The year 2022 in film - Ranked. [Archive]

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 11:16 AM

68. Morbius

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6nhwr1LCozBiIN47b8oBEomOADm.jpg

1

Dr. Michael Morbius suffers from a blood illness that cripples him and shortens his life span. He is incredibly smart though and dedicates his entire life to finding a cure. That cure involves vampire bat DNA and when he injects this highly illegal/unethical testing drug into his system, he creates a monster. Can he supress his blood rage violence? Can he stop his friend who stole the drug and loves being a villain? Can we as an audience muster enough courage to give a damn?

I did not expect to be so disinterested in this film as much as I was. We all heard about how bad it was, but I thought I would at the very least get some kind of comedic laughs out of the terribleness, but no. The film is bland beyond belief. So many bad creative decisions right up to the equally confusing and inane after credits sequence. Teasing people for future films do not work when we don't care.

From hilariously bad slow-mo to inane character decision and a laughable attempt at chemistry between every single person, Morbius is a failed attempt at blending horror with the superhero genre. I sat there in complete confusion as to why Morbius calls his best friend by a different name the entire movie, why our antagonist out of the blue loves being a killing machine, how Tyrese can run up a building and cut off Morbius who practically flew up there. Throw into this confusing mix some bad CGI fight sequences that are poorly edited and you have a potent mix for the worst film of the year.

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 11:29 AM

67. Christmas Bloody Christmas

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/60Dy8eA5QyUHKHBmojXUtZxWdo8.jpg

1.5

On Christmas Eve, our lead character wants to get drunk, party and have sex. Sounds like a good time, but when a robotic Santa Clause goes haywire; blood spills, limbs fly and bodies pile up. Now she is in a fight for her life and we cheer on the killing machine.

The only reason this film is not at the very bottom of the list is because there is a shred of care and dedication to the craft. Written, directed and produced by Joe Begos, I have to give credit where credit is due, he knew what he wanted and he gave it his all. Even filmed it on film, back to the indie horror roots which are inspiring this movie. It's just a shame that what he wanted was a poor Rob Zombie rip-off.

The film is bathed in neon lights, which give it a unique look, but becomes distractingly annoying after the first 20 minutes. The blood and guts are almost all practical, which gives it a bonus point for the indie spirit of "we're all in this together".

The Terminator-esque Santa was pretty good too, but my God could I not get passed the characters and their dialogue. Literally, all I could imagine in this film was every foul mouthed Rob Zombie character cranked to 11. I did not care one ounce for anyone in this movie and found myself nodding off several times, which is bad for a film that is under 90 minutes. There is a shred of talent here, but there needs to be more cooks in the kitchen for me to watch another Joe Begos movie again.

seanc

01-13-23, 11:47 AM

68 is pretty awesome. I try to hit 50 during the course of a year, I watched 55 2022 movies during the year.

I haven’t seen your first two entries, but I will chime in with my worthless opinion when stuff I have seen pops up.

Allaby

01-13-23, 12:08 PM

I watched 120 films released in 2022 last year. Christmas Bloody Christmas was the worst of them. I agree with you about the characters and the dialogue. Morbious was mediocre, but still watchable. If I had to rank it, Morbious would be somewhere between 80-100.

seanc

01-13-23, 12:10 PM

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 01:03 PM

Iroquois

01-13-23, 02:09 PM

Not the TUS list I was looking forward to the most, but I'll take it.

Morbius was somehow not my least favourite film of 2022. Maybe it still should be, but at the same time it such a low-expectation/low-effort work in just about every respect that it almost doesn't feel worth hating as opposed to more obnoxious "better" films. Even by the current standards of sequel-teasing stinger scenes, this one manages to dig its way under an already subterranean bar.

Haven't seen Christmas Bloody Christmas - had a chance last year, I guess, but didn't feel like it (and that feeling seems to be right). I did kind of like Begos' VFW as an uncomplicated siege thriller, though.

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 02:18 PM

66. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/meRIRfADEGVo65xgPO6eZvJ0CRG.jpg

1.5

A sequel to the original iconic film, 50 some-odd years later sees a group of influencers "purchase" a small town in Texas to auction off business places???? I'm still not entirely sure. Anyways, they ruffle some feathers and Leatherface takes out the ol' chainsaw to slice and dice. He retrieves his chainsaw from a wall inside his house, its been sitting there for DECADES!!!! Yet, it starts without a hitch and that rusty ol' chainsaw slices like a fresh new lightsaber.

We are introduced to a group of unlikable young people. One is given the backstory of surviving a school shooting, so she knows trauma, right? I don't know if it is laughable or insulting to think that this is what they believe gives people "character". No one else stands out in this crowd. This film was dumped on Netflix and it is obvious why.

The film has one good shot and two good kills. The rest of the film is a CGI bloodfest that looks fake, feels fake and is unintentionally funny. They bring back the character that survived the original film, Sally. She is played by a different actress as the original actress died before the production of this film. What they end up doing to this character is a crime and she takes the award for dumbest character this year!!!

The final shot of the film is an homage in some way to the original, but they use the auto-drive feature of a Tesla, which made me laugh out so loud that it woke my wife. Instead of a cracked mind of the lone survivor in the back of a pick-up truck laughing manically as it speeds off down the road...we have a Tesla slowly driving away while one character looks back out the sunroof, dumbfounded as Leatherface swings his chainsaw around like a maniac. It's too comical to be taken seriously.

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 03:02 PM

65. Deepwater

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6yRMyWwjuhKg6IU66uiZIGhaSc8.jpg

1.5

Man, this is a film that I just didn't 'get'. Affleck and Ana de Armas are in a loveless marriage. Instead of getting a divorce, he lets her sleep around with whomever she likes. Jealously is too much for him and he starts killing off her lovers.

Why let it happen, why stay with each other, why stay with him if you know he is killing, why snails? The film desperately wants to be an erotic thriller from the 90's, but it fails to be even the slightest bit sexy or have a hint of thrills. The acting feels wooden from everyone and I couldn't help but laugh at the "chase" towards the end of the film. It might be one of the funniest scenes of the year.

This comes as no surprise that it is yet another Netflix dump, everything about the film feels pointless.

Tugg

01-13-23, 03:11 PM

I like Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas so Deep Water was mediocre for me. Also it's a bit messed up in a subdued way, which is fine by me. But I get the notion of pointlessness too.

Allaby

01-13-23, 03:25 PM

How many were Hallmark Christmas movies?? Hahaha

None. Those were all feature films. I also watched 60 made for tv movies from 2022 last year in addition.

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 11:48 PM

64. No Exit

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/5cnLoWq9o5tuLe1Zq4BTX4LwZ2B.jpg

2

A woman gets word that her mother is very sick and might not live to see another day. She ventures out in a snowstorm to see her, but the road is closed due to the weather, and she is forced to seek shelter at a nearby rest stop. While there she discovers a young girl tied up in the back of a van. Now she must unravel the mystery of which one of these people that are trapped with her is the kidnapper.

Interesting premise, that they seem to abandon almost immediately. What would have made this film a lot more engaging is the mystery of who the kidnapper is, but that is revealed rather quickly. We are then treated to a cat-and-mouse game that doesn't feel thrilling by any means.

No Exit wants to surprise us with a few twists in the story, but the film is the one trying to play catch-up to the audience who is already several steps ahead. Bland characters, flat direction, and a weak screenplay make this film a chore to sit through.

TheUsualSuspect

01-13-23, 11:55 PM

Not the TUS list I was looking forward to the most, but I'll take it.

You hound me for that list ALMOST as much as my wife does a third kid.

TheUsualSuspect

01-14-23, 12:07 AM

63. Cheaper by the Dozen

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qNRsouZh5zmhaE3n4QpLDXzy1gQ.jpg

2

In this remake we see the Baker family move into a bigger house, take care of a troubled nephew and try to make their school life and work life work under intense pressure.

I imagine the scriptwriter was told to watch the Cheaper by the Dozen movies before being asked to write the new remake. Then he accidentally watched Yours, Mine, and Ours. This is a weird remake that has a predictability to it that is a tad frustrating. Braff and Union have some excellent chemistry and make this not a total disaster.

Side Note: you can see the actors' marks taped on the floor in one scene, I had a good chuckle.

Thief

01-14-23, 12:17 AM

Hey, I'll be reading!

66. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/meRIRfADEGVo65xgPO6eZvJ0CRG.jpg

A sequel to the original iconic film, 50 some-odd years later sees a group of influencers "purchase" a small town in Texas to auction off business places???? I'm still not entirely sure. Anyways, they ruffle some feathers and Leatherface takes out the ol' chainsaw to slice and dice. He retrieves his chainsaw from a wall inside his house, its been sitting there for DECADES!!!! Yet, it starts without a hitch and that rusty ol' chainsaw slices like a fresh new lightsaber.

We are introduced to a group of unlikable young people. One is given the backstory of surviving a school shooting, so she knows trauma, right? I don't know if it is laughable or insulting to think that this is what they believe gives people "character". No one else stands out in this crowd. This film was dumped on Netflix and it is obvious why.

The film has one good shot and two good kills. The rest of the film is a CGI bloodfest that looks fake, feels fake and is unintentionally funny. They bring back the character that survived the original film, Sally. She is played by a different actress as the original actress died before the production of this film. What they end up doing to this character is a crime and she takes the award for dumbest character this year!!!

The final shot of the film is an homage in some way to the original, but they use the auto-drive feature of a Tesla, which made me laugh out so loud that it woke my wife. Instead of a cracked mind of the lone survivor in the back of a pick-up truck laughing manically as it speeds off down the road...we have a Tesla slowly driving away while one character looks back out the sunroof, dumbfounded as Leatherface swings his chainsaw around like a maniac. It's too comical to be taken seriously.

Not to defend the film too much, cause I pretty much agree with you... BUT, Leatherface does pull the cord on the chainsaw 4 or 5 times without it starting, and has to tinker with it a bit before he can successfully turn it on. Not that it changes much about the film's quality, but still :laugh:

TheUsualSuspect

01-14-23, 12:52 AM

Hey, I'll be reading!

Not to defend the film too much, cause I pretty much agree with you... BUT, Leatherface does pull the cord on the chainsaw 4 or 5 times without it starting, and has to tinker with it a bit before he can successfully turn it on. Not that it changes much about the film's quality, but still :laugh:

Let's get a scene where he puts some oil in there eh?!?!?! :p

Thief

01-14-23, 01:01 AM

Let's get a scene where he puts some oil in there eh?!?!?! :p

:laugh: Reading the manual... "Thank you for buying Craftsman's brand new chainsaw, the X1500!"

TheUsualSuspect

01-14-23, 01:34 AM

62. Death on the Nile

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/oT4vRVzulbN72602tTPFCwotl7a.jpg

2

Poirot. Boat. Murder.

The biggest issue with this film and maybe it's the story in general, but it is so predictable. I have never read the story or seen the original movie, but everything about this film's outcome was telegraphed from the start. Nothing came as a surprise here, which is a shame when you sit down to watch a murder mystery.

Another mystery film where the audience is waiting for the reveal to finally happen just so they can see how much they got right, this takes away from whatever story it's trying to tell in the meantime. We just don't care about these characters.

Some shoddy CGI background makes the film really stand out (in a bad way) and will be dated rather quickly. This is 2022, why does it look so cheap?

Also, did we really need a prologue to explain a man's mustache?? My God.

Iroquois

01-14-23, 06:26 AM

You hound me for that list ALMOST as much as my wife does a third kid.

Sometimes you just have to commit to a bit. Just be glad I don't try to do my own version of this thread just to stunt on you*.

*I might do it anyway

rauldc14

01-14-23, 06:40 AM

Seen 16. I'm a fraud.

TheUsualSuspect

01-15-23, 03:16 PM

61. Your Christmas or Mine?

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/A806wuTGJECDh9krhQAhnieQcLr.jpg

2

Hayley and James have been seeing each other secretly for a few months and when they are departing on different trains to go home for Christmas, they both get the bright idea to surprise the other by switching trains. Confusion and comedy ensue when they realize that the other had the same bright idea and now they must spend Christmas with each other's family.

A funny enough idea that could lead to some real laughs, but instead we get stupid characters making stupid decisions that cross lines. I would never in a million years go into a room that I was told not to (when I'm a guest) and then proceed to redecorate the entire house for the Holidays. This dumb idea leads to a missing dog and shouting matches. What?

So the families don't know their children are dating and the cover is that they're friends. This is something that has been done before, and nothing new or exciting pops up here. In terms of generic rom-coms, it's hard to make them work when the characters spend 90% of the time apart. The chemistry does not come through and I found myself wondering if I should even root for these kids to stay together.

TheUsualSuspect

01-15-23, 03:55 PM

60. Black Adam

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pFlaoHTZeyNkG83vxsAJiGzfSsa.jpg

2

Man, comic book movies did not do well this year.

The "origin" story of anti-hero Black Adam, a man given godly powers thousands of years ago who was imprisoned. In the present, he is freed in the hopes of destroying the regime that holds the city of Kahndaq with an iron fist. He uses harsh violence to deal with these people and a team of superheroes must try to stop him.

This movie tells the same flashback story three separate times, but it's more like the ending of the movie Clue. "This is what happened, but this is what really happens...but THIS is how it REALLY happened!!!" This frame of storytelling wouldn't be bad per-say, but there needs to be some element of mystery to it, am I wrong? There is no real mystery here, or if the filmmakers think there is one, it's one we do not care about. The minute a character shows up on screen and we never see their face, we know something is up and they are not who we think they are.

Black Aadam wastes the heroes from the Justice Society. There is supposed to be some kind of history of friendship between Hawkman and Doctor Fate, but that is done in voice-over and we never really feel their bromance. This hurts later scenes that are manufactured to give us some kind of emotional response to character actions, but the film never reaches those requirements. I will give those two actors credit (Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman) they do good work, but there is no depth to their characters. Two other members of the team are newcomers and simply try to learn the ropes.

The Rock glares, says little, and mean mugs the camera. He WANTS to be the big superhero star in this universe, but I just don't see it. The action sequences are tediously lame and unfortunately follow the Zack Snyder God-Speed style of Man of Steel. I couldn't care for any of the characters, why they were doing what they were doing or how.

Black Adam has an after-credits stinger that is comical now considering the current state of the DCEU.

KeyserCorleone

01-15-23, 04:28 PM

I felt that Deep Water was more original than some of Lyne's worst works, like Flashdance and 9 1/2 Weeks. Out of his 9 movies, this is his third worst.

Taz

01-15-23, 08:43 PM

TheUsualSuspect

01-15-23, 10:17 PM

Went to 108 different films at the cinema in 2022, including re-releases.

Interestingly, of the first 9 you've listed, only 3 (Morbius, Death on the Nile & Black Adam) had a theatrical release here in UK (or at least at the cinema that I frequent) and just as curious how many films were released here but not there.

Will be interested to see how much these trends continues...

The rest of the films listed went straight to streaming.

Christmas Bloody Christmas - Shudder

Cheaper by the Dozen, No Exit - Disney

Deep Water, TCM, Your Christmas or Mine - Netflix

TheUsualSuspect

01-16-23, 02:32 PM

59. Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8dqXyslZ2hv49Oiob9UjlGSHSTR.jpg

2

Not something I plan to revisit every holiday.

Star Lord is feeling blue about Christmas, so Mantis and Drax take it upon themselves to gift him earth hero Kevin Bacon.

The concept is funny and some of the jokes work, but overall this felt like a dud. There was something about the "spirit" of Christmas that was missing. I much prefer the other Marvel one-off Werewolf by Night and I guess I'm in the minority here because everyone else I've talked to really liked this entry.

Pom Klementieff's Mantis saves most of this as her charm and childlike demeanour was joyous to watch. Bautista continues to play Drax as he did in the original, which is funny, but ultimately shallow.

TheUsualSuspect

01-16-23, 03:18 PM

58. Metal Lords

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/r97txZRmBb75SGsIAWqmplWJnO3.jpg

2

Two outcasts connect over their love of music. Hunter loves heavy metal and gives a crash course lesson on the genre to Kevin so they can win the battle of the bands. When a talented Cello player arrives, Kevin wants to do other things than 'just play music'. This is something that Hunter simply cannot allow.

This film feels a little too 'light-hearted' for the type of music it plays. Everything about it feels like it was done by people who possibly don't know the music that well. This is, of course, just my impression of the film, they could be devoted fans of the genre. But they are referencing people from bands that even I know and I'm not really into metal.

The friendship between Kevin and Hunter is not a healthy one. Hunter verbally abuses Kevin every time he doesn't want to play the music. This made it particularly hard to root for his goals, which is what the film is driving towards.

The music was decent and if you love music-centric films, this one won't feel like a complete waste of time, but there are indeed better ones out there.

TheUsualSuspect

01-16-23, 03:32 PM

57. They / Them

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/85TJ4udfUOwFIlvQL6EMFvvbvN5.jpg

2

A group of young kids is sent to an LGBTQ+ conversion camp. They are subjected to verbal abuse and degrading torment, but things get worse when a killer stalks the grounds.

Brilliant title. Is a title so good that the film could not live up to it and it completely misses the mark for its...well intentions?

They / Them is disappointingly directionless and inadvertently offensive. What could have been a clever take on the genre with honest representation, feels like a lampooning characterization and is a flat-out crappy slasher. People going into this movie expecting a slasher flick will be disappointed as the film doesn't seem to care about that aspect of the story. We open with a kill, then nothing happens from the slasher story until the end.

There are a few tone-deaf moments; one that jumps out immediately was when the kids arrived at the camp. Kevin Bacon, who runs the camp, lays the rules down and is extremely friendly. He says boys' cabins on the right and girls' cabins on the left. The group split up between boys and girls. All except one person who stands in the middle and says what about me? I don't identify as either boy or a girl, where do I sleep? A beat you over the head moment that doesn't get across what I hope were honest good intentions.

Another character wakes up early to have a shower alone and is confronted by a counselor when they "lied" about their gender. They are immediately sent to the other genders living quarters.

The film has cringy moments of singing and eye-rolling moments of surprise. It feels pretty obvious who the killer is and you feel frustrated when the film stalls with those sequences. They / Them has tame kills, on-the-nose moments, and feels dull.

Great title though...

seanc

01-16-23, 03:36 PM

Dang Suspect. Our only overlap so far is Guardians Christmas. Definitely the worst thing I saw this year. I knew better than to turn it on, but still, just dreadfully dumb.

TheUsualSuspect

01-16-23, 03:41 PM

56. Look Both Ways

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jq8IGJgg16mJ95a5OPyS7eGJaam.jpg

2

A 'What If' movie that plays both scenarios out at the same time.

While graduating college Natalie decides to knock boots with a friend. Then she gets sick the following days..uh oh...does that mean she is pregnant? That's when the story splits into two. One timeline follows her life if she were pregnant and the other follows her if she wasn't.

Lili Reinhart of Riverdale fame plays the lead role and does a decent job of making me believe in her, in both situations. The concept is interesting but leans too hard into the stereotypes of both lives. This makes whatever point the film is trying to make a bit shallow.

It doesn't seem to shame one life or the other and both have their pros and cons when it comes to her decisions. I do wish for more moments with the parents though, they were funny and had good chemistry, played by Luke Wilson and Andrea Savage.

It's a good concept film, with generic execution. Something you might like on a rainy day, but ultimately forgettable by the next morning.

TheUsualSuspect

01-16-23, 03:44 PM

Dang Suspect. Our only overlap so far is Guardians Christmas. Definitely the worst thing I saw this year. I knew better than to turn it on, but still, just dreadfully dumb.

Because you don't watch trash Sean, I do that for everyone!!!

TheUsualSuspect

01-16-23, 04:03 PM

55. Don't Worry Darling

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9BXYLjXtSipBp2GfAlsri4i8hPC.jpg

2

Much like High Tension, Don't Worry Darling is a film that seems to be pretty good until you get to the final reveal and everything falls apart, rather quickly.

In the 1950's, housewife Alice seems to be having the time of her life. Her husband pleasures her, her friends love her and she lives in a beautiful utopia. Yet strange things start happening around her and when she questions what her husband is doing at work, she is quickly shut down. When another housewife dies by suicide, her world is turned upside down and she discovers not everything is as beautiful as it seems.

In her follow-up to the much-loved Book Smart, Wilde has given us an ambitious project that suffered from a lot of scrutiny leading up to its release. Unfair criticism of course, but with her on the defensive, she tries to explain things away that leaves a sour taste in my mouth by the end of this movie.

The performances are fine and the best scene in the film is one where people sit down at a dinner table and challenge each other with conversation. The cinematography is gorgeous and it was a little fun trying to peel away at the mystery that it presents. Then the reveal sidelines everything.

We discover that that utopia is actually a simulation designed by Incel-type men to keep women prisoners and bow to their wills. Harry Styles has trapped his girlfriend in this world and when she discovers this, she tries to escape.

Wilde has gone on record saying she wants to portray women on film enjoying sex and it is all about them. "Men don't cum in this film," she says,"..only women do". Fine, you want to empower women through their sexuality. Yet the reveal tells us that these women are basically being raped. They are not giving their consent, they are being held prisoners and do not understand what is happening. A total disconnect.

Wilde plays a character in this film who knows the truth but decides to be complicit anyways. In this world, she can be with her kids, who died in the real world. So now you're telling me they can literally create people in this world? Why do they need to capture and Clockwork Orange-style brainwash women in the real world then? It creates more hassle, keeping them fed and dripping water into their mouths. It makes no sense to me. Real people going missing create problems. Creating people out of thin air...no real-world implications there.

Why are the strange things even happening? An empty eggshell, walls closing in on her...good metaphors, but why are they happening in this simulation? The only one that makes sense is when she saran wraps her head, that could be her unconscious body sensing something is wrong and trying to wake her up.

I laughed so hard when we saw real-world Harry Styles. Give him a beard and messy hair, there he's an incel. Even funnier when they give him a British accent in the simulation so that he doesn't have to hide it for the majority of the film.

A big miss for me, despite the talent involved. I'm still interested in seeing what Wilde does next. She just needs to try and tell a good story and not one-up herself.

seanc

01-16-23, 04:13 PM

I think I liked Don’t Worry Darling more than you, but I didn’t love it and your criticism is valid. I thought it would go more interesting places than it ultimately did. Pugh was great though, and Pine was fun. That dinner scene is certainly the highlight.

Taz

01-16-23, 04:56 PM

The rest of the films listed went straight to streaming.

Christmas Bloody Christmas - Shudder

Cheaper by the Dozen, No Exit - Disney

Deep Water, TCM, Your Christmas or Mine - Netflix

Oh, ok. I wasn't counting direct to streaming just at the cinema, so will be keeping that in mind. https://www.talkceltic.net/forums/smilies/50.gif

rauldc14

01-16-23, 05:03 PM

Yet to see any. Death on the Nile the closest thing I almost watched.

Sedai

01-16-23, 05:56 PM

TUS, I can tag all this stuff for the review section, but I need ratings dropped into the posts.

Thanks, and good work so far!

Iroquois

01-17-23, 01:18 AM

Out of the ones I've seen...

Texas Chainsaw Massacre was not very good as a whole, but I have a strange respect for certain aspects of it - it certainly delivers on the violence, the cracks at millennials and zoomers aren't altogether terrible, and the way in which it gleefully subverts the re-introduction of Sally Hardesty in a way that seems designed to poke fun at how the recent Halloween sequels brought back Laurie Strode

Black Adam...of course, Morbius and Thor: Love and Thunder beat it out for the title of this year's worst superhero movie, but this one certainly gives it the old college try. A lot of that is down to how much Johnson tried to hype it up as the next big thing for the genre and, while there's certainly potential to its whole "ancient superhero was really a supervillain" setup, he's just not the man for the job and the resulting film struggles to do much to justify itself beyond being a feature-length sizzle reel for the assumed next phase of a now-scuppered cinematic universe.

GOTG Holiday Special...between this and The Suicide Squad, I'm definitely inclined to think Gunn has expended whatever superhero juice he managed to summon for those first two GOTG movies and now this, much like The Star Wars Holiday Special itself, reads like a largely charmless exercise in contractual obligations where even the overtly campy and distinctive elements don't do much to save it. Pom Klementieff innocent, though.

Don't Worry Darling's worst crime is that it's just so boring. The notorious press tour suggested the trainwreck of the year but the end result was extremely bland as far as these high-concept fiascos go.

TheUsualSuspect

01-17-23, 01:20 PM

54. The Invitation

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jcTq6gIskCsHlKDvCKKouEfiU66.jpg

2.5

After the death of her mother, Evie feels alone in this world. On a whim, she does a 23 and me type DNA kit and submits it online. She then quickly receives a message from someone claiming to be a long lost cousin. They meet up and he tells her that she must join him for a wedding in England. The entire family is dying to meet her, all expenses would be paid. She agrees and soon falls for the Lord of the Manor. The bride and groom seem nowhere to be found and the hired help starts disappearing one by one. What's really going on here?

I don't know if people know the reveal of this film or not, I remember the trailers being pretty open about it. I feel like the font of the title alone should be a clue as to what Evie has to deal with here.

The Invitation is fine. Nothing to write home about, until the underwhelming climax and shoddy CGI bog the rest of the film down. The film does a decent job of building genuine suspense with nice tension and slow dread. The film only has one or two "jump" scares. Nathalie Emmanuel does well enough in the role, but others feel stiff.

The film has no surprises, which is a shame and everything after the wedding is laughably bad. All this build up for nothing but a few seconds of fighting and bad green screen. I didn't feel the risks at all and there was no point that I felt she was in any real danger. What started off as a promising addition to the genre, flakes out during what should be an exciting final.

I don't even want to talk about the tacked on ending that is so bad and obvious that it was shot months later.

TheUsualSuspect

01-17-23, 01:27 PM

TUS, I can tag all this stuff for the review section, but I need ratings dropped into the posts.

Thanks, and good work so far!

Done. ;)

Taz

01-17-23, 01:49 PM

Pretty much identical assessment of The Invitation. Premise and the build is good, however the 3rd act is absolutely the weakest part of the movie.

TheUsualSuspect

01-19-23, 02:08 AM

53. Marry Me

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ko1JVbGj4bT8IhCWqjBQ6ZtF2t.jpg

2.5

The second-best movie that stars J.Lo and Owen Wilson.

Famous singer Kat is about to marry her long-time boyfriend on stage in front of millions. Just before she goes on stage a video is released of her boyfriend cheating on her. While on stage, she breaks up with him and agrees to marry Charlie, a random guy standing in the crowd holding a "Marry Me" sign instead. Will they eventually fall in love or will this 'facade' crumble quickly?

Yes, the premise of this movie is a joke. It shouldn't work as a movie, but it somehow does and that is really because of the chemistry between Wilson and Lopez. There is nothing new here and it follows the rom-com road map to a T.

It at least realizes how absurd the concept is from the get-go and the added element of Wilson having a daughter helps add some charm to the story. By the end of the film, you realize it was fun, but don't feel the need to ever re-visit.

TheUsualSuspect

01-19-23, 02:25 AM

52. Strange World

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bnZLoGCOAYMwQFEjfa5PvDXQDPz.jpg

2.5

An imaginative world that suffers from a rather weak story.

While on an adventure with his explorer father, Searcher Clade finds a sustainable energy source that can save their village. His father disagrees and continues on, but he disappears and never returns. 25 years later, Searcher has a family of his own and farms the energy source that powers their entire village. When a friend tells him that the energy source is dying, they venture out to find out why and discover a new world under theirs. Searcher now finds himself on his first adventure since the disappearance of his father.

Strange World has some beautiful visuals and feels like a Pandora -esque world where we are introduced to strange creatures, vibrant colours, and a dangerous world we feel the need to explore. It's just a shame that the story elements falter and the film feels like it is simply drifting through until the end.

The film doesn't have an antagonist and I couldn't help but feel like the story would have had higher stakes if it had one. I'm not sure how they would incorporate that into the story, but their battling of the elements wasn't exciting nor did it feel engaging enough to make me worry about the characters. I also don't remember any significant sequences, which is a shame because it had ample opportunities.

The voice-over work for the most part is pretty dull, with the sole exception of Dennis Quaid, who breathes lives into Searcher's father, Jaeger. I give the film some credit for having interracial and gay relationships, a step forward for a big Disney film.

TheUsualSuspect

01-21-23, 11:25 PM

51. The Adam Project

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wFjboE0aFZNbVOF05fzrka9Fqyx.jpg

3

After he crash lands in the year 2022, Adam must find his younger 12-year-old self and team up to save their future.

A typical Ryan Reynolds performance in a generic sci/fi type of film. There is a pretty good father/son dynamic to this that manages to tug on some emotional beats that one would not expect and the special effects are pretty good for the most part. The one except is one of the worst de-aging character effects I've probably ever seen. I had to pause the film from laughter.

The Adam Project is a perfect example of a film that feels good while you watch it, but then you forget about it the moment you turn it off. There is nothing spectacular on the screen but I didn't hate that I watched it for the 100 min run time.

Mark Ruffalo plays the father and Jennifer Garner plays the mother, so if you fan theory that this is a sequel to 13 going on 30, it elevates the material. :p

TheUsualSuspect

01-21-23, 11:32 PM

50. I Want You Back

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mljQydSPAmyshvq1WHKveNfDLeC.jpg

3

Peter and Emma thought they were in perfect relationships, but when their significant others dump them it triggers depression. They connect over their drama and partner up to try and destroy their exes relationships. Peter becomes best friends with Emma's ex and Emma tries to seduce the man Peter's ex dumped him for. Do you expect them to fall in love with each other in the process????

Another rom-com that has some pretty good stars that have good chemistry that elevates the material. Charlie Day and Jenny Slate are not great people in this story, but their comedic charm gives the film a pass.

Scott Eastwood and Charlie Day were excellent "bros" and I kind of wanted them to stay together in the end.

Noah526

01-22-23, 05:34 AM

In 2022, the movie industry didn't surprise me; you can count the really good movies on the fingers of your hand. The only thing I remember is this: Top Gun: Maverick and Banshee Inisherina.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 12:45 AM

49. Minions: The Rise of Gru

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wKiOkZTN9lUUUNZLmtnwubZYONg.jpg

3

Gru is a young kid looking to join a supervillain group. With the help of his little minions of course.

I have seen the original Minions, probably a dozen times. That's what happens when you have children, once the movie is over, you just put it immediately back on. You know what...I didn't hate it. Something about those goofy little yellow guys speaking gibberish had some charm.

So yes, we just had to see this movie in theatres. But this time around, it misses the mark a tad. The animation is still vibrant enough to capture children's eyes, but my kids didn't laugh as much this time.

This entry lacks the charm and laughs that made most of the previous movies, Despicable Me included, a good watch. The film showcases some decent action sequences and is still silly enough to probably entertain the young ones. I guess my kids just have a pretentious taste. :p

gbgoodies

01-23-23, 01:07 AM

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 01:12 AM

48. Thor: Love & Thunder

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pIkRyD18kl4FhoCNQuWxWu5cBLM.jpg

3

Gorr the God Butcher is killing Gods and Thor must stop him. Jane Foster is back in the mix again.

A film that had me laughing in the theatre, but cold once I left. Waititi seemed more concerned with the jokes than the story.

Christian Bale steals the show as a great villain, that ultimately does nothing. It was fun seeing him done up in the makeup and give 100 percent. Yet, his name is the God Butcher, he kills maybe one or two?

The film looks gorgeous and was funny but in the end, felt like a nothing movie due to the lack of stakes in the story. It takes no chances and plays everything super safe. As a 4th entry in the Thor series, I think we are entitled to something more than a fluff of a movie.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 01:15 AM

I haven't seen The Rise of Gru yet, but I love Despicable Me and the other Minions movies. I've seen the each of the previous Minions movies numerous times, and I don't have kids. You can use your kids as an excuse, but all you need is to be young at heart to enjoy these movies. :)

I mean...I quote the Minions movie to my kids all the time, hahaha.

gbgoodies

01-23-23, 01:21 AM

I mean...I quote the Minions movie to my kids all the time, hahaha.

I have a Minion laughing sound as the ringer on my cell phone.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 01:42 AM

47. Terrifier 2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/yw8NQyvbeNXoZO6v4SEXrgQ27Ll.jpg

3

Art the Clown is back, raised from the dead for reasons. He's on a killing spree, more violent and bloody than previous efforts.

Terrifier had a gruesome sequence involving hanging a woman upside down and sawing her down the middle. It made enough waves to be memorable despite being a meandering snore for most of the run time.

With the sequel, the run time is obnoxiously longer, almost 2 1/2 hours. It goes for broke in terms of gore and violence. It has a lot more blood, but nothing done in this film met the depravity of the aforementioned sequence. The internet hype of vomiting and passing out in theatres set the bar too high for a movie like this.

We get a semblance of a story this time, not a great one, but one that shows more effort put forth. Art is still creepy and an after-the-credits sequence sets up another entry that will probably be even more weird and out there.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 01:46 PM

46. Uncharted

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sqLowacltbZLoCa4KYye64RvvdQ.jpg

3

#NotMyNathanDrake am I right?

Nathan Drake teams up with a new mentor, Sully to find the greatest buried treasure. Adventure awaits.

A lot of talk about Tom Holland in this role. I get it, they want a young guy they can hang a franchise on and he's the hot new young guy who can hold a franchise. Does he pull it off? Meh. He doesn't have the charm or swagger one would expect, nor the quit witted one-liners. Don't get me started on Marky Mark, sans stache.

Yet, I find myself being a sucker for adventure films. Find a clue here, takes you over there. Throw in the low grade bad guys and numerous henchmen and you have yourself a fun time watching the movies.

The film does seem to ignore physics from time to time and the on-going backstabbing gets stale rather early. The film sets up the continuation of the series and I'm not angry about it. I'd watch another.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 02:08 PM

45. Lightyear

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4sBbVik86fOuyRY4kFGbn2sooQk.jpg

3

I find myself thinking less and less of this movie as the time goes by. Maybe it is placed too high, but Lightyear did the unthinkable and it entertained me. I went in totally expecting to hate the movie and Chris Evans, but the time jumping space story had enough heart and action to thrill me for the running time.

The Space Rangers crash land on a hostile planet and buzz takes it upon himself to fly through wormhole after wormhole to try and find a way home. What takes only a few years for him, is decades for everyone else.

This is the movie that Andy saw when he was a kid. Pixar's output has been so good for so long that when a movie that is decent comes along, people tend to crap on it. Lightyear is decent, it won't win any awards and it certainly didn't make me laugh, but the film is extremely well animated with great action set pieces.

Now I want to see the film where the actor has a contract dispute and they hire someone else to voice the toy.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 02:15 PM

44. The Gray Man

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8cXbitsS6dWQ5gfMTZdorpAAzEH.jpg

3

The Gray Man discovers secrets from his government that immediately makes him enemy #1. With a skilled killer on his trail, our protagonist must use his wits and skills with a gun to survive.

This film gets by on the charms of Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. If this film had two different actors in these roles, it'd be rated a lot lower. Overly long with CGI barfed action sequences that have poor editing, The Gray Man is an overbudgeted mess at times.

At other times, it's a sleek action thriller with a chillingly funny performance from Evans and a charmingly calculated killer performance from Gosling. Ana de Armas has a supporting role and she kicks as much ass as the men, helping the film elevate above the by the numbers directed action.

How many drone shots do we need? How many badly done CGI smoke scenes are they using to cloud the scene? The more I talk about this movie the more I want to throw it down the list a couple spots.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 02:25 PM

43. Something From Tiffany's

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hzQV66zQHqWKRjLVphISNOqadIp.jpg

3

A woman receives the surprise of a lifetime when her boyfriend proposes to her on Christmas Day. The only problem was, he didn't intend to. He bought her earrings at the same time another man bought an engagement ring. A mix up between the boxes meant one man got the ring, the other got the earrings. Let's see the romance spark between two people as they try to navigate this oh so funny mix-up.

Not a film I was expecting to like as much as I did and I think that's because of the adorable Zoey Deutch. She seems to navigate romantic comedies extremely well exhibiting a natural charm that not many people can replicate. I like her persona on screen and her chemistry with her leading men are pretty great too. Kendrick Sampson is the co-star here and while he doesn't do as well as Glenn Powell in Deutch's better rom-com film Set it Up, he does enough to make the romance believable.

I was worried that the film would try to make us hate Shay Mitchell's character, but it does the mature thing and lets the characters grow to know what they want and what they don't want. She doesn't need to become the villain for the relationship to not work. We do get to hate on the boyfriend who is clearly not good enough for Deutch and doesn't even try to make things right when she assumes the proposal is real.

Laughs, charm and hitting those oh-so predictable rom com beats make Tiffany's a surprise charmer.

TheUsualSuspect

01-23-23, 02:36 PM

42. Run Sweetheart Run

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9xf3aiAxjx2H34EwwVFFlOrr0nt.jpg

3

This was a surprise film for me that came out of nowhere. I had no idea what it was about, nor had I seen any promotional material for it. I decided to hit play on Prime one day and then sat through a wild ride that had me guessing left right and centre at what the hell was going on.

When a woman is asked by her boss to take out a client to a nice dinner because he was double booked, she dolls herself up and enjoys a wonderful time with a charming man. He offers a few more drinks at his place and the night turns violent. She finds herself running through the streets of LA to survive a man on the hunt for her blood.

This film is odd and off the walls. It takes place all in one night, so it fits in a certain sub-genre wheel house that I appreciate. When things can't get any worse, they do and they do to extreme levels. If I were her...I'd spend the entire night in a dog kennel until I could figure something out.

This is a thriller with horror elements. It breaks the fourth wall by having the man deny us entry into his home before he unleashes violence on her. There is a reveal moment to her, that we never get to see. Interesting directorial choices that I think help make the film a bit more memorable than it might have been.

I wish it explained things a bit clearer. I felt like they took elements from different ideas and blended them together for their own concoction. This isn't a bad thing, but one I wish they dived just a hair bit deeper into.

donniedarko

01-23-23, 02:54 PM

I have seen none of these

Awesome thread though, TUS

Gideon58

01-23-23, 07:01 PM

53. Marry Me

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ko1JVbGj4bT8IhCWqjBQ6ZtF2t.jpg

2.5

This movie was cute and predictable, nothing special, except the chemistry between Lopez and Wilson, which I definitely didn't see coming.

Gideon58

01-23-23, 07:02 PM

50. I Want You Back

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/mljQydSPAmyshvq1WHKveNfDLeC.jpg

3

I liked this movie a lot more than I thought I would. Didn't think anyone else had seen this movie, I haven't seen any discussion about it here.

Gideon58

01-23-23, 07:03 PM

45. Lightyear

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4sBbVik86fOuyRY4kFGbn2sooQk.jpg

3

I found this movie confusing and very hard to follow.

Iroquois

01-24-23, 04:31 AM

The Adam Project and Lightyear were on my to-do list even though even money says I would've disliked both of them. So it goes.

As for ones I've seen...

Thor: Love and Thunder - this would crack my worst 5 of the year. Waititi's humour has been going sharply downhill over the past few years and it's hit a nadir in this tale of god-killers, stage four cancer, bad Greek accents, and jealous battleaxes. It's also just really badly made even by the increasingly dire standards of the MCU.

Terrifier 2 - haven't seen the first one so I had no idea what to expect, but the word of mouth was too good to pass up. That runtime does prove a problem given the slightness of the concept and the goofiness of the villain, but it's not without its grotesque (if few) merits.

Uncharted - yeah, this is a whole lot of nothing. At least I never played the games, which would probably make this worse.

The Gray Man - one of those films where its one saving grace might be that it's too forgettable to genuinely hate, but it's still in the bottom 10 of my own ranking.

Sedai

01-24-23, 09:54 AM

Thanks again for the fun thread.

Some of the latest entries are coming in under our "need to be a few hundred words to qualify" requirement, so will just be tagging the longer ones from here on out. Try to keep that in mind as you tag them for review. :)

TheUsualSuspect

01-26-23, 09:55 AM

41. Bullet Train

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tVxDe01Zy3kZqaZRNiXFGDICdZk.jpg

3

Smokin' Aces on a train is how I would pitch this movie to people.

Pitt is given the task of boarding a train, retrieving a package and getting off at the next stop. Simple, right? WRONG! Nothing is simple when assassins, hired goons, mob bosses and others are on board.

Directed by David Leitch, who co-directed the first John Wick film, Bullet Train is an action extravaganza flick with humour and bright lights. Enough cheeky humour and action to keep the average movie goer satisfied for most of the running time. I say most because it does stretch about 20 minutes too long.

Pitt plays Ladybug (codename) and he has taken on a non-violent mantra recently. That doesn't bode well for him for this mission when he's attacked left right and centre. Pitt has his usual charm on display and his sense of humour works for this material. Highlights are indeed Aaron Taylor Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry as twin assassins trying to retrieve a mob bosses son and the millions in ransom that he was held for.

The film is littered with cameos that are good for a chuckle, but I found a lot of the humour to be forced at times. When it works, it works well, when it doesn't, it's a tad cringe.

TheUsualSuspect

01-26-23, 10:05 AM

40. Sonic The Hedgehog 2

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6DrHO1jr3qVrViUO6s6kFiAGM7.jpg

3.5

I am one of the few people that really liked the first Sonic film. The humour worked, the animation was crisp and Jim Carrey was back to being funny. All that can be said about this sequel.

Dr. Robotnik has returned, this time with a new furry friend who is hellbent on destroying Sonic. They are in search of an Emerald that will give Robotnik unlimited power. Sonic must now team up with Tails to stop them.

Perfectly voice acted by Ben Schwartz, Sonic has the youthful charm one would expect and gets into just the right amount of shenanigans to be cute. Humans, James Marsden and Tika Sumpter have smaller roles this time as they are off at a tropical wedding. That subplot involving the bride and her groom were a little far fetched and distracted from the story, if that part were excluded this would have a great pace to it. That section falls victim to the classic "I was originally with you for one reason, you found out the truth and hate me, but I realize I love you" trope.

Jim Carrey dives into the Robotnik character even more with a big mustache and bald head. He's only missing a few extra pounds to really become the character. The film itself doesn't have the same laughs as the first, but it ups the ante in terms of scale. Everything about this film is bigger. It 'feels' more epic in tone and story and the adventure we go on is fun for both kids and adults.

Iroquois

01-26-23, 10:23 AM

Bullet Train is yet another one of my least favourite films of the year. Just an absolutely insufferable sense of humour that is extremely at odds with its occasional attempts at depth or emotional resonance even when they're being explicitly linked (as is the case with Henry's character being obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine) and even the moments where it does try to be a stylish action movie are utterly weak. Each new Leitch film just makes it clear how much Stahelski was the real genius behind John Wick.

I wanted to like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 since the first one showed signs of untapped potential but it really is more of the same and just ends up being underwhelming. Knuckles was a welcome addition, though.

TheUsualSuspect

01-26-23, 10:31 AM

39. Wendell & Wild

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/5dsX6UAHqkQz1kiV8bs8SvjyVNa.jpg

3.5

Two demons try to trick a young girl into resurrecting them into the land of the living, but what she demands in return has drastic consequences.

Directed by Henry Selick, of Nightmare Before Christmas fame, Wendell and Wild feels like a labour of love from someone. Selick obviously loves stop motion animation as that has made his career. A career that lives in the shadows of Tim Burton. A man who did not direct Nightmare Before Christmas, but everyone and their grandmother thinks did.

It's hard not to notice that this film potentially was made is response to a Tim Burton interview where he was asked why his films rarely have anyone of colour in them. It wasn't until 2016's Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children did he have a lead actor of colour represented...as a villain.

Wendell & Wild has Key and Peele as the titular characters and they infuse the film with most of the comedy. I found myself a little let down by the story itself, it could have ventured deep into the weird but it just scratches the surface. Things feel like they are not really explored enough.

The animation is beautiful though and vibrant with rich colours. I loved seeing portions of the film bathed in a purple hue. Stop motion animation is a unique art that immediately stands out from the cookie cutter computer animated films we are bombarded with. Stop motion shows dedication and craft. I'm not saying that computer animation doesn't, but stop motion feels different and I respect that art form a little more.

TheUsualSuspect

01-26-23, 10:33 AM

Each new Leitch film just makes it clear how much Stahelski was the real genius behind John Wick.

While that may be the case, I desperately want to see Stahelski tackle something outside the Wick Universe.

Iroquois

01-26-23, 10:39 AM

He's been attached to a remake of Highlander for a while now (which makes sense since it feels like a clear influence on Wick), though I have to concede he probably won't get to it until after he finishes making Wick movies.

TheUsualSuspect

01-26-23, 01:25 PM

38. The Bad Guys

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7qop80YfuO0BwJa1uXk1DXUUEwv.jpg

3.5

Slick animation and some fun voice work makes a rather predictable story enjoyable for all ages.

The Bag Guys are thieves and they get caught while their leader, Wolf, has a moment of self doubt. He was called a "good boy" for helping an elderly lady and it awakens something deep in him. In an effort to escape jail time, they promise to be good guys instead of bad guys. When a precious diamond is stolen, they are blamed and now they have to find out who really stole it to clear their names.

My son reads the books, so I know the story being told...but, even without the prior book knowledge I felt as if a lot of this story went down tired and clichéd story beats. None of the reveals would be surprises and characters make decisions that you just know are "for show".

That aside, the film looks great. It has a unique art style to it that feels almost brush-stroke. The jokes land for the most part and the high-stakes heist scenes are really exciting. The character designs work and the cast really does seem to have good chemistry with each other.

My kids enjoyed it and have watched it numerous times since. I would definitely watch another one in this series, but I would be more interested in seeing if they take it in new directions or not since the book series deals with really wild and out there content. Time travels, dinosaurs, aliens, etc.

TheUsualSuspect

01-28-23, 03:12 PM

37. Chip 'n Dale: Resue Rangers

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7UGmn8TyWPPzkjhLUW58cOUHjPS.jpg

3.5

Someone is making bootleg copies of famous movies and tv shows by turning famous cartoons into bootleg versions of themselves. Chip n Dale must crack the case.

An intelligent and well-written film that uses nostalgia to its benefit in crafting a story. A big inspiration for this movie has to be Who Framed Roger Rabitt as a world of live-action and cartoon is created here and blended effortlessly.

Plenty of funny moments for everyone and a solid voice-acting cast brings many of these characters to life. A funny gag involving one of the characters getting work done involves them going from 2D to 3D.

There is so many blink and you'll miss it gags or easter eggs in this film that it begs for multiple viewings. For a film that seems to have everything going for it, by the end I was content with what I saw. I wanted to love it, but something I can't explain was holding me back a bit.

TheUsualSuspect

01-28-23, 03:25 PM

36. Resurrection

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/kfRr8Jm1gaEnLTXCIfHkSw8QW6t.jpg

3.5

A woman's ideal life is turned upside down when a stranger from her past resurfaces, which causes her to re-live old demons and horrors of her previous life.

Rebecca Hall is carving out some stellar horror work with this film and The Night House. Resurrection is a slow-paced psychological horror film that peels away at one woman's sanity. You question what is happening on the screen until the bizarre and grotesque finale.

Hall delivers a stellar performance as a woman trying to hold her life together. She has a moment in the film that is an unbroken take where she monologues about her horrible past. You see the complete range of emotions she goes through as she details a horrific story that might not make sense.

Tim Roth is the stranger, putting on the facade of being polite and innocent. It's not until he starts to show his true self that things escalate and you feel the rising tension on the screen. The film's climax is raw and deranged in just the right way.

TheUsualSuspect

01-28-23, 03:36 PM

35. Fresh

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tlu71AgaL3EQBBCNGsAwZLPbV5D.jpg

3.5

Fed up with the tinder scene in her city, a young woman bumps into a charming and handsome man in the grocery store and leaves the dating app behind.

The opening credits show up twenty minutes into the film. That's when I knew I'd like this movie. Fresh has Daisy Edgar-Jones in the lead role as Nora. She has the awkward dating girl down pat and when she needs to become serious, she's able to pull that off effortlessly. A lot of the film depends on her.

Her co-star is Sebastian Stan, of Marvel fame. Here he's a happy-go-lucky dancing guy who loves to eat and introduce fresh foods to his dates. If you think that I'm not explaining the film well enough, good for you. You picked up on my aversion to spoiling what this film is about. I thought it was a romantic comedy....

Fresh is funny and gross. It will take you on a wild ride from the opening credits to the finish line.

Iroquois

01-28-23, 11:46 PM

Resurrection is decent, though mostly carried by Hall being so good in it.

TheUsualSuspect

01-29-23, 02:43 PM

34. Turning Red

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qsdjk9oAKSQMWs0Vt5Pyfh6O4GZ.jpg

3.5

Growing up in Toronto in the early 2000s? That's my jam.

13 year old Mei is going through some emotional changes with her body. Yup, it's the one thing every young girl dreads...turning into a giant red panda. Discovering that this was a family curse, the mother plans a ritual to contain the beast. But the date of the ritual lands on the same date that Mei's favourite boy band, 4-Town is in town.

Chinese Canadian Domee Shi was the first woman to direct a short for Pixar, it went on to win an Oscar. She was given the reigns to direct Turning Red, becoming the first woman to direct a feature for Pixar. We'll see if lightning strikes twice come Oscar time.

There are bits of inspiration here that come from Anime and it shows in character's facial reactions. It was refreshing to see a blend in animation to steer Pixar into some fresh areas. The Pixasr brand had gotten a little stale and Turning Red was a welcomed change for me.

The music is great, the laughs are there and Mei was a well-written protagonist. It boggles my mind the controversy around this film due to the subject matter of girls and their periods. It's not even on the Disney+ Kids setting.

My kids loved the film and I'll always champion a film setting that is different from what I'm used to.

Allaby

01-29-23, 03:32 PM

I loved Turning Red. It was my second favourite film of last year.

TheUsualSuspect

02-05-23, 12:44 AM

33. Fire Island

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2vVUdYoqUX5rK8plxPGERGGjQLI.jpg

3.5

A group of friends continue the tradition of having a wild vacation full of homoerotic fun. But maybe one of them is finding love instead of the usual summer fling.

A comedy that is actually funny and heartfelt. Bowen Yang from SNL fame does an admirable job of walkign the tight rope of funny, charming and yet not the "leading man" type of character you would expect.

Good representation and a fun time had by all made the film feel infectious for me. The characters felt real and that is rare for a comedy that involve the LGBTQ community. Usually they feel like they have to write them as steretypical gay people. I'm glad that movies of late have steered clear of those worn tropes and give us real people.

TheUsualSuspect

02-05-23, 12:51 AM

32. Clerks 3

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qhTkANXdsUFl5l3c8vWWVoaG7Ia.jpg

3.5

Randall has a heart attack and it makes him re-evaluate his life. He always wanted to make a movie...so he does just that.

Man, I can't help but feel that this film is getting a higher rating than it should becuase I watched it with Kevin Smith in attendance. He gave a great QnA after the film and gave us a wild plot by plot synopsis of what the original Clerks 3 script was...it was VERY DARK.

I also feel that the rating is a bit higher for the sentimentality of the film and not the comedy. Seeing it with Smith in the crowd, you know that the audience are Smith fans, so they will laugh at everything, I probably laughed a bit more than I would in a regular theatre.

But the film is indeed, his most heartfelt movie to date. It's so personal that I have to admire it. You can tell that Smith's heart attack has him re-evaluating his own life and he has thrown a lot of his thoughts and emotions into this piece. I was actually sad by the end of it. There are plenty of moments in my life where the last word I have with someone, wasn't a pleasant one and there is no chance to take that back.

Yes, this is a retread of the first film from Smith's POV. We are seeing how HE made the film and he jams pack this film with "winks" and "nods" to the previous movie.

So consider this a "fan" rating, but it is without a doubt, his best film in years.

TheUsualSuspect

02-05-23, 01:28 AM

31. Jackass 4.5

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bl686OSeMQOvs90IQAgt8QipCsB.jpg

3.5

You know what Jackass is about by now.

The .5 Jackass films are not that bad despite the fact that these are the skits or gags that did not make the theatrical cut. The bit with the father fearing sky diving was cruel, yet funny. It's always funny when this stuff happens to other people right?

Gross, as expected, dangerous and funny. All the Jackass films feel on the same level to me, but they all have indeed improvedd on the first.

TheUsualSuspect

02-05-23, 01:33 AM

30. Jackass Forever

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/ugIdyvtAzHWOguD91UjHKoAvfum.jpg

3.5

I was worried about this film not being on the same par as the original for a few reasons. One, my favourite Jackass member Ryan Dunn is no longer with us. Two, Bam, despite being my least favourite member, was also not present. They have brought in some young blood as replacements, but the original crew still do the same stunts and never feel short shifted at all.

The new crew fits nicely, I would have liked to have seen some more included than others. But the gags are still funny, the stunts are still dangerous and I still laugh like a fool every damn time.

Bonus points for the creative opening penis monster skit.

Iroquois

02-05-23, 01:42 AM

I also gave Clerks III a higher rating than it deserved due to residual fandom - and it still ended up being a fairly generous 2. Definitely hoped that the heart attack might actually prompt Smith to do something much more substantial and, while I guess he technically did, the fact that it's still just recycling Clerks really demonstrates his limits as a creator. Even its attempts at sentimentality are only occasionally effective and, as noted, it's still largely coasting off the previous films (the entire "widower Dante" arc is largely a miss aside from his big monologue near the end), for instance.

Both Jackass movies are very fun. Definitely not wrong about how they could've given the new cast more to do (as much as they hyped up bringing in Rachel Wolfson as the first official female member, the fact that she gets to participate in like two or three bits is underwhelming).

Gideon58

02-07-23, 07:55 PM

Gideon58

02-07-23, 07:58 PM

KeyserCorleone

02-07-23, 09:37 PM

Bullet Train was one of my favorites of the last few years. I'm used to wild storytelling, and the characters were all fun in their admittedly slightly-underdeveloped ways.

Iroquois

02-07-23, 09:40 PM

Personally, I found this movie very confusing and hard to follow.

You don't say.

I found this movie confusing and very hard to follow.

TheUsualSuspect

02-13-23, 02:08 PM

29. Scream

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qvASAp0ZKkza023gjK1Tf2iiEos.jpg

3.5

I love this series. There is something about the original film that feels like home. So when this film was announced, I was a little hesitant due to Wes Craven not being involved. It had the uphill battle of trying to be fresh, while paying homage to what came before. Legacy sequels are hard to do, some rely too heavily on the past. I was surprised to see that I really liked the new characters and I'm ready for this series to leave Sidney behind to enjoy her life and let us follow the new gang.

Ghostface is back, killing new kids in the town of Woodsboro. That's enough, right?

The film does a good job of subverting expectations. Every Scream movie opens with a kill, so when you get something different, you feel like anything might happen. Updating the series with new technology is hard, but doable and Scream does an admirable job here with apps, smart home tech, etc.

Probably the bloodiest of the series so far and the classic who is it aspect of the film is still fun. The film is a tad predictable in the killers, but the reasoning feels like something that would happen today. Taking on toxic fandom seemed like the next step for the series.

TheUsualSuspect

02-13-23, 02:11 PM

28. X

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/woTQx9Q4b8aO13jR9dsj8C9JESy.jpg

3.5

Two Jenna Ortega films back to back.

This was my original review:

A great throwback to the slashers of the 80's. Ti West loves his influences and he's able to really capture the atmosphere of what he's going for. X manages to build enough slow burn tension until the third act hits with a bloody force.

A group of young people are shooting a porno in a rented farm house from an elderly couple in Texas. They keep their intentions a secret in the fear of losing their location. Once the elderly couple find out what's really going on in their farmhouse, blood is spilled.

This feels like a mix of Texas Chainsaw and Friday the 13th with the amped up sex. I appreciate the themes of young and ambitious vs old and missed opportunities. This is a slasher film for slasher fans done with a little bit more care and craft put in, just don't expect it to really jump off the screen. It's still a slasher at the end of the day.

TheUsualSuspect

02-13-23, 02:16 PM

27. MEN

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/jo1Kv3P3UgDVk7JnUFr2Cl8WWUM.jpg

3.5

Garland's MEN has a lot to unpack, and I fully suspect the film will split audiences down the middle. Ex-Machina was a straightforward film while Annihilation asked a bit too much from its audience within the last 20 minutes. Men walks in the path of Annihilation with a bonkers final act that will have you scratching your head, hiding behind your fingers, and either rolling your eyes or nodding in approval. Men is divisive and I always appreciate something that is polarizing.

Garland is playing with two main colour schemes here. Red, which is mainly used in the flashbacks with Harper and her husband. These scenes are quite engaging and showcase some amazing talent from Jessie Buckley. The other is green, which we are bathed in with Harper's walks within nature. These scenes act as some form of healing for Harper. She is finally letting go, being herself and at peace. We even get to see a smile creep upon her face. The cinematography is quite gorgeous at times and Garland once again uses nature as a device for his films.

There are a lot of themes at play here, some subtle, some not so much. When Harper first arrives at the house, she plucks an apple from the tree and eats it. The owner of the house even mentions "forbidden fruit" to her. While we never actually see any snakes slithering around, there is a scene involving a tunnel that is shot with scale like bricks that surrounds our protagonist that the visually imagery cannot be denied. There's even a naked man who starts covering himself with leaves.

Two people walked out of my theatre when the naked man shows up at her house. This is when things start to get weird and we see Rory Kinnear play more than one role. In fact, he plays every male role in this film except for that of her husband. Harper does not react to this at all, so this is something for the audience only. All men are the same? I'm not sure, is it that obvious? Later on one of these men receives a gnarly injury. That injury is transferred to every other man in this story. It's later on that we see these injuries are actually the exact same sustained by her husband after he either jumped or fell from their building. The film doesn't answer if his death was intentional or not, but he did threaten to kill himself if she divorces him. That scene in particular stands out to me as one of the best in this movie. Stellar acting.

The film's third act becomes a home invasion type movie where we are treated to some bizarre imagery of men giving birth to themselves over and over. To say that this is all in her head or it was all a dream is a bit insulting to the writer/director. There is more at play here, which is then confirmed by the quick epilogue at the end. Though, that might raise more questions than answers for some people. Annihilation suffered from the same logical problems. Is Garland more concerned with metaphors? Maybe.

Men is a horror movie that looks gorgeous, uses sound to its creative advantage and takes a wild turn that might drive some people away completely. I'm here for it, it's fine if others are not.

TheUsualSuspect

02-13-23, 10:59 PM

26. Trainwreck: Woodstock 99

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/netflix/images/d/dc/Trainwreck_Woodstock_%2799.jpg

3.5

Technically a 3 episode 'series', but it can be viewed as a 3 hour movie.

The festival was 3 days and each hour is dedicated to a specific day. I remember some of the news around this event when I was a kid, but not to the extent of what actually happened. Disgusting to see people crammed in, lack of services and the terror that some of those women must have felt.

Seeing Korn perform and the crowd be a wave of thrashing was cool, but also terrifying. It dives into the problems with the event, such as the waste water people were drinking, yuck.

The organizer said that he wanted to capture the spirit of the original...so he books Korn, Limp Bizkit and Rage Against The Machine? Ummm okay?

Iroquois

02-14-23, 07:09 PM

I'm going to try rewatching the whole series before Scream VI drops, but I can't imagine that nu-Scream (man, is this the worst sequel titling trend in a while or what) is going to fare all that well. I like the idea of the last couple of sequels coming out sporadically as a means of commenting on how trends in horror change over the years and not necessarily for the better - 4 might be my favourite simply for taking on remakes and reboots, which this one kind of does even though it has nothing to add and instead has to zigzag into critiquing toxic fandom (which feels more like it's trying to relitigate the Last Jedi debate more than anything specifically horror-related, which just makes it feel dated more than anything). We'll see how things shake out after a full rewatch, but I'm not optimistic.

X was fine, a perfectly acceptable riff on older horrors that didn't feel the need to couch itself in quote-unquote elevation even as it turned out to be another classic Ti West slow burn. I may or may not revisit it for when Pearl finally gets released here.

Men didn't work for me. Ex Machina and Annihilation remained compelling throughout, but this just felt tiresome for basically its entire running time. Elevated horror just doesn't work for me, it seems.

TheUsualSuspect

02-14-23, 11:10 PM

I currently have 4 right after the original. It's a toss-up between 5 or 2 after that with 3 lagging behind.

Albie08

02-15-23, 07:28 AM

I still think "The Menu" was one of the best one's to release the past year, had a gripping alliance and the star cast was also great to keep you on your toes the entire time! Would recommend! :)

TheUsualSuspect

02-21-23, 01:07 PM

25. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wRnbWt44nKjsFPrqSmwYki5vZtF.jpg

3.5

Another movie that I think should be rating a bit lower, but the creativity of Raimi and the fact that it feels just a bit different than your typical Marvel film made me give this one a bit of an edge.

Doctor Strange must help America Chavez navigate the multiverse to escape a hellbent Scarlett Witch who wants to steal her powers to kidnap her children from a different multiverse.

I think this might be the first film that requires viewing of the television series? Wanda-Vision was a great show and it helps a lot with the motivations of Wanda in this movie. Without it, people might feel a bit lost? I went into the film not knowing she was the villain, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this turn of events.

Raimi has bits of pieces of his former self shining through in some scenes. The horror aspect is very light and could be used as an introduction to the genre for the young Marvel fan. As is with all Marvel films, they feel the need to shoe-horn in some world building and set-ups for future films. I did appreciate Raimi's take on this, which led to bloodshed and comedy. But he falters at the end with the after credits sequence. Most of the people in my theatre were confused.

Overall, one of the better Phase 4 films, but just okay in the MCU.

TheUsualSuspect

02-21-23, 01:13 PM

24. Werewolf by Night

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/29wwzVi97Jg2hCDKnL52tAIWEPA.jpg

3.5

Now this is where Marvel really let's things go down a different route, it just took a streaming special to do it.

Composer Michael Giacchino tries his hand at directing this one-hour short about a group of monster hunters gathering at the funeral of a patriarch. There is a maze and the one who can capture the monster in there will be deemed the one worthy to hold a special monster hunting relic.

This black and white ode to universal horror monsters is a nice escapist movie that honours and loves what it homages. Creative camera shots, excellent music, good acting all converge to a special that makes me wants to see more from Giacchino.

It does suffer from some typical Marvel humour towards the end, but overall, this was a special treat to see and I hope we get more of these.

TheUsualSuspect

02-21-23, 02:39 PM

23. The Black Phone

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wd6WxLLR2w8aAXmLPDW5CN0iSB3.jpg

3.5

My wife hates leaving the children to go out and do anything for ourselves. So she was having a tough time at the theatre when we watched this movie. On top of that...she thought we were seeing Top Gun: Maverick. So when a movie about child abduction starts playing, she wasn't too thrilled. Seeing her expressions throughout the movie was fun for me though.

Finn is a clever 13 year old boy who is abducted by a killer known as The Grabber. While imprisoned, a black phone rings and on the other end are the voices of the Grabber's previous victims. Can they help Finn escape where they failed?

Based on a short story by Joe Hill, Stephen King's son, The Black Phone is a good adaptation that extrapolates the core ideas and atmosphere of the short and crafts a compelling horror show for parents. Taking place in the 70's, the tone of the film was spot on. I was more horrified by the at home living of Finn and his sister with their abusive father than I was when the Grabber was on the screen. Kids got a hard life.

Hawke as the Grabber was great, mostly hiding behind what I think might become a future iconic horror mask. The director Scott Derrickson, uses old film stock to capture the 8/16mm style footage that he also used in Sinister. While it seems to be treading familiar waters, it still works for the timeline the story takes place.

TheUsualSuspect

02-21-23, 02:45 PM

22. Watcher

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/dXCjoI3jdtBrwPHgVsyNLkl8Rvs.jpg

3.5

A classic "is she or isn't she paranoid" thriller has Maika Monroe running from what she suspects is a serial killer across the street. Having just moved to a new country with her husband, Julia notices a mysterious stranger from across the street. Coupled with that is the news of females being beheaded in the neighbourhood and the uneasy feeling of constantly being watched, Julia suspects the figure from across the street.

The film dives into the females are hysterical aspect that most thrillers and horror films use to isolate the character. Even someone they trust, like their husband, is questioning their sanity. Watcher employs this tactic and crafts a story that makes the viewer question her too.

The language barrier, the strange new country, the uneasy feeling of being a woman at night with people around. Watcher knows what buttons to push to generate the right tension. It doesn't help that the person she suspects is constant creepy looking Burn Gorman, ha.

TheUsualSuspect

02-21-23, 03:06 PM

21. Sissy

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6bvv7zChu3I7fnM7otYZszpaEPI.jpg

3.5

A film I expect no one here to have seen. This influencer-horror show was a surprise to me and the violence towards the third act was brutal enough to have gore hounds satisfied.

Cecilia is a media influencer living her dream, then she runs into her former best friend from her childhood. Her friend is getting married and invites her to the bachelorette party in a cabin in the woods. Cecilia now finds herself as an outsider in this cabin with this group of girls, one of which was a former bully. This triggers from previous childhood trauma and violence erupts as a result.

Sissy takes its time to build the tension, we are introduced to her at her best and gradually see it being torn down to her worst. A film like this people might find it hard to root for someone, as the bridesmaids are all self absorbed rich people who don't seem to learn from their bullying ways. On the other side is Cecilia (Sissy) who without a doubt has mental health issues and hides behind her fake online persona.

Give Sissy a try if you like subverted slasher type horror films.

Tugg

02-21-23, 07:44 PM

Just watched Sissy and it was right down my alley, thanks.

PHOENIX74

02-21-23, 11:55 PM

Seen : 66. Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 1.5
48. Thor: Love & Thunder - 3
34. Turning Red - 3
28. X - 3.5
27. MEN - 4
25. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - 2.5
23. The Black Phone - 2.5

TheUsualSuspect

02-22-23, 01:16 PM

20. Kimi

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/okNgwtxIWzGsNlR3GsOS0i0Qgbn.jpg

3.5

This Rear Window update from Soderbergh is a tight thriller with a compelling lead performance from Zoë Kravitz playing a tech who suffers from agoraphobia.

Kimi is an Alexa type device that everyone seems to have. Kravitz is a tech who has to clear misheard words or slang that the device does not understand. While on the job, she hears the recording of what sounds like a murder. She has to muster the strength to leave her house to deliver the evidence to the company, but high profile people who don't want that evidence out in the world will try everything in their power to silence her.

This is basically Rear Window meets Blow Out, incorporating elements from both films to craft a suspenseful story. It was refreshing to see a story set during Covid, but not be about Covid. I was worried that element would dominate the story, but it simply adds to the conflict of our lead being agoraphobic. Strong lead performance and tight direction make this 89 minute film fly by.

Some coincidences aside during the climax, this is a film that I urge more people to see as I believe it came and went with a whimper.

TheUsualSuspect

02-22-23, 01:36 PM

19. Nope

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/AcKVlWaNVVVFQwro3nLXqPljcYA.jpg

3.5

After the massive success of Get Out, everyone was drooling for what Jordan Peele would bring us next. That film was the divisive Us. I love the performances of the movie and enjoy the atmosphere, but some people couldn't jump through the logic loops it requires to enjoy it. For his third outing, Peele brings us a sci/fi horror film Nope.

Strange occurrences happen at a family owned horse ranch. Clouds don't move, objects rain from the sky and something sinister is sucking up the horses.

I'll watch whatever Peele gives us, even if they seem to have diminishing returns. Nope is probably my least favourite of his three films so far, but it still has plenty to offer. Shot on Imax, the film looks gorgeous. The mountainside landscape adds an "epic" feeling to the genre that has so often wanted to feel more claustrophobic. I found myself watching the skies for this thing like people would watch the waters for Jaws.

The length does detract from the film a tad with the 2nd act being the most meandering part of the film. He also intercuts title cards every so often with the names of horses, which slow things down. I wish certain characters had more screen time as Peele seems to incorporate a lot of importance and symbolism with their sequences. Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya have great chemistry as brother and sister as Peele continues to tell stories from the African American perspective with clear intent and he has the actors to back that up.

Nope is good, I just wanted it to be great.

TheUsualSuspect

02-22-23, 01:44 PM

18. The Banshees of Inisherin

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4QyraSWF1EQYKGnN5rAVnnNQIrR.jpg

3.5

Two lifelong friends find themselves at a crossroads when one of them out of the blue doesn't want to talk to the other. When he is constantly bothered as to why, he goes to extreme measures to prove how serious he is about being left alone.

We all go through this in life, we have friends who have a falling out with and we have friends who simply drift apart. Banshees dives into those aspects of our lives with a depressing look at life on an island with nothing to give. This lack of purpose is what sparks Gleeson's character to want to do something with his life instead of drinking and talking all day, something Farrell's character is more than happy to do.

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, you can expect some sharp dialogue, interesting characters and splashes of violence that might seem out of place. McDonagh uses the beautiful Irish backdrop this time, letting the screen breathe every so often with the gorgeous landscapes.

Depressing, funny, emotional and a bunch of other things that films inspire to make us feel. I had some trouble understanding the lengths Gleeson was willing to go to prove how serious he was when it directly conflicts with what he is trying to do. I get it, you're laying blame on the other for forcing you to destroy something that helps you create what you love, but in the end, you're only hurting yourself.

I died laughing at the bread truck bit though.

Iroquois

02-23-23, 09:03 AM

I'm sure if I busted out a ranking of the MCU right now, my relatively high placement of Multiverse would be a fairly hot take (and I still think it's ultimately a middling film after two viewings). Even just the little bit of Raimi that shines through here and there is enough to carry it over not just everything else from the generally lacklustre Phase 4, but even large swaths of the previous phases as well. It also has the best post-credits stinger in the whole franchise (not Theron, the other one).

Werewolf by NIght is another exercise in illustrating the paradox posed by the superhero sub-genre's alleged malleability - people can and will talk up how many different genres can be folded into their adventures, but the rote filmmaking even under the guise of old-timey horror aesthetics just makes everything look generic (including this). Wasn't terrible, I guess.

Black Phone wasn't boring, wasn't anything to write home about either.

Kimi is good. Soderbergh is arguably at his best when he's doing these slight cinematic exercises that don't demand too much one way or another (even a nominally fun goof like Ocean's Twelve skews too hard in the other direction). This is very much one of those films and that's fine.

I'll have to wait until after I've rewatched all three of his films, but Nope might be my favourite of Peele's films so far. Not hard to see why it draws comparisons to the likes of Spielberg or Shyamalan with its extraterrestrial horror (Wincott playing the filmmaking equivalent of Quint is a bonus in any movie) but Peele once again does enough to distinguish it and find a more adept means of folding in his trademark commentary to what is a rather well-executed monster movie.

Banshees is maybe my favourite film of the year (though I also owe it a rewatch just to be sure). I've kind of lost interest in McDonagh over the years - I liked In Bruges at first but now I find it kind of insufferable, a factor that has only been exacerbated in Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards. At least now he's finding different territory to the sub-Tarantino hitman cool or the pained attempts at commentary in those films - as for how Gleeson's character acts, I think dramatic irony is the point as well as illustrating that maybe he is having a genuine psychological crisis that nobody on the island is even remotely equipped to deal with (and are much more likely to make worse).

TheUsualSuspect

02-24-23, 02:30 PM

17. Bodies Bodies Bodies

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uU3YoLSaVBOaMryzhuiiRWDFbIw.jpg

3.5

Okay boomer.

Here is a Gen Z film that feels genuine in the parody of this current generation. With an cast of up and coming young actresses and two "old-timers", Bodies was a genuine pleasure to watch.

A group of well-off friends get together to have a party during a hurricane. During the night drugs and booze flows aplenty and one of the girls suggests they play bodies bodies bodies. It's a murder-mystery game where someone is the "murderer" and they "kill" another person. When you come across that person you yell bodies bodies bodies and then vote out who you think is the murderer. A live-action Among Us style game that turns deadly when one of the "victims" is literally killed. The friends turn on each other as they try to sus out the culprit.

I had a genuine fun time with this film and one of the reasons is the stand-out performance from Rachel Sennott, who people might recognize from Shiva Baby. Everything that came out of her mouth was funny enough to get a laugh from me and the on-going joke about her podcast was definitely a highlight.

The rest of the cast does well for themselves as well; Amandla Stenberg from The Hate You Give plays a recovering drug addict who is a compulsive liar, Maria Bakalova from Borat fame is her girlfriend and just meeting the friends, Lee Pace is the older Vet who is dating Sennott's character and Pete Davidson is the abrasive homeowner.

The film has the actors light their own scenes. The power goes out and everyone uses their smart phone lights to illuminate the scene, which delivers some fun cinematography in the moment. They came prepared with a table full of water and flashlights...but they still use their phones. Small little jokes like these are something you may pick up on repeated viewings. I don't even think they turn them off when hiding.

I had a good time trying to guess the killer and the reveal had me laughing.

TheUsualSuspect

02-24-23, 02:45 PM

16. Glass Onion

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/vDGr1YdrlfbU9wxTOdpf3zChmv9.jpg

3.5

While not as exciting as the Johnson's first foray into the whodunnit murder mystery with Benoit, Glass Onion offers enough humour and mystery to keep you guessing and laughing until the very end.

A group of friends are invited to the private island of their tech billionaire friend for a fun murder-mystery game. Each one is given a mystery box to solve in order to arrive and when they get there, Mr. Benoit Blanc is waiting. He also received the mystery box which brings deadly suspicion to the game. Each one of the people invited has a motif for why they want their billionaire friend dead...

It's hard to describe this film because there is a second act that if explained, spoils a good portion of the film. Much like he did with Knives Out, Johnson takes the classic Murder Mystery yarn and spins it enough to make the story being told unique. Some of the elements were a tad predictable, but in crafting a story like this the viewer will always be on high alert.

Here he populates his cast with well known actors again, but in my opinion, it's a small step down from the likes of Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Plummer. This time we get Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, and Kate Hudson to name a few.

Obviously it's still nice to see Craig having fun with a role for once, he is free from the Bond shackles and able to enjoy acting again. I welcome a third film in this trilogy.

Taz

02-24-23, 02:59 PM

Good to know I wasn't the only one who had a ball with Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. That was such a fun flick and although I had no idea of any of the cast - none of the names rang any bells - but they were all well cast and the whole thing was very entertaining.

Iroquois

02-25-23, 01:06 AM

The most memorable part of Bodies Bodies Bodies for me was when the chatty bros who kept talking throughout the previews and opening logos got up and left as soon as it reached the opening shot of Stenberg and Bakalova making out. I still ended up thinking the whole thing was lacklustre - as novel as aspects like the lighting can be (Sennott being covered in glowsticks while everyone else settles for phones or even head-mounted flashlights makes for a great visual, comically and aesthetically), soaking the whole thing in zeitgeist-capturing zoomerisms made things more than a little obnoxious even when I know the whole point is that these are nominally ridiculous caricatures to be laughed at.

I saw Glass Onion a couple of times and it's definitely a step down from Knives Out (which wasn't that great to begin with). It's definitely overwhelmed by the blank check of it all - numerous cameos, extensive runtime, exorbitant production design. A second viewing really underlines how much that second-act reveal kills the momentum and makes the prospect of sitting through the whole thing a bit of a slog even though there are some decent performances in the mix.

TheUsualSuspect

02-27-23, 11:25 AM

15. Smile

https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hiaeZKzwsk4y4atFhmncO5KRxeT.jpg

3.5

A horror film that relies on jump scares usually rubs me the wrong way, but when they are done really well, then I can get on board. Smile is jump scare city, but I'll be damned if I didn't have a fun time with this one.

Dr. Rose Cotter works in a hospital with trauma specific patients. One patient comes in claiming she is being harassed by a unknown being that always smiles. During this session, she smiles at the doctor while cutting her throat. This passes the curse onto the doctor and she begins seeing the demented smile wherever she goes.

Sounds goofy, but a solid premise can propel a movie high and this is exactly what Smile does. This film feels like a lesser It Follows, but instead of being a film about safe sex, this is about personal trauma. The curse is passed on to people that witness horrific events, such as suicide. The curse is attached to the trauma and it feeds on people. A film dealing with such tough topics has to be careful where it steps. Some of the criticism thrown at Lights Out was that people felt the film advocated for people with mental illness to commit suicide rather than seek help. I was worried that Smile would follow the same path. It steers in that direction, but I feel like at the end of the day its asking the viewer not to internalize the trauma. Carrying it with you can be triggering and facing it head-on will help. Characters here do not face their trauma head-on. they don't seek help until it is too late. They bury it as deep as it will go, until it manifests. In this case it comes out as a creepy smiling demon.

The jump scares do work and work well, but there are dozens of them. Almost every other scene is something crafted to make you jump for a split second. Knowing that before going in might help determine if you'll like this one or not.

rauldc14

02-27-23, 12:20 PM

I thought Banshees was really good. And I really dug Smile too.

TheUsualSuspect

02-27-23, 01:41 PM

14. Barbarian

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3.5

If there was ever a movie to go into not knowing anything about it, Barbarian has to be one of them. Directed by Zach Cregger of The Whitest Kids you Know, Barbarian is the latest in a line of horror films from comedy creatives. I can't pinpoint who first started the trend, but I do remember thinking it was odd to see Kevin Smith try his hand at horror, then came Jordan Peele and David Gordon Green, among some others. Comedy and horror work well together and finding the right timing for a good joke is similar to finding the right timing to a good scare.

A young woman books an Airbnb while in Detroit for a job interview. When she gets there she discovers a man is already inside and he claims he also booked the Airbnb. That's all you're gonna get.

The brilliance of the film lies in a few things, one is the casting. Bill Skarsgard is the man who also booked the place. Can he be trusted? He seems innocent enough, but he's also the man also played Pennywise from IT. The film plays with gender roles and expectations rather well. Would you have gone inside to figure out the mix-up? Would you have stayed the night while he sleeps on the couch? Would you drink whatever beverage he offered you? It's pouring rain and a "bad neighbourhood", all the other hotels are booked for a convention. The film tries hard to make it seem like there are very little avenues to take.

If you saw a creepy door leading down a dark hallway, would you investigate or leave? It's funny, I watched this with a female friend and a male friend. My female friend said she'd GTFO, while my male friend he'd at least look inside.

The film works because of the unexpected. I did not expect to laugh as much as I did, Barbarian has one of if not THE funniest scene of 2022 for me. I did not expect to be horrified as much as I was, nor did I expect the tonal changes that will take a few people for a complete loop. I thought I had a grip on where the film was going after the first act, smash cut to something completely different and I'm at a loss. It was refreshing to feel like I was in uncharted waters with someone who knew how to handle the waves.

donniedarko

02-27-23, 01:43 PM

I thought the first 45 minutes of Barbarian were some of the most intense and terrifying horror sequences I've ever seen.

TheUsualSuspect

02-27-23, 01:54 PM

13. Decision to Leave

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3.5

Park Chan-wook is back with this twisty thriller about a detective on the case of a possible murder. The suspect? The dead man's wife. The only problem is the detective might be falling in love with her.

I love Oldboy, or at least I did when I watched it back in the day. I haven't revisited it since that initial watch. The Handmaiden is something I've watched recently and adore that just as much. So I'm delighted to see Park Chan-wook back after more than 5 years. He is without a doubt, a master story teller and Decision to Leave is another hit.

The film might not work for those who don't buy the love story. Yet this is a film about missed opportunities and miscommunications. How can this man love this woman if she is indeed responsible for her husband's death? Does that love go far enough that he is willing to ignore evidence? All these questions arise in this film that surprisingly lacks the usual Chan-wook in your face sexcapades. He chooses to rather focus on the feelings these characters have but can't actually act on.

There are little moments of creativity in the camera movement or shot choices. For instance, we get a POV from the dead guy as an ant crawls over his eye. Not something you'd think you'd see in a film like this.

Get ready for devastation, this film delivers that in spades.

TheUsualSuspect

02-27-23, 01:54 PM

Being a horror fan, I'm rating some of these horror films higher than most people, ha.

TheUsualSuspect

02-27-23, 04:21 PM

12. Avatar: The Way of Water

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4

I am an unapologetic Cameron fan.

Avatar: The Way of Water sees the sky people return and they have a vendetta against Jake Sully. He moves his family away from the clan to save them and finds refuge in the water tribe. He and his family, learn their new way of life...the way of water. But since this is an action film, they are discovered and must fight for survival once again.

At 3hrs and 12 minutes, this is a long one. Yet, somehow...for some God-forsaken reason, it didn't feel THAT long. Cameron uses a lot of time to explore the new part of Pandora. He's obsessed with water and the life we find under it. So if you want to see a progression of the story, you'll be disappointed. Way of Water is 80% explore the world and action, with 20% story.

The world is gorgeous, no denying that. At times I wondered how they got the hair to look so damn real, then I thought, how did they get the water to look so damn real. Cameron as always pushes the envelope of technology and what is achievable. The last 45 minutes or so of the film is one action set piece that bleeds into the next. Cameron hasn't lost a step and despite wanting something other than Avatar from him, I'll be content with what he delivers.

They bring back Lang, which I found funny because why bring back a villain that was already defeated? The way the film ended as well, makes me laugh even more. People like to complain about Cameron's writing (yet he has given us iconic lines of dialogue in cinema) and complain about unoriginality. Give me a break. The first Avatar was an original story. I would rather see the number one film of all-time be something that came out of nowhere, than a film that had 15-plus movies and decades of lore to pull from.

Whether you like the story being told or not is up to you. But the man knows how to tell an entertaining story. He's just terrible with exposition, I'm looking at you brain goo.

PHOENIX74

02-28-23, 05:06 AM

19. Nope - 4 - There's a lot going on with this, and it uses on old formula in a novel and interesting way. Seen it twice now.
18. The Banshees of Inisherin - 4.5 - Colin Farrell is great in this, as is the screenplay. Thought this was up there.
16. Glass Onion - 3.5 - Okay, and entertaining. Not one I'll watch a heap of times.
15. Smile - 4 - I'm a big fan of this. Had a great time the first time around, and enjoyed it as much the second.
14. Barbarian - 3.5 - I've see-sawed on this a bit, I think I need to see it a second time to decide if I really like it or not - but I remember enjoying it.
12. Avatar: The Way of Water - 3.5 - This was value for money at a cinema.

TheUsualSuspect

02-28-23, 05:25 PM

11. After Yang

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4

A poetic look at the life of someone through another person's eyes. After Yang is a futuristic look at society when androids are commonplace. The android Yang malfunctions, and instead of throwing it away, Jake tries to find a fix. In doing so he is able to access Yang's memories and see his family in a new light.

Such a beautiful film that is quiet, calm, and thoughtful. After Yang follows Colin Farrell's Jake, a somewhat absent father who needs to find a way to fix their "son". The film pauses for moments that Yang experiences. His internal memory records and saves these moments and they are not what one would expect. A flower, a tree swaying in the wind, an unnoticed smile, things that make Yang feel more human. Jake is able to see his family from a new perspective and see what he missed. This gives him a new purpose to be a more present father. Something that is definitely relatable.

Farrell had 4 films come out this year, I only got to see 3 of them and he was outstanding in every single one. Gone is the "movie-star" bad boy and here is the character actor that he always should have been. Picking interesting choices and hearing him speak about the roles with such earnestness is refreshing.

After Yang might be a tad slow for some people, but I appreciated the slow journey here.

TheUsualSuspect

02-28-23, 06:09 PM

Top Ten

TheUsualSuspect

02-28-23, 06:19 PM

10. Deadstream

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4

When I put this on, I almost immediately regretted it. The star was a tad annoying, the demographic seemed to be a bit younger than me and it had an amateur vibe to it. I'm so glad I stuck with it though because Deadstream turned out to be a hilarious love letter to found footage films and The Evil Dead.

A disgraced YouTuber tries to earn back his fans by spending the night in a haunted house. He will be live-streaming the entire night. To make sure he doesn't chicken out, he disables his car, puts a lock on the front door, and throws away the key. There's no escape...

This is a one-man show and despite the annoyance of the lead at the start, I eventually warmed up to him and had a great time. Written, directed, and starring Joesph Winter, it's clear that he is a fan of the genre. Co-written and co-directed by his wife, the two made sure to make an excellent balance of horror and comedy. I was shocked by how well the horror was done and how funny the moments were. A demon finger up the nose will always get a laugh out of me.

Since the film is a "live stream", the lead will occasionally interact with the viewers online. This almost adds a participation element to it. You're part of this audience watching him go room to room. The audience will interact with him here and there. Telling him something is behind him or if he has a question, they will research it and post their findings. This is a welcomed element that adds a bit of relief to the one-man show.

It's a low-budget love letter to horror with elements of Raimi. I look forward to what this husband and wife duo has to offer next.

Iroquois

03-02-23, 10:16 AM

Lately, I tend to be skeptical of any film where I'm told to go in knowing as little as possible and Barbarian isn't really an exception. At least it's still decently executed, but nothing spectacular.

Decision to Leave is, like virtually every Park Chan-wook film I've sen, at least pretty good. I'd have to see how it holds up but there's enough visual panache to proceedings to make its Vertigo-like tale-of-two-halves (it certainly has an interesting approach to depicting phones and texting, for instance).

I've more or less settled on Avatar being an extremely okay film with some great moments here and there but The Way of Water is a marked improvement, one that allows Cameron to really go all-out with things for better and sometimes for worse. Also, it's very funny to ask "why bring back a villain that was already defeated" about the director of Aliens and Terminator 2.

After Yang is probably okay, but I slept through too much of it to make me think I can offer a proper assessment of it. I've been meaning to give it another shot, though.

TheUsualSuspect

03-07-23, 11:45 PM

9. Pearl

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4

In a just world, Mia Goth would be nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in this film. At least maybe she will see some love for the Mofo Film Awards?

A prequel to X, we see Pearl as an aspiring singer/actress living with a vegetable father and an overbearing mother, and my God is it tough. Her husband is away fighting the war and Pearl is slowly losing her mind with a thirst to kill those that get on her bad side.

This film felt like a Wizard of Oz horrorshow. The bright technicolor cinematography brought a smile to my face. This film was a slow-burn character study with sprinkles of horror so people expecting another slasher on the level of X might walk away disappointed. I found myself enthralled by Goth's performance of this young naive girl wanting stardom. It makes revisiting X an absolute pleasure.

Two key moments stand out and people basically only talk about these two moments. The single-take monologue was fire and the closing credits smile was comically unnerving.I look forward to seeing MaXXXine in the 80's.

TheUsualSuspect

03-07-23, 11:54 PM

8. The Menu

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4

The satire on the food industry and those who devour it worked for me. I thought the Menu was equal parts hilarious, thanks to a scene-stealing performance from Hong Chau, and perfectly held up a mirror to those who critique everything. Seeing Nicholas Holt spew hollow garbage about something he clearly has no talent for reminds me of so many people I know in my life.

A couple travels to a remote island for a fancy and expensive dinner catered only to the elite few. Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Fiennes, and John Leguizamo round out the cast.

The film boasts some fun performances too. Ralph Fiennes walks a fine line between evil and hilarious in this role, his best since Grand Budapest. My favourite scene has to be when he is requested to make a burger and the look of pure enjoyment on his face was special. I appreciated that we got bits and pieces from the other dinner guests and we were not glued to Joy and Holt.

I'd be lying if I said I expected a more sinister aspect of the film to be present, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Iroquois

03-08-23, 07:06 AM

Believe it or not, Pearl still hasn't officially come out here - it's due for release next week so I'll get around to it then, but having to hear six months of non-stop hype definitely has me skeptical.

The Menu is one of the more overrated films of the year imo. In a year that was lousy with class-conscious satires, this one may have been one of the less pretentious ones but it swung back the other way and ended up being its own kind of obnoxious with Taylor-Joy's no-nonsense attendee constantly calling out the emperor's new clothes of guests and staff alike. Seeing it was produced by Adam McKay reminded me of the fallout from Don't Look Up and how that film's various creatives claimed that disliking it meant you were ultimately in favour of climatic change, so it's hard not to think of this particular anti-snob diatribe as having a chip on its shoulder. I will agree that Chau was good, though - between that and The Whale, I'd definitely like to see her in a film that's genuinely good.

TheUsualSuspect

03-08-23, 01:25 PM

7. Prey

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4

I'm one of the few that liked Adrian Brody's Predators movie, but I can safely say that this entry is the best since the original. I'm hoping they take this franchise in a direction where we get to see the Predator in different eras of humanity. Give me Viking Predators or Feudal Japan Predators.

A Predator drops down to earth in the 1700's and a fierce Comanche warrior sets out to defeat the hunter and protect her tribe.

Amber Midthunder, awesome name, is our lead here and I do wish I watched the version that showcases the Comanche language instead of English. That part did take me out a little bit. She is excellent and portrays a determined yet vulnerable warrior. Dan Trachtenberg is the director, I'm surprised it took this long for his second feature since 10 Cloverfield Lane is a banger.

Beautiful landscapes make me wish I also saw this one the big screen.

TheUsualSuspect

03-15-23, 12:38 PM

6. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

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4

taken from original review

I never saw the original film, but I have heard it's not great. So when the wife wanted to take the kids to the movies I pulled up a list of what was playing and rolled my eyes when I saw only one children's film. I had little to no expectations with this one. Even the kids were "so-so" in wanting to see it. boy am I glad we did because, within the first ten minutes of this film, I was hooked. The opening to this movie is a literally Shadow of the Colussus adaptation with Puss in Boots battling a giant. The animation during this sequence was crisp, and detailed and showed a love and dedication to the art of animation that has been missing from Hollywood lately. Small details feel hand drawn and the unique in-action "camera-work" instantly makes you part of the chaos.

Puss in Boots dies at the beginning of the film, but don't worry he's a cat with 9 lives. Oops, he must have lost count because according to a quick flashback sequence, he has used 8. With the news of him being on his last life and a bounty hunter on his heels, Puss goes into hiding. While giving up on life he manages to catch wind of a map that leads to a wishing star, which gives him the idea to wish for his 8 lives back. Puss immediately swings back into action on an adventure with an old friend, an annoyingly adorable dog and a few other characters hot on his heels for their own wish. Puss in Boots is an adventure film filled with laughs and heart.

It has the usual "Shrek" fairy-tale comedy where you'll notice things here and there from nursery rhymes or old stories. These elements work wonderfully here with our villains and a big bad wolf wanting nothing else but to claim the last life of Puss. The voice work from all involved is top-tier. I probably enjoyed this more than my own kids.

TheUsualSuspect

03-15-23, 12:46 PM

5. The Batman

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4

At 3 hours long, The Batman had an uphill battle for my attention. I did not feel the length until the second third act climax came about. Despite this, it didn't really bother me. I enjoyed my time in Gotham and liked the direction they took Batman in. Give me more.

Matt Reeves plays up more of the detective angle that has been missing in a lot of other entries. This Batman is still learning the ropes, he's not perfect. I loved the look and feel of Gotham, the best since Burton's original.

The make-up effects for Penguin are sublime and the performance was a stand-out. Seeing this in iMAX...when the engine revved up, I could feel my chest vibrating. Pure cinematic enjoyment for that chase sequence. The sound design stands out. Even hearing him walking in his leather boots was joy to my ears.

Please no Joker in sequels, let's use some other villains. The franchise has enough to choose from.

Tugg

03-15-23, 01:03 PM

The Batman- most overrated movie of 2022, IMO.

TheUsualSuspect

03-15-23, 05:00 PM

4. The Northman

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4

Probably the most accessible movie that Eggers has done so far and it still is weird and out there. The Northman tells the original story of Hamlet and Eggers dives between myth and legends with historical accuracies to make a blend that makes us question what the hell is going on.

Beautifully shot, wonderfully acted and a strong compelling narrative make The Northman a top choice for me. Seeing the hulking and lumbering Skarsgard tear his enemies apart in a "oner" shows that Eggers isn't afraid to move the camera. The film concludes with a beautifully choregraphed fight at a volcano.

A small gripe would be that Anya Taylor Joy's character feels like an after thought. With not much to do, they try to wrangle some emotional elements out of their relationship that I think could have been a lot stronger. The Northman is an excellent ride and Eggers is 3/3 so far.

TheUsualSuspect

03-15-23, 05:07 PM

3. RRR

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4

A 3 hour Tollywood film might be daunting at first, but my God is RRR one of if not the most fun I've had at the movies in a long-ass time. Taking historical characters and tweaking them to fit a fictional narrative has RRR blending fantasy and myth.

The film is a hilarious, dramatic, toe-tapping, action heavy extravaganza. Just when I thought the film couldn't get any crazier, it ups itself with each additional scene. The 3-hour run time feels earned as the story is vast and gets the viewer emotionally invested in both these men. RRR is my pick for best Bromance of the 21st century.

It feels like an over the top Bollywood movie, so if you don't like gravity defying stunts, this film may not be for you. But anyone else who is a little bit interested, give this film a shot. There is an intermission so you can pace yourself for sure.

I really loved this movie and wish Netflix had the original language version and not a dubbed one.

PHOENIX74

03-16-23, 04:30 AM

11. After Yang - 3.5 - Worked away at my emotions, and was a nice little look at memories and consciousness - what a strange world we'll live in once AI is here in a big way.
10. Deadstream - 3.5 - Any ode to The Evil Dead that works as well as this has my approval. Just the right mix of comedy and horror to not have one infringe on the other.
8. The Menu - 3.5 - Ralph Fiennes put in one of the best non-Oscar nominated performances in The Menu last year, and I enjoyed the movie as a whole. Hong Chau is great too.
7. Prey - 3.5 - Instead of trying to upgrade, enhance or change the original Predator formula, Prey keeps to the elemental greatness of the original while also feeling fresh and new.
6. Puss in Boots - 3.5 - When death is explored in an animated film which has plenty to laugh about and is exciting, then that's a neat trick to pull off.
5. The Batman - 3 - I'm still not convinced about emo Bruce Wayne, but this had a thrilling climax, a great Riddler, and had an enthusiastic reception.
4. The Northman - 3.5 - Truly great production design enhances a brutal and spiritually rich story of Viking revenge.
3. RRR - 4.5 - Went for over three hours, and I was wishing it were longer! Thrilling, exciting and having me cheer every moment - it's exactly what I love about films, and a great one from India.

TheUsualSuspect

03-24-23, 12:53 PM

2. Top Gun: Maverick

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4.5

Tom Cruise saved the movies, right?

Yeah yeah yeah, Top Gun is overrated, whatever. I loved it. I hadn't had as much adrenaline-rushed fun in the theatres since Mad Max.

Top Gun does nostalgia right, it doesn't rely on old things, only uses them to help enhance the story. The aerial sequences are spectacular and I can watch them on repeat all day every day. The cast works so well together and despite some cliched moments, everything felt genuine.

Loved the inclusion of Val Kilmer, one of my favourite actors.

Top Gun was the event movie of 2022.

TheUsualSuspect

03-24-23, 12:59 PM

1. Everything Everywhere All At Once

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4.5

Hilarious and heartfelt. Everything everywhere was my favourite film of the year. It got me to care about two rocks for crying out loud.

I was on the Everything train from the beginning. I didn't think the Academy would go for such a weird movie where two people fight with butt plugs in their bums, but here we are.

It might be a bit much for some people, the Daniels throw everything AND the kitchen sink into this production and they'll be the first ones to admit that. But what might feel overwhelming is actually meticulous. I guarantee every frame of this film was painstakingly thought about before being presented to us.

Best movie of the year.

Mr Minio

03-24-23, 01:04 PM

The Batman- most overrated movie of 2022, IMO.

Everything Everywhere All At Once - one of the most overrated movies of all time, IMO.

TheUsualSuspect

03-24-23, 01:10 PM

Movies I watched AFTER starting this list:

Aftersun - This is a top 5 film for me. I watched it, thought it was pretty good, and then sat there for a few minutes and just started to cry. I talked about it the next day with my wife...then I started to cry. Maybe it's because I'm a parent now, but my God is this film eye-opening and self-examining.

The Sea Beast - A colourful kids film about sea monsters. Nothing extraordinary, but a fun time for sure.

All Quiet on the Western Front - Yeah, it's beautifully shot and yes it is depressing. Just pretend to fall at the end dude....damn.

Three Thousand Years of Longing - A story about...stories. Great to look at an enthralling for 2/3's.

Bones and All - A love story about cannibals. Mark Rylance...chilling. Should have been nominated at the Mofo Film Awards.

Under Wraps 2 - a bad made-for-streaming Disney movie my kids watch...

Fall - Could have been cool to see in a theatre.

See How they Run - Obvious it's trying to capitalize on the Knives Out success, but charming enough for a watch.

Who Invited Them - Actually forgot I watched this earlier...should tell you as much.

Hocus Pocus 2 - Same as above.

DC LEague of Super Pets a forgettable animated comedy.

Iroquois

03-25-23, 04:02 AM

Finally did see Pearl, it's...really not good. Seeing people compare it to Joker is a comparison I'd agree with except for the part where they clearly intend it as a compliment.

Prey is fun, definitely a contender for the best Predator sequel (if not the best). If they kept doing different periods and settings then that would be neat.

Didn't see Puss in Boots: The Last Wish because I did see its predecessor and thought it was such ass that there was no way the hype I was hearing about it was that good. I may still see it at some point, but I'm not in a hurry.

The Batman is middling, I concede that the neo-noir detective angle is a neat one but it struggles to stay engaging over the course of three hours. Trying to imagine sitting through it a second time and I can't (though Farrell's "what are you showing me" and Dano's "nooooo" will deservedly live on).

The Northman is pretty good, if the weakest film Eggers has put out yet. The production was troubled enough that I imagine we're not going to see him work on this scale again for a long time (if ever), but it's neat to see what he could do with a sizeable budget.

RRR is pretty fun, you do feel those three hours at times and maybe its anticolonialism skews into sheer nationalist subtext at times but when it hits, it hits. One of the best recipients of the Best Original Song Oscar in a long time.

I saw Maverick a couple of times, obviously there's the matter of it being quote-unquote military propaganda that means I have to dock points but underneath that it's a sturdy tale that refines its predecessor into something much more efficient (albeit not as good at capturing style as Tony Scott's film).

I've seen EEAAO three times, which I think is the most of any 2022 release - at the same time, I still remain critical enough that it might not make my end-of-year top 10. When it hits, it hits, but too often its pastiche does lose momentum and it makes me think of better movies I could be watching. So be it.

Not going into detail about the last batch except to say that 3000 Years of Longing was my favourite and that Aftersun is overrated even after two viewings.

PHOENIX74

03-28-23, 06:16 AM

All Quiet on the Western Front - Yeah, it's beautifully shot and yes it is depressing. Just pretend to fall at the end dude....damn.

I was thinking exactly the same thing. "Just "trip over" and play dead. What are you doing? Why are you participating in this ridiculous battle so whole-heartedly? Just get down and wait out the minutes!"

2. Top Gun Maverick - 4 - The nostalgia angle got to me, but also the fact that the fighter plane action was really well edited and easier to follow in this modern-day sequel. Glad I got to see this at a cinema, and I loved the Val Kilmer cameo as well.

1. Everything Everywhere All At Once - 4.5 - I really owe this another viewing after being so excited about it the first time. On letterboxd : "A real contender for "Best of the 2020s" lists, and a wild, imaginative, rollercoaster with plenty of heart. Great humour, lots of excitement, fully fleshed-out characters and a whole heap of fun. Also, the acting from everyone is great, the film looks amazing, and sounds amazing too."

Over 2022 I also really enjoyed :

Speak No Evil - 4
The Quiet Girl - 5
Triangle of Sadness - 4.5
Moonage Daydream - 4.5