Author: troubledproductions

Saturday Night (2024) Review

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Quick Synopsis: The world is not ready for the debut episode of Saturday Night Live, but then again, neither are the cast.

I need to start with what will be the core premise of this review: Saturday Night Live is a huge deal, despite fluctuations in quality over the years (and people who say the modern series are the worst have obviously never watched season 6), it’s still a big deal culturally and commercially.

In America. Outside? It only really gets mentioned when a guest is particularly noteworthy or controversial, and even then it never breaks through the cultural barrier past “people who are already aware of American pop culture”. The only time I have seen it mentioned lately my main thoughts aren’t “That’s funny”, it’s “FFS can someone tell these performers to keep a straight face for five minutes?” Americans reading this may feel a bit smug, thinking “knowledge of culture isn’t needed to see a film, just go see it”, and then refuse to watch the Robbie Williams monkey film because they don’t know who he is.

I have seen the first season of SNL, so I’m aware of who most of the characters in this are. That’s a good thing, as Saturday Night assumes you know them, and makes almost no effort to let you know who everybody is. Saturday Night is made for people who already know about the making of the show, and want to see it onscreen. There’s nothing to bring in the casuals. It never escapes the shadow of reality or does much to escape the incredibly specific fan service. The fan service is an issue because it creates a weirdness. We see things happen, like wondering what can happen when you mix Jim Belushi and a bee costume. That only works if you’re aware of what happened in the show, but if you’re aware of what happened, then you already know the first episode of SNL worked, so there’s no drama. At times it needs you to be unaware of reality, and at others, it depends on it for the jokes to work.

The performances are f*cking fantastic though. Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase is funnier than anything the real Chevy Chase has done in years (with the exception of the time that bitter old fuck fell over). Dylan O’Brien is surprisingly unrecognisable as Dan Aykroyd, disappearing completely into the role. I wish Emily Fairn (Laraine Newman) and Ella Hunt (Gilda Radnor) were given more to do as they seem pretty good in those roles (and I hella miss Gilda Radnor and love to see more of her, even if it is just a representation of her). In terms of “most like the performer they’re portraying”, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris is probably the best.

Saturday Night does contain some very funny moments. I particularly liked it when the writers clashed with Joan Carbunkle, who demanded they censor some of their more risque moments. The profane reaction to her demands are damn hilarious, and I want more of that. It’s one of the few times the movie stands still and lets you observe what’s happening, rather than quickly whipping around to the next historical moment.

I’d have absolutely loved it if this was a TV show instead, where we were given more time to know the characters, where the three-act structure of each episode was based around things we didn’t know, rather than the only thing we did.

Reitman has pulled off a FANTASTIC job of recreating NBC in the mid 70’s, but what he’s not done is given a reason to care about it. We’re not an audience, we’re voyeurs being taken for a ride through a world we’re not given a grounding in. It did make me watch SNL again, so yay that I guess?

A Complete Unknown (2024) Review

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Quick Synopsis: Dylan goes electric! Eventually.

Bob Dylan is an odd kind of celebrity. If you asked someone “do you recognise the name Bob Dylan?”, the majority of the English-speaking Western world would say yes. They could also probably name some of his songs. “Now, here are five photos of men dressed in casual clothes. Which one is Bob Dylan?” would be a much harder question. It’s not just age, his look is oddly fluent. At times he looks like one of the most handsome men who’s existed, and at other times he looks like he’s about to ask you for spare change so he can buy a bottle of White Lightning. It’s why I’m Not There worked despite featuring a multitude of Dylans. All of this is a long way for me to say that I’m not entirely opposed to Timothee Chalamet as the title role. Yes, I had objections to his singing abilities in Wonka, but if you think it’s weird someone doesn’t sing Bob Dylan songs in perfect pitch, then you’ve never listened to Bob Dylan.

The performances were some of my favourite parts of A Complete Unknown (Or, ACU, pronounced Ack-oo), Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez is a particular highlight. Edward Norton is okay but is occasionally a bit too “Mr Rogers”, which he may have been in real life, I don’t know. Boyd Holbrook is an unexpectedly good Cash, not quite as good as Phoenix was, but good enough that you don’t sit there thinking “That’s not Phoenix”. I was pleasantly surprised with how well Scoot McNairy performed as Woody Guthrie. Not because I don’t rate him as a performer, but because at the time, Woody Guthrie was in very poor health due to his battle with Huntington’s Disease. That’s a very hard disease to pull off on screen, especially when it’s at the stage it was here. If you go too far it can come off as unrealistic and kind of offensive, but if you don’t go far enough then it downplays how horrific it can be. McNairy has a difficult balance to achieve but manages it. Best of all, nobody is a vocal failure in terms of singing either.

On the downside? The script itself is lacking. It’s kind of dull at times, suffering from a lack of focus. It’s primarily about a singular incident, the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. You know, a time when instead of getting offended at silly things like sexual assault and unelected billionaires in charge of everything, people got offended at things that really mattered, such as black people sitting on a bus, and a folk musician playing an electric guitar. That’s partly why it’s difficult to buy into this. Yes, it was a HUGE deal, but it’s something so incredibly stupid that it’s difficult to build an effective opposition. The people against him aren’t given enough of a defence that they seem logical. I know, the reality is unrealistic and all, it’s the same issue that films about MLK have, the viewpoints of his opposition were so ridiculous in reality it’s difficult to showcase them onscreen in an effective way.

It’s not helped by how the narrative doesn’t seem to be building towards that moment. It’s just a loose series of events connected by its main character, which happens to end at the folk festival. It’s not detailed enough to count as a proper biography, so you don’t really learn enough about him. Much like the Elvis film from a few years ago, he goes from (pardon the obvious) a complete unknown to a massive star almost instantly in screen time. It’s almost like ACU feels it has to tell us he’s a big deal, and how he became a big deal, before getting to the main crux, but then realised it ran out of time so had to fit the whole Folk Festival plot in very quickly.

I liked some of the character set-up though. The moments between him and Baez on stage are beautiful, particularly when that chemistry causes Dylans’ relationship to break up. No words need to be said, the chemistry between the two, and his girlfriend noticing that and storming off, says it all. Looking at it now, most of my favourite moments from this did involve the music. The bits of him complaining about his record label forcing him to record an album of mostly covers? Meh. Dylan is surrounded by industry suits and feels like a musical prostitute. Okay, nothing special. Dylan sings The Times They Are A-Changing for the first time and the crowd spontaneously joins in? Magic. Dylan plays Song To Woody to Woody as Pete Seeger watches? Beautiful.

As a tool to learn about Bob Dylan? It’s not that great. As a way for people who are already aware of Bob Dylan to see some of the moments onscreen? It’s pretty cool. If you know the players involved in this story, it is fascinating to see them. If you don’t? There’s not enough for you to delve into.

Much like Bob Dylan himself, it feels like ACU truly comes alive when it’s onstage, and the day-to-day life is kind of not worth examining.

Wolf Man (2025) Review

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Quick Synopsis: Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbot) takes his wife and kid on a vacation to his childhood home. His vacation-as-marriage-counselling efforts are somewhat thwarted by a therianthropic threat intent on killing.

I’m a fan of Christopher Abbott, based ENTIRELY on the fact that I liked the first film I saw him in (On The Count Of Three). Wolf Man having him as the lead, combined with it being made by Leigh Whannell (writer of Saw, director of The Invisible Man) got my hopes up high.

Maybe too high. I didn’t dislike Wolf Man. The last wolf-based movie I watched at the cinema was (I think, but I could be wrong) Wolf, a film so bad that I live-blogged it for Halloween a few years ago, and I haven’t live-blogged anything since. This is nowhere near as bad as that. The score on Metacritic currently stands at 50%, which seems fair. It’s as middle-of-the-road as a dead badger. Not much really stands out as either a negative or a positive.

The biggest negative for me was the story itself. The cause of the transformation feels unearned. It’s as close to “character was bitten by a zombie, but the audience doesn’t realise” as it’s possible to get. He’s in an accident, stuff happens, and he gets scratched by the “wolf” attacking him. He starts transforming later on, and you do get the feeling that you’ve missed something. It’s all the more baffling because near the end of his transformation, there is a moment where his leg is grabbed and he’s attacked. That would have made a much more logical cause for the infection, and it wouldn’t have been in the middle of a car crash scene. The reveal of who the Wolf Man that’s attacking them is is so obvious that I’m not sure it even counts as a twist. “Hmmmm, this character mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago in this very area, and now we’re being attacked by something with slight human characteristics that’s been haunting these wolves for decades. I wonder if those two things are linked?”

The visual effects are fine, I guess? Nothing will ever top An American Werewolf In London for a transformation sequence with weight and body horror, there are moments where Wolf Man comes close, but then there are also moments where it looks a little bit goofy.

On the plus side, the performances are good, Abbot is good enough that you forgive him for Kraven The Hunter (although I completely forgot he was even in that), the biggest issue I have with Matilda Firth is that she was born in 2014 and that makes me feel old. I was most impressed with Julia Garner. She has such a great look, it’s a mix between 80’s Scream Queen and Classic Hollywood Beauty mixed with a smidgen of Crazy Art Teacher/Madonna. She’s in the new Fantastic Four movie which I’m now looking forward to 12% more because of her involvement.

I also have to praise Wolf Man for the scenes from Blake’s world. The visuals, the audio etc all combine to create something new and also make sense. Once the colour change happens you somehow INSTANTLY know that we’re now in his perspective. It would have been so easy to demonstrate it by saying, “This is what he can see,” in a POV shot, but keeping it in a third-person viewpoint is much more visually interesting. It also allows for transitions between Blake’s version of reality and reality reality to be smoother than a Barry White ballad. As a writer, it’s easy to see moments where you think “I would not have done that”, but as a director, it’s difficult to not be thoroughly impressed with what Whannell has pulled off. I have criticised this film, but I appreciate that it made an effort. It instilled emotional scenes, it added character depth so they all seem like actual humans as opposed to just “characters in a horror movie”. So while I have criticised it, I would MUCH rather something like this exist than “Generic Horror Movie Number 57”.

Here (2024) Review

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Quick Synopsis: Multiple generations of couples and families inhabit the same home over the course of a century.

I knew one thing before sitting down to watch this: the CGI used to de-age Tom Hanks was not good. I have to be honest, that didn’t bother me that much. There are moments where you can see the CGI and you’re brought out of the narrative, but it doesn’t happen anywhere near as much as it could.

Here is a fascinating watch, all taking place at the exact same location over the course of hundreds of years in a non-linear fashion. The non-linear nature was a smart choice because it allows you to see how actions can influence people years later. It also allows for more interesting transitions because you can see the changes.

That leads me to the visual downside. Here doesn’t fade directly from one scene to the next, there’s also no attempt to make it look like it’s one scene. Instead, it brings up a small box on the screen which contains the same location at a different time or with different people, it’s only once you get used to that new scene that the movie moves on fully. It’s visually compelling, but there’s one major drawback. It makes it difficult to be invested in the current scene as you’re always seeing what’s next. It would be like if the “here’s what’s up next” part of television shows happened halfway through the episode instead of at the end. The constant look into the future stops you from focusing on the present, Here never exists in the moment, instead just constantly dangling the narrative carrot in front of you and waiting for you to catch up.

As much as it is cool to see it through the different time periods, there’s a definite focus on what happened after 1945; with the characters from then onwards being the ones we see the most of. To be honest, they’re the only ones needed. Yes, the look into the Lenni-Lenape couple and their courtship and burial rituals are interesting, and the William Franklin connection does come into play in the present-day scenes, but they’re not needed. They feel like narrative sorbets designed to cleanse our palate. The post-Young scenes also aren’t that interesting, seemingly just there to remind us that COVID existed, and police racism still does. If anybody watched this movie without those scenes, nobody would say “hey! This family drama set from 1945-2000 doesn’t focus on 2020 pandemics and race relations enough”. It feels like they were put in there just because Zemeckis feels this is an “important” movie, and “important” movies need to discuss themes.

I hate to sound like a Daily Mail reader, but this needed less politics. If it focused just on the family and their life in the house, it would be a much more interesting watch. I can accept the scenes of the house being built, because the house is a character, so seeing how it was “birthed” could also tie in thematically, but we didn’t need the inventor, the wannabe flier etc. If you cut out all the fluff, it would be much shorter. That’s not too big an improvement, as timing isn’t an issue. The “here’s what’s next” nature of the visuals means that even when you’re not interested, you’re still paying attention, so it flies by much quicker than it should.

In summary, it’s an interesting art experience, not a great movie. As much as I did enjoy the narrative, it feels like it’s trying too hard to move you. It’s so heavy-handed that if it slapped you it would knock you out. As Peter Sobczynski said in his review posted on rogerebert.com “there is a point when you find yourself thinking that the only thing that Zemeckis hasn’t thrown into the mix is a needle drop of ‘Our House’ and then he proceeds to do just that”. It’s not a terrible film, but it’s not one that wouldn’t have worked better as a 20 minute short instead. Also, a simply terrible title that makes it really awkward to talk about.

Nosferatu (2024) Review

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Quick Synopsis: Do you really need me to tell you the story for this? Just watch the original.

There was a lot of hype for this. I have been excited since I first heard of it back in 2016, even mentioning how I was looking forward to it in my review of The Witch (or The VVitch). Many journalists and critics raved about early screenings of it.

But then I heard from actual people; moviegoers who I like and respect. Their feedback wasn’t quite as positive. And I agree with them, I was not a fan of this movie. For whatever reason, I just didn’t care about what I was seeing. I haven’t seen the original from the 1920s, but I know it (mainly through the Kill Count video I recently watched). At no point while watching New-sferatu did I feel I was watching something original. It never felt like anything other than a remake. It’s so heavily indebted to its sources that it never feels like it has its own identity.

My other issue is the filming style. A lot of dialogue is delivered straight to the camera, from the receiving person’s POV. As such, there’s a disconnect between everybody, it kind of reminds me of television shows made during COVID where everybody had to socially distance themselves.

Eggers is a fantastic filmmaker, there’s no doubt about that. The visual style is arresting, with every frame mesmerising and haunting, particularly with the use of light and shadow. As a storyteller? I’m afraid that’s his weakness. None of the characters seem that interesting, Ellen Hunter, in particular feeling more of a storytelling device than an actual character. The title character also doesn’t seem that interesting. He’s played well, looks good, but the character itself doesn’t seem to have any presence; when he’s not onscreen, you don’t feel him looming over the narrative.

The performances are fine, Lily-Rose Depp has a haunted look which really suits the character and themes, Nicholas Hoult was made for these movies, and Dafoe continues to be fucking weird. Dafoe and Eggers work well together, their styles suit each other.

Like I said; all the technical parts? Brilliant. All the parts that require how to make a movie? Brilliant. All the parts that require imagination and heart? Lacking. Remakes should showcase and do what couldn’t be done in the original. All we have here is more of the same. It doesn’t remind me of classic Dracula stories, what it does remind me of? Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho.

A Real Pain (2024) Review

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Quick Summary: Mild-mannered David (Jesse Eisenberg takes a trip through historical Poland with his cousin, Manic Depressive Pixie Dream Bro Benji (Kieran Culkin)

God damn it 2025! (Yes, I’m aware this film is technically a 2024 film, but it wasn’t released in cinemas here until 2025, so I’m counting it as a 2025 film). 2025 has broken the established rules of cinema-watching already. It’s supposed to go: January is where the expected failures go, the ones the studio is attempting to hide. That way I can talk about how I’m worried if the year is going to be any good. A Real Pain has callously disregarded that rule by being one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time. If it had been released last year, it would have won Best Film, and that’s how good it was. Looking ahead, it’s really hard to see what will beat it.

So why does this movie work? It feels like it was made for me. It’s incredibly character-based, with even the side characters having enough individuality to feel like real people. It’s emotional AF, with moments that WILL break you. The performances are all damn fine too. This is the best that Eisenberg has ever been, he actually seems like a character rather than just Eisenberg again. I haven’t seen Succession yet so I can’t judge whether this is the best Culkin has been, but it’s the best I’ve seen him. The chemistry between the two feels so natural, you do get the feeling they’ve known each other for a long time.

I have to mention Will Sharpe too, his meek whilst trying to stay in charge nature provides a foil to the chaos of Culkin (I think I saw Chaos Of Culkin supporting Dropkick Murphys back in ’04). My main takeaway when it comes to the cast is that it’s nice to see Jennifer Grey again. She’s not my favourite performer, but I (and there’s no logical reason for this) have always felt a great warmth towards her and want to do well.

Be warned, this is not an easy watch. I don’t mean in terms of weirdness or difficulty in understanding. I mean it’s so emotional that there are times you may find it difficult to take in. It’s here where the performances and the script shine. Yes, the funny moments are brilliant (the moment where Culkin’s character Benji meets the rest of the group is so well-written in terms of humour and character introduction), but it’s not the laughs that you’ll remember. You’d think it would be the scene at the concentration camp that would break you, but I was personally more affected by the scenes on either side. Before it you have Benji ranting about how weird it is that tourists and camp descendants take a comfortable train there. The scene after the camp is much less dialogue-based, but just as much Benji. It’s simply him breaking down into hysterical tears.

Those two scenes are emotional, brilliant, and damn brilliant. But still might not be among my favourite scenes. There’s one that takes place near a statue that I think is close to perfection in terms of group dynamics and humour out of darkness and one at a restaurant where Jesse Eisenberg delivers a stunning monologue about Benji, revealing some truths that help explain so much about the character.

If I had to be negative? The ending could be better. I get why it ended the way it did, but it feels like the film has just had sex and is lying there in an awkward post-coital haze rather than just putting its money on the counter and leaving the room. The visuals often aren’t that interesting. That isn’t necessarily a massive negative, as there’s only so much you can do visually when a film is as character and dialogue-based as this is. But there were one or few moments where I thought “If this shot was better, it would be an all-timer”. As I said, these are mild criticisms, and I had to undergo a 10-week yoga training session as I REALLY had to stretch for them. My main disappointment is that Benji is male because if the character was female I could describe them as a Manic Shiksa Dream Girl. I guess Manic Depressive Pixie Dream Bro is good too, but nowhere near as clever.

In summary; one of the best films I’ve ever seen, and one that’s damned the next few films I watch to feel worse by comparison.

2024 In Film: Day 10 (The Amazeballs)

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Alien: Romulus
Ups: Tense.
Great performances.
Perfectly ties into the original.
Downs: Some obvious fanservice.
Not enough focus on background characters.
Some of the CGI is a little “off”.
The third act stalls too much.
Best Performer: Cailee Spaeny
Best Moment: The spacewalk through acid blood.
Worst Moment: Not for me, but the “Stay away from her. You bitch” moment has caused a lot of outrage from people.
Opening: A space probe investigates the wreckage of the ship from the first movie. They decide to bring in a large cocooned alien that’s floating nearby. Stupid, but believable.
Closing: Rain enters stasis, with no idea what will happen next. Smart, because it closes the story, but also leaves it open to a sequel if needed.
Best Line: You don’t help her. You run. Get out, however you got in
Original review here

American Fiction
Ups: Incredibly important.
Very funny.
Incredibly intricate plot work.
Downs: Divisive subject matter.
Issa Rae’s character feels slightly underwritten.
Best Performer: Tough, Jeffrey Wright I guess, but Sterling K. Brown is close.
Best Moment: The initial phone call with the publishers.
Worst Moment: The rug pool near the end feels a little unearned.
Opening: A college student complains to her (black) teacher that she’s not comfortable with the N-word, he notes if he can get used to it, she can. Sums up this film; funny, smart, and sets a fire of fury that it is determined to stoke.
Closing: A film based on Monk’s book is being made, and it’s clear that nobody understands the point of his work, leaving him famous but frustrated.
Best Line: “I just think it’s essential to listen to Black voices right now” said by three characters who discount the opinions of the only black people in the room.
Original review here

Boy Kills World
Ups: Batshit insane.
Funny.
Creative action scenes.
Downs: One of the “twists” is a bit obvious.
Music choices don’t stand out.
Best Performer: Jessica Rothe
Best Moment: The first warehouse fight.
Worst Moment: The “twist” is a little underwhelming
Opening: Boys family are executed. Kind of (it’s explained later). Really well done. Doesn’t quite show the batshit insanity the film later perfects, so tonally doesn’t QUITE match.
Closing: The family are reunited. Sweet, but something about it just doesn’t match the rest of the film.
Best Line: When something’s special enough, you can always go back to it. So let’s make this special. Are you with me?
Original review here

Civil War
Ups: Emotional.
Brutal.
Important.
Downs: More backstory would be nice.
A bit too brutal at times, I felt I needed a break.
Best Performer: Cailee Spaeny
Best Moment: The body pit. Harrowing.
Worst Moment: The death of Lee feels slightly unearned.
Opening: Lee meets Jessie after saving her from an explosion. Quite sweet, and helps explain WHY the characters react to each other as they do. Jessie feels admiration towards Lee, and Lee feels Jessie isn’t careful enough.
Closing: The president gets killed. No idea what will happen next.
Best Line: Every time I survived a war zone, I thought I was sending a warning home – “Don’t do this”. But here we are.
Original review here

Inside Out 2
Ups: Emotional AF.
New cast members and characters blend in perfectly.
“Sometimes you’re the asshole” is an important lesson to learn.
Downs: Very similar to the first one.
Best Performer: Amy Poehler
Best Moment: The panic attack. Seems pretty accurate.
Worst Moment: Joy getting rid of the negative memories makes it seem like she didn’t learn from the first movie.
Opening: A standard “here’s what’s new” showing Riley’s friendships. IO2 does focus more on Riley than the first one, but still not enough.
Closing: Riley finds out if she got on the hockey team. She finds out, we don’t. I get why they went with that, but it is a slightly underwhelming ending.
Best Line: I don’t know how to stop Anxiety. Maybe we can’t. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up. You feel less joy.
Original review here

Paddington In Peru
Ups: Exactly what is needed right now.
Utterly charming.
Funny and weird.
A worthy addition to the franchise.
Downs: Do kind of miss Sally Hawkins.
Kind of predictable at times.
Best Performer: Ben Whishaw. I know other performers are better, but this movie lives and dies on his vocal performance. Carla Tous deserves a special mention though.
Best Moment: Paddington surrounded by other bears. Is very sweet and does make you wonder if he’s staying.
Worst Moment: The Paddington In Peru song. Goes on too long.
Opening: Paddington gets a letter. I will say this, PIP does not take long to get to the actual story.
Closing: Hugh Grant’s back!
Best Line: The Lord works in suspicious circumstances.
Original review here

The Iron Claw
Ups: So damn sad!
Good performances.
Good music.
Does a good job of bringing non-fans into the weird world of professional wrestling.
Downs: Skips over quite a lot, including a whole person.
Chronology is all over the place.
Best Performer: Efron.
Best Moment: The afterlife scene, would have been overly schmaltzy and stupid in something else, but it REALLY works here.
Worst Moment: Ric Flair. A diabolically bad performance.
Opening: Fritz buys an expensive vehicle without telling his wife. Not necessary in terms of narrative, but does a good job of setting up his personality of being overly domineering and hiding it under a veneer of love.
Closing: Kevin cries. It’s actually a huge deal as he’s been suppressing his emotions. His kids promise to always be there for him. Genuinely made me tear up remembering it.
Best Line: “I used to be a brother, now I don’t have any brothers”. Based on a true line. It will BREAK you.
Original review here

Transformers One
Ups: Much more mature than you’d expect it to be.
Looks slick.
Good performances.
Downs: Slight ending fatigue.
Best Performer: Brian Tyree Henry
Best Moment: The start of darkness for Megatron. Damn near perfect. The performance, the emotion, it all makes SOO much sense.
Worst Moment: The race, because as good as it is, it could be better.
Opening: Explains the lore, which I’m very glad of because I’m not that familiar with it.
Closing: The battle lines are drawn. I really hope this gets a sequel.
Best Line: “No, I want to kill him”. The moment everything changes and it becomes brilliant.
Original review here

2024 In Film: Day Nine (The Almost Amazing)

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Abigail
Ups: Good performances.
Some brutal kills.
Sweet.
Downs: Predictable.
Feels like it’s holding back a bit.
Best Performer: Alisha Weir
Best Moment: Abigail dancing with a corpse.
Worst Moment: The death of Dean. Mainly because it’s when the film is still refusing to show us who’s doing the killing.
Opening: Our group of heroes kidnap a child. Sets the scene well, and allows us to see who the characters are. Although there’s one character who’s character feels COMPLETELY different in the opening than she does in the rest.
Closing: Possible Dracula turns up, and is convinced not to kill Joey. Would be nice to see what happens to Joey next.
Best Line: The one about onions/garlic
Original review here

Deadpool And Wolverine
Ups: Hilarious.
A surprisingly sweet send-off to the non-MCU Marvel series.
Soooooo many references.
No TJ Miller
Downs: The multiverse is getting tiring.
Continuity lock-out is strong.
What happened to Domino?
Best Performer: Ryan Reynolds. He MAKES this character.
Best Moment: When he meets the others in the void.
Worst Moment: Not really “worst”, but the multi-Deadpool fight could have been better.
Opening: Deadpool gets rejected from the Avengers. It could have been made clearer that he travelled to a different universe (the MCU one) and then BACK to his own.
Closing: An adorable closing montage of previous non-MCU Marvel films.
Best Line: Welcome to the MCU, by the way. You’re joining at a bit of a low point
Original review here

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Ups: Funny
Has some pretty decent scares
Heartwarming
The Melody/Phoebe interactions are INCREDIBLY sweet.
A natural progression for the series.
Downs: Issues with pacing.
The “death chill” and the “trying to control all the ghosts the Ghostbusters have captured” feel too separate to belong to the same villain, and it’s a criminal waste of them.
Best Performer: Mckenna Grace, obviously.
Best Moment: Phoebe meeting Melody. It’s incredibly sweet and lovely. Not sure if it’s just the chemistry the performers had, or possibly just me imagining, but there did seem to be slight homoerotic undertones between them.
Worst Moment: The containment unit is broken. It’s mainly because it’s a huge deal, but it doesn’t feel like it.
Opening: In 1904, firefighters find a group of people frozen to death. Pretty good opening actually, sets up the villain and is incredibly creepy.
Closing: Peck is coerced into publicly supporting the Ghostbusters’ activities. It’s fun, but it might have meant more if he was in the movie.
Best Line: It’s not a sex dungeon. Would a sex dungeon have these chains?
Original review here

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
Ups: Fantastic effects.
Good performances.
Incredibly human.
Downs: Seems too interested in setting up sequels.
The closing third feels too derivative of the ending of the previous movie.
Best Performer: Owen Teague.
Best Moment: The flooding of the vault. Visually stunning.
Worst Moment: The initial attack, difficult to figure out what was happening at times.
Opening: The aftermath of the death of Caesar, a pretty touching memorial/funeral scene. Then a huge jump forward in time. I would have preferred a montage of different ape civilizations through the time skip.
Closing: Humans establish contact with other humans worldwide. This means we NEED a sequel.
Best Line: Are you familiar with the concept of evolution? In their time, humans were capable of many great things. They could fly, like eagles fly. They could speak across oceans. But now, it is our time… and it is my kingdom. We will learn. Apes will learn. I will learn. And I… will conquer
Original review here

Lee
Ups: Harrowing
Important
Some brilliant performances.
Downs: Could explain some things a bit more.
If we saw some of the characters more before the war it would make you feel more when you saw them later on.
Best Performer: Kate Winslet
Best Moment: When they find the trains. It’s……it’s not easy to watch.
Worst Moment: The bathtub photo. Out of context seems a bit strange.
Opening: Pre-war Frenchness. Really shows how nonchalant people were about the prospect of war.
Closing: The original photos. They really nailed them in the recreation.
Best Line: [Handing a knife to a girl she has just saved from rape] Next time, cut it off.
Original review here

Monster
Ups: Touching.
Good performances.
Once it opens itself up to you, you’ll be entranced.
Downs: Could do more to assist the audience in terms of telling you when the time changes happen.
Best Performer: Sakura Ando.
Best Moment: The mother going to the school, it’s the first time we see her anger, and we completely understand her character.
Worst Moment: The first time the film resets, mainly because it could be signposted better. If it handled that better, this would be in the “amazing” section without a doubt.
Opening: Minato is displaying odd behaviour that is consistent with abuse. When you watch it, it’s good, when you remember it later and understand the full context, it’s great.
Closing: Two characters run off together. It’s incredibly sweet and exactly how this story should have ended. This is why we CAN have nice things sometimes.
Best Line: If only some people can have it, that’s not happiness. That’s just nonsense. Happiness is something anyone can have.
Original review here

Sometimes I Think About Dying
Ups: Charming.
A minimalist directing style suits the themes.
Good performances.
Perfect score.
Downs: Some of the audio could be better. The music doesn’t feel balanced properly.
Best Performer: Daisy Ridley. If your lead character doesn’t say something for 20 minutes and you’re not frustrated, she’s doing a good job.
Best Moment: The murder mystery party. It’s nice to see Fran come out of her shell a little bit, and its very sweet to see her genuinely smile in a group setting. She then gets super dark when she describes her death.
Worst Moment: The cafe “date”. Mainly because the music is a big part of it, but it’s buried so low down in the mix that you can’t make it out. Shame as it’s REALLY well written.
Opening: Blue-tinged shots of suburban life. A real sense of melancholy to them. Weirdly beautiful. Some really well-written (in terms of font) opening credits. More films should show their personality through them.
Closing: She makes an effort to integrate; bringing doughnuts into the office. She then explains her suicidal tendencies and is met with wordless affection. It’s very sweet, and kind.
Best Line: “Do you wish you could unknow me?” “I don’t know you”. Jesus that hit deep
Original review here

The Fall Guy
Ups: Fun.
Gosling looks like he’s enjoying himself.
A lot of practical effects.
Great action scenes.
Downs: Wastes some talented performers.
Too much Kiss.
Best Performer: Ryan Babygoose
Best Moment: The drugged-up bar fight. Incredibly creative.
Worst Moment: The post-credits scene. The death of a character is fun, but the cameos stick out like a sore thumb and were shot in a “look, it’s these people!” manner.
Opening: Colt is in a relationship then injures himself. I like that it opened with him and Blunt happy, showed their chemistry and romantic selves early on which meant you actually wanted to see them together.
Closing: The film gets made and is a blockbuster hit. Funny, and the Momoa cameo is perfect.
Best Line: I’m just a boy in a neon suit, standing in front of a girl, reminding her that Notting Hill is her favourite movie. And she watches Love Actually every year of Christmas
Original review here

The Holdovers
Ups: Charming.
Funny.
It makes you nostalgic for memories that aren’t yours.
Downs: Why wasn’t this released at Christmas?
It’s not the best-paced.
Best Performer: Giamatti, but Sessa is close.
Best Moment: The Christmas dinner is very sweet.
Worst Moment: The original gang suddenly being removed from the plot. Felt like the writers ran out of ideas for them.
Opening: Basic setup. It’s not that notable. It introduces us to the characters ably enough but doesn’t make you NEED to see more.
Closing: He doesn’t die. Throughout this film I had that horrible feeling that it was going to end with the teacher dying and the student being like “But I will always remember the lessons he left with me” in some bittersweet fuck of an ending. Nope, he just steals an expensive cognac and spits it out the window in defiance. Nice.
Best Line: Stop crying. If they hear you, they’ll crucify you. Which would be ironic since your Buddhist.
Original review here

The Wild Robot
Ups: Pretty.
So damn charming and magical.
Good voice performances.
Downs: Parts of the story moved too quickly.
Some of the dialogue is pretty bad.
Best Performer: Lupita Nyong’o
Best Moment: Pre-hibernation saving of everyone.
Worst Moment: Longneck trusting brightbill. Happens far too quickly.
Opening: Roz wakes up and tries to help the animals around her. A task made difficult by the fact they’re all scared of her.
Closing: Roz is back at the factory, but has retained her memories. Lovely, and keeps it open for a sequel, but it is also still a definitive ending.
Best Line: When you grow up without something you… end up spending a lot of time thinking about it
Original review here

2024 In Film: Day Eight (The Very Good)

On By troubledproductionsIn Year round upLeave a comment

A side note to this entry. I originally had Fly Me To The Moon here, but then I thought about it and added it to this list instead. Yup. The differences are SO small once we get this high that something can be easily knocked down two spaces based on a single flaw.

Babes
Ups: Funny.
Honest
Downs: Some scenes feel a little lazy and like they’re a first-draft.
Best Performer: Ilana Glazer
Best Moment: The meet-cute. From a writing perspective, it’s iconic and inspirational.
Worst Moment: The “bitch” scene. The way it’s filmed makes it seem like the two performers are in separate rooms recording their lines.
Opening: “THIS FILM IS SET IN NEW YORK” montage opening
Closing: She takes her child to the movie the kid’s dad was in before he died. Very sweet.
Best Line: “Best friends are screwed over as adults. If you don’t couple up you’re fucked”.
Original review here

Gladiator 2
Ups: Every character makes sense and is well-defined.
Looks fantastic.
Brutal deaths.
Fight and action scenes look like they hurt.
Downs: Is it necessary?
The historical inaccuracies will make your head hurt. It’s not just “this happened 10 years after”. Some weaponry wouldn’t exist for over 1000 years after the movie’s events. For similar timescales; imagine a film about William The Conquerer, where the invading Norman army drives Ford Fiestas. Think of how “well that’s bullshit” that would seem. Similarly; there was no way for the safe transportation of sharks to be used in the arena.
Best Performer: Pedro Pascal
Best Moment: The Naumachia, at least until the sharks turn up.
Worst Moment: Him being shown the armour etc of Maximus feels a little shoe-horned.
Opening: A beautiful opening credit sequence that looks like it’s been painted.
Closing: A new emperor is crowned.
Best Line: What does my past matter, when my future is only to die as a gladiator?
Original review here

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Ups: Cracking title.
Very sweet.
When the music is good, it’s very good.
Downs: The above point about the music? Doesn’t happen enough.
Bland background characters.
It doesn’t establish the universe well enough. This is such a big problem because if it sorted that out, this would be in the next blog.
Best Performer: Sara Montpetit
Best Moment: Sasha and Paul listening to music together. Incredibly awkward and sweet. The way the characters move says so much without a word of dialogue. Paul’s revenge is also up there.
Worst Moment: Sasha breaks free from Henry in the park, hitting them. Feels weak, as if the hits have no weight to them.
Opening: It’s Sasha’s birthday, As a present, her family invited a clown over for dinner, as the main course.
Closing: Paul becomes a vampire and the two form a euthanasia team at the local hospital, draining people on their deathbeds. There’s then a scene of the two walking in the corridor, which wasn’t needed.
Best Line: I wouldn’t kill anyone other than myself.
Original review here

I Saw The TV Glow
Ups: The music.
The general feeling.
Some great performances.
Weirdly hypnotic
For someone out there questioning their gender identity, this will be THE most important film they’ve ever seen.
Excellent lighting.
Downs: It’s definitely too slow and weird for a lot of people.
Needs a clearer narrative.
Justice Smith isn’t quite confident enough to pull some of these moments off.
Best Performer: Brigette Lunday-Paine
Best Moment: Maddy explains how they buried themselves.
Worst Moment: When he’s at the cinema with a film playing behind him, mainly because whilst the Pink Opaque TV show feels real, the film does not, at all.
Opening: Some weird neon chalk drawings on a road at night. Very cool looking, it doesn’t feel like a horror movie, which I love as it helps everything feel real.
Closing: Owen breaks down at a party. Pretty damn creepy, especially since nobody reacts, they just kind of shut down like robots. He goes into a room and cuts his chest open, smiling when he finds TV static. Then goes back to work and apologises. There are a lot of different interpretations of this, which is good.
Best Line: It feels like someone… took a shovel and dug out all my insides. And I know there’s nothing in there, but I’m still too nervous to open myself up and check. I know there’s something wrong with me. My parents know it too, even if they don’t say anything.
Original review here

Juror #2
Ups: Tense.
Some great performances.
Interesting story. The kind you can tell someone and they go “Oh, I’d like to see that”
Will inspire discussion.
Downs: Bland visuals.
It wastes SOO much time.
Completely screwed over by the distributors.
It’s disheartening how believable it is.
Characters disappear.
Best Performer: Nicholas Holt.
Best Moment: Justins’ car journey, is depressing.
Worst Moment: Harold getting kicked off the case, mainly because you think it would lead somewhere.
Opening: Kind of bland opening. Hasn’t been that long but I can’t even remember it.
Closing: The assistant DA knocks on Justins’ door, so I’m assuming he gets arrested.
Best Line: We’re only as sick as our secrets.
Original review here

Late Night With The Devil
Ups: Chilling.
A lot of subtext.
Good performances.
Downs: Some wasted time.
The backstage moments completely break the immersion.
Doesn’t lead into the concept as much as it could.
Best Performer: David Dastmalchian.
Best Moment: The third-act carnage.
Worst Moment: The opening.
Opening: A documentary is investigating the events. Well not really investigating, just playing the show in full. Could have got away with cutting away from it for some sort of modern analysis etc, make it feel more like a documentary. As it is, the opening is just set up, and it all sets up stuff we would be told later anyway.
Closing: Lots of flashbacks and self-analysis. The closest a film has come to the Firefly Funhouse Match, but more normal.
Best Line: We go WAY back. We met amongst the tall trees… remember?
Original review here

Moana 2
Ups: Beautiful visuals.
New characters slot in perfectly.
Funny.
Downs: Unfocused, especially in regards to the villains.
Some of the dialogue is cringy.
The music is nowhere near as good as the first one.
Best Performer: Auli’i Cravalho
Best Moment: Assembling the crew. Always a super easy way to make a film entertaining as it allows quick jokes and character development.
Worst Moment: The death of Moana. Nobody in the audience buys it, and it’s over far too soon.
Opening: Moana has continued her adventures. Doesn’t feel like there’s been too much that has happened between the two movies. Which kind of makes it seem like the first one didn’t matter.
Closing: The island is connected to the world. Depending on how the third one goes, this is a genuine game-changer.
Best Line: “You look like a kidney stone”
“And you look like someone who would know what that is”
Original review here

Mothers’ Instinct
Ups: Some great shots.
Constantly keeps you on edge.
Downs: Doesn’t need a second watch.
Difficult to love.
Does nothing new.
Best Performer: Anne Hathaway
Best Moment: When Celine kills her husband. Slow, methodical, and brutal.
Worst Moment: The birthday party seems too cruel.
Opening: White women curtain twitching. If you know nothing going in, I’m not sure it would be as good. Knowing that it’s a thriller means you’re on edge throughout the opening, expecting something terrible to happen, instead, it’s a surprise party.
Closing: Celine adopts Theo after killing his parents. Chilling closing. Could have done a fake-out where she’s in court and made it look like she had been caught before revealing it’s for custody.
Best Line: Not really a line, but Hathaway’s scream is spine-chilling.
Original review here

Wicked Little Letters
Ups: Funny and sweary.
Olivia Colman is a delight
Fantastic chemistry between the cast.
Downs: Misleading trailer.
The “mystery” is pretty obvious.
Best Performer: Jessie Buckley
Best Moment: How they reveal the villain. Fun, caper-esque, and so damn charming.
Worst Moment: The death of Victoria feels a little misguided tonally.
Opening: Sweary letters are sent. It’s clear from reactions it’s been happening for a while. It sets up the repressed characters well and gets some good laughs in.
Closing: Standard “what happened next” reminds you that this stuff really happened.
Best Line: “It’s German”
Original review here

2024 In Film: Day Seven (The Good)

On By troubledproductionsIn Year round upLeave a comment

Immaculate
Ups: Good chemistry between performances.
Great score.
Downs: Wastes potential.
Sweeney isn’t quite a strong enough performer for large sections.
Best Performer: Benedetta Porcaroli. Sweeney is great in the final section, but she’s too weak in the opening two-thirds to really be effective.
Best Moment: The entire final third.
Worst Moment: Sister Gwens’ death, happens off-screen and we should have seen it.
Opening: A nun tries to escape through a locked gate but instead gets her leg broken and is buried alive. Standard horror movie opening but it does let you into the fact that the nuns are evil, which is obvious anyway, but at least TRY to have a mystery.
Closing: She gives birth to the antichrist, bites through her own umbilical cord, and then kills the baby with a giant rock. Shocking, disturbing, and so well made.
Best Line: “If this is not the will of God, why does God not stop us?”. I used a similar line the time I got urinating in the font, just before I was struck by lightning.
Original review here

Jackpot
Ups: Satirical brilliance.
Some brilliant lines.
Pretty damn good soundtrack.
Downs: Issues with the plot are so big you can drive a bus through them.
Tonally inconsistent.
Best Performer: John Cena
Best Moment: The wax museum. So fun.
Worst Moment: The villain reveals, only because it’s so obvious that you’re surprised the characters didn’t see it coming.
Opening: A text narration explaining the premise. Bleak but comedic. Then Sean William Scott running down a street being chased by a mob
Closing: She survives, they become rich, and massive pricks. There are some outtakes too, which are pretty fun to see.
Best Line: “The California Grand Lottery © started during the Great Depression of 2026. The New Government was desperate for money and so was the public. It was simple. Kill the winner before sundown and legally take their jackpot. The only rule? No guns. No Bullets Some people call it dystopian. But those people are no fun. LOS ANGELES 2030” Sets the tone perfectly.
Original review here

Poor Things
Ups: Breathtaking visuals.
Unique.
Good ensemble cast.
Downs: Some of the music is physically painful to hear.
Repeats itself a lot.
Might be too weird for some.
The idea that so many men are sexually attracted to someone with the brain and capabilities of a baby is………strange.
Best Performer: Emma Stone
Best Moment: Harry showing Bella cruelty. It’s heartbreaking.
Worst Moment: Duncan finds Bella’s hidden money, mainly because if he didn’t find it then the story would advance in the exact same way.
Opening: A suicide. It’s always a weird way to open a film, but it’s good. It lets you know the visuals straight away.
Closing: The weird family dynamic characters all live together, with the evil ex-husband now having the brain of a goat. I genuinely assumed they were just going to put the dying Dafoe brain in his body, kind of surprised they didn’t.
Best Line: “I’m going to punch that baby”
Original Review here

The Beast
Ups: Hypnotic.
If you stick with it, it makes sense.
Definitely a relief that a film called “The Beast”, based on a piece of work from 1903, and released in 2024, isn’t subtly racist.
Downs: The directing style will be divisive.
The narrative could be clearer at parts.
The central concept doesn’t kick in for 20 minutes
It does the “imagine spot” trick too often.
Best Performer: George MacKay. He is such a good actor. His incel speech is brilliant
Best Moment: The introduction to the 2014 world where Louis is an incel dickbag.
Worst Moment: The earthquake is pretty weak
Opening: Gabrielle is acting in a room comprised entirely of green screen, being ordered around by a director.It then kind of dissolves into he title. Weird, doesn’t really intrigue you and force you to continue watching, but doesmake you wonder “how weird is this going to be?” Especially since it then goes into what looks like an 18th century party of nobility.
Closing: The classic “invasion of the body snatchers” ending. But then it does something very cool, instead of end credits, it has a QR code. The downside is that in a few years they will likely forget to keep up the domain rights, that WILL lead to either porn or a virus.
Best Line: “Tell me why, at parties, we seek the people with whom we live and whom we see every day?”
Original review here

The First Omen
Ups: Some great scares.
Good performances.
Unsettling body horror.
Decent twists.
Downs: Too reverential of the original.
Best Performer: Nell Tiger Free
Best Moment: The childbirth scene about halfway through. Very unsettling.
Worst Moment: The ending, drags.
Opening: Two Fathers (of the religious variety) discuss an evil occult plot. One of whom then dies brutally and with a pie-sized chunk missing from his skull. The death is horrific and scary, but it’s also only done like that as a reference to the original.
Closing: The demon child has been delivered to the correct person. Which we knew. He’s been called Damien. This just confirms it is the same child as the original, which we would have guessed.
Best Line: “What’s not real?” the line itself isn’t great, but its use is my favourite jump-scare of modern times.
Original review here

The Substance
Ups: Creepy.
Some great body horror
Amazing performances.
As subtle as a brick, a brick to the face, a brick to the face with the words “older women have value too and we need to stop placing so much of a woman worth on how men perceive her beauty” written on it, which would be a pretty fucking big brick.
Downs: REALLY loses focus and steam in the final third.
The world feels too protagonist-centered. There’s no indication that the world of this film exists outside of these characters. Every person in this universe exists solely to serve the narrative, there’s no attempt to make it feel lived in. If it sorted this out, it would be at least 2 blogs up, but it REALLY hurts it and kind of dampens the message.
“Look how disgusting the way we treat women is” followed by lots of close-ups of tits and buttcheeks. I get that that’s the point, but still.
Best Performer: Demi Moore
Best Moment: The first transformation.
Worst Moment: It repeats a dream sequence. Not really necessary.
Opening: A walk of fame star being constructed then neglected. The “look at how the world ignores this star until it cracks under pressure” double meaning isn’t exactly subtle. But it looks gorgeous.
Closing: Elisabeth’s face crawls out onto her own star then dissolves into nothingness before wiped away by a floor scrubber. Like I said, not subtle.
Best Line: Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect. One single injection unlocks your DNA, starting a new cellular division, that will release another version of yourself. This is the Substance. You are the matrix. Everything comes from you. Everything is you. This is simply a better version of yourself. You just have to share. One week for one and one week for the other. A perfect balance of seven days each. The one and only thing not to forget: You. Are. One. You can’t escape from yourself
Original review here

Thelma
Ups: Very sweet.
Funny.
Pretty darn good chemistry between the two leads.
Teaches you basic cyber security.
I found it very funny how when she called her old friends she went through a list of various deaths and then “moved to Cleveland?”
Downs: The use of focus on the surroundings may be distracting to some.
Richard Roundtree has since passed and this was his final film.
Doesn’t quite run with the concept as much as it could.
Best Performer: June Squibb. Obviously.
Best Moment: The villain reveal.
Worst Moment: The phone call with the ex doesn’t seem as important as it could
Opening: Thelma being shown how to operate her e-mails by her grandson. Then the two sit around. Very sweet interactions between the two. Did kind of make me miss my nan though so boo for that.
Closing: She succeeds. That’s the real ending, but then it continues. But I don’t mind. Because whilst the story is over, the themes continue, and the post-story interactions are so sweet and wonderful that it’s heartwarming. She then twats a cockroach with a newspaper.
Best Line: “If I fall over I’m toast, that’s why I don’t fall”
Original review here

Woman Of The Hour
Ups: Creepy.
Never pretends to be anything that it isn’t.
Kendrick is a pretty damn good director.
Made with passion.
Downs: Somewhat weak narrative
Muddled story.
Doesn’t make the most of the premise.
Best Performer: Anna Kendrick
Best Moment: When she asks her own questions.
Worst Moment: Valentine’s day car ride with one of his victims. Just feels a bit superfluous and kills momentum.
Opening: A guy takes photos of a woman in an isolated exterior. You can tell he’s creepy because he has long hair. Some beautiful establishing shots though. Yup, he kills her, and it’s REALLY well shot.
Closing: The truth is fucking infuriating. He was released on bail where he then killed more people.
Best Line: “Did you feel seen?” “I felt looked at”
Original review here