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.
Quick Review: A supposed-to-be moving story about an asocial misfit who, by mistake, makes up a post mortem 'friendship' with a suicidal guy and, as a result, things go out of control, "Dear Evan Hansen" has good intentions and tries really hard to demonstrate heart, but sadly the whole 'lie' is a bit too cruel to evoke sympathy for Evan, as there are far too many negative consequences, not to mention how out-of-place the singing feels, and how wasted both Moore and Adams are.
Quick Review: An inventive, sleek, and atmospheric take on 'haunted house' formula that also works as a social commentary, as it deals with the struggles of young immigrants, particularly the fragile Ambar, which Rodlo's alluring turn makes easy to connect to and sympathize for, this effective blend of personal drama, ghost story, captive thriller, occult horror and creature feature is equal parts emotional, creepy, grisly, gory, violent, and frightening.
Quick Review: A pretty forgettable German thriller revolving around a bunch of friends getting hunted by a woman during a trip into the woods, "Prey" attempts to make sense by revealing piece by piece a dull 'love triangle' backstory that further on leads to an inner conflict between two of the characters, but none of it is particularly intriguing, thrilling, or something to care about, and when the supposed payoff finally arrives, it's baffling, somewhat random, and completely unsatisfying.
Quick Review: A disturbing, brutal, and uncompromisingly violent Kiwi horror thriller that features some of the most intimidating, often terrifying intruders-turned-ruthless-killers you will ever see, and whose gritty looks suit its savage nature, "CHitD" loses some of its tension as it goes, but the raw acting and the shady twist that makes you question who's bad, who's good and who deserves what in this situation will keep you glued until the fatal conclusion.
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: The escape rooms are even more clever and creative than the ones in the first, and "ToC" sustains the tension throughout and wow us with the visual execution of the deadly traps, but what makes it a lotmore fun is the fact that no one other then Zoey is there to care for, so there's a level of guilty joy during the kills, even if the film ends on a bad note with an explanatory final act that's too silly and far-fetched to work as a 'dark' ending.
Quick Review: Though as generic as 'female assassin' action thrillers go, "Kate" kind of makes up for all the genre tropes used in its overly simplistic plot with cool visual style, a moody location of neon-lit Tokyo, and some absolutely savage, gore-splattering, cut-throat fist, knife, and sword fights, but what really makes it watchable, despite the inevitably bitter finale is Winstead as the 'killer babe' Kate and the relationship she builds with the sassy little Ani, who actually steals the show.
