Fresh

Fresh (2022)

Directed by Mimi Cave

Screenplay by Lauryn Kahn

Stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jojo T. Gibbs, Andrea Bang, Dayo Okeniyi, Charlotte Le Bon, Brett Dier, and Alina Maris

I didn't hear about this movie when it was released earlier this year. I guess with hubbub of the Oscars might have been overshadowing it. This movie was in a top twenty horror movies of this year. I wanted to see if the movie is gonna go there or is it going to be like Raw. It doesn't go fully there.

Noa (Edgar-Jones) is tired of the dating scene, especially dating losers. One night, she goes to the grocery store and meets Steve (Stan). He is charming and a breath of fresh air. Noa takes a liking to him. They agree to go to Steve's house in the county. Things are not what they seem when it turns out that Steve is a cannibal.

When I was watching the movie, I kept thinking if the movie was going to be like The Black Phone or Get Out in its overall plot. It turns out to be both. It's not a bad thing, but I wish that the we delved into the world more. Who are these secret cannibals? How do they get in touch with each other?

Did the movie go where I thought it was going to go? Yes. Did I wish that the ending of the movie wasn't a fucking mess? Also, yes. It was a nice ride.

Rating: 6/10

Weekly Rewind

The reviews are going to be infrequent in the coming weeks as I am in the process of moving. Be aware my fives of followers out there.

Bullet Train: I wanted to see a dumb action movie. This one fit the bill perfectly. So much so that I didn't care what was going on. I had no desire to review it, because I was barely paying attention. 4/10

Troop Beverly Hills: I don't know why it took me so long to watch this camp classic. Is it a great movie? No. Is it fabulous? Yes. 6/10

Another rewatch of Bros because I was under the weather.

The Northman (rewatch): I wanted to revisit this movie since reviewing it earlier this year. I didn't know that the story of Hamlet was inspired by this tale. 9/10
 

The Eternal Daughter

The Eternal Daughter (2022)

Written and directed by Joanna Hogg

Stars: Tilda Swinton, Carly-Sophia Davies, Zinnia Davies-Cooke, August Joshi, Joseph Mydell, and Alfie Sankey-Green

This movie recently came out on VOD. I wanted to see what the mood of the movie was. Coming out of it, it feels like something that I have seen before that was better.

Julie Hart (Swinton) goes to a remote hotel with her mother and dog, Louis. The property used to belong to the family a long time ago. Julie is trying to finish a manuscipt about her and her mother. During her stay, she starts hearing things from the other rooms that are currently unoccupied. Julie feels hat something is not quite right.

Watching the film, it felt that the mod was going to be quiet and atmospheric. It was. There wasn't much dialogue. Cool. I have seen plenty of movies to know what was going to happen throughout the course of the runtime. I was waiting to the obvious reveal. It doesn't happen until fifteen minutes before the movie ends.

It is not breaking any new ground. It's the same derivative concept regurgitated out. I cannot recommend this.

Rating: 5/10

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson 

Story by Guillermo del Toro and Patrick McHale

Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins

Based on the book by Carlo Collodi

Featuring voices by Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Burn Gorman, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton

Did you know that there have been four Pinocchio films that have been released in the past five years? I did. I have only seen the original film and this movie. My final verdict is that I think I don't think I like the story of Pinocchio.

Cricket (McGregor) recounts the story of Gepetto (Bradley) who mourns the loss of his "son," Carlo in WWI. Gepetto was devastated by the loss and goes through bottles of booze. One day, he makes a wooden boy named Pinocchio (Mann), a rambunctious being. You know the story.

I understood that del Toro wanted to make his version of the story different from the Disney version or any other version that has been released. Cool. It was nice to see a different storyline with the character. My main problem was the character of Pinocchio. He is very absent-minded and annoying that I wanted him to die. Seriously. The storyline with the fascists was weird.

The only redeeming thing about the movie was the end.

Rating: 6/10

Emancipation

Emancipation (2022)

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Screenplay by Bill Collage

Stars: Will Smith, Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Aaron Moten, Michael Luwoye, Steven Ogg, Grant Harvey, Mustafa Shakir, Paul Ben-Victor, Jesse C. Boyd, and David Denman

There was not a mention with this movies for months after the incident at the Oscars. Rumors were swirling that the film was pushed to 2023. Turns out not to be true. There was some Oscar talk with Smith here. I am judging the film on merit only. It's fine.

During the Civil War, a slave Peter (Smith) hears that President Lincoln has implemented the Emancipation Proclamation. Hearing this, he has an idea to escape from his slavers toward freedom.

The first moments of the film I could tell that the movie was either shot in black and white or in color with heavy saturation on it. Turns out that it was both. This immediately took me out of the experience.

It seems that the movie was trying to be tough to watch to invoke some sort of response for the audience. I don't think that Fuqua succeeded in this regard. The film was too long for it own good. The central story line has been done before with The Revenant, The Odyssey or Cold Mountain. This is nothing new. It tried, but it failed to hook me.

Smith's performance is solid. I didn't know that Peter was supposed to be Haitian. He had moments in an uneven movie.

Rating: 5/10

Morbius

Morbius (2022)

Directed by Daniel Espinosa

Screenplay by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless

Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, and Al Madrigal

I was not intending to see this movie. Since it was pushed its release date back five times, I knew it was going to be awful. I wanted to see how bad it was. It's not good at all.

A world renounced scientist, Dr. Michael Morbius (Leto) is trying to cure his rare blood condition. He travels to Costa Rica to try to find vampire bats to get their DNA to try to make artificial blood to make him a test subject. When this happens, he turns into a living vampire.

The movie felt like a episode of Lost where you follow the Smoke Monster around for almost two hours. The special effects were laughable. Every time Michael or Milo (Smith) Morbed out, I laughed. It was so stupid, but I loved it.

Leto has a reputation of going method on and off set. It didn't need to be that deep for this movie.

The other actors of the movie were either over being there like Tyrese Gibson or knew exactly movie they were in like Matt Smith. It doesn't make the movie an enjoyable watch. It feels that the Sony Marvel movies don't get it. At all.

Rating: 3/10

Weekly Rewind

During this time of the year, a lot of Oscar movies are coming out left and right. This list is from two weeks of viewing or rewatching.

Smile: I tried to watch this movie to see what the fuss was about. Umm... no. I think I had my fill with horror movies where a woman with insurmountable trauma is dealing with it and the people around thinks that she is crazy. I was done. I didn't finish it. I don't care. DNF

Knives Out (Rewatch): I watched this movie again to prepare myself for Glass Onion when it was released theatrically. It is still a solid whodunit. The right wing to borderline MAGA scenes made me uncomfortable. 8/10

Benediction: People were talking about this movie online. 'It's so great. You should watch it.' I tried to watch it. I was bored out of my mind seriously. I don't a flying fuck about a wartime poet in one of the World Wars. I was yawning at least six times during the forty minutes that I spent with this movie. I did not care to finish it nor will I. DNF 

Bodies Bodies Bodies (Rewatch): After seeing the movie nominated for a couple Indie Spirit Awards, I have decided to revisit this movie. I guess when a certain character dies, I was checked out. It turns out to be a very pointed dark comedy/horror/satire about privilege. Original rating: 1/10. Now: 7/10

Triangle of Sadness (Rewatch): I wanted to see if I see think that the first act was still awful, the second act was better and the third is best. Still true. I still cannot believe that thirty minutes into the movie is dedicated to four separate fights about a fucking bill. Shaking my head. 6/10

The Bear (Season 1): Taking a break from watching mediocre movies, I wanted to see this series. People were saying that it was really good. They were right. A guy throwing to save his family sandwich shop is riveting TV. 9/10

Confess, Fletch: Back on the mind numbingly boring train again. Here is this movie. Yeah, Jon Hamm should not do comedy movies. This movie is like Mr. Bean, but he is talking unfortunately. The characters were bland. The plot was uninspired. It was background noise. I manage to finish it, but I didn't care to review it. Why bother? 2/10 

Aftersun (Rewatch): After seeing the awards buzz with the movie, I wanted to revisit this movie. I didn't understand what was going on the first watch. Maybe I was in the wrong headspace for it. After doing some reading online, watching the movie the second opened my eyes like I have never seen before. Being someone who has social anxiety disorder and depression, I would have recognized that in the Calum character. Sophie is trying to figure out who her father was with the 'mask off." I did not not give it a fair chance. Original rating: 4/10. Now: 10/10