In this review compilation, I have shared my thoughts on a Michael Haneke classic, as well as one of the most devastating wrestling movies. In addition to this, I have highlighted three different horror films from 2024, none of which, sadly, won me over. Read more below to find out why that’s the case.
Continue reading “‘The Piano Teacher,’ ‘The Iron Claw,’ and More | Review Compilation”
I’ve been itching to get some of my thoughts on a wide variety of films out there here towards the end of the year. So, while there will still be both solo new release reviews and review compilations about TV-Shows, I’ve planned two or three film-related review compilations that’ll be released in the next few weeks. Today, I’m going to share my thoughts on a super popular YouTube film, two films from Norwegian film directors, and much more. Let’s get to it.
Continue reading “‘Young Woman and the Sea,’ ‘Milk and Serial,’ and More | Review Compilation”
Directed by Coralie Fargeat — Screenplay by Coralie Fargeat.
For whatever reason, there is a recent trend in French cinema where rising female filmmakers are gravitating towards horror filmmaking to tell stories with plenty to say. Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker Julia Ducournau is the best example of this, as her critically acclaimed oeuvre — consisting of Raw and Titane — is filled with sensationally good and attention-grabbing body horror films that in the case of Titane is so out there and distinctive that you can’t describe it without getting strange looks from the person you’re talking to about it. French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat — whose first film was the revenge thriller appropriately titled Revenge from 2017 — is following in her footsteps. Her sophomore effort was, similarly to Ducournau’s Titane, warmly received at the Cannes Film Festival. While Ducournau won the main award, Fargeat’s evocative and expressive body horror film The Substance earned her the festival’s prize for Best Screenplay. Like Raw and Titane when they were released, The Substance, which reportedly received a standing ovation at upwards of 9 minutes at its world premiere, is an excellent piece of genre filmmaking that is sure to be remembered as one of the best and most memorable films of the year.
Continue reading “The Substance (2024) | REVIEW”
Directed by Parker Finn — Screenplay by Parker Finn.
Set only days after the events of the original film, Parker Finn’s Smile 2 follows Skye Riley (played by Naomi Scottt), a genuine pop star, who is trying to improve her image as she prepares to go on tour following a very public struggle with rehabilitation from substance abuse and the traumatic car crash that she was in, which took the life of her boyfriend (played by Ray Nicholson) and which she is still in pain from. She is constantly supervised by her mother (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) and her team of assistants, and so, because of her history with substance abuse, when she needs painkillers from an injury she sustained, she feels compelled to do it behind their backs. However, when she secretly visits an acquaintance who also happens to be a drug dealer (played by Lukas Gage), everything goes wrong, as he is clearly troubled and he goes on to brutally kill himself whilst brandishing a disturbing smile. Desperate to cover her tracks, she rushes out and refuses to mention what she witnessed to anyone, but what she becomes gradually more and more aware of is that something was passed to her, and soon she starts to witness crazy things from people smiling creepily.
Continue reading “Smile 2 (2024) | REVIEW”
Directed by Gary Dauberman (Annabelle Comes Home) — Screenplay by Gary Dauberman.
This long-awaited Stephen King adaptation has gone through what many would describe as development hell. The film started principal photography in late 2021 and was originally slated to be released theatrically in 2022, but it was shelved or delayed due to a variety of circumstances including COVID-19-related post-production issues. Despite there having been talk about releasing it a year ago around the time of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, it remained shelved for quite some time, which led many to fear that, like Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Batgirl or Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme, it could be yet another finished but unreleased and permanently shelved Warner Bros. Pictures product. Earlier this year, Stephen King even got involved and questioned its shelving, but, eventually, it was finally released straight to Max almost two weeks ago. Though not exactly a gem in its current state, there are definitely things to like about this adaptation that has, thankfully, finally seen the light of day.
Continue reading “‘Salem’s Lot (2024) | REVIEW”
Directed by Fede Alvarez — Screenplay by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues.
The Alien franchise can mean a lot of different things depending on the person you ask. For some, Alien, due to the original Ridley Scott 1979 classic, is Jaws (or a haunted house horror movie) set in space. Others think more fondly of James Cameron’s arguably equally iconic sequel, Aliens, which injected Scott’s blue-collar space-set horror flick with action adrenalin and a militaristic focus, while still keeping its key distrust of corporations at the heart of the film. I wonder if the subsequent divisive-to-middling sequels and spin-offs only further complicated the core audience’s understanding of what an Alien film is supposed to be. When Ridley Scott returned to shepherd the franchise and meld it with some of the ideas of his Blade Runner film in both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, they, too, divided opinion. While some embraced Prometheus‘ ambitious ideas and a key performance, others rejected them wholesale, perhaps because it wasn’t enough of an Alien film or for its specific answers (or lack thereof) as a prequel film, though I acknowledge that some may feel that to be an oversimplification of people’s problems with it. In any case, Scott responded with Alien: Covenant, which continued the overarching narrative started in Prometheus, but also, at the same time, sometimes felt like an effort to compromise and satisfy those that felt Prometheus was too different. The naysayers weren’t won over by Alien: Covenant, which, I contend, is actually an extremely underappreciated film, and the film was a box office disappointment. Seven years later, we now have the first Alien film since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox titled Alien: Romulus, which is a solid and suspenseful horror throwback. However, truth be told, it is also maybe a little bit too safe of a film given the big choices and risks that directors like Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and David Fincher have taken over the years.
Continue reading “Alien: Romulus (2024) | REVIEW”
Directed by Michael Sarnoski — Screenplay by Michael Sarnoski.
It has now been more than six years since John Krasinski, then (and perhaps still) best known as ‘Jim’ from the American sitcom adaptation of The Office, proved himself as a competent entertainment triple threat (actor, co-writer, and director) with his third film as a director, A Quiet Place. The film, which was once suggested as a part of the Cloverfield franchise, has since gone on to become its own franchise, as Krasinski also directed a sequel — A Quiet Place Part II — but also because the film series has spun off into an upcoming video game. Now, John Krasinski has, at least for a moment, handed off the reins to the franchise to director Michael Sarnoski — best known for the Nicolas Cage-led film known as Pig — who has now made the franchise’s third film, titled A Quiet Place: Day One, which, as you may be able to guess, is a prequel to the original film that kickstarted it all.
Continue reading “A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) | REVIEW”
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett — Screenplay by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick.
Ever since Radio Silence (a filmmaking group that also includes producer Chad Villella) directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett broke through with their sophomore feature, 2019’s Ready or Not, the directing duo has only risen through the ranks when it comes to horror filmmaking. After their bloody wedding horror film in 2019, they were hired to take over from the late, great Wes Craven in the Scream franchise, and they did so with their Scream (2022) and Scream VI. How do you follow up three genuine horror hits in a row? Well, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett decided that they should take on a different kind of horror subgenre that holds a special place in the hearts of horror aficionados with Abigail.
Continue reading “Abigail (2024) | REVIEW”
Directed by Nicolas Roeg — Screenplay by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant.
Whenever you watch a film two times in a row, you know it has its hooks in you. Don’t Look Now — Nicolas Roeg’s iconic, impressionistic, and occasionally scary psychological thriller based on a Daphne du Maurier short story of the same name — follows John and Laura Baxter (played by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie respectively) not long after they have recently lost their daughter to an accident by their country home in England. They now find themselves in Venice, Italy, where John has been hired to help restore an ancient church. In the meantime, Laura befriends two elderly sisters, one of whom, Heather (played by Hilary Mason), claims to be clairvoyant and able to see their deceased daughter sitting between them in a restaurant. John, however, is skeptical of clairvoyance, and yet, from time to time in Venice, he sees a small figure wearing a similar red raincoat to that his daughter wore on the day that she died.
Continue reading “Don’t Look Now (1973) | CLASSIC REVIEW”
Directed by Emerald Fennell — Screenplay by Emerald Fennell.
There are shades of dark comedy, satire, and horror in Emerald Fennell’s gothic erotic thriller Saltburn. The film is set in 2006 and follows Oxford University student Oliver Quick (played by Barry Keoghan), as he struggles to make friends and fit in among several snobbish borderline celebrities on campus. One day, he befriends Felix Catton (played by Jacob Elordi) when he offers to lend him his bicycle and walk back Felix’s bike with a flat tire. The immensely popular, posh, and privileged Felix proves to be more pleasant than you might expect, and he takes a liking to the nerdy, needy, and neglected ‘Ollie’ who is very polite and whose stories about being from a less fortunate and troubled family intrigue Felix. Ollie, meanwhile, seemingly lusts for both Felix and his status. Eventually, Felix invites Ollie back home to the Catton family castle — known as ‘Saltburn’ — for the summer, so that Ollie can get his mind off tragic news from back home. Once there, he becomes an object of fascination for Felix’s rich family, who, among other things, seem to be taking some pleasure from hearing about the struggles of the less fortunate, until, at some point, they find them boring. This is the case with their ‘hanger-on’ Pamela (played by Carey Mulligan). When he realizes that one day the family may lose interest in him too, Ollie sets out to make himself very popular in the family country house by any means necessary.
Continue reading “Saltburn (2023) | REVIEW”
I'm Jeffrey Rex 