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The King Tide (2023)
Brilliant and Unique
This film seems to have really flown under the radar. In some ways it might not have a wide appeal but that is not because of its content and likely due to its marketing. I suspect the marketing budget is small for a Canadian made film. Horror seeking teens may find the trailer too slow and dry whereas some of the shall I say more "mature"/ sophisticated audiences seem to avoid anything that could be labelled horror.
The concept is quite clever. A small community that has lived on an island for quite some time is struggling until a young girl is delivered to them as a baby in a divine way. Isla, is able to essentially solve all of their ailments in one way or another. The start is a bit of a slow burn , but in this time the characters are developed and you become more invested. There are some really nice shots of Canada's East Coast as well.
Once the plot hits its climax it had my full undivided attention. Moral decisions are made and the consequences of actions have you on the edge of your seat.
Nothing in the film is frightening in a horror movie kind of way , however there is some intense violence in brief periods.
Overall, despite its simplicity it's one of my favourite movies of 2024.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Significant Step Back
Overall my expectations for this film was much higher than what was delivered. Ghostbusters: Afterlife had managed to connect the original characters with the new ones in a very cohesive manner. After it was completed it felt like there were so many more stories that could be told with the new characters that were introduced. That was what I was expecting this film to do. Instead of exploring these characters in further detail and their relationships the writers decided simply to introduce more characters , many of whom were not particularly necessary to advancing the story.
While the movie isn't horrendous it is simply not memorable at all. If you watch this movie and ask yourself the details of it and which function each character played a week later I wouldn't be surprised if the details are bit blurry.
Overall , for me, this movie was a missed opportunity. It had some decent effects, but this was not nearly enough to make up for its severe shortcomings.
The Holdovers (2023)
Hits the Mind and Heart in a Unique Way
The movie is presented in an old school 1980s-early 90s style. This in itself is a welcome relief from what can sometimes feel like the seemingly endless number of movies made in recent years that are nearly entirely reliant on visual effects to succeed.
Beyond its presentation this movie achieves another thing that I've been missing from so many movies made these days. Through the outstanding acting of its leads you really connect with the characters. If you really break the story down there isn't much to it. In fact all that really occurs is a miserable teacher that nobody particularly likes is tasked with essentially babysitting students who couldn't or weren't wanted at home over Christmas break.
However through their time together we learn how these characters became the way they are and can feel their struggles. If you've had some major hardship in your life you likely will connect with some of these characters.
In many ways I likened this movie to almost a Christmas version of The Breakfast Club. Hopefully other directors take note from this film and realize that developing strong characters has more value to many in the audience than simply a barrage of visual effects and CGI.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Well Executed
Anytime a movie tries to rejuvenate a franchise considered a classic the bar is set high and reasonably so. With what was generally considered a major flop with the 2016 reboot this movie had even more pressure to get it right. Not only did it hit the right notes for me in its own right, it actually made me reevaluate my dislike for the original film. In my view, the movies greatest success is how it delicately sprinkles in throwbacks to the original and lures its audience into feeling nostalgic. At the same time it also takes the risk of extending from the the original story in a modern family friendly way and delivers a respectable plot. It even manages to say farewell to Harold Ramis in the process. The casting overall is quite good with all characters having a purpose.
Certainly exceeded expectations.
Civil War (2024)
Lackluster
First of all there's no doubt the viewer was sold an entirely different film than what the trailer offered up. I had no issue with it not being cholk full of action scenes, but nowhere did the trailer suggest it was going to be a deep dive into the psychology of war journalism/ photography.
Secondly, it's clear that the intention was to avoid getting into the details of the war, but by not giving any sort of background it didn't get me invested. Further, the the characters get almost no development other than they've managed to block off their emotions and do their job. Even when the lead character is straight up asked about her background she didn't explain anything.
Most of the movie is spent watching them sitting and driving around smoking with small meaningless dialogue. The one saving grace in this film is the scene with Jesse Plemmons. The scene is very startling and raises the stakes of everything. The actor plays his role brilliantly as he often does as a callous murderous villain.
Finally to give credit where it is due there is some excellent shots and visual effects. The final battle scene in DC is filmed quite skillfully. The ending is somewhat expected for a movie that didn't really have too much to say for the 2 hours it had already had you there for.
For me this film had some similarities to Nightcrawler, but was certainly worse. Overall, despite some good aspects there's really no other way to describe it than simply too boring than to garner any more praise than a barely passable score of 5/10.
Ghostbusters (2016)
Good If you Don't Like the Series
After only just watching the original and really wondering how this franchise generated so much hype I decided to give this one a shot. In general I'd heard nothing but bad things about this movie prior. After viewing I can see why loyalists to the original would be annoyed by it, but for me who didn't enjoy the original it was somewhat of a comical viewing experience. It certainly trolls the first in many ways , although it probably wasn't meaning to. While some of the jokes grow old and are a bit tacky in general it at least got me to laugh a couple times which I can say the original did not achieve. I'm surprised Chris Hemsworth would take on the role he did. I thought the women had pretty good chemistry and particularly enjoyed Leslie Jones character. The final battle so to speak was fairly entertaining and completed the movie adequately.
By no means was this a good movie , but not nearly as awful as I expected based on others input.
Elemental (2023)
Missing on Several Elements
Overall I hold Pixar to quite a high standard and this movie simply does not come close to that standard in any criteria. One of the magic traits of Pixar has traditionally been for the creators to get you to really feel for the animated characters that it develops. In this movie the characters are quite simply flat. All we really get to know about Ember the entire movie is that she has a bad temper and isn't particularly enthused to continue running her father's business. We also gather very little about her friend Wade , who I suppose is the lead supporting character. He seems like a relatively friendly guy who works for the bureaucracy and develops a strong crush for Ember. That's all we get from him and it gives you really little reason to root for him. Even worse, and a very bad message to send to viewers, he's extremely pushy and borderline stalker like showing up uninvited to Ember's family celebration to profess his love for her. The idea that you can just throw yourself upon someone and expect to earn their love just isn't a reality in the real world. In almost no scenario in reality would Ember change her mind after this stunt.
Further the movie is clearly trying to make connections to the struggles of immigrants in the real world. Specifically, it focuses on issues of how the races/elements can clash. In my view, the parallels they are trying to draw are simply poor ones . For instance, people are people regardless of race and therefore should be able to prosper in harmony, while elements (fire /water/ etc on the other hand have very real reasons for why they can't mix. For example, when Ember's family is trying to get housing they show them go to a wood tree building. Clearly fire and wood can't go together or the place would burn down. So there is a very practical reason for why they couldn't live there. On the other hand, there is no practical justification for discrimination in the real world. Overall, the movies attempts to draw connections to the real world just aren't solid enough.
Lastly, the plot is very predictable and just never captured my interest. A direct contrast to this movie for me would be the Pixar movie 'Soul' where you are actively rooting for the main character, feel a connection to their story, and the plot that keeps you engaged.
Ghostbusters II (1989)
The Best of the Worst Franchise
Although still hugely flawed I actually enjoyed it more than the first, which isn't saying much at all. The jokes in the second installment , while still not all that comical for me, are at the very least tamed down from the overly creepy advances by Bill Murray's character in the first one. His character still gives me the creeps in this one.
The plot in this movie has similar issues to the first film. There's just no real natural progression to it and the solutions are always just the ghostbusters making up some random fake pseudoscience -y term to describe what's going on. I get it's supposed to be like nerdy and therefore funny, but it's so overused and gets exhausting quickly. The connections used to advanced the plot are just made up off the cuff with no rhyme or reason for any of it. Still can't quite figure out what purple goo running under New York had anything to do with a Carpathian tyrant in a painting.
Even more bizarre to me was that the ghostbusters just all the sudden out of nowhere came up with this idea to use "positively" charged goo to counteract the negative goo and ride around on the Statue of Liberty to somehow uplift people's spirits and fight the tyrant. I suppose I could get past all this if it gave me a few laughs, but it didn't.
Despite all of these issues, I still enjoyed it more than the original ...
Red Notice (2021)
Good For What It Is
Overall the movie delivers more than what I'd hoped, which sure wasn't much before starting. Yes it's silly , the plot is sort of a dollar store Indiana Jones , but overall it provided decent light entertainment. Personally I'm not usually a huge fan of the Rock or Ryan Reynolds acting and find them to be some of the most unidimensional actors out there. The Rock can usually only play the Rock or some FBI type cop and Ryan Reynolds is the exact same character in seemingly every role, essentially Ryan Reynolds himself. Still, I oddly found the combination of the two here worked quite well.
Reynolds and the Rock have better chemistry in delivering the cheesy one liners than other combinations I've seen. And yes, the script is totally reliant on these one liners. Normally I find movies that are so reliant on the one liner deliveries to be tacky and annoying , but they make it work here.
Overall the big twist at the end is decent although probably predictable for some. In terms of a mindless, low taxing I would say it achieves what it sets out to. It doesn't feel like it wants to drag on or overextend its welcome.
I' ll definitely give the second one a watch when it's out.
Anatomie d'une chute (2023)
Barely Average Film with Excellent Performances
Having noticed the attention this film was getting I decided to give it a shot and I was left underwhelmed. Perhaps its greatest strength is that this kind of murder case seems possible in real life and not dressed up like other crime dramas simply to arouse excitement. Sandra Hüller's performance is absolutely amazing as well. Without her contribution this movie would not have been worth the watch . The supporting actors are also strong.
Nevertheless , the film just never really seems to gain the momentum to be worthy of such high praise. The entire time you are watching and waiting for something revealing to take place and yet it never really does. After completing the over two hour long film you are sort of left feeling : is that all ?
Ghostbusters (1984)
Not funny, Not Scary, Somehow a Classic?
After just watching this movie for the first time I have really tried hard to understand how this developed into a classic or even was worthy of a follow up film. Everything about it just seems poorly delivered. While it tries overly hard to be goofy, silly, and fun it also has moments where it tries to take itself seriously. Not only are the jokes not funny and the dialogue extremely awkward, it's also on the creepy side, particularly at the start. For an unexplainable reason the movie starts with Murray's character flirting with one of his female students in a really bizarre way. This adds nothing to the story in any way really. He then goes on to creepily make advances on his first ghostbuster client who at the start of the film shows no interest in him that way. I understand this sort of sexualization was perhaps considered funny in 1980s films, but even then for a comedy movie meant for kids and family it just comes across as inappropriate.
Even if you ignore all the failed attempts at comedy and try to just focus on the story there's nothing there either. The mythical story of the villains Zuul and Gozer is needlessly complicated and its resolution is quite frankly boring. Just like any other ghost they use their ray gun like weapons on to shoot Gozer back to its dimension. After the huge build up , I expected or at least hoped for something a little more creative.
For a classic there should be memorable performances and quotable lines, none of which were present.
The only thing catchy about this movie for me is the ghostbusters theme song.
One Life (2023)
Incredible Story, Underwhelming Delivery
The story that is told is extremely worthy of the big screen, however the execution of telling this story is for the most part not nearly as powerful as it could be. The primary issue in my view is a severe lack of character development. Despite such a strong emotional story it feels difficult to connect with the characters. The casting of a young Nicholas Winton played by Johnny Flynn felt off and at times even the older Winton played by Anthony Hopkins felt flat. The secondary characters despite their critical role to the story have almost no development.
Instead of examining the emotions and background of what drove the characters to try and save the Jewish children too much time is spent on the bureacratic nature of what took place. Of course this struggle should be included, but it feels like more than half the movie is spent on filing papers and not nearly enough on the characters passion to achieve their goal. It also would have been powerful to have some scenes set aside to show what some of the children did in their lives that he saved.
The closing scene where all the people stand up behind Winton who were alive because of his actions is by far the best scene in the film and well delivered. It shows the power of saving one life. Unfortunately , this scene for me was really the only scene that was worthy of the powerful story that was being told. In other words, I thought they should have been able to deliver a better film to honour these brave individuals who saved these lives.
Nyad (2023)
Inspirational with Exceptional Performances
The casting of Bening and Foster couldn't possibly be any better for these roles. I've never seen a movie where the actors seem so similar to the real life individuals. In many respects their connection and fabulous performances carry the film.
The overall storytelling is acceptable, but there are some aspects to it that are a little bit unclear or not as thorough as they could be. The scenes of Nyad's childhood with the swim team touch on her past , but I think the flashbacks could have provided a little deeper perspective into what drives her and how she became the wickedly motivated individual that she is. You can somewhat plug in their meaning , but I do believe these scenes could have been better.
Still, this is a well made movie that tells a story that should motivate you while not going over the top and making it soapy like some 'based on a true' stories can. Certainly a recommended watch.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
Stock Anderson film
As usual with Wes Anderson the visuals are fantastic and stunning. Also as is usual with Wes Anderson the story is told almost like an audiobook book with a sense of nothingness to it and yet it can oddly catch your eye and make you keep wanting to watch for some reason you re not entirely sure as to why. This short plays like a combination of improv, elitist comedy and provides somewhat of a brief adventure. For a hippie type of film viewer I can see why it may be of interest.
All the actors are quite good in fulfilling what they are supposed to. Still, I can't bring myself to giving this more than just a passing score as there is nothing to me that makes this special or would ever make me want to watch it again.
It's definitely one of those films where if the director wasn't who he was then you'd likely have never heard of it and been no worse off for it.
But it won an Oscar, so perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder on this one?
Imaginary (2024)
Yikes! Go for Horror get Horrific
From the very start it feels like the movie was made in a day. The beginning meanders along slowly but in this time doesnt really accomplish much. The characters aren't developed and instead look like they're just warming up for their first acting gig.
Some of the attempted scary scenes feel like family channel kids horror with the combination of poor acting and low scare factor. The actor that plays the dad goes on a trip midway through the movie almost signaling like the director had witnessed enough, but didn't want to not use the footage they'd already filmed, so sent him on some music trip.
Once the action takes places an incredible amount of weird random dialogue takes place. The older neighbor of theirs really doesn't serve much purpose despite their efforts to make her relevant. In fact the movie could have been done with just the mother and youngest daughter and that way maybe they could have developed them more.
The ending scenes in the other world I suppose are fine, but even with them they manage to throw in some weird cringey clichés. By this point the ship had sunken and in some ways thought it might have been at least comical if the bear got at least one of them.
It seemed by the end nobody in the theatre was taking it too seriously. A combination of a March Break teenaged audience with a poor quality horror opened the floor to all sorts of heckling with each movie going party looking to chip in their two cents.
Before going to see this movie, remember that Dune is still very much an option, even if you've already been to it.
Dune: Part Two (2024)
Very Spicey!
Undoubtedly one of the greatest cinematic experiences I've ever had. Most movies nowadays try to wow you with either visuals, action, character development, and seemingly less and less so everyday with a reasonable plot. This movie manages to check off every box. It is hard to pinpoint an actor in it that wasn't superb in their role. The visual effects, especially in IMAX , are stunning and are not simply artistic in nature, but actually work to advance the plot.
The film is pieced together so brilliantly with each act seamlessly fitting in with the last. The score by Zimmer is unsurprisingly absolute perfection as well.
For the length of the movie it actually feels quite short which is a huge achievement and shows how immersed you become in Villneuve's world.
However, I would have liked to see more of Feyd Rautha. They had an epic scene of his in the Harkonnen arena, but not too much else to develop him for his final battle against Paul. I also would have liked to see the Sardaukar put up a little better of a fight. They somehow went from the empires greatest fighters to pretty pathetic. Perhaps this was to show how strong Paul and his forces had become, but it just seemed a bit too easy. Still these are just personal aspects I would have liked to see and are not issues in the movie itself.
Overall, an epic movie, and the trilogy is likely to be sitting right alongside The Lord of the Rings and the original Star Wars movies when all is said and done.
This is a can't miss in IMAX.
Poor Things (2023)
Pompous and Grotesque
A movie that's decorated as something special with glitz and glamour that is meant to convey a deeper meaning but at its root is simply perverted. A mad scientist / doctor finds a woman who committed suicide with a baby inside of her and manages to implant the brain of the child into the dead woman. If that isn't enough to scare you away then the fact that the movie then somewhat tries to convince you that was the ethical thing to do is even more worrisome .
The movie then shows Bella Baxter, the woman with the brain of her child inside of her, become exploited over and over. You watch sex scene after sex scene and the directors main goal with all this is to show that Bella is escaping her imprisonment from the men in her life and going on an adventure to pursue 'happiness'. The huge problem with all of this is that Bella has the brain of a child, and if you re watching some of these sex scenes with that in mind it's not a woman pursuing happiness and liberty but child exploitation.
The fact that Hollywood not only accepts this but encourages and awards this concept is deeply concerning. There are so many other ways to show women's liberation and empowerment than what they have done here.
The acting , camera work, and costumes are good, but the plot is chaotic. The script is extremely pretentious and is used to try to make you believe in some powerful underling message.
Overall, certainly could have gone without seeing this one. Its greatest strength is that it certainly makes you have emotions towards it, but for me none of those feelings were positive.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Flawed, But Gets the Job Done
Overall it met my expectations quite well. It didn't dig into the characters as deep as I hoped, but it sprinkled in enough to be satisfactory. There were a couple parts that I found needed more clarification. I think it needed to be a bit more explicit on the name change from Jimmy to Logan. For lots of the movie it just seems to flip around. You sort of have to plug in why that is on your own, but in an origins/ prequel I want it spelled out to me. Secondly, I don't think they do a good enough job showing why Victor hates Logan so much. He really wants to kill him that badly just because he doesn't want to act in animalistic ways like him? The rivalry doesn't have enough background to hype it up fully. Lastly, Logan goes from stunned that he was played by Kayla who cut a deal with Stryker to all the sudden still fighting all out to protect her. They try to complete this scene too quickly in my opinion. Kayla tries to tell Logan the love was real, but it seems hard to believe provided she was essentially babysitting him as a spy.
All in all despite its flaws it is quite entertaining and did a good enough job connecting it to the events that would unfold in the future.
Land of Bad (2024)
Land of Not Too Bad
Overall they delivered a pretty solid film for the military survival genre. Its greatest issue is that no character really has any background on them at all so emotionally it's hard to fully engage. By the end of the film you likely will remember few/ if any of the main players names. The most it does at the onset is show a picture of a soldiers family inside his helmet to get you to feel for him on this mission that clearly is going to have some significant issues. The villains have no background whatsoever. All you know about the main character is that he's from a different ranking or level in the military. In summary, they try to get you to root for him as he is the new "rookie" or underdog who was sent on the mission as a fill in. They have some success in getting you to root for him because of this but I still wish I'd known more.
There are some good interactions with ' Reaper'(Russell Crowe) and 'Playboy' (Liam Hemsworth) through the communication system. In fact, their conversations seem to flow better than between the soldiers on the ground.
Still the movie is quite engaging, there are some very intense battle scenes that last just the right amount of time. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and I was never bored.
Would recommend for anyone into the survival/ military genre. The plot isn't super original, but the execution is quite good and overall it provides good entertainment value.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Has Aged Well
Overall this movie raised a lot of ethical questions that Marvel these days would try very hard to avoid at all costs. It is a nice addition to what otherwise is also a good action movie. The actors play their roles well and the casting was so well done for this series . Sir Ian McKellen makes for any extremely interesting villain. I find myself always wanting to know more about how Magneto became the way he was in this trilogy.
The largest issue I have with this film is the allocation of time. Scott is killed off way too quickly provided his impact on the first two. There is then incredible amounts of time dedicated to Jean, although we never actually learn more about what makes her other side evil other than that it is wickedly powerful. It is sort of touched on by Prof X , but not nearly enough to have her be the feature of the film.
Nevertheless this movie is far superior to most Marvel productions nowadays.
The Beekeeper (2024)
Meat and Potatoes Action
This film delivers just enough of what it needs to in all areas. None of it is particularly new or ground breaking, but nor do most watching this film expect it to be. There's something to be said to delivering simple details well that provide a quality experience for action lovers. Statham is his usual self, but also better than I've seen him in some of his other recent work.
Overall the plot is very basic and predictable, which again is fine because everything else surrounding it was solid. Another film that is in the John Wick category of type of films, but isn't, yet also doesn't trip over itself like some other attempts have.
It's a fun , easy going, enjoyable watch.
Bob Marley: One Love (2024)
Disgraceful and So Disappointing
If you are looking for a biography of Bob Marley's life you are much better off trying YouTube or some other work on him. If you are hoping to just watch concerts and listen to some of his greatest hits this movie is also a miss. I personally do not see how this work would satisfy what anyone was looking for. I was fine accepting that the movie has no plot if I could get a deeper understanding into this legend , but I left knowing no more than I came in with, which I do not consider to be that much. Surely there was more they could have provided than just the unity, peace , love mantra that I'm sure almost the entire audience knew about the man beforehand.
More historical information is provided in the short paragraphs before the movie starts and when it ends than anything shown on screen the entire time. The few pieces when they have the opportunity to tell a story are very rushed and skimmed over.
The dialogue was also quite hard to distinguish and Marley's accent was not nearly a strong as portrayed in the film. Overall the acting would have been acceptable, but without a plot wasn't enough to hold it up.
Bob Marley deserved more than this production. Skip this and maybe get a book or watch something else on him.
The Hill (2023)
Not A Home Run, but Decent Base Hit.
The Netflix pre-trailer portrays a very different story than the one you are given. It certainly is not the traditional sports film. That is not to say all of the movie is bad, there are in fact some scenes that are high quality and will move your heart. The issue is that there is too much filler that doesn't quite develop the characters enough. Some of the scenes between the child and his father just don't quite deliver the impact needed , the scenes are too raw and I'm not sure whether it was the acting or the script but I definitely needed more. I believe it would have made the story more powerful if more attention was given to digging deeper into the boys relationship with his father outside of just the fact that his dad wanted him to be a clergyman instead of a baseball player . There was a point for me where I just wanted more meaningful heartfelt dialogue between them which would have made the ending so much more rewarding in my opinion. It could have better established the father in particulars growth as a character.
Still ithe movie was a worthwhile watch . Had the potential to be spectacular , but lacked in too many ways making it just ok.
Stranger Things (2016)
A Series That Will Be Watched For Generations
The series since its inception has come a long way. It was a bold attempt to put out something different in the sci fi arena while trying to do it in the 80s time period. While each season has operated on mostly the same premise, the show has done an excellent job of sprinkling in new characters and plot lines to keep it fresh while also remaining true to itself. The casting for the most part has been excellent. I'm not sure all of the new characters were spot on in Season 4 , but they don't damage the end product either. The filming, editing, and music are done with tremendous skill. Each season has had its upsides and downsides (pun intended) but overall the conclusions have all been quite satisfying leaving you wanting more.
It does feel like they are ending the show at the proper time. Sometimes some of the best movies and shows have a difficult time closing the story , only time will tell if they can find a respectable way to tie it all together.
American Nightmare (2024)
Very Well Made and Critical Watch
This is a great choice for a docu-series for followers of true crime but critical viewing for anyone interested in going into any type of criminal law or law enforcement. The way the episodes are set up it shows you how ridiculous the initial story sounded and why almost nobody would believe it. This is the very reason why it is so crucial to watch. The lesson here is clearly that public opinion can clearly create the appearance of guilty until proven innocent which carries with it severe implications.
I will avoid saying too much on the matter to avoid spoiling it, but the lesson I have certainly taken away is that crazy things can actually occur and that until we are proven with hard facts otherwise we should avoid jumping to conclusions.
Would highly recommend the watch.