive production. However, its storyline is a bit too involved and its two-and-a-half-hour runtime is a bit too bloated for it to equal the perfect, hyperkinetic pacing and the beautifully and refreshingly simplistic storyline of the previous film. Not to mention, there’s just not quite enough revealed in the film for its existence to be fully justified, as the majority of its events would have best been left to the imagination.
As unnecessary as it may ultimately be, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga still manages to be an overall thrillingly massive accomplishment from one of contemporary cinema’s most visionary creators. Next time, however, Miller will probably accomplish even more if he sets his gaze on the future instead of the past.
GRADE: B
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Though it lacks the touching and magical whimsey of its direct predecessor, this latest entry in the Ghostbusters series is still a charmingly humorous film with numerous elements that are downright adorable. Featuring consistent hat tips to the series’ previous titles, the film has an endearing sense of nostalgia that is a comfort to those who are already fans of the franchise. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a highly entertaining film that treads familiar ground, but still manages to have some rather infectious and inventive fun while doing so.
GRADE: B+
He Went That Way
A man (Zachary Quinto) driving across country to Chicago with a trained chimpanzee as his cargo picks up a mysterious hitchhiker (Jacob Elordi) who turns out to be lethally dangerous. Inspired by a true story, the film is well-made, exceedingly well-acted (Quinto and Elordi both excel), intensely suspenseful, and, at times, surprisingly and quirkily humorous. While the story sometimes dawdles and causes the pacing to lose momentum, the film always manages to recover and get back on track.
He Went That Way is an effective and sometimes strange thriller whose good quality and excellent cast make it an overall unique and engrossing experience.
GRADE: B+
Hit Man
Glen Powell stars as a professor who sometimes works undercover for the police posing as a hitman to ensnare potential offenders. This highly charming but somewhat flat and nonurgent comedy gets the job done for the most part and offers a breezy good time. Powell is solid and affable (his romantic chemistry with costar Adria Arjona is lively and believable), and the direction from Richard Linklater is stable, clean, and unobtrusive.
Hit Man isn’t exactly unforgettable, but it’s still quietly and amusingly entertaining nonetheless.
GRADE: B
In a Violent Nature
This uniquely clever slasher film is as such because it’s largely told from the point of view of the slasher and not his victims. The excitement of the gimmick eventually wears off after the first half hour or so, but the film still manages to stand out as a leisurely paced (perhaps sometimes overly so), artfully shot, interestingly edited, and exquisitely directed gore fest. The fact that the film is so effective without the accompaniment of any musical score whatsoever is a testament to its high-quality craftsmanship.
In a Violent Nature is a horror movie that openly takes influence from countless other horror films, but its final result is a wholly original experience.
GRADE: A-
I Saw the TV Glow
Two teenagers growing up in the nineties share an obsession with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like show called The Pink Opaque. Years pass and the show gets canceled, but the fascination still remains. Whatever else happens in the proudly indecipherable storyline is largely open to interpretation. The film’s overwhelming priority in making its events and meaning almost entirely ambiguous keeps the audience at a distance and prevents its members from becoming emotionally involved with what is happening onscreen. The strange and surreal film deserves credit for at least trying to do something unique, but it would have been nice if it provided some sort of clear overall picture that satisfyingly connected all of its admittedly fascinating yet ill-fitting elements as a whole.
An intoxicatingly moody atmosphere, hypnotic cinematography from Eric Yue, and naturalistic performances that ground the film’s otherworldly reality all raise the production’s value significantly. While there was obviously a lot of talent involved in its making, I Saw the TV Glow never quite reaches its massive potential because it seems to be unsure of the feelings that it is trying to communicate and what, exactly, it is trying to say.
GRADE: C+
Joker: Folie à Deux
This largely maligned musical sequel to 2019’s exceptional and loose interpretation of the DC Joker character is an interesting, though not entirely necessary or successful, continuation of its predecessor. The film’s consistently slow (or rather, at its worst, sluggish) pacing and the primarily drab musical numbers that comprise much of its duration drag the already depressing film down to a level where it often forgets to be compelling or entertaining. Stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga impressively manage to make the most out of a script that feels like a series of afterthoughts regarding far more fascinating past events.
Despite its lack of steady dramatic thunder, the movie does manage to fully and effectively communicate the hopeless tragedy of its mentally ill protagonist with an impressive display of heart and empathy. It’s just too bad that the rest of the movie lacks the boldness and color that would allow it to soar and fully explore the broad range of emotions that it needs in order to fully succeed. Joker: Folie à Deux isn’t nearly as bad as it’s been made out to be, but that’s not to say it couldn’t have used a bit more excitement and passion in its trivially dry execution.
GRADE: B-
The Killer
Action maestro John Woo reimagines his own 1989 Hong Kong classic of the same name with this loose but respectful remake. While this version doesn’t meet the grand, resonating heights of the original, it still provides a solid canvas on which Woo can showcase his affinity and talent for kinetic and poetic depictions of violence. The Killer remake is not a great movie, but it’s still fascinating and wholly entertaining to witness a masterful talent like Woo pay homage to himself.
GRADE: B
Kinds of Kindness
Consisting of three darkly absurd and highly bizarre stories that are completely unrelated, this is a painfully jagged and (at nearly three hours) long-winded viewing experience that doesn’t seem to care if its audience is on board with it or not. Directed and co-written by the massively gifted Yorgos Lanthimos, this is the kind of self-indulgent snorefest that could only be created by a successful and powerful filmmaker who is at the height of his fame and who is no longer surrounded by the right people to question his creative choices. Kinds of Kindness does little but test its audience’s patience throughout, and, because there is such little reward to ultimately be found, it’s simply not a test worth taking.
GRADE: D+
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
This fourth addition to/soft reboot of the Planet of the Apes remake series that started in 2011 is a worthy successor to its high-quality predecessors. Though the third entry ended on a highly satisfying note that didn’t need another sequel, this particular film still manages to succeed entirely on its own merits. Stunning visual effects, effective tension, consistently enthralling action, and astute commentary on human nature (by way of talking apes, of course) help make up for the fact that—at an excessive two-and-a-half-hours—the film periodically drags and loses momentum.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes didn’t really need to exist in the first place, but its high-quality execution is entertaining, impressive, and insightful enough to make you forget that fact while viewing it.
GRADE: B+
The Kitchen
This science fiction drama set in the future revolves around a London housing community that is the only place left for lower-income citizens to affordably live. While the action and the drama are a bit tepid at times, the film overall succeeds with its relatable characters, believable performances, strong social commentary, striking visuals, and all-around solid craftsmanship. The Kitchen may often lack excitement, but it still manages to impress in the end with its thought-provoking themes and capable execution.
GRADE: B
Knox Goes Away
Michael Keaton (who also directed) stars as a hitman with dementia who is forced to help his son (James Marsden) get through a dangerous ordeal while trying to tie up all the loose ends in his life before his memory fully fades. Riveting, uncompromisingly straightforward, boldly dramatic, intelligently written, beautifully acted, and carefully crafted, the film is nothing short of a success from start to finish. Knox Goes Away is a mature, complex, and rich character study that examines identity, memory, and regret in an unforgettably thoughtful manner.
GRADE: A
Land of Bad
An army unit is forced to rely on drone protection during a highly dangerous mission. Good action and tension partially make up for a story that largely lacks originality. Russell Crowe, Liam Hemsworth, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle, and Chika Ikogwe all deliver strong and dedicated performances, effectively filling in the gaps in their sometimes underdeveloped characters. Land of Bad could have been a very powerful military drama that examines and educates its audience on modern-day practices, but instead settles on being a passable though somewhat standard action/thriller.
GRADE: B-
Late Night with the Devil
This horror film set during the live broadcast of a late-night television talk show is a cleverly inventive and uniquely captivating experience. David Dastmalchian (who is normally cast in memorably oddball supporting roles in films such as Prisoners and The Suicide Squad) simply amazes with an endlessly energetic and atypically charismatic performance. Though it occasionally grows mildly tedious while having to adhere to the confines of its talk show structure, Late Night with the Devil never entirely loses its firm grasp on its audience and ultimately manages to be effectively horrifying in a truly memorable fashion.
GRADE: A-
Life & Beth: Season 2
Amy Schumer returns for a second season of her insightful and hilarious slice-of-life dramedy series about a woman trying to understand her identity while wading through love’s waters. Like the first season, the second season communicates a woman’s reality with endless wit, great humor, deep empathy, and fearless directness.
The only issue with this season is that it leaves a bit too much up in the air, depicting situations with relatable and gripping drama but rarely fully completing or exploring them in a manner that feels fully satisfying. You can’t blame a series for trying to leave its audience wanting more, but it would have been nice if the second season of Life & Beth gave some of its intriguing storylines a bit more resolution.
GRADE: B+
Lift
The talents of director F. Gary Gray and actors Kevin Hart, Sam Worthington, and Vincent D’Onofrio can’t save this heavily derivative action/comedy heist movie from its own hopeless mediocrity. Most of the jokes fall painfully flat and the obnoxiously flashy and pointlessly kinetic filmmaking style has previously been done to death in similar movies. The film is clearly more interested in showing off its unimpressive big-budget filmmaking toys than it is in telling a unique and interesting story. Though the moderately thrilling climax deserves points, it’s too little and too late to make Lift worth your time.
GRADE: C-
Lisa Frankenstein
This film was made from a clever screenplay by the ultra-talented Diablo Cody that has the clever premise of an ‘80s teenage girl (Kathryn Newton) who starts a killing spree with an undead corpse (Cole Sprouse) so they can find replacement body parts. Despite its potential, however, the film falters heavily with direction from Zelda Williams that often favors overt (and painfully unfunny) goofiness and silliness over the clever satire that is obviously present in the material. Lisa Frankenstein’s merits are largely squandered due to an execution that lacks the proper wit and comic timing its screenplay needed in order to thrive.
GRADE: C-
Love Lies Bleeding
Kristen Stewart is downright sensational as a gym manager who, along with her female bodybuilder lover (an also great Katy O’Brian), gets caught up in a violently dangerous plot after confronting the abusive husband (an amusingly slimy Dave Franco) of her weak-willed sister (a believably co-dependent Jena Malone). Strong performances aside, the film takes far too long to get going and it exhibits too many stylistic flourishes that are ultimately more distracting than impressively artistic. The film eventually manages to be sporadically fascinating and gripping once the pacing finally quickens, but never consistently so.
Love Lies Bleeding aims to be a wild and surreal journey, but its lack of momentum and its overly flashy style prevent it from fully succeeding.
GRADE: C+
Lover Stalker Killer
This riveting documentary focuses on a man whose dating life turns into a nightmare full of twists, turns, and terror. One of the most impressive things about the film is how its narrative unfolds in an engrossing and suspenseful manner that resembles a top-notch Hollywood thriller. Lover Stalker Killer is an effective and terrifying cautionary tale about the potential dangers of modern dating.
GRADE: A
Madame Web
It may have its flaws, but this Marvel superhero effort is much better than its poor critical reception and weak office performance might suggest. It stars Dakota Johnson as a woman who discovers she can see into the future and then uses her powers to protect three teenage girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor) from a common enemy (Tahar Rahim).
Johnson is great, initially displaying an amusingly detached and sarcastically communicated apathy that believably evolves into something more emotionally aware and heroic. The film overall takes advantage of the entertainment value found in its storyline, but its primary fault can be found in its consistently uneven pacing which often runs the risk of dulling the film and losing its audience’s interest. Madame Web has a number of high-quality aspects, but it could have used some serious tightening and whittling in the editing room to give it the much-needed energy it often lacks.
GRADE: C+
MaXXXine
This conclusion to writer/director Ti West’s X trilogy is a dementedly inventive, amusingly campy, and colorfully graphic examination of Hollywood and the desperate pursuit of and desire for lifelong fame. Mia Goth reprises her role of Maxine with both affability and ferocity, resulting in a character you might want to warmly embrace if the strong possibility of her turning on you and attacking you mercilessly didn’t exist. Though the story sometimes feels like utter nonsense, MaXXXine’s prevailing playfulness and debauched charm set the predominant tone for a movie that is sardonically, compellingly, and brutally joyous.
GRADE: A-
The Menendez Brothers
This documentary is a thoughtful and eye-opening companion piece to Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Offering the Menendez Brothers’ personal perspective of their crime and trial, the film sheds light on facts and details that we only thought we previously understood. While it’s not quite as dramatically effective or memorable as Monsters, The Menendez Brothers is still a worthwhile way to spend a couple of hours for followers of the case or for fans of true crime in general.
GRADE: B+
Monkey Man
An underground fighter (Dev Patel, who also co-wrote and directed) seeks revenge against the powerful men who are responsible for his mother’s death. Excellent fight choreography and rock-solid technical filmmaking can’t save a hopelessly uninteresting story with flat and undefined characters. It’s hard to care about anyone in the film, which makes it increasingly difficult to be invested in its (admittedly impressive) action.
Monkey Man is quite well-made on a surface level, but increasingly reveals itself to be disappointingly and inescapably hollow the more it progresses.
GRADE: C
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
This second season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true crime-inspired anthology series focuses on The Menendez Brothers. Graphic, harrowing, and wisely ambiguous, the nine-episode season raises many questions about the infamous late-eighties/early-nineties parricide crime and trial. While Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is sometimes guilty of sensationalism and exploitation, it is still a hypnotically watchable, surprisingly clever, and overall strikingly thoughtful piece of television drama that deserves to be seen.
GRADE: A-
Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood and Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness (Director’s Cuts)
I have already reviewed the PG-13 cuts of Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon films and you can read the writeups here and here. These updated, significantly longer, and R-rated director’s cuts offer quite a bit more graphic violence and sex along with a more thoroughly developed and thoughtful depiction of Snyder’s intoxicating (and heavily underrated) sci-fi/fantasy universe. That being said, however, they are ultimately pretty much the same quality of experience as the previous cuts.
The hardcore nature of the director’s cuts does make one wonder what audience Snyder is aiming to please with them, as they are somewhat tonally at odds with the fantastical, child-appealing world they are set within. The director’s cuts of Rebel Moon will mainly appeal to Snyder’s most devoted fans and, speaking as one of those fans, I’m glad they exist even though I’m not entirely sure they need to. They serve as fascinating and enriching companion pieces to previous cuts of the films that tell the same story with the same success but with more brevity and a less provocatively graphic nature. At the end of the day, take your pick. The versions are different, but equally worthwhile.
GRADE FOR BOTH: A-
Rebel Ridge
Aaron Pierre excels as a former marine who gets entangled in the wrongdoings of corrupt, small-town police officers (led by a wonderfully slimy Don Johnson) in this tense and intelligent thriller from the massively talented writer/director, Jeremy Saulnier. Though the film is essentially a variation of police thrillers we’ve all seen before, Saulnier allows his film to stand out by way of thoughtful writing, relatable characters, entirely believable performances, and maturely grounded filmmaking. The sometimes sluggish pacing bogs the film down at select moments where it truly needs to keep up its momentum, but it always eventually recovers.
Rebel Ridge is a notably well-made thriller from a filmmaker who never ceases to impress.
GRADE: B+
Red Right Hand
The talented and progressively up-and-coming filmmakers Ian and Eshom Nelms (Fatman, Small Town Crime) continue to impress with this gritty dramatic thriller about a recovering addict (a committed Orlando Bloom) who is forced by a ruthless crime boss (a wonderful and cast-against-type Andie MacDowell) to return to the dark side of his Appalachian town. The evenly paced film isn’t exactly exciting for most of its duration and occasionally threatens to be uninteresting, but it never entirely loses momentum and is ultimately successful in an intensely slow-burning fashion that allows for shockingly abrupt and highly effective moments of violence. Red Right Hand isn’t quite great, but it’s still a high-quality film from two of its time’s most interesting filmmakers.
GRADE: B+
Salem’s Lot
This adaptation of Stephen King’s novel/remake of Tobe Hooper’s 1979 miniseries is a predominantly satisfying, though a tad underwhelming, vampire/horror effort. Believable performances from likable actors, impressive filmmaking and effects, tantalizing tension, and highly effective moments of horror make select moments of flatness or underdevelopment mostly forgivable. This version of Salem’s Lot may not quite be the instant classic that it wants to be, but it’s still a suitable way to reach a desired fright quota for an enjoyably scary evening.
GRADE: B
Sasquatch Sunset
A family of Sasquatch (Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Nathan Zellner, and Christophe Zajac-Denek) is examined for a year’s time while they live their lives in the wilderness. This hilarious, heartbreaking, uniquely inventive, and endlessly captivating film manages to succeed in just about every conceivable way despite its refusal to adhere to a typical story structure (or a typical anything, for that matter). There is nothing else quite like Sasquatch Sunset, as it is a film that refreshingly never ceases to follow its own bravely individualistic sensibilities.
GRADE: A
Self Reliance
A man (an always-affable Jake Johnson) who is bored with his everyday routine agrees to participate in a game where he has to dodge lethal hunters for thirty days and is only safe when he is in close proximity to other people. Well-acted and adeptly made (Johnson makes his feature directorial debut), the film has a charmingly idiosyncratic tone that makes it uniquely appealing at first.
Unfortunately, the film doesn’t know how to sustain interest in or take full advantage of its inventive concept for the duration of a feature-length film. It runs out of creative steam about halfway through and never fully recovers, taking an oddly uninspired and cliched rom-com route as opposed to fully exploring the absurdity and dark humor of its central premise. Self Reliance has numerous merits, but is an overall missed opportunity of a film that isn’t quite clear on what it wants to be.
GRADE: C+
Sleeping Dogs
A former detective suffering from Alzheimer’s (a typically outstanding Russell Crowe) revisits a years-old murder case he can’t remember in order to save a death row inmate (Pacharo Mzembe) who may have been falsely accused of the crime. While the central murder mystery is a bit too involved to follow easily or clearly and can sometimes test its audience’s patience, it ultimately resolves itself in a highly satisfying manner. Sleeping Dogs may not be the smoothest or cleanest viewing experience for chunks of its duration, but it still manages to pack an unforgettable and surprising dramatic wallop in the end.
GRADE: B+
Spaceman
Adam Sandler stars as a lone astronaut on a mission in space who starts seeing and communicating with a wise, spider-like alien who may or may not be the product of his imagination. Often hypnotic, the film is an overall success with its consistently meditative exploration of the effects of loneliness on human beings. Unfortunately, the pacing is increasingly sluggish as the film progresses and it becomes difficult at times to stay fixated on the story.
Sandler’s impressive dramatic work, numerous moments of moving poeticism, and an overall thoughtful screenplay all make Spaceman’s faults somewhat tolerable, however, so that its overall impact is a memorable one.
GRADE: B
Stopmotion
A stop-motion animator (Aisling Franciosi) literally and horrifically loses herself in her work after her stern mother falls ill. This trippy, surreal, and highly edgy psychological horror effort realizes a good deal of its potential with strong filmmaking, great visuals, and dedicated performances. It sometimes threatens to stall, disinterest, and cheapen with sporadically sluggish pacing, select moments of nonsensical pretension, and wince-inducing gore. However, it always impressively manages to get back on course.
Stopmotion could have been something truly great with a little more directness in its writing and overall presentation and a little less desire to shock and confuse, but it’s still a strangely and uniquely terrifying experience, nonetheless.
GRADE: B
The Substance
An aging actress (a sensationally brave Demi Moore) starts taking a mysterious substance that allows her to share her existence with a younger, physically flawless version of herself (an equally impressive Margaret Qualley). Paced steadily to perfection, beautifully and articulately photographed by Benjamin Kracun, and thoughtfully written by director Coralie Fargeat, this is a horror film/dark comedy that astutely satirizes and observes youth obsession, aging, and the never-ending superficiality that is more often than not found at the heart of show business. The Substance is entertaining, enlightening, and fulfilling in every imaginable way.
GRADE: A
Suncoast
Nico Parker, Laura Linney, and Woody Harrelson all deliver knockout performances in this endearing and highly touching dramedy. Parker stars as a young girl who longs to live an ordinary teenage life, but her terminally ill brother (Cree Kawa) and abrasively overbearing mother (Linney) often make that difficult. Suncoast is a coming-of-age-story that might seem a tad familiar and overly sentimental at first glance, but it’s told with such heart and sincerity (it has autobiographical origins from writer/director Laura Chinn’s life) that it still manages to ultimately affect its audience on a deeply and profoundly emotional level.
GRADE: A-
The Thicket
Juliette Lewis lights the screen on fire as a notoriously brutal cowgirl who kidnaps a young girl (Esme Creed-Miles) and then has to face the consequences of being tracked by the girl’s brother (Levon Hawke) and some skilled bounty hunters, the head of which is portrayed by an outstanding Peter Dinklage. While there is not a weak link in the cast and the filmmaking is reliably sturdy, the uninspired and, at times, dull execution fails to make a memorable impact. Lewis and Dinklage deserve a film that better lives up to their astounding talents.
While The Thicket is passable and can sometimes be mildly entertaining, it is ultimately an unexceptional entry in the Western genre that fails to fully live up to its potential.
GRADE: C+
This Is the Zodiac Speaking
This three-part documentary series on the unsolved Zodiac Killer case features plenty of information that is already known to its followers, but it also fascinatingly contains new testimony from adults who claim to have known prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen when they were children. These fresh perspectives are wholly believable and further nail the coffin shut on Allen’s increasingly probable (though still frustratingly uncertain) guilt. This Is the Zodiac Speaking requires some patience if you already know the facts, but it still manages to heavily increase interest in an already-compelling case whose full truth may torturously forever elude us.
GRADE: A-
Trap
This wannabe thriller from M. Night Shyamalan centers on a serial killer (a gleefully twisted Josh Hartnett) who walks into a police trap while attending a pop music concert with his daughter (a believable Ariel Donoghue). The first half offers classy, suspenseful, and inventive thrills, as the film initially has great fun with its enticing premise. Roughly halfway through, however, the film runs out of ideas, stalls, ditches the storyline that made it so interesting in the first place, and becomes less believable and less interesting the more it progresses.
Trap could have been spectacular if it stuck to the tight confines of its initial set-up, but it instead takes a direction that forces it to lose a great deal of its quality and become just another basic, generic, and wholly unthrilling thriller.
GRADE: C
Trigger Warning
Jessica Alba stars as a Special Forces agent who faces violent corruption in her hometown after the unexpected death of her father. Alba is a believable tough gal, exuding precision, control, and strength throughout the film. The action is also well-staged and manages to be intensely involving at times. Unfortunately, the quiet moments between the excitement that are used for story and character development are dull and largely forgettable. Quite early on, they deeply harm the film’s momentum to a point from which it is unable to fully recover.
Despite containing some impressively thrilling moments, Trigger Warning increasingly becomes a tedious task to endure rather than effective entertainment in which to escape.
GRADE: C
True Detective: Night Country
This fourth season of True Detective is the first season without any involvement from its creator/former showrunner, Nic Pizzolatto. Writer/director Issa López takes over the reins this time around, and the results can be a tad rocky but ultimately quite worthwhile. While Pizzolatto’s irreplaceable voice is often missed and never forgotten, there is no denying the quality and uniquely brutal beauty that this particular season showcases.
Jodie Foster and Kali Reis lead the wholly impressive cast, portraying Alaskan detectives investigating the mysterious and horrific death of a group of remote station workers. The narrative can sometimes be confusing, the over-reliance on expository dialogue grows tiresome, and minor callbacks to the first season feel tacked on and cheap. That being said, the season’s overall hypnotic progression, dark poeticism, beautifully drawn and fascinatingly flawed characters, and ultimately satisfying conclusion make it wholly worthwhile. True Detective: Night Country may not quite rival its original creator’s vision, but that doesn’t prevent it from being a high-quality runner-up.
GRADE: B+
Unfrosted
This fictional interpretation of the origin of Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts is an interesting, though not entirely successful, exercise in absurdity. Co-written by, directed by, and starring Jerry Seinfeld, the film has a quirkily surreal comedic style that is initially endearingly unique, but also grows tiresome as the film progresses. The exceptionally gifted cast members (Seinfeld, Christian Slater, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, and many, many others) deliver heightened performances with straight faces and full dedication, matching the exaggerated tone that dominates the film while simultaneously bringing it down to a level of believable reality.
While the satire is intelligent, the jokes, unfortunately, don’t quite land the way they need in order for the film to truly work. Unfrosted is plenty colorful, clever, inventive, and amusing, but its overriding and significantly marring fault is that it never quite manages to be funny.
GRADE: C+
What Jennifer Did
A young woman’s family is attacked in their home, and the story she gives to the authorities becomes increasingly implausible. Unfortunately, the title of this film alone already gives too much away because it makes it obvious that the girl is guilty of something. The film also sorely lacks the much-needed testimony of the surviving family members that would give it a bit more emotional depth and narrative clarity.
What Jennifer Did examines a riveting mystery, but is partially unfulfilling because it lacks the humanity it needs to fully involve its audience’s interest and empathy in its twisty narrative.
GRADE: B-
Woman of the Hour
Co-star Anna Kendrick makes a stunningly intelligent, impressively thoughtful, and strikingly refined directorial debut with this seventies-set, true life-inspired examination of select women who unluckily crossed paths with the serial killer Rodney Alcala. The always-tasteful film is never exploitative, but it still manages to contain high entertainment value while telling a wholly and endlessly compelling story. By way of a successfully complex structure, indisputably top-notch performances, highly skilled filmmaking, and sensitively aware writing, Woman of the Hour is an unforgettably rewarding experience.
GRADE: A
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More
Wes Anderson continues practicing his whimsically innocent, quirkily humorous, endlessly innovative, and meticulously detailed sensibilities with this four-part anthology film based on the writings of Roald Dahl. Despite the film’s many attributes, the imposed theatricality of its style—while highly unique–grows increasingly tiresome and ultimately makes the film an uncinematic and overall tedious experience. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More is further proof that the ultra-talented Anderson needs to step outside of his comfort zone if he truly wants to grow and further develop his exceptional talents.
GRADE: C+
