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Reviews
Retake (2016)
Outstanding film surpasses expectations
The plot description intrigued me. A lonely middle aged man hires a male escort to accompany him on a road trip to recreate a specific time from his past he cannot seen to move on from.
Tuc Watkins as the middle aged man and Devon Graye as the hustler are both fantastic in this. You don't expect acting of this caliber in a low budget indie gay film and I was continually impressed by how both men fully inhabited their roles.
The film is a road trip movie but also a complex and intelligent film about love, loss, trauma, regret, and moving on.
I did question how the hustler was as sane, resilient, and emotionally intelligent as he was. Not being a drug addict made me further question his line of work. But when I learned of what brought him to the streets, it made more sense.
I read another review here where the reviewer was angry that this didn't have a "Pretty Woman" ending. Personally, I would rather a film be thought provoking and honest than have a fake tacked on happy ending. That was clearly never to be for these two complex and troubled men.
A solid 9/10 from me.
Tarot (2024)
Uninspired and Boring.
It's better than Imaginary but that's not saying much.
This rip off of Final Destination uses tarot card readings to determine each characters inescapable fate. You see, a group of teens find an old box of Tarot cards in this creepy house rental in the Catskills and subsequently unleash evil. Why they chose this place to rent, I'm not sure. I must have been asleep when that was explained.
The film lacks tension. Kills are off screen. Gore is minimal. A few jump scares and creepy images is the extent of what you get.
The acting isn't terrible and I did like one character specifically, but the others lacked personality or reason to care about them.
The film is also too darkly shot
If I had Tarot cards right now, I'm sure they would tell me this film will have a modest opening weekend due to horror hungry teens, make a small profit, then be completely forgotten.
The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024)
Entertaining Despite Flawed Premise
An uncomfortable and dated premise about a secret society of magical black people whose job it is to keep white people happy for the sake of preventing "white rage."
Granted, I get what the filmmaker was going for as the references from history make clear. But even a lighter touch by the filmmaker and many humorous moments can't help the overall idea from being pretty cringe.
What saves this film is Justice Smith. After being recruited by the society due to his lack of confidence and low self esteem, we become thoroughly engaged in the character. After being sent to help a frustrated exec at a social media company, he falls hard for the man's female work friend, complicating his mission.
Justice Smith is such a natural actor. The audience easily roots for him. The chemistry with his love interest was strong and the character arc was incredibly satisfying.
See it for the well written characters, strong acting, and palpable love story and pay less attention to the rest.
Gacy: Serial Killer Next Door (2024)
A Pointless Disaster
A fictionalized film about a teenage boy who lives next door to serial killer John Wayne Gacy and becomes suspicious of him.
Seriously, that's it. It's not like he befriends him for a while and then becomes suspicious. It happens in the first 20 minutes. The movie has no where to go. His attempts to convince his friends and family are shot down throughout the film. It's both boring and infuriating.
The acting is amateurish all around. The dialogue is awful. The actor playing Gacy is unconvincing and even more so when he decides to take on the persona of The Joker, complete with an over the top maniacal laugh. Make it to the it end and you'll also get to experience the tonally bizarre Chariots of Fire moment.
If you really need to see a film about John Wayne Gacy, please pass on this and watch one of the already too many films / documentaries that exist.
Rifftrax take notice. This can be your next film.
Night Swim (2024)
A Decent Effort
This isn't a great horror film, but it outranks the majority of PG-13 horror films released over the past few years.
A family buys a home with a huge unused pool. HUGE. It looks like it belongs at a resort, not in a backyard. But I overlooked that and watched as strange things begin to happen in it. Curiously, the family continues to swim despite this fact. I would have drained that thing within the first half hour.
Reminder to anyone playing Marco Polo. You can open your eyes if the person you are playing with seems to have disappeared.
The acting is solid, especially by the members of the family. The dad was played by Wyatt Russell who my friend told me is the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Oscar nominee Kerry Condon plays the mom.
The film creates some tension throughout and the eventual explanation for what's happening felt fresh compared to the mostly recycled garbage the horror studios feed us. I refuse to see one more Exorcism film or Conjuring spin off.
The under water cinematography was surprisingly good with the exception of one scene at the end that looked quite fake and had me rolling my eyes.
The ending was satisfying without the added annoyance of trying hard to set up a sequel.
Worth a look if you're in the mood for a mindless horror flick. Just leave your high expectations at the door before you dive in.
Wonka (2023)
Cloying, Overproduced, and Bland
I was born in the late 60s and saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory countless times as a child. The reason that film developed cult status was the off kilter performance by Gene Wilder. You never quite knew what to make of Wonka. The story of people trying to find a golden ticket was involving. The reveal of the Chocolate Factory was magical. And I can't think of a better hero to root for than Charlie Bucket.
It was an interesting idea to do a Wonka prequel but the change in tone from the original is disappointing and disconnected. Here, Timothee Chalamet's Wonka plays like a male Mary Poppins. Likeable, seemingly magical, but overall lacking the edge that the character needs. Proof that the G rating no longer exists, it's a head scratcher that this is rated PG because I can't think of a more family friendly film than this.
Timothee Chalamet is likable and sings well but is overall bland. Hugh Grant provided some amusing moments as the sole Oompa Loompa but hardly enough to create any laughter. My audience was dead silent.
The CGI doesn't enhance the film in any way. I longed for the day when a real set was created for a film.
The songs were fine but nothing reaches the heights of "Pure Imagination" which thankfully was reprised in this film.
I hate to be a Scrooge but this film was a big misfire for me. It will most likely only be enjoyed by children who didn't grow up with the original.
Dicks: The Musical (2023)
Absolutely Bonkers
Very funny and raunchy film held together by the committed performances of the two leads, Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, as well as terrific turns by Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally as their eccentric parents.
The film also has some well sung catchy songs, two hysterical creatures that have to be seen to be believed, and an amusing performance by Bowen Yang as God.
The Premise: Two identical twins meet each other for the first time. Both men having been raised by a single biological parent, they set off on a mission to meet the parent they never knew and reunite them so they can be a family again. It's like The Parent Trap on crack.
There are a couple of things that didn't work for me. Megan thee Stallion is poorly cast and unfunny as the men's boss. The crude lyrics can sometimes undermine a well written song with the final number especially questionable.
But if you get camp and/or are gay you will probably love this film as I did. If you are neither of those and are easily offended, you may want to pass this by.
Down Low (2023)
An Offensive Mess
Wow, what a disappointment this was. I usually like the actors in the cast and am dumbfounded as to what they were thinking when they signed on to this project.
The character played by Lukas Gage is supposed to be funny and charming but is so over the top obnoxious, clueless, and irritating that it's a wonder that Zachary Quinto's character didn't throw him out after five minutes.
This is a film by a gay writer and gay actors, yet it treats the gay characters with utter contempt. The scenes don't ring true and the characters reactions and dialogue don't work with the backdrop of the situation they find themselves in.
There is a scene at the end with Audra MacDonald who gives an excellent monologue that is finally grounded in reality only to have what happens after it negate the whole scene for an ubsurd and head scratching happy ending.
This could very well be the worst film of the year.
Malibu Horror Story (2023)
A Disappointing Borefest
I saw the preview for this during The Exorcist: Believer and was excited to see it. The preview looked scary and gave off vibes of The Descent, a favorite horror film.
The plot: Four twentysomethings set out to make a documentary on what happened to four teenage boys who disappeared ten years earlier while hiking through a local cave with a disturbing history.
The first half of this film plays like a dull true crime show on Investigation Discovery. Then we watch a lot of found footage of the obnoxious teens who disappeared ten years earlier. Found footage that gives way too much information to make one wonder why the police hadn't investigated the disappearance further.
Our documentary filmmakers find themselves in the cave hoping to summon spirits and find out what really happened to the boys so they can complete their project.
Will they meet the same fate? Will anyone care?
The film fails to create any tension. In addition,, the found footage angle has been done to death. The documentarians are flat characters and the filmmaker gives us no reason to care about them. There are some scary images and a couple of creepy moments but not nearly enough to compensate for the build up.
I couldn't wait for this to end and left genuinely disappointed as the film never lived up to the promise of the trailer.
She Came to Me (2023)
Well that was torture
Good cast wasted as they play characters whose actions and dialogue bear no resemblance to any real human beings.
The film couldn't seem to decide on one storyline and had several. The tone shifts frequently leaving one to wonder what exactly the writer/director was going for.
Anne Hathaway was grating. Peter Dinklage who is typically a strong actor, is horribly miscast. Even Marisa Tomei, whom I usually love, couldn't save this. There was zero chemistry between any of these characters.
When a film with a cast like this gets an extremely limited release and makes no money, there is a reason.
Bottoms (2023)
Promising first half, then goes off the rails
I have always loved high school comedies and was hoping to love this one too. I liked it. I just wished it was more grounded in reality.
On the plus side, It was refreshing to see two queer female best friends as the main characters. They were outcasts at school but embraced it. The chemistry between the two was strong and their scenes together were funny and at times touching.
As for the cons, the film felt low budget. I didn't mind this at first but by the second half, the film falls into lapses of logic and ridiculousness. This is a high school that only seems to have one teacher. Insane things happen between students and no one intervenes. The last 20 minutes are especially nuts to the film's detriment. I started to long for the polish of a Clueless or Mean Girls.
Overall a decent effort in desperate need of some fine tuning.
Theater Camp (2023)
"Camp" meets "Waiting for Guffman."
Some of you may remember the movie Camp from 2003. That was the original independent film about a theater camp which featured a young Anna Kendrick, had great music, and characters you cared about.
Then we have Waiting for Guffman, one of the original mocumentaries, about an overly enthusiastic community theater group. That film is a classic filled with laugh out loud moments, great writing, and an incredible cast of comedic actors.
Theater Camp doesn't compare to either of these unfortunately. At this point, the whole mocumentary thing is stale. The film also appears to make fun of its characters more than celebrate them for their quirkiness. There are too many characters to really care about anyone and a curious lack of music for a film about theater. I did enjoy the final number but it seemed to come out of nowhere.
I thought the addition of Ben Platt would add some gravitas to the film. It doesn't. His character is an ass and Ben seems to have forgotten that he is acting in a comedy.
I laughed a few times but not nearly as much as the trailer would have you think. I was looking forward to seeing Amy Sedaris, but her character meets an unfortunate fate and she disappears from the film early on.
This barely gets a 5 from me. Save some money and just go watch or rewatch one of the films mentioned above.
The Tutor (2023)
Well acted and suspenseful
Garrett Hedlund plays Ethan, a professional tutor, who gets a high paying live in job teaching a wealthy teenager. The teen is creepy from the beginning and something seems very off about the whole situation. Ethan stays anyway as he and his girlfriend are expecting a baby, and they need the money.
Hedlund is excellent in this and the film keeps you guessing. Any sane person would have been out of there pretty quickly but then there would be no film. Still, the twist was unexpected and satisfying even if it sorta comes out of left field.
This is a decent thriller that keeps you interested. Recommended if you are willing to overlook the plot holes and just go with it.
She Came from the Woods (2022)
Tries very hard to no avail.
Having grown up on 80s horror, I was excited to see what I thought would be a throwback to summer camp slasher movies. The fact that it was released in a local multiplex rather than direct to on demand upped my curiosity.
Unfortunately, the film is so tonally challenged that I couldn't enjoy it on any level. It's poorly written and not particularly scary or funny. On top of that, there are too many characters which make it impossible to care about any of them. Acting ranges from decent to awful. The villain is ill conceived and the supernatural element is uninteresting. Gore was ok at times, weak at others. As the movie progresses you just start caring less and less and wanting it all to end.
M3GAN (2022)
Unoriginal cash grab for undiscriminating audiences
When I saw the previews, I thought that this would be a retread of so many movies I've seen before and it didn't interest me at all. Fast forward to opening night. With the film getting lots of good reviews including three stars by my trusted local newspaper, I decided to give it a chance. Always trust your first instinct.
The film is bad. It's not scary in the least. Hell it doesn't even offer good jump scares. The acting is awful. Allison Williams who was so good in Get Out seems to be sleepwalking through this and embarrassed to be in it. The actor who plays her boss is even worse. The child makes no impression at all.
The writing is beyond amateurish. Every kill can be seen from a mile away with the victims being the worst of horror movie cliches.
I started thinking about other films with evil dolls. Chucky worked so well because he's a fun villain. The Boy worked because it created atmosphere and you cared about the characters. This offers neither. There
could have been a good movie based off the idea of a doll created by artificial intelligence. This isn't it.
Spoiler Alert (2022)
I wanted to love it.
I liked the film but something didn't click for me.
The main problem, I think, is the casting. I just didn't believe the relationship. Ben Aldridge as Kit was extremely handsome, easygoing, charming, and maybe just too perfect. It was hard to believe his attraction to neurotic and insecure Michael played by Jim Parsons.
I was excited to see Sally Field, however, it's a relatively small role. As Kit's mother, her scenes are fine but she isn't given much to do which is a shame. In fact none of the other cast makes much of an impression and important information about the two men's history such as Kit's infidelity issues seemed glossed over.
With the exception of the film focusing on a gay couple, this is a sad film that fails to bring enough humor, insight, or anything new to the table to make it worthwhile.
Fatale (2020)
Taut and Twisty Thriller with an Excellent Performance by Hillary Swank
This film definitely exceeded my expectations. You will hear numerous comparisons to Fatal Attraction, but Glenn Close has got nothing on Hillary Swank's Val. I won't give too much away here but it starts with a one night stand in Vegas that for married Derrick (Michael Ealy), that is all it is. Val, however, has other ideas. After a break in in his apartment leads to a violent altercation, Val unexpectedly reenters the picture. It's a wild ride from there on, full of twist and turns that I did not see coming. The film moves at a good pace and had my full attention throughout. As I write this, its still the height of the Covid Pandemic, but being a movie lover I try to support the theaters by going at off times and there has never been more than 2 others in the theater with me. If you are considering returning to the theater, you won't be disappointed with this flick as your choice.