https://movieweb.com Read the latest film and TV reviews written by our contributors to help you determine what's worth watching. Tue, 26 Sep 2023 01:59:55 GMT en-US hourly 60 It would be easy to simply peg The Mattachine Family as an LGBTQ film. It is that, but so much more, too. Relationships, friendships, and a longing for family command the spotlight in director Andy Vallentine’s heartwarming feature, which he cowrote with his screenwriter Danny Vallentine. Tapping into those universal themes elevates this emotionally rich tale, one that will not only make audiences laugh and cry on different occasions, but also inspire them to reflect on the bounty of good that exists in their lives, especially during life transitions.

]]> Tue, 26 Sep 2023 01:59:55 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-mattachine-family-review/ Legendary horror author Stephen King has created some of the most haunting and captivating stories of all time. Whether it's books like The Shining, It, Misery, or Carrie, King has created some of the most popular, macabre, and fascinating stories for avid book readers to sink their teeth into, and many of them have been brilliantly reimagined into movies and TV shows. Take classic horror movies like Carrie, Cujo, The Shining, and the Oscar-winning Misery, not to mention King's non-horror movies like The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. Unfortunately, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines doesn't belong in this pedigree.

]]> Sun, 24 Sep 2023 17:31:42 GMT https://movieweb.com/pet-sematary-bloodlines-review/ The man, the myth, the legend. Wait, are we referring to author Roald Dahl or filmmaker Wes Anderson? Many people grew up reading Dahl's timeless stories and watching Anderson's groundbreaking movies. But some might not know Dahl also wrote for adults, like with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, a delightful tale that Anderson has adapted into a unique, modern short film of the same name for Netflix. By modern, we mean that Anderson continues his interest in the literary qualities of film, with this story being told word-for-word by the actors (Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, and Ben Kingsley) on screen.

]]> Sun, 24 Sep 2023 01:21:34 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-wonderful-story-of-henry-sugar-review/ In between her 1991 coming of age movie Dogfight and her work directing the premiere of a police procedural series called Dark Eyes, filmmaker Nancy Savoca decided to grow an extraordinary story from the traditionalistic seeds of her own background. Originally released into theaters on September 15th, 1993 and never made available to the public again after a limited VHS home video run, Household Saints plays like a handed down fable that does have dated extremities in some of its deepest places but still holds bold morals that will stick no matter which generation watches the film.

]]> Sat, 23 Sep 2023 18:04:22 GMT https://movieweb.com/household-saints-review/ Arguably one of the best horror directors of all time, Mike Flanagan, returns to his streaming home on Netflix with The Fall of the House of Usher. Previously, Flanagan has treated audiences to the horrifying Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, two of the scariest TV shows of recent memory. Netflix was also home to Flanagan's The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Midnight Club, which weren't exactly as groundbreaking, terrifying or as flawless as his other two original series. Fortunately, The Fall of the House of Usher is; it's one of Mike Flanagan's best.

]]> Sat, 23 Sep 2023 00:57:27 GMT https://movieweb.com/fall-of-the-house-of-usher-review/ A wealthy patriarch in a lavish seaside villa. A gaudy wife. His suspicious daughter and her angsty teenage daughter. An intimidating maid. It all may be too much to bear for modest Stéphane (Laure Calamy of Call My Agent). But maybe not. After decades of separation, she’s tracked down her long-lost and aging father and desperately wants in. He’s built a family, after all. An incredibly dysfunctional one at that, but a family nonetheless. It’s something Stéphane has longed for her entire life. Why not have a go of it? And so it goes in director Sébastien Marnier’s thrilling dark French comedy, The Origin of Evil.

]]> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 21:59:48 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-origin-of-evil-review/ If A Quiet Place had an on-screen cousin, it would be No One Will Save You. Hulu’s riveting new alien invasion drama contains hardly any dialogue, which amps up the chilling suspense and allows the film to rest on the shoulders of Kaitlyn Dever. The Booksmart and Ticket to Paradise star turns in a powerful performance here as Brynn Adams, a young woman whose tortuous past comes back to haunt her when a mysterious alien invades her home.

]]> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 17:03:45 GMT https://movieweb.com/no-one-will-save-you-review/ A lonely and depressed writer mysteriously reconnects with his deceased parents after unexpectedly falling in love. All of Us Strangers sublimely addresses honest truths long hidden in the shadows. Death's cruel finality leaves a gaping void in the lives of those left behind. Writer/director Andrew Haigh uses supernatural elements to allow a shattered protagonist the opportunity to heal his wounded soul. Your heart will soar and break in a powerfully emotional journey of devastating loss, coming to terms with grief, and finding eventual acceptance in what we cannot change.

]]> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 15:06:42 GMT https://movieweb.com/all-of-us-strangers-review/ There's no yawning with boredom while watching Apple TV+’s new insomniac comedy Still Up. The engaging British series is a breath of fresh air. Remember how you felt when Ted Lasso came around and won you over, or how Shrinking sweetly worked its way into your heart with its touching, sometimes offbeat storylines? It’s like that with Still Up, which should generate some buzz and, let’s hope, receive some love come awards season.

]]> Fri, 22 Sep 2023 01:12:58 GMT https://movieweb.com/still-up-review/ Netflix has been at the top of their game for quite some time now, specifically in terms of original television series. Whether it's with shows like Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, Bridgerton, Orange Is the New Black, Squid Game, and last year's dominant television series from the mind of Tim Burton, Wednesday, Netflix more often than not crushes it when it comes to original television programming. But a show that doesn't receive nearly enough credit as it deserves is the hit UK series Sex Education. Debuting in 2019, Sex Education is a hilarious, stylistic, charming, and of course raunchy good time. It offers a glorious outlet to showcase sex positivity, in perhaps one of the most inclusive TV series of all time.

]]> Thu, 21 Sep 2023 23:34:43 GMT https://movieweb.com/sex-education-season-4-review/ Holy Christmas, the Expendables are back! It's the fourth Expendables film to date, in case you didn't notice the "4" boldly sticking out in the new film's official title. Expend4bles brings back fan-favorites Sly Stallone and Jason Statham, but interestingly doesn't include many of the other big names from past films. Expendables 3 was a disappointment, not just for the dulled-down PG-13 violence but also because many of the A-listers on-hand were merely there to give seemingly useless, cheesy cameos. Don't get me started on those Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li moments. One of the few highlights of this fourth addition to the franchise is that every elite mercenary contributes in some way to the team's overall mission, versus just standing around.

]]> Thu, 21 Sep 2023 22:13:20 GMT https://movieweb.com/expendables-4-review/ Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow is a wildly creative, creepy-crawly whodunit with slick CGI animation and big laughs. The premise has anthropomorphized arachnids, cockroaches, beetles, ants, flies, and locusts embroiled in a period murder mystery aboard a transpacific flight. The miniscule ensemble exists alongside humans but largely remain out of sight. That changes as the clever plot thickens and unwitting bipeds are hilariously tossed into the fray. The film has a degree of complexity that does require a modicum of attention. This isn't a brainless kids adventure for casual viewing.

]]> Thu, 21 Sep 2023 16:54:20 GMT https://movieweb.com/inspector-sun-and-the-curse-of-the-black-widow-review/ It Lives Inside, the Midnight Audience Award winner from SXSW, expands to wide release September 22, hoping to stake a claim among the flurry of horror films released in fall. Director Bishal Dutta’s freshman outing delves deep into Hindu mythology in a thriller that finds an Indian American teen girl fending off an evil force while also having to reconnect to her cultural roots in India in the process.

]]> Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:22:54 GMT https://movieweb.com/it-lives-inside-review/ The Gold debuted on the BBC last year and was met with wonderful accolades. And rightly so. The miniseries was inspired by the strange real-life events that unfolded on November 26, 1983, when six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport and planned to steal £1m. They inadvertently stumbled across £26m gold bullion instead.

]]> Wed, 20 Sep 2023 16:59:48 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-gold-movie-review/ The world of 1936 London theater takes center stage in The Critic, director Anand Tucker's latest movie that made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, in fact, marks Tucker's return to feature work in over a decade, the last being 2010's Leap Year. The two couldn't be more different: where Leap Year was a romantic comedy that offered hope and tugged at the heartstrings, tying everything with a Hollywood happy ending, The Critic takes us to the darker corners of desire and ambition, spinning a tale of deceit and greed.

]]> Wed, 20 Sep 2023 16:08:42 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-critic-2023-review/ Ever since the release of John Wick in 2014, the franchise has fascinated audiences with teases of the larger world at play. With each sequel, more details about this secret world of assassins were revealed that showcased a hierarchy of power players that was operating just outside the margins. This was always a world so much bigger than that of the title character. Arguably not since the cantina in Star Wars back in 1977 has a single location hinted at a world of stories more so than the Continental Hotel.

]]> Wed, 20 Sep 2023 14:59:48 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-continental-review/ Memory achieves the singular feat of being a love story we've never really seen before on-screen that, at the same time, feels immediately familiar. Trauma was a pervading theme among the movies playing at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, and Memory is no different. Writer and director Michel Franco handles the film's heavy subject matter with care, nurturing the characters, particularly the ones played by Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, as they unravel and reveal their darkest truths to each other (and, by extension, to us in the audience). Perhaps more importantly, the film never stops searching for the light, giving us hope in this messed-up world.

]]> Tue, 19 Sep 2023 18:03:40 GMT https://movieweb.com/memory-2023-review/ Ireland has been knocking it out of the park with original films the past couple of decades, from Martin McDonagh's films like In Bruges and The Banshees of Irisherin to last year's The Quiet Girl. 2023 seems to be keeping up Ireland's fantastic repertoire, what with The Black Guelph being one of the most underrated movies of the year, and one of the best films the year has to offer. Now comes Barber, a new mystery thriller led by Game of Thrones and Peaky Blinders star Aidan Gillen, which promises a compelling mystery in the midst of some intriguing and captivating character drama. However, Barber sadly falls flat in that regard.

]]> Mon, 18 Sep 2023 15:26:54 GMT https://movieweb.com/barber-movie-review/ The world has certainly come a long way from the time when funny cat clips seemed to overwhelm the internet. With the help of director Sarah Jayne and her new documentary film, Cats of Malta, the web’s oldest tradition of feline viral videos has now evolved into a much more serious and heartfelt venture. Compiled just beneath the bright sunny skies and over the flowing canals of this beautiful archipelago, all the numerous interviewees in this hour-long feature have a fantastic story to share in regard to their unique relation with the cat community.

]]> Mon, 18 Sep 2023 03:56:21 GMT https://movieweb.com/cats-of-malta-review/ Modeling is one of the biggest industries in the entire world. And for good reason. Almost everywhere you look, you will see a magazine, billboard, website, pop-up ad, or commercial with a model posing with or for a product to help sell that item. It's a billion-dollar business brimming with famous names and burgeoning stars. Of course, not every single model will become a household name; there are just so many of them. However, four of the most iconic and influential models are undoubtedly Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington, and they happen to be the focus of Apple TV+'s latest limited series.

]]> Mon, 18 Sep 2023 00:04:36 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-super-models-review/ There are few movies like Saturn Bowling. At least few good ones. Saturn Bowling spends its first half with the film's antagonist, before switching lanes to finally focus on the protagonist as he investigates the horrific crimes committed by the film's villain. This is by no means a spoiler, as the movie's antagonist is shady from the start. It's certainly not the only horror/thriller that puts the film's antagonist front and center; take American Psycho for instance. Like that film, Saturn Bowling succeeds by relentlessly exploring the dark heart of its antagonist at the forefront, captured in an incredible performance.

]]> Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:04:59 GMT https://movieweb.com/saturn-bowling-review/ Are you a big believer in urban legends? Well, you're not alone. And even if you're not, it's safe to say they're at least a tad intriguing. It's no wonder, then, that there are a plethora of urban legend films out there, based on a wide array of scary conversation-starters. And speaking of scares, a new horror feature called Elevator Game focuses on a particularly spooky legend that runs haywire amidst a fictional crowd of young, budding filmmakers.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 23:10:39 GMT https://movieweb.com/elevator-game-review/ In the past, director Tim Brown made it his prerogative to dive right into the deep end of various genres. Take his 2017 creature feature horror film, Devil in the Dark, compared to his 2021 family movie, Buckley’s Chance, which followed a boy and his dog in the Australian outback. Almost as if trying to find a comfortable sweet spot between the two, Brown has now landed in the cinematic space of a violent yet fuzzy action-comedy production that centers around criminal organizations and grandfathers with secret pasts.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:36:19 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-retirement-plan-review/ There are more true stories about ISIS (or Daesh) than the world's hearts could handle. From the victims to the misguided members, the kidnapped women to the captured cities, the Islamic State and the foreign policy which created it has resulted in near infinite tragedy. America may have pulled out of Afghanistan, but fighting rages on across the Middle East. Even though we no longer discuss Syria and al-Assad, the country is still in turmoil, and the dictator still reigns with blood on his hands.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 20:19:42 GMT https://movieweb.com/rebel-review/ Remember those terrifying cautionary tales that you were told as a kid? Well, the folk horror genre brings those hauntings to life in terrifying and horrific ways. Many of the best horror movies stem from folklore and mythology. The underrated 2017 film The Ritual, Ari Aster's Midsommar, and Robert Eggers' The Witch are all flawless horror movies, and some of the best in the folklore horror subgenre of recent years. It's a genre that has been around since the dawn of horror (as seen in the 1922 film Häxan), and one we have been so infatuated with ever since.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 18:55:32 GMT https://movieweb.com/nightsiren-review/ After the Fire, or Avant que les flammes ne s'éteignent, stokes the burning truth that must be reiterated: though the police are meant to protect us, they don't always do so equally or without prejudice. America continues to unfortunately see evidence of this, from the murder of George Floyd in 2020 to, more recently, the Seattle officer who struck and killed a young woman with his car and whose bodycam footage revealed him "joking" about writing an $11,000 settlement check because, to him, she "had limited value" (via NPR). What's more, it's not a purely American issue; many police institutions around the world are culpable.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 18:08:38 GMT https://movieweb.com/after-the-fire-2023-movie-review/ The Inventor is a brilliantly artistic stop-motion and 2D animated film about the final years of Italian Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci. The legendary painter, sculptor, scientist, philosopher, architect, and astronomer found himself smack dab in the middle of heretical controversy. Leonardo argued that reason and the practical application of scientific methodology was the path to true enlightenment. His pursuit of forbidden knowledge, especially anatomical research and cadaver dissection, could have been a death sentence from the Catholic Church. In The Inventor, Leonardo leaves Italy for the court of King Francis I of France, but finds that royal vanity and arrogance continues to impede his research.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 16:49:27 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-inventor-review/ There's a mind-bending short film from 2011 called The External World, with a ridiculously simple logline worthy of note: "A boy learns to play the piano." The filmmaker clearly had a sense of humor because the expansive project featured a seemingly endless inventory of side characters and subplots that ultimately all come together at the end. I felt a similar vibe watching Warm Blood, an experimental new feature that hits the masses this week.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:26:06 GMT https://movieweb.com/warm-blood-review/ No matter where you may fall on the spectrum of faith, it cannot be denied that religion — Christianity, in particular, as is the subject of The New Boy — can be equally beautiful and frightening. On one hand, there's something inspiring about the way in which faith can be used as a guiding principle for kindness, a means of fostering community, and a way of making sense of the world. On the other hand, of course, we have seen across history — and currently are seeing — the weaponization of religion, with faith becoming a source of justification for violence (whether physical or through dangerous rhetoric).

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 05:39:49 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-new-boy-review/ In Flames may be marketed as a horror film, but, in actuality, it is so much more than that. Indeed, for a film that's currently making its global festival run — it made its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year before arriving at the Toronto International Film Festival for its North American premiere — horror fundamentally serves as a universal entry point for audiences who might be watching a Pakistani film for the first time. Once seated, audiences will find that while In Flames fulfills its promise of thrills, it also offers a story brimming with heart.

]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 05:28:47 GMT https://movieweb.com/in-flames-movie-review/ If there’s one documentary you must see this fall, place Invisible Beauty on the top of your list, and not just because it’s exceptional, moving, engaging, and thought-provoking. It will also give you an opportunity to meet a rare kind of human being, one whose outlook on life and vibrant determination to combat racism within the modeling industry is something to behold. Directed by Bethann Hardison herself and Frédéric Tcheng, the genius French filmmaker behind Dior and I and Halston, Naomi Campbell is on board as one of the many executive producers.

]]> Thu, 14 Sep 2023 23:29:43 GMT https://movieweb.com/invisible-beauty-review/ Horror anthology movies are not anything new. For decades, we have seen the horror genre pump out numerous anthology movies that tell many different short stories that are not always wholly connected to the films main plot. Films like Trick' R' Treat, The ABC's of Death, and VHS are just a few of the many examples of great horror anthologies. It's an underrated genre, with few masterpieces but lots of pretty great films. Keeping that tradition alive is the 2023 horror anthology, Satanic Hispanics.

]]> Wed, 13 Sep 2023 21:16:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/satanic-hispanics-review/ Ready to raise your coffee mugs and smile for Season 3 of The Morning Show? Hold that thought. Apple TV+’s Emmy- and SAG-winning drama has a brand-new groove in season three, sending its beleaguered characters into new territory. That also gives these UBA Network folks more to consider, personally and professionally, as they experience life-changing shifts with a drop of a dime. Par for the course for this often frenetic yet never dull series.

]]> Wed, 13 Sep 2023 18:24:43 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-morning-show-season-3-review/ In a world where unlimited information — and, by extension, misinformation — can be accessed with a single click, the objective truth has become elusive. All it takes is one charismatic leader to twist a truth into a lie for millions of people to then adopt that lie as truth. History has taught us that that's precisely how Hitler rose to power, stoked hatred, plunged the world into war, and committed the darkest atrocities imaginable.

]]> Wed, 13 Sep 2023 17:43:20 GMT https://movieweb.com/lee-movie-review/ They don't make Westerns how they used too, right? Compared to movies like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, 1960s The Magnificent Seven, and Once Upon a Time in the West, Westerns nowadays just don't boast the same energy as they used too. Don't get us wrong, we have seen some great ones over the last two decades. 2010's True Grit is easily one of the best modern Westerns of the 21st century, alongside movies such as 3:10 to Yuma and the horror cult classic Bone Tomahawk. That's without mentioning the Quentin Tarantino love letters to the Westerns of the past, Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight.

]]> Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:55:18 GMT https://movieweb.com/outlaw-johnny-black-review/ Dumb Money tells the astonishing true story of a "David vs. Goliath" financial revolution that rocked Wall Street and caused a global media firestorm during the pandemic. Keith Gill, played superbly by Paul Dano, was a Mass Mutual financial analyst working from home near Boston. He became a working class hero through a series of YouTube videos under the moniker Roaring Kitty. Gill believed that GameStop, the brick and mortar video game retailer, was being purposely undervalued by billion dollar hedge funds. They were "shorting" the stock by betting that its price would plummet, thus opening the company to the possibility of a predatory takeover where it could be broken up and sold.

]]> Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:28:16 GMT https://movieweb.com/dumb-money-review/ From Sideways and Nebraska to The Descendants and even his previous film Downsizing, you can trace a fascination with American livelihood across all of Alexander Payne's movies. He has a knack for imbuing the sharpest (and, at times, darkest) of humor in his characters' suffering, and The Holdovers is no different. Hilarious and heartfelt, it might be premature, though no less certain, to say that Payne has crafted one of the best movies of the year that is also destined to become a holiday classic. It made its American premiere just last month at the Telluride Film Festival, and at its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, it's already proven to be ahead of the pack.

]]> Tue, 12 Sep 2023 03:44:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-holdovers-review/ Kenneth Branagh's third outing as Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is a captivating murder mystery with bona fide horror scares. A Haunting in Venice, adapted from the 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party, will send shivers down your spine as a devilish plot twists and turns along a supposedly supernatural path. Poirot, the epitome of reason and logical deduction, faces a spellbinding test of his investigative abilities when unexplainable events lead to a baffling series of murders. The beautifully shot Italian settings coupled with superb performances from a venerated, all-star ensemble delivers frightening fun and cinematic splendor.

]]> Mon, 11 Sep 2023 22:35:14 GMT https://movieweb.com/a-haunting-in-venice-review/ Beauty and trauma collide in Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan's Seven Veils, which made its world premiere at the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Amanda Seyfried, the film marks a reunion between her and Egoyan, almost 15 years since their first collaboration, Chloe. In fact, Chloe and Seven Veils make for an interesting double feature: shot and set in Toronto, both films examine the dark recesses of human psychology and see Seyfried playing women navigating hidden truths about themselves.

]]> Mon, 11 Sep 2023 02:26:36 GMT https://movieweb.com/seven-veils-review/ Those with siblings know that, for better and worse, you can always count on them to, among many things, be there in the wake of tragedies — to point out your shortcomings, to be a shoulder to cry on, to remind you of your awkward childhood, to judge you for your life choices and, more often than not, to drive you up the wall. Perhaps that's why, from a storytelling standpoint, sibling dynamics inherently carry the potential for some of the richest, tensest, and most complex narratives one could create. It's why family drama films are so captivating: nobody knows you, and simultaneously misunderstands you, quite like family.

]]> Sun, 10 Sep 2023 12:29:29 GMT https://movieweb.com/his-three-daughters-review/ Warning: This article discusses a film that deals with heavy topics, including torture and rape.Megalomaniac, the newest release from Belgian filmmaker Karim Ouelhaj, follows Martha and Félix, the two adult children of the Butcher of Mons, a notorious Belgian serial killer who was responsible for the murders of five women throughout the 1990s. As adults, Félix has turned to killing, following in his father's footsteps, and Martha has become reserved, mentally ill from years of abuse from those around her.

]]> Sun, 10 Sep 2023 03:27:18 GMT https://movieweb.com/megalomaniac-review/ Most apocalyptic fiction is American, because Americans are some of the only people who can actually take it seriously. That's because America is a new country; its name refers to more of a fluid concept than a tangible place. States and territory are added, demographics change wildly, and the principles of immigration mean we're a nearly postmodern country with no fixed identity. It's easy to imagine the end of everything when everything's changing and new. Other countries and regions, though, are rooted in such historical longevity that total catastrophe seems inevitable. The bubonic plague, the Crusades, endless territorial wars — history itself is apocalyptic in most places, but it continues. There's hope in that.

]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 22:29:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-walking-dead-daryl-dixon-review/ Seeking out our roots is sometimes easier said than done. Is the voyage overseas worth a possible prison sentence with no end in sight? That's the foundation of a new passion project by Michael Goorjian (Party of Five, SLC Punk), the writer-director-star who plays an American returning to the place of his ancestors: Armenia. The kicker? The year is 1948, and it's a Soviet republic amid the aftermath of World War II. Inspired by real events, Amerikatsi (translated as "The American") is a strong comedy-drama that's sometimes hard to watch, due solely to the tough subject matter, but never fails to deliver on the heart.

]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 20:49:19 GMT https://movieweb.com/amerikatsi-review/ You won’t be screaming "Opa!" with glee after seeing My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, but there is enough feel-good charm in writer/director Nia Vardalos’s third go-around in her Big Fat Greek Universe to keep you satiated. For a while, anyway. It would have been great if the third time was a charm for the Portokalos family, but alas, how we find that family here and the story they’re given to exist in simply doesn’t work.

]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 19:07:39 GMT https://movieweb.com/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-3-review/ Freedom's Path is a brutal Civil War drama about the horrors of slavery, an unlikely friendship, and the courageous few who risked death to run the Underground Railroad, a secret network that shepherded escaped slaves to the northern states. The film, gut-wrenching at times with its unflinching portrayal of racial oppression, regrettably treads into melodrama as characters stay rigidly defined to support the narrative's agenda. Pacing also becomes an issue as excessive flashbacks and an overly stylized approach stretches an already long runtime. That said, its powerful themes and unvarnished truth lessens the flaws for a worthwhile viewing experience.

]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 17:56:31 GMT https://movieweb.com/freedoms-path-review/ If Halloween is indeed "gay Christmas," as it is lovingly called by many folks in the LGBTQ+ community, then My Animal makes for a solid teaser. Directed by Jacqueline Castel and written by Jae Matthews, both of whom are making their feature film debuts here, My Animal follows Heather (played by non-binary actor Bobbi Salvör Menuez) as she moves through her small northern town as an outcast, trying to keep her darkest secrets from coming to light. Tomboyish and desperate to play on her town's all-male hockey team, not only is Heather secretly queer, but she is also a werewolf (the product of a family curse).

]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 15:54:51 GMT https://movieweb.com/my-animal-review/ The plot of The Nun, which was released back in 2018, was rather straightforward, if you're being kind, or undercooked, if you're being more critical. It boils down to a priest and a nun investigating a haunted abbey with a delivery-boy, with the backstories of the trio only lightly touched upon. By contrast, The Nun II is positively stuffed with plot and subplots, though that's not necessarily a bad thing if you can do it right.

]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 14:57:29 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-nun-2-review/ Good Boy immediately lures you in from its very first frame. Christian (Gard Løkke) is preparing food. He lives alone. Well, there is his dog, Frank. But Frank is a different kind of canine — the human kind. The kind that wears a life-size puppy suit/pajamas and a doggy head while he walks around on all fours and behaves like a well-trained pet. What madness is this, you wonder? Some kind of perverse puppy play? Yes and no. Writer/director Viljar Bøe’s film is part thriller, part dark comedy, and part edgy dating nightmare once Christian starts seeing Sigrid (Katrine Lovise Øpstad Fredriksen).

]]> Thu, 07 Sep 2023 17:48:46 GMT https://movieweb.com/good-boy-review/ When it comes to international horror films, very few streaming services do the subgenre justice like Shudder does. Offering a vast selection of top-quality international movies, the horror-centric platform has added some game-changing genre giants over the last few years, including Indonesia's Impetigore, Mexico's Tigers Are Not Afraid, and Guatemala's La Llorona. The most recent addition to Shudder comes from Malaysia, with Dain Said's Blood Flower. The film was also written by Said, along with Ben Omar and Nandita Solomon, and stars Idan Aedan, Bront Palarae, and Nadiya Nissa.

]]> Wed, 06 Sep 2023 22:44:13 GMT https://movieweb.com/blood-flower-shudder-review/ A feisty 12-year-old British girl, living alone after her mother's tragic death, gets a surprising visit from an absentee father she's never known. Scrapper, winner of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, will tickle your funny bone and tug heartstrings with a beautiful story about finding belonging. Newcomer Lola Campbell lights up the screen in an audacious debut performance. Her tough exterior hides a grieving child struggling to comprehend a monumental loss. Fantasy elements and clever asides from supporting characters add a whimsical touch at just the right times.

]]> Wed, 06 Sep 2023 16:54:02 GMT https://movieweb.com/scrapper-review/ Director David Lancaster is back in the driver’s seat once more with a new documentary about an iconic motorcycle designer and manufacturer, Speed Is Expensive: Philip Vincent and the Million Dollar Motorcycle. Through the many pieces of archival footage from Vincent’s time, audio recordings of the man himself, as well as sit-down conversations with many of the people who were a part of his life, viewers can now take an unprecedented and grand look into one of the most determined minds of the early 20th century. Changing the world’s view on motorcycle design as well as setting records all over the world with his record-breaking bikes, Lancaster does not shy away from the challenges that came into the British motorbike designer’s life either.

]]> Wed, 06 Sep 2023 04:15:35 GMT https://movieweb.com/speed-is-expensive-review/ Star Trek: Lower Decks animator/director Barry Kelly teased that fans could expect plenty of Easter Eggs in season four of the hit Paramount+ show. That may be a slight change of course for this inviting series, as it's relied on its relatively self-contained and wonderfully executed episodic format for some time. Still, these new elements now give Lower Decks an opportunity to further root itself into Star Trek lore and create a legacy of its own. It’s one thing to become a successful adult-animated comedy in the Star Trek universe, and quite another to become a series that offers plenty of creative opportunities for engaging future story arcs, whether that be in animated or live-action form. Either way, season four delights.

]]> Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:00:35 GMT https://movieweb.com/star-trek-lower-decks-season-4-review/ If you’re expecting a just-sit-back-and-get-spooked experience with The Changeling, only half of your expectations will be met. The highly anticipated new Apple TV+ series has its own expectations, and much of them are placed upon the audience. Be prepared to work your mind as you attempt to put together all the creative puzzle pieces here. Chances are, you may give up half-way through its frenetic eight-episode run, but you’ll miss out on the payoff, which raises more questions than it answers.

]]> Tue, 05 Sep 2023 20:38:16 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-changeling-review-tv/ No, this isn't Bored to Death, Jason Schwartzman's beloved comedy series on HBO. Far from it. While watching Beaten to Death, be prepared to wince, shield your eyes, and cry out in secondhand pain. With such an explicit film title, you might be able to guess just what happens to the lead character throughout the frightening Australian film's tight duration. It seems to drag on, however, given the hard-to-watch gory sequences that overrun this B-movie from co-writer and director Sam Curtain. We're often begging for a glimmer of hope or even comic relief, but you've been warned here that it doesn't exactly come.

]]> Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:36:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/beaten-to-death-review/ Chilean director Pablo Larraín has a past of telling stories centered around historical figures, and turning them into euphoric experiences full of tension, suspense, and prestige. His work is simply unlike anything we have seen in the biopic genre before. His filmography includes the likes of the Oscar-nominated biographies Spencer and Jackie, starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy, respectively, and he also made a beautiful biopic about the poet Pablo Neruda. His films, although critically acclaimed, can be fairly divisive. Many love these movies, and others just don't. So, will Larraín's latest outing, El Conde, a satirical horror comedy which debuted at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, unite the community, or will it receive Larraín's usual reception?

]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2023 21:05:54 GMT https://movieweb.com/el-conde-review/ Estranged sisters attempting to rekindle their relationship suffer a catastrophic accident while exploring an underwater cave. The Dive is a harrowing, real-time thriller that guarantees this author will never set foot in scuba gear. Tense action scenes are juxtaposed with regretful memories and fantasy retellings of what could have been. The protagonists' love for each other is brought to the forefront by a situation neither could have ever imagined. The drama does run a little thick, but the life or death scenario keeps you gasping for air until the credits.

]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2023 18:19:29 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-dive-review/ The Star Wars Holiday Special is not something you'll find on any streaming service. You won't find any pristine physical copies of it either. The only ones that exist are those that were videotaped by home audiences when the special aired on November 17th, 1978, complete with the commercials and announcements that were shown alongside it. And even those are few and far between. And yet, it remains one of the most infamous pieces of franchise media ever created, both a relic from a time when primetime television was going through an awkward growing phase and a jewel in the crown of any hardcore Star Wars collector.

]]> Sat, 02 Sep 2023 04:47:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/disturbance-in-the-force-review-star-wars-holiday-special/ Upon an initial title read, you might be forgiven for thinking that The Great Seduction is a raunchy sex comedy with characters trying tirelessly to seduce each other for personal gain. However, while that concept could be fun, Netflix's The Great Seduction is far from that. Instead, The Great Seduction is a funny, charming, and light-hearted comedy about the inhabitants of a fading town who come together and attempt to seduce a doctor into living in their community for monetary gain, to keep their home from going bankrupt.

]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2023 16:59:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-great-seduction-review/ Kids can be difficult, but so can our parents and guardians. Such notions are explored with an artistic hand in David Depesseville's debut narrative feature, which will be released Friday, Sep. 1. Astrakan — whose mystery of a title is finally revealed in the film's groundbreaking third act — is French Impressionism at its finest, chronicling hard-hitting, slow-burn sequences of a young orphan named Samuel (Mirko Giannini). It's an utterly realistic portrayal of youth in revolt that sheds light on the work of Francois Truffaut (The 400 Blows) and could even fit well into a Wes Anderson film — I'm looking at you, Moonrise Kingdom.

]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2023 15:28:57 GMT https://movieweb.com/astrakan-review/ Growing up is tough. Perhaps it's a bit trickier if you're a descendant of witches. But on a universal level, turning the age 18 is a big milestone, and for the rebellious teen at the center of writer-director Jennifer Reeder's new film Perpetrator, the big birthday comes with more than just well wishes. The end result is a blood-soaked psychological thriller that's sometimes a slow burn but still weaves in some occasional dark humor; the absurd society that serves as the film's setting will surely come off as satirical.

]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2023 14:42:47 GMT https://movieweb.com/perpetrator-review/ If you’re looking for the next breakout hit, start streaming One Piece on Netflix immediately. That may sound like we’re gushing about this new epic live-action pirate adventure, but for good reason. One Piece is inventive, original, and thoroughly engaging, holding your interest throughout its festive eight episodes. It’s what some would have hoped to feel while watching some of the recent Star Wars’ series on Disney+, but alas that’s another story. (But thank God for Ahsoka.)

]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2023 14:03:21 GMT https://movieweb.com/one-piece-review-netflix/ It's certainly not a new concept for filmmakers to shoot their movies entirely in one continuous take, but it's become more and more popular. Just look back at critically acclaimed movies like 1917, Birdman, and Boiling Point, and this year's Medusa Deluxe. Love them or hate them, movies that are shot as a "oner" almost always manage to garner acclaim, from both critics and audiences, what with a one-take feeling incredibly immersive, and usually exceptionally shot. Now, 2023s thriller Failure!, starring Ted Raimi, is the latest to tackle the one-take movie gimmick to great success. While the movie certainly isn't flawless, Failure! does a great job at thrusting audiences into a world that plays out in real time, sort of like a theatrical show. You can check out a poster and read our review below:

]]> Wed, 30 Aug 2023 22:16:07 GMT https://movieweb.com/failure-review-ted-raimi/ Let's get this out of the way — The Mountain is unusual, introducing a surreal mystery that's never truly explained. That's probably a dealbreaker for a lot of people, but adventurous or curious audiences who can embrace ambiguity will find much to adore in the movie. Filmmaker Thomas Salvador stars as Pierre, a Parisian businessman who experiences a kind of midlife crisis and heads to the Alps. He calls in sick at first, but finds that something is drawing him deeper and deeper into the mountains, until he's left his job and life in Paris in order to camp out on glaciers.

]]> Wed, 30 Aug 2023 20:44:33 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-mountain-review/ Sleeper agents and microchips. Ex-special forces and catastrophic abort sequences. Sounds thrilling, right? Unfortunately not so much in Dark Asset, starring Hong Kong-American actor Byron Mann, Swedish-American actress Helena Mattsson, and Terminator franchise alumni Robert Patrick. Dark Asset shows what happens when a living weapon attempts to break free from the conspiratorial program and the corrupt captors that once created him. While the initial premise and promisingly dangerous introduction do indeed tease an action-packed ride synonymous with other averagely rated entries in the genre, everything Dark Asset has to offer is instead slowed down when the overall mystery of the movie is introduced.

]]> Wed, 30 Aug 2023 19:05:29 GMT https://movieweb.com/dark-asset-review/ Director Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington orchestrate a symphony of masterful violence in the summer's best action film. The Equalizer 3 brings bloody vengeance to Italy's beautiful Amalfi Coast. An unstoppable killer burdened by loneliness discovers friendship and belonging in the company of kind strangers. He'll return the favor when their price of extortion becomes intolerable. The saga of heroic vigilante Robert McCall comes to a thrilling conclusion in an unexpected storyline. His reasons for leaving Boston and confronting a merciless new enemy opens a different path of possibilities.

]]> Tue, 29 Aug 2023 16:44:32 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-equalizer-3-review/ There are few subgenres that have the potential to be as disturbing and as creepy as Lovecraftian horror. For those who are unaware of the term, also referred to as 'cosmic horror,' the subgenre gained its name from the brilliant but problematic 19th century author H.P. Lovecraft. The author typically wrote about misshapen, grotesque, and monstrous beings that come from other dimensions and universes. Some of the best Lovecraftian horror films include Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator, Alex Garland's Annihilation, Richard Stanley's Color Out of Space, and Paul W.S Anderson's Event Horizon.

]]> Mon, 28 Aug 2023 18:57:56 GMT https://movieweb.com/older-gods-review/ Based on a true story, The Hill comes from director Jeff Celentano (Breaking Point), who attempts to strike a home run with this baseball tale. Creatively, the bases never feel fully loaded here and there’s never a sense that things won’t get resolved. That the film goes into overtime — literally — is another story. Despite all that, if you can have a little patience, when all is said and done, Celentano does justice to the real-life story of a celebrated baseball player, beginning with his childhood in the 1970s and moving through young adulthood where he was further confronted with his physical injuries and filial strife.

]]> Sat, 26 Aug 2023 01:06:40 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-hill-review/ Remakes and reinventions of Mary Shelley's classic horror novel, Frankenstein, are hardly new concepts. The monster created by the titular scientist has been a fixture in pop culture ever since Boris Karloff first donned his iconic bolts and prosthetics, showing up in everything from comic books to children's cartoons. Dr. Frankenstein himself is hardly a stranger to onscreen interpretations, having been played by the likes of James McAvoy and Peter Cushing, just to namedrop a couple.

]]> Fri, 25 Aug 2023 22:39:16 GMT https://movieweb.com/birth-rebirth-review/ Everyone has an obsession. Whether it's sports, movies, video games, and in some cases, people. We've seen this in many movies. We've seen individuals become deeply obsessed with another character in a movie, leading the obsessed character to stalk and kill among many other horrific things to stay close to the character they are obsessed with. Some of the best to ever do it include films like Fatal Attraction, The Invisible Man, Misery, Single White Female, and the aptly titled Obsession from Brian De Palma. However, not many in this genre are actually good films. The subgenre is sadly plagued with many run-of-the-mill and simply uninteresting movies that make the "stalker" subgenre one of the worst out there.

]]> Fri, 25 Aug 2023 20:09:26 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-admirer-review/ A finance capitalist in Berlin is targeted by a mysterious car bomber as he drives his children to school. Retribution, a remake of the 2015 Spanish film El Desconocido, has Liam Neeson back to old tricks in a generic actioner. The producers behind Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night, and The Commuter update the primary setting to a car in a bustling metropolis. The rub is that it will explode if the protagonist attempts to get out or call for help. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce the villain. There's reasonable tension and the film is capably acted, but the overall experience feels like a tired retread.

]]> Fri, 25 Aug 2023 14:44:16 GMT https://movieweb.com/retribution-review/ There are some movies that are so absurd and bizarre, that we can't help but be intrigued by them. And a movie about a killer sloth is certainly one of them. Slotherhouse toys with many genres, and offers up a slasher/animal attack movie not to miss. It's utterly ridiculous. But what do you expect when you tune into a horror comedy movie with an agile, acrobatic, highly intelligent, and incredibly strong sloth, slaughtering an entire sorority house in the most hilarious ways possible? By the trailer and synopsis alone, you know exactly what to expect.

]]> Thu, 24 Aug 2023 18:15:05 GMT https://movieweb.com/slotherhouse-review/ You may have been one of millions of viewers who found the first season of Invasion to be both captivating and frustrating. The sci-fi series about an alien invasion on Earth felt sci-fi, even though a bona fide alien only appeared in handful of intense scenes — not counting those mysterious spores, of course. Each week, an aching, unsettling feeling permeated the screen as various characters around the world attempted to understand what was occurring and how to deal with the sudden alien invasion and its potential threat to humanity. It was all a guessing game in season one.

]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2023 21:57:13 GMT https://movieweb.com/invasion-season-2-review/ Gran Turismo tells the incredible true story of how an avid young fan of Playstation's hit racing simulator became a professional racer on the international circuit. Jann Mardenborough's rise from an armchair gamer in his bedroom to hurtling around a racetrack in Formula One and Indy cars is the stuff of dreams. His improbable success and rise to fame isn't without setbacks as family, competitors, and even his own pit crew have little faith. The film inspires and works on an emotional level, but kicks exhaust as a thrilling sports adventure. The superbly shot, realistic racing scenes will have audiences gripping their chairs in white-knuckle excitement.

]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2023 19:26:12 GMT https://movieweb.com/gran-turismo-review/ If you've ever visited a hotel, casino, or office building, there's a high chance you've walked on a carpet produced in Dalton, Georgia. You wouldn't know it, but the little-known city produces around 90% of the world's functional carpets. From the plainest of the plain to gaudy and eclectic patterns, almost all the carpets you see out and about originate in Dalton. A small town in the south of the USA experiencing such a boom in job opportunities and wealth made the American dream a reality for those seeking their fortune. But what happens when the boom becomes more of a steady and expected growth rate and there's no room for intrepid young carpet designers to make a name for themselves?

]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2023 18:56:26 GMT https://movieweb.com/carpet-cowboys-review/ Breakwater was an official selection of the Cinequest 2023 Film Festival. The new action thriller from writer/director James Rowe (Blue Ridge Fall) stars Dermot Mulroney (Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Righteous Gemstones, Shameless) in a powerhouse performance. Both the actor and the film generated good audience buzz after its premiere at the fest Aug. 19.

]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2023 18:27:38 GMT https://movieweb.com/breakwater-review/ What lengths would your high-school self go to in order to achieve a certain raunchy goal before graduation? We've seen it done in throwbacks like American Pie and Superbad. But with the new LGBTQ+ sex comedy Bottoms, whose title may or may not have kinky connotations, rising actress Rachel Sennott and her equally hilarious co-star Ayo Edebiri — whose hit show The Bear is up for countless Emmy Awards this season — bring the popular subgenre to new heights thanks to relentlessly hilarious one-liners, a plethora of fun supporting performances by guys and gals, and a heartfelt message that ultimately shines through about friendship and community.

]]> Wed, 23 Aug 2023 01:08:49 GMT https://movieweb.com/bottoms-review/ You would be forgiven if you find Harlan Coben’s Shelter eerily and creatively adjacent to the crime-solving antics found in shows like Nancy Drew, Stranger Things, and 13 Reasons Why. Producer Allen MacDonald came from the latter series, in fact, and joins Coben here, who is on board as executive producer. They make a fine creative pair, and if you dig twisty tales filled with occasionally overdramatic teens on a quest to solve potential crimes, then grab yourself some Scooby Snacks and jump into this Mystery Machine. The ride isn’t that bad.

]]> Tue, 22 Aug 2023 22:34:27 GMT https://movieweb.com/harlan-cobens-shelter-review/ Many an American teen growing up in the 1980s, 90s and even 2000s experienced a sexual awaking whilst watching a direct-to-video erotic thriller. These movies, which populated video shelves and late night cable in lieu of hardcore adult films, featured ridiculous storylines as a pretext to getting their casts naked at every opportunity. Plenty of simulated sex would follow to keep viewers transfixed. Nobody ever watched for innovative filmmaking or great acting.

]]> Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:52:56 GMT https://movieweb.com/why-we-kill-for-love-review/ Ahsoka takes beloved characters from 15 years of Star Wars animated and live-action lore on a thrilling new quest that ardently rewards a dedicated fan base. Showrunner, writer, and primary director Dave Filoni gives nuance and maturity to a storyline brimming with depth. The brilliant two-episode premiere dives headfirst into a galaxy of uncertainty. The Empire has fallen, but its scattered remnants remain a significant threat. New players enter the game as formidable adversaries unlike any we've previously seen. The rigid black and white dogma of Jedi versus Sith has faded into shades of gray.

]]> Tue, 22 Aug 2023 16:00:37 GMT https://movieweb.com/ahsoka-premiere-review/ Fenris is one of those rare series you simply cannot take your eyes off of. Set in a forested village of Østbygda, Norway, the landscape is as dynamic and dramatic as some of the events that play out in the new Viaplay series from creator/director/co-writer Simen Alsvik, who was the lead director behind Netflix’s brilliant Lilyhammer. This Norwegian series dives deep into a puzzling mystery early on when a determined research biologist returns to the hometown where her unconventional father created a wolf habitat, only to learn that her father’s assistant (who’s also the son of one her former classmates) has disappeared.

]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2023 22:37:17 GMT https://movieweb.com/fenris-review/ Larry Fessenden's horror credentials are unquestionable. He's both starred in and directed films from deep within the genre, and he's worked with the likes of Guillermo Del Toro and Ti West in his decade-spanning career. His love for classic movie monsters, in particular, is well documented at this point. His 2019 reimagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in the form of the film Depraved was particularly well-received, and his black-and-white, '90s indie classic Habit is a brilliant vampire movie.

]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2023 19:09:37 GMT https://movieweb.com/blackout-review/ New Life, the debut feature-length offering from writer/director John Rosman, is yet another case of a film that's difficult to talk about without spoiling some of its key surprises. It's a genre film, of that there is little doubt, but it takes its time before becoming a horror movie and getting to the real frights, spending much of its first act instead resembling more of a traditional cat and mouse thriller, a la The Fugitive.

]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2023 18:37:17 GMT https://movieweb.com/new-life-review/ Life partners Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams have made a name for themselves as a formidable filmmaking duo. They have no less than 20 short films to their credit, and their first feature length documentary, Someone Like Me (2019) received critical acclaim and was lauded on the festival circuit.

]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2023 16:15:31 GMT https://movieweb.com/satan-wants-you-review/ In fifth century Britain at the dawn of the Dark Ages, a vicious and temperamental monarch exiles his bastard son after a tragic loss in battle. The Winter King, adapted from The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell, is a bold and bloody retelling of the Arthurian legends. A written prologue sets the stage as warring tribes of Christians and Pagans struggle to unite against formidable Saxon invaders. The premiere of this new MGM+ series gets down to savage business early with a brutal opening scene. You're hooked from the start as the protagonist's journey begins on a truly harsh note.

]]> Mon, 21 Aug 2023 13:49:18 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-winter-king-premiere-review-mgm-plus/ London, 1975. If you thought your life had its fair share of troubles, imagine what the folks who lived during the 30-year ordeal known formally as The Troubles dealt with on a daily basis. Paranoia, threats of violence, spies everywhere — this is the setting of Dead Shot, which is now in theaters and on demand. Co-starring Aml Ameen and Colin Morgan with acclaimed actors Mark Strong and Felicity Huffman, the new political thriller from brothers Charles and Thomas Guard has its moments, despite the fact that a number of characters and subplots run a bit thin.

]]> Sun, 20 Aug 2023 18:39:01 GMT https://movieweb.com/dead-shot-review/ What would you do if an entire hotel was being handed down to you? Keep or sell? Maybe use it to party with your friends first? These are the questions at hand in Bad Things, a new feature from writer-director Stewart Thorndike (Lyle). It's the second in her trilogy of movies about motherhood. Thus, her latest psychological horror film — laced with violence and occasional humor — becomes more about the protagonist's complicated relationship with her mom than it is about the hotel business transaction.

]]> Sun, 20 Aug 2023 18:15:21 GMT https://movieweb.com/bad-things-review/ Estranged siblings are forced to address long-held grievances when the oldest brother returns home after years away. The Adults tries your patience as relatable but unlikable characters engage in strange behavior with annoying song and dance routines. No, this isn't a musical, but a subplot has them re-enacting childhood fantasies through weird imaginary personas. To say this gets old and irritating quickly is an understatement. The film is capably acted and realistically depicts the buried grudges we all hold against our family members. There's decent drama between the silliness. The problem is that the bad aspects torpedoes good intentions and significantly affects the pacing.

]]> Sun, 20 Aug 2023 06:53:15 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-adults-review/ Netflix has delivered some incredible animated movies recently, some of the decade'd best so far. Last year the streaming service released two Academy Award nominated movies with The Sea Beast and the Oscar-winning Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio. This year, we can imagine that the same will be true for the streaming service, thanks to the hilarious, heart-wrenching, and simply fantastic animated flick, Nimona. With all those previous titles getting praise, it's hard to imagine that Netflix and the creatives behind these animated movies will drop the ball any time soon. However, Netflix's latest animated outing, The Monkey King fails to live up to the rest. However, it could still grab the attention of younger audiences.

]]> Sat, 19 Aug 2023 20:39:41 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-monkey-king-review/ What do we do when tragedy strikes? What if it happens to one of our own family members? Grief hits us in different ways. There's no black and white 'right or wrong' on the human response, it seems. This notion is explored with a heavy hand in Love Life, a new contemplative film out of Japan that will make you cry, hug your loved ones, and more.

]]> Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:14:59 GMT https://movieweb.com/love-life-review/ Peacock’s breezy satire about capitalism, making money, and unlikely friendships is back. Killing It returns Aug. 17 in a wonderful round of episodes that certainly sets up great potential for a third season. Craig Robinson (This is the End, Hot Tub Machine) and Claudia O'Doherty (Trainwreck, Love) are pitch perfect as two oddball friends on a money-making quest. They are bound to hit it big — sometime — as the series is told in flashback, with Craig chatting away about how he garnered his riches. That plot device kicks in quickly at the start of season two where Craig is relaying his tale to a photographer who’s privy to Craig’s snake-wrangling days.

]]> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 23:48:32 GMT https://movieweb.com/killing-it-season-2-review/ How bold must we be in our quest to stay true to ourselves, and what would we do to keep our families intact? These are but two of the thought-provoking themes that writer/director Cory Finley explores to winning ends in Landscape with Invisible Hand, which lands in theaters Friday, Aug. 18. They are two ideologies that sometimes work in direct conflict with each other. But what if they didn’t have to? Landscape with Invisible Hand is an offbeat comedy with heavy doses of spunk and sweetness. It’s a daring picture for Finley, who takes the premise of aliens ruling Earth in the not-too-distant future as a backdrop to explore one family’s journey to keep it all together.

]]> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 23:14:25 GMT https://movieweb.com/landscape-with-invisible-hand-review/ When AppleTV+ became the new home for the Peanuts gang, audiences have been spoiled with all new specials and shows featuring their favorite characters. While there have been plenty of specials focusing on holidays and events, some are even bringing lesser-known members into the spotlight. In Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, fans will get a full look at how the bespectacled, quiet Marcie navigates the world.

]]> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 22:46:01 GMT https://movieweb.com/snoopy-presents-one-of-a-kind-marcie-review/ The idea must have sounded great on paper. Cull from popular Buzzfeed videos dubbed Puppyhood — cute yet manipulative — and make a film about an unlikely couple whom fate has drawn together. Make that two dogs. Let the tail-wagging begin. Thing is, in Amazon Freevee’s new doggy rom-com, Puppy Love, there’s not much to wag about. You want there to be, but alas, this dog has already been put to pasture 15 minutes in. The premise — one that has been used before countless times — could have worked if the story offered more than just a quirky meet cute that becomes incredibly predictable.

]]> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 16:57:19 GMT https://movieweb.com/puppy-love-review/ A loving and loyal dog, abandoned by a truly despicable owner, finds a pack of caring canines who help him return home to exact sweet revenge. Strays will have audiences rolling in the aisles with its unabashed embrace of raunchy and sex-fueled humor. The foul-mouthed pooches liberally drop f-bombs while mocking weird humans and their penchant for picking up poop. A smart script relishes everything naughty but is also unexpectedly insightful. The film tackles themes of animal abuse, cruelty, and neglect with a clever approach.

]]> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 16:03:41 GMT https://movieweb.com/strays-review/ Fear not. Solar Opposites still shines bright. There’s been buzz that Hulu’s popular hit animated comedy would wobble when it returned for season four in the wake of the ousting of co-creator Justin Roiland, who also voiced lead character Korvo. Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Legion) has stepped into the role instead, and by the looks of it, he’s a natural fit. Better still, the series cleverly handled the transition from Roiland’s voice and the distinctly different take Stevens brings to Korvo now.

]]> Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:23:16 GMT https://movieweb.com/solar-opposites-season-4-review/ The DC Universe gets a much-needed Latino infusion with a superhero origin story based on the importance of family. Blue Beetle breaks the comic book adaptation mold by giving a young Mexican protagonist the blockbuster popcorn cinema treatment. Xolo Maridueña lights up the screen with an endearing and awkward personality. He gets narrative help from a slew of busybody relatives who have his back when the going gets tough. This also works against the film, as one character in particular strays too goofy and annoying for my taste. That said, a winning combo of an encouraging lead, solid action scenes, and sharp visual effects deliver a fun summer ride.

]]> Wed, 16 Aug 2023 17:08:26 GMT https://movieweb.com/blue-beetle-review/ Helen Mirren astounds as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in a tense dramatization of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where Egypt and Syria launched a massive surprise attack on Judaism's holiest day. Golda follows the indomitable but aged and sick leader through a perilous fight for her country's survival. She faced enemies at the gates with an iron will, fierce determination, and a towering presence that commanded authority. The film juxtaposes her debilitating cancer treatments with the intestinal fortitude to make life and death decisions under extraordinary circumstances.

]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2023 23:23:23 GMT https://movieweb.com/golda-review/ David Lynch’s Eraserhead, godfather of cult movies, didn’t attract the same blockbuster audience as Star Wars, though both debuted in 1977, and both have influential legacies. Whereas producers, studios and, hell, everyone else have copied Star Wars hoping to emulate its financial success, artists — writers, directors, visual artists and so on — are the ones who want to emulate Eraserhead’s style and mood. Such directors as Stanley Kubrick, Mel Brooks, John Waters, and George Lucas himself have all expressed admiration for the innovation of the film.

]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2023 15:23:32 GMT https://movieweb.com/babylon-5-the-road-home-review/ Alien invasion movies can get pretty dark. One needn't look further than the likes of A Quiet Place, or War of the Worlds, or Signs, or any hundreds of other films that play on humankind's fear of the other and otherworldly beings. In these films, humans are the unmistakable underdogs, and great efforts are made to have the audience root for our fellow Homo sapiens to overcome vastly technologically superior enemies and emerge triumphant, our home world intact. But it's never without sacrifice.

]]> Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:42:49 GMT https://movieweb.com/the-becomers-review/ Is it the summer of love? For lots of folks around the world, it's certainly a summer filled with record-breaking heat, with more to come this season. In a new queer rom-com from producer Greg Berlanti (the brains behind hit shows like Riverdale and You), things certainly heat up between a couple of young lads whose parents hold royal, prestigious titles in political society.

]]> Mon, 14 Aug 2023 20:55:13 GMT https://movieweb.com/red-white-royal-blue-review/