Quick Review: A horror drama that never pushes the envelope enough to qualify as 'scary', nor leaves an impact as a pregnancy story about a paranoid soon-to-be a mom, her deceitful half, and her overbearing fertility doctor, "False Positive" is a little bizarre, rather offbeat in tone, occasionally entertaining and led by a solid turn from Glazer, but it takes a predictable turn with its big reveal that is supposed to be unsettling, but inevitably ends up being I-knew-it kind of underwhelming.
Quick Review: A bizarrely surreal and oddly moving modern fable, set against the atmospheric backdrop of misty Icelandic mountain scenery, "Lamb" utilizes visual narrative over dialogue to portray its grief-driven family story with a touch of daylight horror, and a chilling twist inspired by Nordic mythology, and the result is a puzzling, if quietly mesmerizing folktale with three strong lead which that alternates between sweet and appalling from the peculiar opening to the shocking ending.
Quick Review: Using the franchise name in a gimmicky way, this one never feels like a "PA" film, as both its far-fetched story and slick picture quality contradict with the 'credible' sleazy feel of 'found footage' horror, but "Next of Kin" still gains from its chilly scenery, eerie remote setting, and macabre characters, and offers enough decent jump scares, tense moments and some ghastly imagery to keep you drawn in and on your toes, even if it goes over-the-top in its monster-ish final act.
Quick Review: For a crime story that almost entirely takes place in a local Nevada police station, there's a lot going on in the neat, tense, thrilling, action-packed, and visually crisp "Copshop", which puts up two badass bad guys, one badass cop, and a couple of psychopaths in a tight setting, and the outcome is a small in scale, yet frantic cop thriller filled with gore, violence, humor and shootouts that clashes the egos of its three 'tough cookie' protagonists in a darkly funny manner.
Quick Review: A full-blown goof-fest with body-tearing nastiness and a relentlessly nutty villain, who lives up to his name, this short-n-sweet, if rushed sequel benefits from Hardy's zany one man show in the first half, where he contradicts with his inner Venom-self, but the big fun comes when he clashes with Carnage in an action-packed CGI-enhanced havoc of a third act that compensates for Cletus' ill-fitting kooky romance and Shriek's weak backstory.
Quick Review: McAvoy and Foy are both brilliant in portraying the sorrow over their vanished child, as well as the rough relationship they have as a couple during such hard times, but the only area of tension here is the one between them, as the 'missing person' mystery, and the father's investigation to unveil it, is heavy on gloominess, albeit light on suspense, and with each reveal "My Son" becomes more and more predictable, refusing to provide any thrilling twists and turns.
Titane (2021)
Quick Review: Thought-provoking, stylistically bold, thrillingly disturbing and delightfully ambiguous, if a tad too bizarre and senseless for mass tastes, this is another unique film by Ducournau, which never apologizes for its odd vagueness, and goes full throttle with its wacky concept, but underneath its shell, "Titane" is so much more then a 'killer dancer'/'car sex' pregnancy horror, as it explores mental damage, gender swap, and abnormal relations in a relevant and surprisingly moving way.
Quick Review: Delightfully British, unapologetically queer, and rather sweet, this 'true' story of a gay boy's dream of becoming a drag queen is all about self-discovery, finding your confidence, and embracing who you are, but beneath all the glitz-n-glam of this feel-good musical with crazy colorful, neon-lit musical numbers, there's a proper family drama about a supportive mum, ignorant dad and a confused teen trying to find 'the place where he belongs'.
Quick Review: This sequel takes the Addams family on vacation, and questions Wednesday's origin, while she tries to embrace her weirdness, taking center stage, but sadly "The Addams Family 2" fails to capture the essence of its charmingly eerie characters and delivers a somewhat contrived story in a safe, stale, and uninteresting fashion, let down by wannabe witty gags that fall flat, and an animation that's neither quirky in style, nor very appealing.
Quick Review: Telling two parallel stories -- a 'forbidden love' affair set in the '60s, and a journalist inquiry in the present -- which merge silkily towards the end in a heartwarming fashion, "TLLFYL" is a wonderfully acted mystery romance with riveting interwoven plot full of drama, pain, joy, tears, and laughs, but it's fair to say the 'investigation' outshines the beautifully-shot love tale, thanks to Jones' lively turn, and the chemistry she shares with Rizwan.
Quick Review: Visually sweeping, and so grand, it's overwhelming to take in all the otherworldly imagery and majestically sandy scenery, yet lifeless, uneventful, dry in tone, and sluggish in pace, Villeneuve's vastly ambitious space opera with political essence is a technical prodigy that also flaunts a stellar cast, but being 'only the beginning', "Dune: Part I" feels exactly like one, as its flatlined prologue-like story devoid of thrills, soul, action and epicness is easy to devour, but not to digest.
Quick Review: A small-scare, yet deftly-executed and beautifully-shot old school western that takes out the best of its classic story of family secrets, care, and protection, "Old Henry" transports you right back in 1906 Oklahoma with its picturesque photography, but what makes the movie is Tim Blake Nelson's flawless turn as the mysterious farmer with secret past, who fully unleashes his inner badassness in a bloodshed of a closing act, which concludes in a grimly dramatic fashion.
Quick Review: Myers is at his most ruthless in this campy, hokey, silly, savagely over the top, and at times unintentionally funny sequel with the highest body count and gore galore in the franchise, and although "HK" will makes slasher fans happy with all those gruesome kill scenes, the paper-thin 'Everybody vs. Michael' plot, daft dialogues, tons of useless characters, and totally unforgivable waste of Jamie Lee Curtis bring this nostalgic wannabe cheese-fest to a level of sheer mediocrity.
Quick Review: Neither emotional, nor particularly amusing, let alone a great blend of both, "Startling" is an ill-balanced dramedy that explores grief of child loss, and how people cope with it in different ways, but it's also about a bird-human encounter turned into an untypical friendship, which despite the dodgy effects, is the best bit about this tonal mess, along with McCarthy's turn as the trainwreck Lilly and the sweet bond she has with the therapist / vet, who Kilne portrays so likably.
Quick Review: A harrowing look at the real-life horror nursing homes in UK went through at the start of the covid pandemic, shown through the eyes of the young caretaker Sarah, who Jodie Comer portrays with true believability and sheer conviction -- in both her devotion and frustration, complemented by Graham's moving turn as the lovable Tony struggling with Alzheimer's, "Help" is real, raw, terrifying and difficult to experience, but also profoundly humane and full of warmth and kindness.
Quick Review: There's a decent idea behind this claustrophobic little horror thriller with occult twist, but it's the execution is that lets it down, as watching an family consisting of hysterical dad, fragile mom, weirdo boy, and lesbian emo daughter with a dark secret being trapped in a big bathroom during thunderstorm, and fighting with each other for 97 min isn't particularly fun, let alone scary, despite all the disturbing revelations and grisly occurrences.
Quick Review: The earthy tones, pale colors and barren scenery give a proper Western feel for this low-key road trip film with a romantic pit stop on the way back from MX to TX, but Eastwood is not particularly convincing in front of the camera, because of his late age, and though his character-with-a-mission doesn't share a genuine chemistry with the wild young boy, his relationship with the kind-hearted Marta is almost too sweet, and leads to a warm finale of the simple "Cry Macho".
Birds of Paradise (2021)
Quick Review: Rivalry, loyalty, and friendship go hand in hand in this sexy, sensual, and dreamy story of self-discovery, obsession, and over-ambition, and though familiar, "Birds of Paradise" is a mesmerizing trip to the world of ballet and, similarly to the latter, the film is pretty to look at, thanks to the graceful camerawork, elegant style, and exquisite French exteriors, but it's Silvers & Froseth's gorgeous faces that hook us to their contrasting, yet bonded characters, chasing the big prize win.
Quick Review: A 4+1 horror shorts anthology with trashy picture quality fits its '90s concept, in spite of the irritating corrupt footage effects, the "V/H/S/94" is more miss than hit -- the creepy creature feature "Storm Drain" ends up being the best, "The Empty Wake" is simply boring, the Frenkenstein-esque "The Subject" is technically great, but more bloody than scary, "Terror" is blurry, all over the place and unwatchable, and the narrating "Holy Hell" is okay, but you hardly ever care about it.
Quick Review: More about 'weirdo' kids with wild imagination than scary stories, "Nightbooks" is a vibrantly-crafted, enchantingly spooky horror fantasy with a clever "Hansel and Gretel" twist, whose colorfully glossy neon-lit looks make it quite a visual experience, in addition to the sweet bond between the two youngsters, but the most fun bit here is Ritter's wicked turn as the young witch who goes for revenge in a surprisingly dark third act that may be a bit too creepy for the little ones.
Quick Review: A 1990s-influenced teen slasher about a 'victim's face'-masked killer who reveals the prey's darkest secrets before the murder, which also tries hard to work as a social commentary on race, gender, and sexual orientation, this one has a sympathetic protagonist and some blood-soaked deaths, but the whole thing never makes much sense, and it's too cheesy in execution to make a statement on the relevant topics it takes so darn seriously.
Quick Review: A 'home invasion' thriller, turned relationship drama, turned cat'n'mouse game with nasty turn of events, "Intrusion" is far from edge-of-your-seat suspenseful, but it's intriguing watching Pinta's Meera looking for clues to reveal the dark secret about her husband, played convincingly by Marshal-Green, and it is a mystery which leads to some grisly discoveries in the tense third act, with most of the story being set in a humongous super-stylish house in the middle of nowhere.
Quick Review: Enigmatic, morbid, and atmospheric, yet tad too vague, "Night House" allows us to unravel the unsettling mystery behind Beth's death husband alongside her, and dig out one dark clue after another in a ghost story with diabolical twist, and even though it all leads to an ambiguously anti-climatic finale, the highly inventive use of setting, some effective scares, and Hall's brilliantly nuanced portrayal of loss, love, and disclosure make this one a devilish journey into the beyond.
Quick Review: Wonderfully-acted and competently-shot, if unfocused, uneven, and rather uneventful, not only "TMSON" has little in common with "The Sopranos" TV show, which will disappoints the fans of the latter, but plays it as your typical by-the-numbers 'mafia' movie, overstuffed with characters, but pretty random in terms of plotting, and that affects its entertainment value, despite that the cast truly shines, particularly the unrecognizable Farmiga.
Quick Review: As expected from a classy vocalist such as Hudson, the singing in this one is powerful, and so is her nuanced lead turn, doing justice to Aretha's talent throughout this depiction of her rough journey filled with suffering, oppression, and mistreatment as well as the ups and downs of her music career, but in spite of that, its soulful nature, and genuine retro looks, "Respect" feels uneven and pretty rushed in parts, even 145 minutes, as it skips quite a few of her life periods.
