Film and Music Reviews and Suggestions
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Black comedy, horror, body horror
Writer: Amy Wang
Director: Amy Wang
Cast: Shirley Chen, Fang Du, McKenna Grace, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Synopsis: An insecure Chinese-American teenager undergoes experimental surgery to appear white, hoping to secure the prom queen title and peer acceptance.
Review:
Trailer:
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Thriller, Psychological thriller, Mystery
Writer: Rebecca Sonnenshine
Based on: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Michele Morrone, Elizabeth Perkins
Synopsis: A struggling young woman is relieved by the chance for a fresh start as a maid for a wealthy couple. Soon, she discovers that the family’s secrets are far more dangerous than her own.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/48CtX6OgU3s?si=_mOnu4hlEgzIY5B8
Review: I went into The Housemaid not knowing anything about it. I knew it would be fun and have twists, but it exceeded my expectations. Seyfried is great at playing crazy. This also really allowed Sklenar to step in and play a different role, showing his range and depth. And, as always, Perkins plays the most insufferable person imaginable.
This movie is sexy, funny, and has some really good twists. I really like the direction that Paul Feig is going in with his last few movies. This movie has some similarities to A Simple Favor and Another Simple Favor, some of his most recently directed films, but is also very different.
The third act is pretty wild in this movie. There is violence, gore, twists and turns, and a really fun last scene.
TV Show or Movie: Movie
Where to Watch: Theaters
Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Writer: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis
Synopsis:
Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story of Pandora, introducing a volatile fire-based Na’vi clan and shifting the conflict inward among the Na’vi themselves. Jake Sully and Neytiri face escalating threats that challenge unity, morality, and survival, expanding the Avatar universe into darker emotional and thematic territory.
Trailer:
Review: I saw this movie on opening night, because obviously. I’m one of the biggest Avatar fans in the world, and I geek out pretty hard over these movies. I, of course, saw it in IMAX3D. I went to the Jordan’s Furniture in Natick. The one in Reading I hope to get to for this movie, as well as it is the best in New England. By far.
A lot of people liked this one more than the second one. I don’t think I did for two reasons. Way of water hit really hard because it had been so long since an Avatar movie had been out. We only had to wait two years between Way of Water and Fire and Ash, luckily. But I also just really enjoyed the water theme. I am happy that Fire and Ash still included so much of the Water, but that whole introduction in the second film was breathtaking.
The introduction fire as a new element and clan was really cool. I love the new antagonist. I am over Miles Quartich. I love Stephen Lang. But I recently read in an interview that he is also going to be in 4 and 5. I just hope he is a minor character by then. Or an ally like he almost became in this movie. I thought Varang was sexy, and badass, and fun, and I did like her dynamic with Quartich. The planet was mostly peaceful, until humans showed up with their weapons. What else is new.
The movie, especially the third act, felt very, very familiar. But I had read interviews with James Cameron and it made sense. He always wanted Avatar 2 to be split between Avatar 2 and 3 and have Avatar 4 split between Avatar 4 and 5. So, the familiarity works. This movie really expanded upon Kiri’s relationship to Pandora. To the nature, the animals, the Goddess. The underwater nighttime scenes with her were visually stunning.
TV show or Movie: Movie
Where to watch: Theaters
Writer: Coralie Fargeat
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Premise: A fading celebrity decides to use a black-market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid.
Review: Holy crap! This movie was such a ride. I feel like it was this year’s Barbarian.
It seems rare that a body horror movie makes it to the theaters. And even more that it has such a worldwide release and gets such great reception. There was The Thing, The Fly, The Human Centipede, Tusk. Of, course others. Now, there is The Substance.
I was excited for this one because I feel there aren’t a lot of female directors who make body horror films. And also because I love horror. And body horror.
I haven’t seen Demi Moore in something in a while and she was fantastic in this movie. Some people want her to win an Oscar, but horror never gets the awards it should. A nomination would be nice. Her descent into madness throughout this movie was, well, madness.
Margaret Qualley was also fantastic in this movie. She’s in pretty much every movie right now and now I can see why. Playing a younger, more spry version of Moore, she did a great job
Dennis Quaid was awful in this movie. In the best way. Although the second and third act are filled with some of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in some time, I will tell you the two things I found the most disgusting. The first being Dennis Quaid eating prawn on screen. Quaid plays the head of the network that produces Moore’s workout show and he plays a hyperbolic version of what this person is like in real life. At least, I hope it is hyperbolic. Maybe not. I mean, isn’t that kind of the whole point of this movie? How do people in Hollywood keep up with Hollywood standards? The other part I found to be the grossest was a scene with puss. It reminded me of the end of Requiem for a Dream.
The opening shot and last shot are the movie are beautiful and twisted and perfect. They are artsy and experimental and symmetrical. And they make a perfect sandwich out of the film. With everything in between being the meat. And there is a lot of it.
I wanted the film to go in a slightly different direction in the third act. It still did pretty much just what I wanted it to do, but slightly different. Regardless, the brief but powerful third act is wild. My girlfriend had to leave the theater right before it started into the absolutely descent into madness. Let’s just say, I think that Fargeat was trying to beat Fede Alvarez’s record for amount of blood used in a film.
Go see this in theaters!
Trailer: