Top Row: Cold Storage (StudioCanal); The Wizard of the Kremlin (Gaumont); Over Your Dead Body (IFC / Amazon Prime Video). Bottom Row: Mortal Kombat II (Warner Bros. Pictures); The Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Century Studios); Propeller One-Way Night Coach (Apple TV).
In this edition of Bite-Sized Reviews, I want to share my thoughts on six films released this year. This time around, I want to talk about 1) an underseen zombie-adjacent film with a surprisingly strong cast, 2) a political drama about Putin’s rise to power, 3) a genre-blend from the director of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, 4) Mortal Kombat II, 5) the long-awaited sequel to a beloved fashion-focused film, and 6) John Travolta’s directorial debut. If you follow me on Letterboxd, do know that some of these bite-sized reviews have previously been posted on my Letterboxd profile (either partially or entirely). Should you wish to get a sneak peek at what films I see, I advise you to follow me on that social media platform.
The Platt family (L-R: Ewan McGregor, Christian Convery, Maisy Stella, and Anne Hathaway) looking out at a changed world in THE END OF OAK STREET — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from tra
I think it’s fair to say that we’ve been treated to an undersupply of dinosaur films since Steven Spielberg and his crew perfected big-screen dinosaur action storytelling with the masterpiece that is 1993’s Jurassic Park. For whatever reason, there haven’t been many attempts to tell new stories with dinosaurs, other than the increasingly threadbare Jurassic sequels. The most notable live-action attempts have been Peter Jackson’s King Kong from the mid-2000s, which I quite like, and Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ quite underwhelming Adam Driver-vehicle titled 65. This summer, we’re treated to another attempt at non-Jurassic World dinosaur-centric cinema. The Warner Bros. picture is the long-awaited fourth feature from It Follows-director David Robert Mitchell, whose last film was the 2018 stoner noir film Under the Silver Lake, which has amassed something of a cult following. I thoroughly enjoyed both his horror breakthrough and his aforementioned cult film, so I can say that I’ve enjoyed every film of his that I’ve seen up to this point. The same goes for The End of Oak Street, which is a terrific crowd-pleaser of a dinosaur summer flick that ticks all the right boxes.
Matt Damon as ‘Odysseus’ in Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY — PHOTO: Universal Pictures (Still image from trailers).
Directed by Christopher Nolan — Screenplay by Christopher Nolan.
I vividly remember watching Don Chaffey’s Jason and the Argonauts when I was a kid. Images of those Ray Harryhausen practical creature effects on display just burned themselves into my memory, for whatever reason. I’ve heard stories from my mother that she and her siblings once huddled up around the television, when she was young, to watch an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, only to have the TV then break in the middle of it (much to their frustration). Great sword-and-sandal myths and epics just do something to us, and so I was excited to see the latest attempt at making a larger-than-life sword-and-sandal epic with my mother this weekend. The film, of course, is Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. The first film to be filmed entirely with IMAX cameras. It’s one of the biggest films of the year; it has a star-studded cast, and it is made by one of the most popular filmmakers of my lifetime. I don’t think I could be more excited to see the film than I was. Despite all of the weight of anticipation and the challenges of the story, the film is a triumph. It both feels like something that filmmakers and studios don’t try to make anymore and like something that could only be made at this scale today. Christopher Nolan’s latest film is both unlike anything he’s ever done before, concerning genre, myth, and magic, and exactly like so many of the other films in his oeuvre, concerning structure, message, and character goals. It is a daunting and colossal challenge of a project, and a test that the popular auteur has passed with flying colors.
Matthew McConaughey in Steven Knight’s Serenity — PHOTO: Aviron Pictures (Still image from trailers).
Directed by Steven Knight — Screenplay by Steven Knight.
Steven Knight’s Serenity follows Baker Dill (played by Matthew McConaughey), a fishing boat captain living on the relatively secluded Plymouth Island. Dill is obsessed with catching a tuna that he nicknames ‘Justice,’ and when he isn’t smoking, fishing, or drinking, he spends time with Diane Lane’s character, ‘Constance.’ One day, Dill’s ex-wife Karen (played by Anne Hathaway) shows up and begs him to take her new husband, Frank (played by Jason Clarke), out on the water and have him killed for abusing her and Dill and Karen’s son. As Dill contemplates whether or not he should do it, he starts to question the nature of his own reality. Since this isn’t a new release, and since I’d like to address the craziness of this film directly, this is going to be more of a spoiler review, best read after you’ve seen the film.
Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain in Benoît Delhomme’s Mothers’ Instinct — PHOTO: Neon (Still image from trailer).
Directed by Benoît Delhomme — Screenplay by Sarah Conradt.
Based on the novel Derrière la haine from author Barbara Abel (and a remake of the 2018 Olivier Masset-Depasse adaptation), Benoît Delhomme’s Mothers’ Instinct tells the story of two 1960s American housewives and mothers, Celine (played by Anne Hathaway) and Alice (played by Jessica Chastain). After Celine’s son tragically died and Alice was too late to stop it from happening, Celine and Alice become distant, and, following Celine’s stay away from the suburbs that she called her home, Alice notices a change in her neighbor, who starts to become close with Alice’s son. As strange things start to happen, Alice begins to suspect that her grieving neighbor has cruel intentions.
Maya Hawke as Heather in FEAR STREET PART ONE: 1994 – Photo: Netflix.
In this edition of my monthly movie and television catch-up article series titled ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews,’ I talk about my experience of trying to catch-up on some of the 2021 films released earlier this year, including an entire trilogy of films! What did I think about the Fear Street-films? Is the Rear Window-inspired flick, The Woman in the Window, worth a watch? Is Bad Trip, the hidden camera comedy, funny enough for its runtime? Are Doug Liman and Alexandre Aja’s latest films any good? Well, scroll down to find out in another jam-packed edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews!
The following spoiler-filled review of The Dark Knight Rises was written in August 2016
I don’t think I have ever mentioned this on the blog before, but I’ve only seen The Dark Knight Rises three times. Once in the movie theater, once on Blu-Ray, and once yesterday when I rewatched it for this review. I really liked it when I first saw it in theaters, but, when I rewatched it for the first time, it didn’t work on me as well as it had previously. Following this latest rewatch, I will say immediately that it definitely is not as disappointing as my memory had conjured up. Look, I’m not going to come out and say that this film is an ‘underappreciated masterpiece’ or anything like that — not at all. This film still has its problems. But when I finished rewatching the film last night, I had to admit that maybe I had been a bit too harsh on it for the last couple of years. The online vocal minority has begun to really criticize this film in recent years, but while The Dark Knight Rises definitely doesn’t come close to the quality of the first two films in the Dark Knight Trilogy, I do think it is still a solid ending to an excellent trilogy. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)”→
Matthew McConaughey in INTERSTELLAR — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).
The following is an updated review of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. It was updated in March 2026, as I felt, upon rewatch, the final score needed to be upped, while the writing did not reflect my current voice.
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar follows Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey), a NASA test pilot-turned-farmer and father of two, as he attempts to secure a future for his children, who are living in a difficult situation that threatens to only get worse. With violent dust storms and worsening conditions, Earth is falling apart, and the future of humanity is in question. When Cooper’s daughter discovers an anomaly, it becomes the starting off point for a journey that will take him far away, as Cooper is thrown into something much bigger than him and his family, i.e., interstellar travel to potentially save humanity. Cooper’s daughter, Murphy (played by multiple people, but chiefly Jessica Chastain), doesn’t agree with his decision to partake in the journey, as it means leaving them on Earth for what could be decades (and possibly forever), but he feels that he must take this chance to secure a life for his children. As Cooper goes on the mission to travel through a wormhole, encounter a black hole, and evaluate distant planets, the story truly begins.
With the focus on a father-daughter relationship and risky missions into space, this may sound like Michael Bay’s Armageddon, but this film is much more ambitious, scientifically savvy, and cerebral than that. Don’t get me wrong, the aforementioned film can be enjoyable, but the small plot points of films like Armageddon are processed much better here in Interstellar by the Nolans. The themes in this film revolve around family, self-sacrifice, and love. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, and Anne Hathaway, all of whom turn in instantly iconic performances. Shepherded by one of the most intelligent and gifted filmmakers of our time, Christopher Nolan, they deliver what I am comfortable in saying is one of the most breathtaking space-set adventures put to the big screen. There is also an epic surprise cameo in this film that blew me away. I’d like to add that the scenes involving Michael Caine have a lot of weight to them, and that there’s an overall message in those scenes (retrod in the scenes involving the special surprise actor). A message created by poet Dylan Thomas, which is absolutely breathtaking and at times quite emotional. It is a perfect use of a perfect poem.
The film is chock-full of memorable scenes, but none is more emotionally impactful than those that revolve around a message-in-a-bottle communication system, as Cooper sees the effect the sands of time have had on his family and his relationships back on Earth. It is an almost torturously affecting aspect of the film. McConaughey does some of his best work in the scenes wherein he receives videos from Earth. At its core, this really is a film about saving your family, and the sacrifices one is willing to make for love. Those expecting more of a horror sci-fi going in will be disappointed. Nolan, instead, aims for a balancing act of realism and reality-defying love. He focuses so much on theoretical science, but he never forgets that the story inherently has space operatic aspects. The blend works wonderfully, as it is not only satisfying from a cerebral standpoint, but also when it comes to tugging at your heartstrings. It also features breathtaking science-fiction visuals, as Nolan puts awe-inspiring alien planets, a black hole, and reality-defying locations to the big screen. It truly deserves to be watched on the biggest screen possible. It is arguably Nolan’s best-looking film to date.
Though I loved the film, I do think that one may struggle with it and have a less-than-stellar experience if they’re unable to properly relax in the film through suspension of disbelief. Also, though the film does a great job of building a credible father-daughter relationship, I do think the father-son relationship feels underdeveloped. Its biggest swing is in the final act, though, where some elements can feel a little bit clunky or confusing. The extent to which you love this film will depend on how willing you are to suspend your disbelief and go with the emotional core of what is happening rather than overthinking the details of it.
Though the film has an iffy final act, with perhaps a tad too much Hollywood-sweetness added to it, this is a great example of a proper space opera with foundations in a somewhat realistic portrayal of integral sci-fi aspects, but which is unafraid of throwing itself headfirst into the beating heart of the film, even if it may defy our sense of reality. The visuals, performances, and technical prowess make this a near-masterpiece of science-fiction filmmaking with the potential to become a true classic.
