Quick Review: A subdued, offbeat, and deliberately paced supernatural revenge slow-burner filmed entirely in Welsh and set in a fancy house in rural Wales, "The Feast" is quietly deranged, tad baffling and featuring some truly gruesome imagery, which combined generate a very ominous tone and give it a surreal feel, but its sluggishness, inexplicable nature and dry acting make this folk horror demanding, hard to sit through, and impossible to get wholly satisfied by the foreseeable payoff.
Quick Review: A mixed bag of a 'heist' caper with a touch of Indiana Jones-like adventure, "Red Notice" benefits from its flashy style, zippy over-the-top action scenes, diverse settings, and the allure of its three stars, but there's too much going on in its ridiculously far-fetched, if very generic plot featuring one too many twists, and crazy amount of dialogue full of references, but devoid of wit, in which all the jokes, mostly coming from Reynolds who yet again plays Reynolds, fall totally flat.
Quick Review: If you can get over Dobrev's annoying trying-too-hard-to-be-funny overacting and the lack of credible romantic chemistry with her co-star Jimmy O. Yang, whose character is as endearing as he can get, you may find "Love Hard" cute, heartfelt, and amusing for a reason -- it's pretty sweet, it has heart, and it delivers a few good laughs, but in the end, it's a typically predictable Christmas rom-com with 'catfishing' twist, and a corny 'personality over looks' moral-ish lesson.
Quick Review: Long, slow-moving, dragged out, and neither funny, nor thrilling, nor action-packed, nor very moving, apart from the tear-jerking finale, yet well-made and led by a solid turn from Hanks, "Finch" is a road trip survival drama about the relationship between a lone human, his dog, and his droid invention, set against the barren post-apocalyptic backdrop of sun-burned Earth, but nothing much happens, apart from cute and curious robot Jeff bonding with the struggling Finch.
Quick Review: 'Mostly based on a true story told by its lead star, this one boldly attempts an interesting approach at mixing an anti-rom-com story with some stand-up comedy, the latter of which is overused and not particularly funny, but in spite of some mildly amusing moments and a pretty engaging turn by comedian Iliza Shlesinger, "Good on Paper" is a bit of a mixed-bag that ironically lives up to its title -- it's neither as hilarious, nor as entertaining, nor as sweet as it wants to be.
The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)
Quick Review: Sure, there's a lot of frenetic action scenes, silly gags, and slapstick humor, that make it an enjoyable and fast-paced romp that even attempts to demonstrate heart with all the 'family is very important' message, but despite that, and the finely-executed energetic animation, "The Boss Baby: Family Business" never feels as sweet, amusing, and refreshing as the first movie, and it may be a bit too manic for little kids to follow or get fully into.
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: The whole 'creepy host' scenario is both disturbing and great fun, with the fancy mountain villa in a remote location makes it being even more so, and Gillam is more than convincing as the loud, moody, obsessive, and batshit crazy Rebecca, who hides a dark, violent side behind her friendly attitude, but the problem with "Superhost", aside from its predictability, is that she is more likable than the phony vlogger couple we are supposed to root for, but don't mind them die.
Quick Review: Soderbergh's worst effort in years, "No Sudden Move" has a brilliant A-list cast, who do the best they can with the material, but sadly they are all wasted in a dull, purposeless, and lackluster vintage crime thriller devoid of any intrigue and tension that is very convoluted in plotting, but goes nowhere really, plus, the choppy editing and irritant use of fish-eye lens don't do the movie any favors either, leaving the fine period production design being the only technical merit.
Quick Review: The 'rapid aging' is an interesting, if unoriginal idea, as this concept has been used before, but what really prevents "Old" from being a fun 'no-brainer' is the poor acting, and terrible dialogue, as the characters are too silly to figure out the time issue this easily, not to say the latter affects some of them in a senseless way, and the though film attempts to bring it all together with a 'scientific' twist, it's still misfire that could make uneasy gerascophobic viewers afraid of aging.
Quick Review: The breezy tropical scenery is easy on the eyes, as are the four attractive main characters, who work together decently enough, but in spite of a few sweet moments here and there, "Resort to Love" is your typical corny and predictable rom-com with a contrived plot that's too fabricated to work, and yet the film makes up up for all the mawkish cliches and love triangle nonsense with some lovely vocals from Milian, who may not be a great actress, but is surely a stellar singer.
Quick Review: Needless, in sense that it spoils the enigma around the main hero, "Snake Eyes" is tonally wrong, overly serious, and failing to work as a 'double' origin story, and find balance, as the film involves too many characters, some of which it wastes, but at least it's capably-shot and visually arresting, thanks to its exotic settings, and tough the action is satisfying, the shaky camerawork lets down some of the fights, which Golding handles just as good, as he does the dramatic parts.
Quick Review: Over-the-top, zany, inventive, absurd, and pointless all at once, "Jolt" is far from jolting, as it offers mostly cheap thrills and even cheaper sets, but if you don't expect more than watching Kate Beckinsale walking around looking pretty when she's not kicking some butts as the fearless and fierce Lindy, you might enjoy this revenge action comedy / murder mystery thriller for its sheer audaciousness, bonkers style, and electrifying violence, in spite of the predictable twist ending.
Quick Review: A lofty celebration of Latino community and legacy, "In the Heights" tells an emotional story about family, friends, love, dreams, and aspirations in a lively, feel-good and cheery fashion, led by a bunch of alluring characters, and flaunting elaborate musical numbers, but the whole thing feels a bit too stagey, plus, singing or rapping pretty much every line quickly loses its charms, and goes from pleasurable to loud and irritating, and even exhausting towards the sugary end.
Quick Review: This psychological slasher thriller deserves credit for its fresh concept, stylish looks, and Townsend's nuanced, chilling turn as the lonely and totally demented hairdresser, obsessed with having what she lacks, but despite all that and some gory bits that will please horror fans, "The Stylist" ends up as a sluggishly paced wanna be slow-burner that takes too much time in building up, leading to a predictable conclusion that's too far-fetched to be effectively shocking.
Quick Review: Stylish and led by a solid turn from Holland, if overlong, tonally muddled, episodic, and not very intriguing or original, "Cherry" ranges from sweet and romantic to frustrating and heavily depressing, following the degrading life journey of one military medic turned robber turned junkie, the grim love story with his high school sweetheart, and their descent into addiction, but the the whole thing ends up unbalanced and implausible -- especially during the comical bank thefts.
Quick Review: It would have been a lot more fun, if it had fulfilled its daring 'superhero squirrel' premise to another level, but for what it is, "Flora & Ulysses" is a sweet enough story with quirky characters, goofy slapstick humor, cartoony CGIs, and a charming young cast led by the adorable Matilda Lawler, but then again, it lacks the signature Disney magic and the big heart that would have made it something more than a cute, positive, and endearing little film made strictly for kids.
Quick Review: Iseman is likable in the lead, and she gives it her all as the suffering Rain, who can't differ reality from illusion due to a mental illness, but sadly, much like her, the film itself struggles to cope with its identity crisis, as it can't decide if it wants to be a heartfelt depiction of schizophrenia, coming-of-age story, teen romance or "Rear Window"-ish thriller, failing to work as a mix of all, plus, the familiar twist in the last act appears too gimmicky to leave the emotional impact it aims.
Quick Review: A modern, twisted, if cruel take on "Red Riding Hood", this EU horror deserves credit for its daring approach, but sadly it's the sub-par execution of this clever idea that ruins it, along with the inexpert acting, despite Worthalter's strive to portray the psychotic 'snuff' sadist convincingly, and though "Haunted" delivers some tense moments and violent scenes of sheer brutality, it goes crazily over-the-top during the third act, becoming unintentionally funny and pretty absurd.
Quick Review: A campy blend of war movie and creature feature, this small-scale action horror with wacky concept relies on Moretz's ability to carry it, being 90% focused on her alone, and though she does a great job, and makes out the best of the narrow setting her fierce character is placed in, the end result is a brisk and occasionally thrilling, if uneven and senseless romp, whose sappy twist midway somewhat takes away from all the 'monster fun'.
