Watched on Sunday December 15, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday December 14, 2024.
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Very standard action thriller that borrows heavily from films like Die Hard (mainly Die Hard 2), Non-Stop, The Commuter, and Phone Booth. The cast does an okay job and it’s entertaining for the most part, but having seen countless movies like this, it wasn’t all that new or surprising. Most will still enjoy this, but it didn’t really do all that much for me. Being just under two hours didn’t really help it much either. I did enjoy this brief one take fight scene in a moving car backed to Last Christmas though. Not bad, but super forgettable.
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The Man in the White Van took me massively by surprise. I never even expected our theater to get it, thinking it was going to be straight to digital. Going to it I expected something cheesy, but this turned out to be a lot more intense and suspenseful than I expected. It’s a fairly slow burn with moments of the titular “man in the white van” stalking this teenage girl like a shark stalks prey while her family doesn’t believe her. And holy hell this family sucks except for the little brother. Madison Wolfe does a great job here as our lead girl showing her fear and paranoia as well as hopelessness of no one believing her. But then the final act comes and she gets in a solid final girl mode. The whole half hour of this movie is pure intensity that had my heart pounding. It features a really creepy sequence involving “I Think I Love You” by the Partridge Family. A lot of this movie pays homage to Halloween in moments as well as how they portray this man stalking this young girl and even when things kick off in the final act it still has the feel of it. The film is based on true events in the 70s and I’m guessing a lot of the behavior of the adult have that mentality of feeling “safe”. It starts out with a cold open in 1970 and has random inserts through the film from 1971-1974 (the movie takes place in 75). I get what they are trying to do, but they’re so brief it feels like filler. In addition to this, it had a few too many cheap scares with loud strings. I also felt bad for Ali Larter and Sean Astin (with horrible hair) as the parents. The roles were so basic with Larter and Astin almost half assing it. Despite these flaws, I really liked this movie a lot.
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Watched on Friday December 13, 2024.
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A watchable enough Lifetime thriller. It’s basically Fatal Attraction meets Flightplan and Red Eye. Lacey Chabert does a pretty solid job in it and Betsy Russell (Jill from the Saw movies) brings some camp at a bitchy flight attendant.
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Far less interesting than Pablo Larrain’s previous works Jackie and Spencer, this film solely hinges on Angelina Jolie’s performance. I’m not an opera person at all and obviously had never heard of Maria Callas, but Jolie does an amazing job here and is absolutely magnetic while making you enamored with this character. Callas is shown to have different layers to her and Jolie nails all aspects. I especially love how subtly shady she is shown to have been (the best one involving shading Marilyn Monroe’s singing of Happy Birthday to JFK). One thing I wish, but I imagine it would have been really difficult, is if Jolie was singing live, which it’s clear she isn’t. I can see why Larrain chose this project, as Callas is an interesting person to watch, but the general script just felt like a slog and I often felt bored. I’ll definitely be rooting for Jolie in the Best Actress race, but as far as the film, unless you are into opera or a huge music historian, I don’t think the general viewer will enjoy this.
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Watched on Wednesday December 11, 2024.
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An okay slasher that was Unfriended meets Real World with little bits of Scream 4. It was cool to see Brandon Perea in a slasher after seeing him in Nope and Twisters. Cassandra Scerbo (Nova from the Sharknado films) was fun as well. It’s a short and sweet slasher that’s a decent time killer.
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This is very much just a gay version of The Holiday, but it was still cute to see that story told this way. The issues each of the characters have feel pretty realistic and they have their charms. The cast does a good job and have decent chemistry as well. I was kind of surprised how little screen time Kyle Richards had as one of the characters moms, but oh well. If you wanna watch something new (so to speak) during the holidays it’s worth a watch.
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The fights and gore are great, and Bill and Jessica are solid, but woof, why did this have to be damn near two hours? On top of that, I got over the narration fast and the twist was pretty dumb.
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It was cute, but nothing I was too blown away by.
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This wasn’t a bad movie per se, but it’s waaaay too long for the kind of movie it is. It’s also tonally all over the place. It’s a historical comedy one moment, a rom-com the next, and then there’s moments of like serious dramatic moments. Overall I think the general concept is solid. It toys with both sides of the moon landing being real and not being real. The rom-com aspect was the weakest for me, despite Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum having decent enough chemistry, but on their own, the two are great in their respective roles.
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Watched on Thursday December 5, 2024.
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Watched on Thursday December 5, 2024.
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My personal favorite after the first. It kept me on edge and on the look out the whole time. The main character wasn’t annoying for an influencer, but at the same time, man, that was not worth risking your life over, lol. The ending reveal was not what I was hoping the franchise was going towards though.
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Watched on Wednesday December 4, 2024.
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Watched on Tuesday December 3, 2024.
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Watched on Tuesday December 3, 2024.
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Watched on Monday December 2, 2024.
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This doesn’t deserve such low ratings, the cast is great and it’s just a harmless and sweet family Christmas movie.
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Watched on Sunday December 1, 2024.
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Watched on Sunday December 1, 2024.
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Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga have great chemistry and deliver solid comedic performances. The script itself feels a little too all over the place. There’s a subplot involving the supporting gay best friend that I felt had no real purpose and felt more like filler. I also felt like the central plot of the pair wanting to explore life without significant others should have been more of the movie than about the leading to the actual break ups. However, the conflict of the two having such a co-dependent relationship was a nice touch and was probably the stronger aspect of the story. This wasn’t a bad movie, but I was expecting more. But thankfully the two leads do a great job of carrying the movie.
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Watched on Friday November 29, 2024.
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Watched on Thursday November 28, 2024.
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Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are incredible and share perfect chemistry in this musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz. My favorite moments in particular are when the pair are in perfect harmony during the musical sequences, they sound perfect. But even on their own they are excellent and were so perfectly cast. The same could be said for the whole cast as well. Jonathan Bailey eats up the screen as Fiyero, who doesn’t have too terribly much screen time here, but he makes great use of his time as this intro to his character. This is only Part 1 of the story but sets up our world, story, and characters perfectly and ends on a high note. Pun intended. The production design and visuals are stunning and gorgeous and really pulls you into the world. The musical numbers are also really immersive due to the performances and the great choreography. It makes sense why this took so long to be adapted from the stage musical, as it needed to be in good hands, and Jon M. Chu did such a remarkable job in the director’s chair and was a perfect pick. Can’t wait to see Part 2 next year! Until then, this is easily the feel good event movie of this year.
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Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding do the best they can with this story of two exes who find out their current significant others are siblings and now must spend Christmas together. This could have been a really fun Christmas rom-com with that concept. Unfortunately I was really underwhelmed. While the performances are for sure good, with Kristen Chenoweth stealing the show as the cougar mom of Lohan and Hardings’ partners. There was just no real sense of charm or real romance here. I was hoping they could have done a little more with the idea at hand to provide the comedy, but it really doesn’t. I’ll still champion Lindsay in whatever she does, but she deserves better than Netflix films at this point. Here’s hoping Freaky Friday 2 will get her some theatrical films. This isn’t a terrible movie, but I was hoping for better.
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Watched on Wednesday November 27, 2024.
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Watched on Tuesday November 26, 2024.
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Watched on Monday November 25, 2024.
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Watched on Monday November 25, 2024.
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I keep continuing to be more invested in works by August Wilson being adapted for the screen. I wasn’t familiar with him until Fences, but every story I’ve seen transpired of his between Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and now The Piano Lesson have been so good. Besides the story, the performances and direction are always top notch. The story at play here is a domestic drama with historical elements and some aspects of horror. The horror could have easily been random, but the elements of the supernatural are mentioned early on to make its inclusion justified. I wasn’t too invested in the horror as I was the story of this family and their history. You absolutely understand the reasoning between the two siblings desire and reluctance to sell the piano, and the history behind it is so rich and well-explained. It’s not only the primary object of the film but it’s also the catalyst to many old wounds and driving forces of our characters. The whole cast does an amazing job here, but Danielle Deadwyler just knocks it out of the park and turns in one of the best performances of the year. Samuel L. Jackson is basically us the viewer watching everything transpire and speaking for us, while also delivering his iconic wit in the process. Fences still remains my favorite Wilson adaptation, but this may be my 2nd favorite.
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Watched on Saturday November 23, 2024.
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Because of the ridiculous plot, I was initially going to pass on this, even though I like Lacey Chabert. But I caved and gave it shot. Color me surprised but I really enjoyed this a lot. The plot is still silly, but there is so much heart and charm to the movie and its characters that made it a cute and enjoyable watch. Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan have really great chemistry and Milligan is charming as the snowman turned human. In some ways the movie is like a happier version of Edward Scissorhands but with a snow man. If you can look past the silliness of the concept, definitely check it out during the holiday season
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Watched on Thursday November 21, 2024.
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I was massively disappointed with this movie. I was hoping for a fun and naughty Christmas rom-com, but this was pretty dull. The male stripper scenes were the only highlight, despite how tame they were, the actors had some good moves. I liked the cast here and they all did a fine job in their own right, but I was not feeling the romance between the two leads at all, and I really like Britt Robertson and Chad Michael Murray. While I’m not a big Christmas person, this didn’t feel like a Christmas movie. It honestly felt like it was written in last minute. There was also something off with the pacing, for moments it felt like it was brisk, but then you realize there’s still another 50 minutes left and it starts to drag. So much felt under developed too making the script just feel paper thin. If you want to watch some sexy guys strip to some Christmas movie, it’s decent for eye candy. Otherwise, probably should just pass.
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Watched on Wednesday November 20, 2024.
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Watched on Tuesday November 19, 2024.
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I knew they’d end it like this. And it pissed me off. Not sure why these kinds of movies always need to end like that and make the whole movie pointless. Other than that it was okay, but I liked the cast and performances.
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So the moral of How To Make An American Quilt was that Winona needed to f*ck Jonathan Schaech in order to realize she wanted to marry Dermot Mulroney?
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Watched on Friday November 15, 2024.
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Daisy needed an attitude adjustment BAD. That girl was getting on my last nerve.
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I really wanted to like this movie, and in some ways I did. At its core it does have a great story, but I feel conflicted at the same time. While I do think our titular character has a great character arc, I still feel like I was unable to really care for or root for her. Sure she wanted to turn over a new leaf in more ways than one, but this person wasn’t just committing petty crimes, she was a cartel leader who killed people. So I felt like I wasn’t able to really feel for her. Especially when it comes to the topic of transgender life, it feels like sort of mixed messaging? But, that wasn’t even really my biggest issue with the movie. My biggest issue lies with the pacing. I grew super bored at various moments, and these moments were the musical numbers. I grew so tired and annoyed by them and they felt so pointless and weren’t needed, they only took me out of the story. My issues aside, I cannot write this movie off entirely and that is because the performances by our trio of actresses were so damn good. Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascón, and Selena Gomez do such an amazing job here, particularly Gascón, whom I really would like to see get an award nomination. If you have an interest in the movie, I do still recommend it. And who knows, maybe the musical moments will work others more than they did for me, and I say this as someone who does like musicals.
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While the movie doesn’t offer anything entirely new, it’s still a solid “yes bitch!” movie. I think what really sells the movie is Daisy Ridley’s great performance. She’s a wife who’s life has gone off the rails because her husband is useless, unsupportive, and now believes he may be cheating with the actress on the film her young daughter is a part of. Ridley’s performance is so stoic, but you can see the rage and suspicion she is keeping buried under her exterior. You honestly have no idea what or when she could finally be set off. By the time we reach the end though, you are definitely on her side and rooting for her.
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This is a documentary that needs a lot more attention. It explores why sex and sexuality is such a taboo topic by our lead talking to professionals as well as a politician and a priest. I think that by Alex Liu being a grown, sexually repressed gay man adds an extra layer to it, but it doesn’t solely focus on his sexuality. All of the discussions can apply to everyone, and a lot of it is so eye opening on aspects you didn’t really think about and hearing the various thoughts and insights. This movie just furthers the idea that sex needs to be discussed more at an early age with the proper knowledge and education. And that it’s also not something to scare people out of doing and normalizing what brings pleasure to our minds and bodies as well as not to be ashamed of what we feel or talk about.
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Watched on Monday November 11, 2024.
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I know I’m in the minority with the following thoughts, but oh well. I was all ready for an anti-Pretty Woman story, and in concept I think the movie was great. But there were two major factors that just didn’t work for me. While the movie is well-directed by Sean Baker, the pacing was just not good. There were several moments where I was really just wanting it to pick up the pace. It lingered way too long on sequences that didn’t need to be that long. The biggest thing that took me out of the film was that I absolutely did not like our title character. Anora (Ani) was just so unbearable, loud, annoying, unintelligent, naive, and quite frankly mentally unstable. If we were supposed to sympathize with her, I wasn’t able to at all until the very final few seconds. That’s not to say Mikey Madison didn’t do a great job. She did, but maybe not Oscar buzz worthy in my opinion. Honestly, I felt like I was watching Teresa Guidice for 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I cannot stand that woman. The one likable character in this movie for me was Igor, also played really well by Yura Borisov. He had some great subtle comedy and seeing how indifferent he was compared to everyone else just made him really likable to me. I honestly could have really loved this movie if Ani was made so much more normal and worth sympathizing for. Again, I know I’m in the minority on all this, cause many clearly love it, but it didn’t do anything for me.
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Watched on Sunday November 10, 2024.
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Watched on Saturday November 9, 2024.
]]>- Inception
- The Dark Knight
- Twister
- Spider-Man
- Kill Bill: Vol. 1
- Mulan
- Death Proof
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- The Batman
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Scream
- Halloween
- Urban Legend
- I Know What You Did Last Summer
- House of Wax
- You're Next
- Final Destination 3
- Happy Death Day
- Sorority Row
- Insidious
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Mean Girls
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
- Miss Congeniality
- Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
- Clueless
- Never Been Kissed
- Bachelorette
- Freaky Friday
- Scary Movie
- Drop Dead Gorgeous
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Scream
- Halloween
- Mean Girls
- Scream 2
- A Walk to Remember
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Inception
- Miss Congeniality
- Urban Legend
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Hellraiser
- Hellraiser
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II
- Hellraiser: Deader
- Hellraiser: Hellseeker
- Hellraiser: Bloodline
- Hellraiser: Hellworld
- Hellraiser: Inferno
- Hellraiser: Judgment
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- A Walk to Remember
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Black Swan
- Coyote Ugly
- Beauty and the Beast
- Where the Heart Is
- Girl, Interrupted
- Panic Room
- Still Alice
- Enough
...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Inception
- Black Swan
- You're Next
- Scream 4
- Gone Girl
- Still Alice
- La La Land
- Gravity
- Happy Death Day
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Friday the 13th
- Friday the 13th
- Jason X
- Freddy vs. Jason
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
- Friday the 13th Part 2
- Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
- Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
- Friday the 13th Part III
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Halloween
- Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
- Halloween II
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
- Halloween
- Halloween II
- Halloween Kills
- Halloween: Resurrection
- Halloween
- Halloween Ends
...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Black Widow
- Captain America: Civil War
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Avengers: Endgame
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Black Panther
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- Furious 7
- Fast X
- Fast & Furious 6
- The Fate of the Furious
- Fast Five
- Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
- The Fast and the Furious
- Fast & Furious
- 2 Fast 2 Furious
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- New Nightmare
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
- Freddy vs. Jason
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
- A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
- A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge