The Housemaid Review

 

Sydney Sweeney plays Millie, a girl with a troubled past who gets a job as a live-in housemate for a wealthy family, and then things get weird and dark…

Sydney Sweeney is very good as Millie; she feels very down-to-earth and relatable, but there is some interesting mystery and twist with her character.

I think the biggest reason to see this is for Amanda Seyfried’s performance (who plays the rich wife, Nina), because she is able to switch from, like, very over-the-top and silly to very intimidating and unhinged in, like, a second. It’s really impressive and very entertaining to watch.

Brandon Sklenar plays the husband, Andrew, who at first seems a little too charming and perfect, but he and Millie have some cute and sweet scenes that really warm you to his character.

The movie does a fun job at building tension and unfolding the mystery while also infusing it with a good amount of dark humor, which is not an easy thing to do, but they do a really impressive job; it feels like Alfred Hitchcock meets Mean Girls.

Paul Feig does a solid job directing and comes up with some pretty cool camera shots, not to mention, for an over two-hour movie, it has a pretty good pacing, like the movie will fly by.

There is a gaggle of rich housewife characters that are a little over the top at points, but they get some good laughs in.

There is a groundskeeper character played by Michele Morrone, who gives a good performance, but I wish they had explored his character more; there just seemed to be more going on with him than they only really scratched the surface of.

There are a couple points in the film where my suspension of disbelief gets stretched a little too much; there are definitely a couple points where I’m like, “Millie, why are you still there? There are more warning signs than a railroad crossing lol.

I quite enjoyed this cinematography; everything looked very idyllic and soft, which fit the fancy house, and it was used very effectively in an almost subversive way towards the end of the film.

So going into this movie, I heard this had a crazy twist, and we’re a good chunk into the film, and I’m sitting there thinking, “OK, this movie is enjoyable, but what is this twist they’re talking about?” Like, I’m trying to predict what it might be, and I have a couple guesses here and there, and for a second I thought, “OK, maybe it’s not going to be that big a twist,” and just when I thought that, that’s when the twist kicked in, and I have to say… I did not see that coming lol.

I will say, I did find the final climax to be a little predictable, not in, like, a bad way, but the rest of the movie had been more intriguing and surprising, and I was hoping the film would end on a bigger plateau, but where it ends up didn’t feel quite as strong and more run-of-the-mill, but still solid.

Also, as well done as that first big twist was, it’s one of those twists that the more you think about, the more certain things feel contrived in certain areas. But honestly, it doesn’t take away from the movie too much, and the movies are entertaining enough that you’re not really distracted by it.

Also, there was one final twist that I thought was OK—that’s way too convenient. Like, you have a better chance of winning the lottery than having that workout. Like it’s not enough to ruin the movie, but man, those odds are thinner than the side of a piece of paper lol.

I also got to see with my sister who explained the differences between the movie and the book afterwards, so that was nice 

Overall, The Housemaid takes a premise that has been explored in many films and adds an interesting new dimension to it, combining both humor and thrills to a point that they’re almost interchangeable, with great performances and direction throughout, and a twist/climax that definitely cranks things up to 11 that most audiences will really be entertained by. I give the film four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Sometimes the movie doesn’t have to be the smartest; it just has to be fun, and this certainly was.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple review

 

Picking up where the last film left off, we follow two simultaneous stories: one is Spike dealing with the craze and murderous cults known as “The Jimmy’s,” and in the second, we follow Doctor Ian as he befriends and studies the alpha zombie he has nicknamed “Samson.”

Bone Temple is a little different in tone than the last film; where that was more adrenalized and action-oriented, this film goes for a more creepy and almost introspective feel. But it’s still good at retaining the overall tone of this world and capturing similar creepy images as the other 28 Days films.

Ironically, the heart of the film is Ian and Samson's odd friendship and how it develops over the course of the film. It does play with tropes you’ve seen in other zombie movies, with the “the zombies are evolving or getting smarter” type of ideas, but the way it’s executed in Bone Temple is interesting and enjoyable to watch.

The other big standout in the film is Jack O’Connell as the head, Jimmy; he goes from being very reserved and intimidating to surprisingly comedic and more psychologically complex than you would expect. He’s not that bad a guy, I mean, once you get past the murdering imaging stuff, but hey, it’s the zombie apocalypse; who’s gonna be perfect lol?

Another great performance, though she isn’t getting as much attention as Jimmima, is Emma Laird. The actress brought an interesting energy to the role, and the character seemed to have more complexity going on underneath than was expected. Unfortunately, she’s not in the movie as much as I would like, but what time she has, I thought, was a definite standout.

Alfie Williams is solid again as Spike; his character doesn’t get as much to do as in the last film and spends most of the screen time just looking scared and wanting to go home, but given the type of hot water he’s in, you do wonder how he’s going to get out of this and if he’ll even survive.

Spike does befriend one of the other Jimmys, who is hesitant about what’s going on (played by Erin Kellyman), and I wish their friendship had been developed a bit more; it all just happens pretty quickly, and given everything that happens, I feel like more could’ve been done with their friendship developing, and they have two different ideologies about the situation they’re in.

The scenes with the Jimmys can get pretty intense and brutal, not like Terrifier levels or anything, but they can be rough to watch at certain parts. There were definitely a couple moments where I was thinking, “Man, can we cut back to Ian and Sampson and get some levity with those guys?” lol.

The special effects and gore are solid throughout; it runs the gamut from being some of the more fun zombie action gore to some pretty intense and uncomfortable scenes.

I loved the soundtrack in the film; there was a lot of cool 80s and 90s music, especially one standout scene with basically one of the most fun Iron Maiden concerts you will ever see lol.

Nia DaCosta did a great job at recreating the feel of this universe and had some pretty cool stylized and artsy shots, while also making the whole film feel grounded and very gritty.

I have to say, whoever did the prop for Jimmy’s teeth in the movie deserves a raise, because there is not good oral hygiene in the zombie apocalypse, and Jimmy has some of the nastiest, most yellow, corn-looking teeth. I’ve ever seen. It’s a small detail, but it adds to the creepiness of his character in a surprising way, especially when he’s acting all nice and smiling; it’s very unsettling.

Without spoiling anything, I like how they set things up at the end for the next movie; it was clever and a nice surprise.

I also got to see with my buddy Jake, that’s always great 👍

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a solid zombies flick; it plays with the genre’s tropes well, and while some scenes get quite brutal at times, the film has plenty of gore and great performances to entertain throughout. I give Bone Temple a low 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Here’s hoping the third installment sticks the landing and doesn’t… bite 🧟😂.

Primate Review

 

Lucy brings some friends to her Hawaiian cliffside home for vacation, until the family’s adopted pet chimp, Ben, is infected with rabies, then things quickly turn deadly, and the group must fight to survive…

The movie does not start off with the strongest dialogue; the script tries very quickly to establish everyone in their relationships to one another, and so you get a lot of clunky lines that are trying to establish exposition, like “You know I got your back, best friend” and “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, sister.” And I will admit there are some odd lines throughout the film, like “Boy, I had some bad gas station sushi last night,” but once the actual family gets together, their interactions feel very natural and sweet.

My favorite actor in this was Troy Kotsur (who played the dad in CODA); his character of the dad is very likable, and he brought a lot of emotion to the role that wasn’t necessarily on the page.

The movie has a great location, very tropical and peaceful looking, and the filmmakers are able to get a lot of cool shots out of it.

The characters in this are like the ones you’ve seen in any other slasher movie; they’re young, they want a party, they do drugs, and they get horny. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before. But the cast is solid, and when things get intense, the actors are good at emoting “scared and tense” facial acting.

So Ben the chimp is clearly a guy in a costume, but the filmmaker shoots it in a way that it isn’t too obvious, and the actual prosthetics for the face are very well detailed and convincing. Plus the more ravenous Ben gets, the more creepy, distorted, and slimy it gets (like whoever was in charge of the mouth slobber did a very effective job lol). It definitely adds to the atmosphere of the movie.

I feel like this goes without saying, but I wouldn’t go into this movie looking for realism. Because whatever strand of rabies Ben got turned him into a full-on slasher villain. He’s got a tablet where he’ll type ominous things into, or he’ll jump from somewhere for a bigger jump scare, like he goes full Michael Myers at certain points.

The special effects for the kills are really effective and well done for a small-budget film. Like that opening kill definitely had me going “god damn,” and throughout the rest of the film, all the attacks definitely have a visceral effect that will definitely get people squirming in their seats.

So the characters get trapped in a pool with Ben watching them, and the movie is good about setting up the scenarios of “how are they going to get out of this one?” and the movie did a good job of making me sit there going, “Yeah, how are they going to try and think their way out of this?” Now there was nothing mind-blowing, and there were some helpful conveniences, but in the moment I was definitely interested to see what the characters would come up with.

Yeah, there are two characters added who really are just there to add to the body count who are not very smart, but there was one laugh I got out of it, and one of the characters' kills was one of the more intense of the movie, so that was very effective.

I like the soundtrack; it definitely had a throwback 80s since “John Carpenter” feel, but it had a nice style to it and worked in the scenes well.

Again, there were a couple scenarios where the characters are trying to evade Ben, and you think he’s about to get them or they’re trying to get away, but he keeps getting closer to them that I thought were pretty creative and quite effective and had some fun visuals to them.

So Primate is a killer ape movie. I feel like by that premise alone you’re either going to be with the movie or not, so recommending it is definitely up to the viewer's discretion, but as far as a movie about a killer ape goes, I would describe Primate as solid. It isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, and for most people it’ll be a one and done, but the filmmaking is capable, everyone in the cast and crew does their best, and there are some effective sequences when it comes to the gore and scares. So I would say this movie would just be best enjoyed on a lazy Saturday when you just want to watch a fun popcorn movie. I give the film somewhere between a low and regular three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ depending on how you feel about “Killer Monkey” movies, but either way I can definitely say the movie does know how to go… Bananas 🍌 😂

Wicked: For Good Review

 

Wicked: For Good picks up sometime after the first film and follows the Wicked Witch and her battle against the wizard for the freedom of Oz and her relationship with Glinda and Glinda wrestling with her own feelings between her loyalty to the Wicked Witch and her new position in the Emerald City as “Glinda the Good.”

Small nitpick right off the bat… The film could’ve done better at establishing how much time has passed between films. Like, they say it’s been “12 ocean cycles” since the Wicked Witch escaped, so I thought maybe it had been 12 months, but then I heard my friend say in the play it’s supposed to be four years, so I don’t know how long it’s been? I wish we had gotten a better indication about how much time had passed.

The best thing about the film, in my opinion, is the special effects and the color palette. This film is very bright and vibrant; it’s like an Easter party exploded in pastels lol. The film has a great deal of spectacle, although some sequences do feel a little bit wooden and undershot. Like, I thought the final big emotional number between the wicked witch and Galinda felt very undershot and kind of flat. It’s supposed to be like this big sweeping emotional number like defying gravity was, and I’m sure the filmmakers wanted to make it feel more personal between the characters, and that’s why they filmed it the way they did, but unfortunately it takes a scene that should’ve been more grandiose and just makes it feel a bit too undercooked.

I am no expert in musicals, but I thought the numbers were good. I’ve seen that some people aren’t as impressed as with the first, and while I agree they aren’t as catchy as some of the first one, I thought as a continuation of the story, the music fits with the other film perfectly.

I feel mixed on the characters. I think Grande and Arrivo’s performances are very strong and passionate, and Jeff Goldblum brings a lot of devilish charm as the wizard, but the wicked witch’s sister felt very rushed and almost manic in her emotional decision-making. Michelle Yeoh's character is fun in a conniving villain sort of way but felt underdeveloped as far as motivation. Plus, her resolution was very rushed and doesn’t make much narrative sense given exactly what she can do.

Unfortunately, one of the places the film wavers is the incorporation of the original Wizard of Oz characters into the film; they feel rushed and almost out of place with the rest of the story. It’s like the movie can decide if it’s going to be a direct tie-in to the original film or if it’s going to be its own thing like Maleficent or Cruella. It tries to have its cake and eat it too, and unfortunately the two melt together like peanut butter and oil.

Like certain characters have these big setups, but absolutely no payoff; some feel like an afterthought, and some feel like they needed much more explanation.

Also, they don’t spend a whole lot of time on the wicked witches’ “fight for animal freedom,” like it was a big driving force and set up in the first one, but it doesn’t play as big a role in the story as I expected.

This also affects the pacing as well; certain plot elements felt like they went on a bit too long, and others felt like they could’ve used more screen time. I do think the film is entertaining enough throughout to keep people’s interest, but the more you think about it, the sloppier the story seems.

I have mixed feelings on Jon M. Chu’s direction. Like, he’s good with the big crowded scenes, and I think it gets pretty creative with some shots like “the girl in the bubble” musical sequence. But others feel rather flat, like the final scene between the Wicked Witch and Glinda. It’s written and feels like this big emotional scene between the two characters and kind of a payoff to the whole story, but the way it’s filmed feels so underutilized that it takes away some of the emotional payoff from the scene.

I think whoever the costume designer is has a very good chance of winning the Oscar this year; the costumes are very well detailed and distinct, and for so many different background characters, they come up with a lot of interesting patterns and designs.

I wouldn’t say Wicked: For Good is a bad film; it’s creative, and you want to see how everything concludes, but it definitely doesn’t live up to its own potential as a sequel to the first film or as a tie-in to the bigger Wizard of Oz mythos. I give Wicked: For Good a high three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ it’s more like “Wicked: For OK”, but that’s not as catchy a title lol.

Marty Supreme review

 

Marty Mauser, an aspiring table tennis champion, is fiercely determined to prove his greatness and gets into a whole lot of wild situations in pursuit of his dream.

Timothée Chalamet gives a pretty phenomenal performance. He brings a lot of energy, charisma, and charm to the character, which is needed because Marty is definitely a prickly character. Marty has such a huge ego about his dream and his own greatness that he will do whatever and screw over whoever to achieve it; he’s downright unlikable at certain points, and he takes advantage of a lot of people around him. He kind of feels like he could be the uncle of Adam Sandler’s character in Uncut Gems. I could see audiences being split on how they feel about Marty at the end of the film, because you go back-and-forth between sort of liking him and mostly hating him. It’s very much a “to the viewer’s discretion” type of thing, but either way you land, I think everyone will agree Chalamet brings a lot of humor and complexity to Marty.

I like the way it was directed. First of all, the 1950s New York sets are very realistic and convincing. That, mixed with a lot of the handheld directing and the director’s knack for finding extras who feel like “Joe who lives down the street,” makes the filmmakers great at making you feel like you’ve been transported back in time and the world feels very fleshed out and real. It’s one of the highlights of the film.

Gwyneth Paltrow brings a lot of charm and a grounded sense to the film as a famous actress who has an affair with Marty; their dynamic is rather interesting, and I like the actors' fiery back-and-forth interplay, although I do wish her character got a better wrap-up because she just kind of disappears from the movie at one point, and I think she deserved a better conclusion.

The movie is also very manic and truly “wild,” like you’ll be watching, and things will be moving along in a normal place, and then it’s like someone flips a switch, and then something pops out of nowhere and happens and escalates things incredibly quickly such that it takes a minute to even realize what happened. I know some people who have seen the director’s previous work, like Uncut Gems, say they get very anxious watching the movies because they’re so tense and high energy, and well, I don’t think it’s as intense as Uncut Gems. I would caution people who are very sensitive to that when going to this one because it definitely has its big blowout moments.

Odessa A'zion plays Rachel (another love interest for Marty), and I think the actress brought a lot of emotional pathos to the character that might not have been there on the page, but she is definitely one of the more likable and sympathetic characters in the story.

Apparently, Chalamet spent years practicing table tennis for the role, and you can really tell in the match scenes, the back-and-forth energy, and all the different special moves. They do; it’s really impressive.

One of my favorite parts was Géza Röhrig; as an older table tennis player and role model for Marty, the actor is very down to earth and likable, although his story does go into an odd direction. I won’t spoil anything, but… That was an odd scene; you’ll know it when you see it lol.

Fran Drescher plays Marty’s mom, and while it’s not a big role, I think Drescher did great with the part, and it’s always nice to see her pop up in projects.

The film also stars Kevin O'Leary, who in real life is a businessman and plays… A businessman, who helps Marty. And for someone who isn’t

an actor who has to act, O’Leary gives up a surprisingly strong and layered performance as someone you develop mixed feelings on, so I have to give the actor and director big props for that.

Tyler the Creator plays Marty’s friend in the film, and I had never seen Tyler the Creator in person before and didn’t even know it was him until after the movie, so I can tell you, he gave a very funny and down-to-earth performance and definitely helps you acclimate to Marty and his character.

Abel Ferreira has a supporting role in the film, and he’s always fun to watch. I do think the movie runs a bit too long, and I only really bring that up here because I thought how they wrapped up his story felt a little odd in the overall pacing of the film, but that’s more of a nitpick on my part.

I really enjoyed the soundtrack. Usually I’m not a big fan of movies when a period piece uses songs from a different era of time; it can take you out of the movie. But the way they were woven into the scenes and the overall songs chosen were fun and fit the tone of the film. Not to mention the original score was very mellow and easy to listen to, which was a good juxtaposition to the tense and wild antics of the story.

Like I mentioned before, I like how the director cast regular people or seemingly regular people as extras; it really makes the scenes feel real. Not to mention there are scenes that take place in New York City and scenes that take place in Japan, and the way they capture both cities and cultures felt very authentic and well detailed; it really immerses you into the film.

Overall, Marty Supreme is a very well-made movie. The story and pacing may not be the tightest, and the characters may frustrate you, but Marty’s journey of following his dreams and coming to peace with himself and his goals in life is enjoyably well told, and I think we’ll be sympathetic to most people, despite Marty’s assholishness lol. I give Marty Supreme either a low three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ or a high four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️… Depends on how I’m feeling about Marty at the time 😂

Avatar: Fire and Ash review

 

This time on Pandora, Jake Sully and his family are reeling from a personal loss and must deal with a new fire-based threat to their homes and planet.

Just like the last two movies, the biggest compliment I can give a movie is to the visual effects. They are incredibly realistic and so well detailed; not to mention all the different designs for the creatures and environment, the filmmakers do a phenomenal job at making Pandora feel like a real place. Not to mention James Cameron does a fantastic job at making everything look incredibly cinematic. I would highly recommend seeing this movie on the biggest screen possible; it’s definitely worth it.

I was quite surprised with Jake Sully and Neytiri's storyline; both characters are grieving for the loss of one of their sons from the last movie, and it goes to some pretty heavy emotional places. Both actors bring a lot of raw emotion and heart to their performances, and it’s a storyline you don’t see in many big-budget blockbusters, and I thought the way they explored how grief and anger can lead to racial bigotry was rather nuanced for a movie about giant blue space cat people lol.

The children’s storylines are more of a mixed bag. I liked some of Lo'ak's (Jake Sully and Neytiri’s second son) plot, how he’s dealing with his own grief in his relationship with the water tribe’s daughter, but he’s also hanging around with that whale from the last one a lot; all that stuff feels like it's written straight out of the 90s, like Free Willy in Space… I’m surprised they never once said “radical dude,” lol.

There are some interesting developments with Spider, but again, his character is written like a surfer dude from a Captain Planet cartoon, and well, I like Sigourney Weaver’s performance, but her whole “Pandora Space Jesus” storyline is very predictable and a little too Schultzy for my taste.

The biggest scene dealer is Stephen Lang as Quaritch, who’s still doing his tough, gruff, sarcastic, military thing, but Lang brings a lot of charisma, menace, and subtle humor to the role that’s fun to watch. Also, as Oona Chaplin Varang, the fire-obsessed leader of the evil Navi tribe, was fun to watch. Granted, her character wasn’t too deep; she’s mostly just crazy, flirty, and ruthless, but you can tell Chaplin is having a lot of fun with the role and is very interesting to watch. I’d say she and Quaritch were my favorite characters to watch.

The evil Navi are also pretty credible threats; they’re pretty much orcs mixed with hillbillies on crank, but their ruthlessness and deranged attitude definitely give them a strong menace.

Kate Winslet has a small supporting role, but I liked her and Zoe Saldana’s chemistry; they have a fun frenemies dynamic.

There are a lot of actors/characters in this, and while everyone does a great job, it does feel a little excessive at points, like there are so many storylines going on that while you never quite lose track of them, it can get a bit much at times, so not everyone gets as much development.

The human villains are very underwritten; Edie Falco is just a generic military hardass. Angie, Giovanni Ribisi is this money-obsessed corporate dude.

It’s not in the movie a whole lot, but I liked how they explored Quaritch and Spider’s estranged father-son relationship; it was very well written and let the actors give more nuanced and layered performances.

Another high point for the movie was the action scenes; they were very well paced, suspenseful, and had a very “epic” scale to them. Again, my hats are off to the animators on this entire film; they’re for sure going to win the Oscar this year.

For an over three-hour movie, I never felt the run time, and everything had a good pace to it, so that was really impressive.

A very light sort of spoiler… This movie has pretty much the same climax as the last one; like, as far as where it takes place and all the different fight moves and how things come together, it’s pretty similar to the last one. Granted, I think it was done better in this one, but just don’t go in expecting something totally new at the end.

So the information, the action, and the visuals are stunning, but the characters and story aren’t anything new and in certain cases can be a bit small and predictable, but there are some new wrinkles woven throughout that make this probably my favorite Avatar movie. No, I’m not dressing up as a blue cat guy anytime soon, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed the film, but I do think if you’re going to see this, you have to see it on the big screen; the detail work and scale were meant to be seen on the biggest screen possible, and I don’t know if you’ll get that same fact on home TV. I give the film somewhere between a high three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️… Granted, a lot of that is going to the visuals and action, but it is definitely worth the hype.