Cast: Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Kevin Durand, Will Sasso.
Premise: A fading midwestern town in which Frendo the clown, a symbol of bygone success, reemerges as a terrifying scourge.
Review: Clown in a Cornfield is a fun and funny slasher. It is written and directed by the same person who did Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, so I knew I wouldn’t be dissappointed. I was also excited that Will Sasso was in it as I will watch anything and everything with him. Kevin Durand is also great and great at playing crazy. He added some fun flair to last year’s Abigail.
The movie isn’t a pointless gore fest or anything. There is a real story and reason behind things.
This movie is based off of a book series and after making $6.5 million so far on a $1 million budget, I could see there being sequels which I would be on board for.
Cast: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Olga Kurylenko, Lewis Pullman, Geraldine Viswanathan, Chris Bauer, Wendell Pierce, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Premise: After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, an unconventional team of antiheroes must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
Review: I went into this not having seen Black Widow. I never really had interest in that movie even though I enjoyed the cast. I read a little bit about Black Widow and what else I needed to know before this movie just to catch up. I love Florence Pugh and David Harbour. I knew that I would see them and anything they do. I also really enjoyed the Captain America Disney+ show where John Walker has Captain America for a short time. The scene in that that takes place in the middle of the city was one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in anything Marvel.
Anyway, I went into this movie, thinking that it would be a lot like Marvel’s Suicide Squad. A movie a comedic movie showcasing antiheroes as heroes and setting up a lot more for the universe. And this movie was just that. The movie is absolutely hilarious. I even labeled it has a Comedy has one of the genres above. But outside of that of the movie has a lot of heart and a lot of motion to it.
I still don’t know if I fully love the antagonist, but I thought that it was very different. I thought that it was very original. I thought that it was very innovative and I’m excited to see what they do with him next. The end of the movie set up a very big next phase in the Marvel universe. A lot of people are not very happy that is already been spoiled for those who have not seen the new movie, but it has been announced in the movie and in marketing that the movie is called Thunderbolts but has an asterrisk over it as it it is also called The New Avengers.
Premise: Nathan “Nate” Caine, a mild-mannered bank employee with a rare condition that renders him unable to feel physical pain, leads a cautious and uneventful life. When his colleague and newfound love interest, Sherry Margrave, is kidnapped during a bank robbery, Nate turns his unique condition into an unexpected advantage. Determined to rescue Sherry, he embarks on a perilous mission, confronting dangerous criminals and uncovering shocking truths, all while navigating his own limitations and discovering the true extent of his resilience.
Cast: Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, Matt Walsh
Review: This movie was throughly entertaining. It involved three of my favorite genres: comedy, action, and torture. This movie is disgusting. But in a hilarious way.
About halfway through, there is a pretty cool twist. I thought it was interesting and definitely a surprise. Jack Quaid plays his typical dorky guy who gets the girl and kicks a little ass along the way. Ray Nicholson, son of Jack Nicholson, had a costarring role in this movie playing the lead antagonist. He broke out on the scene in last year‘s Smile 2. His role was short but stuck out as he put on his father’s creepy smile.
The film has some other great costars such as Matt Walsh, who plays one of the sassy detectives alongside Get Out’s Betty Gabriel. Jacob Batalon plays the charming and lovable best friend who helps out when needed.
This movie is a lot of fun. Watch it on the big screen while you still can.
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Omar Miller, Delroy Lindo.
Premise: Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Cast: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Laurence Fishburne.
Premise: After Charles Heller, a CIA crpytographer, loses his wife in a London terrorist attack, he realizes his bosses will not act due to conflicting internal priorities. Having blackmailed the agency to train him as a field operative, Charles embarks on a one-man mission to hunt down his wife’s killers.
Review: I got tickets to an early screening of this movie. Not how I used to though. Not when you enter contests on places, like go fubo and hope that you can be one of the people with advanced free tickets. I was on AMC looking to see a movie last weekend and noticed that there was an early screening of this. And I was also able to use my AMC pass which I was pleasantly surprised by. I was excited to see this movie, a week early.
It’s funny, because Jon Bernthal is currently playing two of the same characters in two extremely similar movies right now. This movie and The Accountant 2 with Ben Affleck where he plays his brother. I’m also watching Jon Bernthal right now in daredevil. I love that guy.
Anyway, I love action movies. The last movie that I saw on reviewed was Novacaine. I am very excited for the new Mission Impossible movie. There is a new Jason Statham movie out that I’m sure I will see you soon. I also just learned that he is doing a sequel to The Beekeper. The first one was a blast.
Now the thing about The Amateur is that it is like so many other movies but the execution steers clear of so many stereotypes. The following includes very minor to not really spoilers.
The stereotypes that this movie steers clear of: There is no new love interest. There is the love story of the protagonist losing his wife and thinking of her throughout the movie, but there is no new love interest with some 20 year old bikini model. There are no hand-to-hand fight scenes. No Rami Malek fighting 20 guys off with his barehands with a bunch of grunting.
Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Gloria Reuben, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Thom Tran
Premise: Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather at the family’s ancestral lake house.
Review: First off, I love a television show or movie where one of the main characters is dead. Six Feet Under, Dexter, Rescue Me. A story where one of the main character is dead and kind of plays the subconscious of the main character. I think this can be hard to pull off, but when it does it is so good.
When I first saw the trailer to this movie, I was sold. I have loved Natalie Morales since Parks and Rec. Sonquea Martin-Green since The Walking Dead, and Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman were good newcomers who I think have a real shot at being big actors.
The movie is really good. It’s a little long, but I feel it works. We really get to see a grief-stricken veteran try to carry on and get by in their day to day life. The movie is very funny. The back-and-forth banter between Merit and Zoe is really funny. The movie takes place in present day, but has a lot of flashbacks throughout to their time in the service.
The last fifteen minutes are a complete tearjerker. I haven’t, surprisingly, cried at something in a while and this movie made the waterworks come out. There is a twist that will really catch you by surprise.
This movie was written and directed by a veteran and it is based off of his life.
What It Reminds Me Of: Combines the dark humor of Dr. Strangelove with the existential sci-fi elements of Moon
Writer: BBong Joon-ho (screenplay), based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Premise: In 2054, Mickey Barnes, an “expendable” crew member on a mission to colonize the icy planet Niflheim, is repeatedly cloned after each death. When Mickey 17 survives a mission but is presumed dead, he returns to find his clone, Mickey 18, leading to ethical dilemmas and conflicts within the crew.
Cast: Robert Pattinson (Mickey Barnes), Naomi Ackie (Nasha Barridge), Steven Yeun (Timo), Toni Collette (Ylfa), Mark Ruffalo (Kenneth Marshall)
Review: I really wanted to like this movie. I just got around to seeing Parasite last year and it was phenomenal. I am also a huge Snowpiercer and Train to Busan fan. This was probably the first Bong Joon-ho movie I’ve actually seen in theaters. I was hooked since the first trailer.
It’s not a bad movie. It’s done very well. The acting is fantastic. Robert Pattinson plays a lot of integrations of himself, including one that seems like he’s just doing an impression of Steve Buschemi. Stephen Yeun plays a dick. I’ve never seen him not play a lovable guy. Well, maybe in Beef. Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo were fantastic. I want a spinoff movie on them. They were so, so awful. Ruffalo basically plays Elon Musk; a politician turned space pioneer. The movie definitely had a little bit of a Snowpiercer feel with the difference in classes.
The movie is very funny. Very, very funny. It’s not often you get a comedy/sci-fi/action movie and it pulled those all off well.
I think the movie just went in a different direction than I thought it would. Or I wanted it to.
I would love a stuffed animal of the creature. Oh, and the way that he gets sucked back into the printer and then continues to be pushed out is fucking brilliant!
Writer: Rob Edward’s, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson.
Director: Julius Onah
Premise: Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.
My Premise: Sam works on setting into the new role or Captain America as the world is threatened by an unknown.
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carly Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito.
Review: I love Anthony Mackie as Captain America. The way they phased out Chris Evans was handled perfectly—Steve Rogers finally got to be with Peggy, grow old, and live a normal life. It was also great seeing Wyatt Russell in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. That moment when he killed the Flag Smasher in front of a crowd—the act that cost him the Captain America title—was one of the most intense things I’ve ever seen in a Marvel project. Honestly, that’s something I don’t think they would’ve dared to put in one of their theatrical films.
Anyway, watching Mackie fully take on the role was incredible. He’s one of my favorite actors, and seeing a Captain America who not only wields a shield but also has wings? That’s just badass.
I’ve also loved watching Harrison Ford these past couple of years in Shrinking. Over the last few years, he’s starred in his final Indiana Jones movie and the Yellowstone spinoff 1923, and now he’s stepping into the Marvel universe as Red Hulk. And the guy is 82 years old! Technically, Ford is taking over the role of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross after William Hurt’s passing in 2022, which is a big deal.
I thought Tim Blake Nelson as the antagonist was interesting. I guess I see him as someone who usually does
Premise: Two highly-trained operatives become close after being sent to protect opposite sides of a mysterious gorge. When an evil emerges, they must work together to survive what lies within.
My Premise: Two snipers take a top secretive job to protect the world from what is hidden inside of a gorge. But their year long job starts to unravel secrets they never would have expected.
Cast: Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sigourney Weaver.
Review: It’s not often that we get a good movie that combines romance, sci-fi, horror, and action. I feel if anything tries that it’s usually a straight to digital type of movie. This movie also stars two of the biggest actors in the business right now and costar Sigourney Weaver. Anytime you see Sigourney Weaver pop up in a movie you know it’s going to be good. She seems to play a similar role in this movie to the one that she did in Cabin in the Woods.
This is one of those movies where a friend of yours tells you that they called it, you can easily call them out on the lie. There’s definitely been movies like this, but I think this one takes it in the new direction.
With the movie running over two hours, I thought that it would be a lot of set up in a lot of romance in building the relationship but actually gets into the action part pretty quickly . The second and third act of the movie very action packed up until the end. It has a cheesy ending, but hey, it is romance movie. What do we call a movie that is a romance horror? RomHor?
This is a fun movie. You don’t have to pay attention too much, I will say, however, that the movie does get pretty dark and the second and third act. And I mean that in terms of lighting. But it makes sense to the movie.
What It Reminds Me Of: Final Destination, Annabelle, Twilight Zone
Writer: Oz Perkins, based on a short story by Stephen King
Director: Oz Perkins
Premise: When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
My Premise: Three couples reunite at a billionaires secluded lake house and true identities come to light as people
Cast: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Converg, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy
I was all in from the moment I saw this trailer. A Stephen King short story. Produced by James Wan. Theo James—and also Theo James. I wasn’t as sold on Oz Perkins after Longlegs left me wildly disappointed, but now? Fully on board with him as a writer/director.
Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t pick up on the comedy in the trailer. It looked so violent and gruesome that I must have missed it. But let me tell you—this movie is hilarious. From start to finish. And not just because of the deaths. The way the characters talk about death, the dynamic between the brothers—there’s even a funeral scene with the mom and two sons that has some of the funniest dialogue in the movie.
It also kicks off with a totally unexpected cameo—one I never saw coming but was so hyped to see. The opening sets up The Monkey and wastes no time with a strong first kill. The second act slows down a bit, but it makes sense for the story and leads up to a wild third act. The movie is basically a sandwich where the meat is on the outsides—the first and third acts are loaded with over-the-top, violent, gruesome deaths. The whole theater was in uproar during the kill scenes, where you either see it coming a mile away or have no clue what’s about to happen. And the body parts? They really fly in this movie.
This year seems to be big for horror, but also big for actors playing multiple roles. Theo James plays twins in The Monkey, Robert Pattinson is tackling at least 17 versions of himself in Mickey 17, and Robert De Niro is pulling double duty as Frank Costello and Vito Genovese in The Alto Knights. I’ve become a huge Theo James fan—just finished watching him in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman series, and of course, he was great in The White Lotus and The Time Traveler’s Wife. He nails the contrast between the two brothers here.
Elijah Wood has been popping up in a lot of horror lately—he’s in Yellowjackets opposite Christina Ricci’s insane Misty, he’s starring in the long-awaited Toxic Avenger reboot, and he has a small but fun part in this movie. Also, seeing Sarah Levy in this? Unexpected but great. She plays a funky, fun character.
The whole thing feels like a Twilight Zone movie with a big budget and zero PG-13 restrictions. When I first saw the trailer, I immediately thought about how it could prime people for Final Destination 6—another movie loaded with random, violent, Rube Goldbergian deaths. Can audiences handle two movies like that in one year? At least there’s a few months between them.
Trivia time: I just learned that Os Perkins was Dorky David in Legally Blonde!
