Opiniones de cdjh-81125

There's certain directors who just feel perfectly geared towards particular franchises and Gareth Edwards is one of those people who seemed like the absolute perfect fit for a Jurassic movie. His involvement is what really got my hopes up and David Koepp returning as the writer got my excitement to a level that I wasn't sure was possible for one of these movies given how rocky the road has been since that original film. Rebirth definitely still contains a lot of the weaknesses that keep holding the Jurassic Park sequels back but it's the best this franchise has been in a decade and managed to get certain feelings out of me that I haven't experienced with one of these movies since Steven Spielberg was behind the camera.

Gareth Edwards manages to capture these creatures in such an awe inspiring way and the film really feels like it takes in time in crafting those moments of absolute wonder. The CGI is pretty impeccable and Edwards manages to do what he did with Godzilla and Rogue One and create a true sense of scale. It's colourful and vibrant and the camera always feels like it's finding new and dynamic ways of capturing the dinosaurs on screen. It's also a lot scarier than I expected it to be and the set pieces are the best that these movies have had since the 90's. They make these creatures feel genuinely terrifying again and I think the best compliment I can give them is that after a while I was involuntarily searching the screen for when the next one was going to pop out.

If I had to criticise something about the movie on a technical level it would probably some pacing issues that come about as a result of the editing. There's a point about half way through where the film divulges into two distinct paths and I think some more cross cutting between the two of them would've benefited the flow of things. It just feels like we spend so much time with one group before cutting to the other for what feel like quite long periods and it did start to make the film feel uneven. I think the script might be more to blame for those issues though because it's unfortunately what holds this movie back from being great.

The characters overall aren't up to much and for the most part it's only really the performances that make them somewhat engaging. The film starts out quite rough with a 40 minute period that feel like just constant introductions and a lot of exposition that comes across as really thrown together. There's interesting seeds for the Johansson, Bailey and Ali characters but nothing after the opening really does much to build upon them so they end up feeling underdeveloped. There's also a whole other family introduced in the opening in a very abrupt way and I couldn't ever really tell what their purpose in the story ultimately was. There was plenty to enjoy as their scenes go on but it just ends up feeling like this whole other plot point which as I said really effected the pacing without ever really feeling like they served much of a purpose. I also think the film is lacking in the social commentary that made the first film great. The reason for getting these characters into this situation raises some interesting moral and ethical dilemmas but it never really felt like it went anywhere meaningful and by the time the film concludes the whole dilemma just ends up being resolved quite cut and dry way.

I think Rebirth ends up feeling the most like The Lost World compared to any other Jurassic movie in that it does feel lacking in the writing and character departments but it's so well executed on a technical level that I just found it so hard not to enjoy the experience. It also ends up feeling like a much more refined and better executed version of Jurassic Park 3, my least favourite movie in the franchise. I think the script definitely needed an overhaul because it does reek a bit of something rushed to meet a release date because there are interesting seeds in there that could've grown into something interesting. It's hard to tell what's next for these movies but if they get this cast back I think there's potential for growth with them and if they get a director with real vision again I have reason to feel excited.

I don't know much of anything about Formula One so a movie about that in and of itself wouldn't excite me, it's the potential for great filmmaking what got me to as excited for this movie as I was. Top Gun: Maverick was achievement in every sense of the word that I still feel like I'm coming to terms with 3 years later and the idea of that team going from aerial sequences to driving didn't feel like a retread but a whole new exciting set of possibilities. You can definitely see the finger prints from Maverick all over F1 but for all the best reasons mainly being how invested I ultimately was in the characters and the situation. I loved it so much and it ends up feeling like one of those movies that should never leave theatres.

The film does such a good job at putting you in the head space of these drivers and I truly feel like I learned as much as was humanely about Formula One racing in two and a half hours. They find the most natural means imaginable of delivering exposition and by the time the 3rd act kicked in I felt like I was totally in sync with these characters. For as long as the runtime is there really isn't an ounce of fat to be found and a large part of that comes down to the editing. The pacing is a close to perfect as it can possibly be and I can honestly say that the runtime flew by.

The filmmaking on display is astounding and for as much as I don't want to be focused on the technical presentation of a film as opposed to just being wrapped up in the experience F1 struck the best possible balance between both. I couldn't help but be consistently amazed at the wizardry Kosinski pulls off behind the camera and its in a way that feels like it's totally right for the experience he's trying to provide. I usually hate POV shots but they feel perfectly utilised here and I loved how the camera pans between perspectives from within the driving seats of the cars. It's amongst the best sound design of any film I've seen in the last few years and for as much as the term white-knuckled is thrown around these days it's the only fitting way to describe the experience of this movie.

But for as impressive of a technical achievement as this movie is all of the prowess won't go far without something to genuinely get invested in and I think this film is much more impressive as a piece of writing than I think it's going to get credit for. It's undeniable that a lot of the tropes this movie plays with are familiar but they not only work in it's favour but because of how well executed everything is it still feels fresh. The dialogue is sharp and witty with a lot humour that felt totally natural and character conflict that feel totally earned and explored in a satisfying way. In a lot of other movies like this a lot of the scenes between the races are just filler to get the characters back into the cars but that's not the case here.

There's meaningful character building and real tangible stakes in almost every scene and the racing sequences are raised up even higher as a result. I loved basically every character I was supposed to, even the small bit-parts felt like they added so much, and I got so much out of their interactions. Brad Pitt is perfectly cast in this role and the character is lot more emotionally complex than I expected him to be, his dynamic with Damson Idris might take an expected turn but it's still perfectly played out and even the hints of romance with Kerry Condon's character were a lot deeper than it has any right to be. Like Top Gun: Maverick before it, the script doesn't skimp on character and story and that to me is the difference between being entertained by a film and being actively invested in it.

F1 ends up feeling like the best possible version of itself without a single missed opportunity from top to bottom. It is unbelievably entertaining without a single moment of wasted screen time and it's not only a technical marvel but a solid piece of writing. It's got characters I loved spending time with and a world I was left just wanting to be a part of. I loved this movie and it's so so gratifying to seeing something that gave me everything I wanted it to and I truly, truly hope this isn't Apple's last attempt at a full, theatrical release.

Elio ends up feeling like Pixar at its most generic with so many recycled beats and supposed emotional moments taken from any one of their other movies without any of the impact. The film just feels like it's trying to get those tears out of you from the very first scenes and it actually started to annoy me very quickly and annoying really is the main word I associate with this viewing experience. It feels so emotionally manipulative and as a result most of the beats fall completely flat. The script just seems to be allergic to subtlety and there wasn't a single resolution I didn't see coming from a mile away after the first 20 minutes. It got the odd chuckle out of me but for the most part I found the characters to be complete non-entities and outside of the main aunt-nephew relationship I don't think the film took enough time to build up it's dynamics. Even the visuals, which are admittedly impressive, still feel close to images we've seen in better Pixar movies but without any of real spectacle. This movie bored me and it annoyed me but for the most part I felt nothing whilst watching it and those my least favourite kind of movie watching experiences. It's abundantly clear at this point how good Pixar can be so that makes it even more frustrating when they make as much of a nothing movie as Elio as turned out to be.

So this was the first film I ever worked on and I honestly don't know that I could've asked for much better. It was a beautiful ___location, I got to see Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle work up close and got to see on an intriguing scene that I couldn't wait to see in context. I would've been excited for this film anyway but having that extra personal experience only added to my hype and I can honestly say that 28 Years totally lived up to its potential for me.

28 Days Later didn't feel like any other zombie film and everything about the aesthetic of 28 Years feels like an evolution of that films visual style. Danny Boyle swings for the fences with a lot of the flourishes he puts into the imagery of this film and even if it took me a few scenes to totally settle into the rhythm of it I still ended up totally loving the vision that he brought to this movie. He carry's over the purposefully low grade quality from the original film and everything about he editing editing style seems do be designed to put you in the constant sense of unease that these characters find themselves in. Everything about the camera work is envisioned to make you feel uncomfortable and the sound design and score made me feel uncomfortable in all the correct ways.

Like that original film though it never loses track of the human story at it's centre and because of that I was never anything less than totally invested in a story that was quite different than I expected it to be. It ultimately plays out like a family drama that I found to be totally investing and for as surprisingly simple as I found the story to be I still found it to be very powerful. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jodie Comer are outstanding, they portray this fractured family dynamic so incredibly well and because of their performances it feel like I was so perfectly put into the positions that the Alfie Williams character was in reconciling with the realistic human flaws that these parents exhibit but you never want to believe they have at that age. I thought the script built effectively to such an emotionally powerful climax and because the script took the time to build up these dynamics so intricately I truly felt every bit of the emotional pay off.

I think the film overall does a good job at telling its own fully formed, emotionally charged story but I will be honest and say that I wished it functioned more as it's own standalone experience. The ending scenes feels quite tacked on and as if it only exists as a means of setting up the already coming sequel. It doesn't feel built up to at all and I don't really feel as if the script earns how jarring those closing moments feel. I also don't think that the film transitions into its main progression that well in that it felt like I was tricked a few times into believing the plot was starting a few times only to stop and start again which needless to say was something I found to be ver6 frustrating.

28 Years Later feels like it has such an unbelievable level of hype around it and I think the finished film lives up to its own potential in a very satisfying way. The visual language might take some getting used to but as soon as I did I totally fell for the aesthetic Boyle was trying to convey and I found the story to be very powerful in its simplicity. I loved the performances and I loved the directions that they took the characters in with a tone that just made me feel completely uncomfortable.

Hiccup is wholesome, just like in the original.

Astrid is awesome, just like in the original.

Toothless is adorable, just like in the original.

Stoic is badass, just like in the original.

The score is magnificent, just like in the original.

The directing and visuals are flat, unlike the original.

The humour is hit and miss, unlike the original

It's bloated and it drags, unlike the original.

So in a nutshell it doesn't butcher the story but I don't think it works much with the knowledge that there's already been another version. The cast is great, they ending up being the only thing which feels like it's own interpretation rather than a retread but this really felt like all of the drawbacks that come from adapting a story like this into live-action.

And worst of all: it's still probably one of the best live-action remakes we've had.

It's been pretty well documented the extensive reshoots that this movie has gone through and I have to be honest and say those reshoots aren't very hard to spot. For as technically impressive as this movie is and as solid as the set pieces are taken in isolation I'm genuinely surprised by how stitched together so much of this movie felt. I actually think the John Wick movies as a whole go undervalued for their writing because for as simple as the story's are they still contain great world building, fun situations and characters and a constant sense of momentum all of which the Ballerina could've used a lot more of.

The set up is one we've seen before which in and off itself is not a bad thing but the actual story took far too long to kick into gear. This entire movie just feels like it's carrying so much bloat and despite only being around the 2-hour mark it still feels about 20-30 minutes too long. There's a lot of action obviously but not that much build up to the set pieces, they frequently just come out of nowhere without much stakes and as a result they end up feeling pretty weightless despite how genuinely impressive the camera work and choreography are. It's extremely violent, as to be expected, but a lot tamer than I expected it to be for the first 2 acts.

We do get that John Wick gore by the time the 3rd act does kick in but that whole portion of the movie still felt underwhelming to me. There's a ridiculous twist that comes out of absolutely nowhere which the film then proceeds to completely forget about, the villain is extremely weak and for as legendary as Keanu Reeve's aura is as John Wick his addition in this movie ends up feeling pretty pointless. The climax plays like a near carbon copy of the second and fourth films without doing much of anything to differentiate itself. Ana De Armas is great in all the set pieces and it's so great to see her in another action heavy role after her No Time To Die appearance and she proves herself to be a born action star particularly in a set piece involving a flamethrower that feels amongst the best that this series has ever produced.

Ballerina isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination but I was genuinely surprised by how much it stayed at the same note of feeling nothing more than fine to me for basically the entire runtime. For a film with a reasonable length I couldn't believe how bloated it felt and for as impressive as the action is it's a shame how empty so much of it feels. Ana De Armas fits so naturally into this role and this feels so seamless in how it fits into the wider universe but it doesn't really do anything we haven't seen in one of these movies before. I've become increasingly worried about this series diluting itself with too many movies and spin-offs and as much as it pains me to say it Ballerina didn't do anything to alleviate those concerns.

The Phoenician Scheme doesn't push Wes Anderson's usual tropes to the extreme like Asteroid City or The French Dispatch but it does end up doing just about everything you'd expect from one of his movies without any of the flair. The movie feels like it's on autopilot from the very first scenes and Anderson just ends up feeling like he's recycling his usual tropes to the effect of feeling so dull. I didn't hate this movie but I was amazed by how much of a chore it was to get through.

Anderson's last few movies have been criticised for disappearing too far into his own style but I personally enjoyed the unique experiences those movies provided. The French Dispatch is his magnum opus in my opinion and even if I thought Asteroid City was too overwhelming at times I still liked how much it left me to chew on but that's not the case here at all. The story was painfully uninteresting to me and it's told in the flattest, more linear way imaginable. It's essentially a series of business negotiations for nearly the entire runtime and not only do they feel insanely repetitive but they often drag on far longer than necessary.

I'm not really sure what Anderson's ultimate vision for this film because he doesn't really do anything behind the camera that we haven't seen from him before and his trademark humour really didn't work for me this time around. It's very deadpan with a lot of moments of quirkiness that just feel forced, it actually made me cringe more often than it didn't with the climax in particular feeling quite ridiculous. From a cinematography perspective it looks gorgeous and I really did feel like the performances were hitting the right notes but I just felt nothing. Most of the supporting characters just feel one noted and they end up feeling like quirks more than anything. Benicio Del Toro's character can be entertaining but he's just far too unlikable and never really felt like the script did much to redeem him by the time the film ends.

The Phoenician Scheme is disappointingly flat in almost every way and for whatever criticisms people might have with Anderson's recent offerings at least they had the energy that I thought was sorely missing here. It's not a particularly interesting story with characters that never really peaked my interest at all and the few interesting gimmicks Anderson does use feel like they've been done by him before and better. There's almost surprises technically and it really did end up feeling like Anderson was trying to make one of his own movies. Anderson is very hit and miss for me and I can honestly say that this movie felt like my least favourite aspects of all his work wrapped together in one package.

I think I realised walking into Final Reckoning that it's just fundamentally impossible for me not to go into one of these movies without the highest possible expectations. I truly can't think of a franchise that I can rely on as much as Mission Impossible. There's only one movie I would call less than great and a few of them are in the greatest action films of all time conversation for me. This supposed final film throws everything at the wall and feels like it's trying to tie everything before it together and even if I didn't love everything about the results I still cannot remember the last time I was this invested in a franchise finale.

Because Mission Impossible has always been about looking forward and doing something truly new with every film and for the first time it actually makes a real effort to tie back to the previous movies to a degree I thought was a bit too much. There are near constant insert shots and flashbacks to the previous movies and even if I can't deny it made me giddy at certain points it did feel like it was trying too hard to link things together. Even putting aside my forensic knowledge of these movies I still felt like it was trying too hard and I wish they just trusted the intelligence of the audience a bit more.

I truly regard Christopher McQuarrie as a genius writer, I have learned so much from his commentary's and interviews, and I believe he's every bit as responsible for the renaissance these movies have enjoyed since Ghost Protocol as much as Tom Cruise is. He has such an outstanding ability to combine compelling characters, intricate plots and jaw dropping spectacle into one cohesive vision in a way that just consistently leaves me in awe. But he seems to have this philosophy about exposition that it's a necessary evil that has to be delivered in the densest way possible before any kind of real plot can kick in. I noticed this to a degree in the last movie and it's even more apparent here. This film is littered with exposition to the point where it really starts to affect the pacing, the pre-title scenes in particular feel very choppy with how much they're trying to set up. Dead Reckoning felt like it didn't build up to its set pieces sufficiently but I think this film had the exact opposite problem. The script feels as if it has to intricately set up every aspect of these sequences in excruciating detail and after a while it did start to test my patience and it just started to make the whole thing feel indulgent.

But for as indulgent as it might be I can truly say the exposition in this film truly did feel like it gave a total sense of impending dread. The films a lot more somber than I expected it to be and I mean that in the best possible way. It presents a true end of the world scenario and I can honestly say that I believed every minute of it. The stakes feels appropriately enormous and I really appreciated the moments in which the film leaned into the implausibility of the situations it was presenting. Even when I thought the build up was overly indulgent I still felt every second of the pay off because of how much the film earns those moments.

Despite how much these movies keep managing to top themselves with their stunts Final Reckoning still manages to feel like it outdoes everything that came before it. The sequence in the submarine is the most stressed I've felt watching a movie in quite a long time and the filmmaking on display in nothing short of masterful. McQuarries does everything he can to ring every bit of tension out of this scenario and like all the best the sequels it feels as if it built upon what came before it to craft something new. The Bi-Plane sequence is also pulled of in a way that I would consider to be perfect and by the time that set piece comes to fruition it really feels as if everything thing before it has been building to it. It's truly epic in its execution and by the time that it was over I felt as if I'd seen some of the best action filmmaking ever put to film.

These films feel like stories first and foremost that are complimented by the action scenes as opposed to the other way round and I think that's what's kept me coming back to them. The stories feel well thought out with great character moments and The Final Reckoning is no different. Ghost Protocol onwards have truly leaned into Ethan Hunt as a mythic figure and I loved how this movie continued that trend. My one recurring problem with these movies is the need for this character to constantly go rogue and I loved the fact that this movie leaned into the idea of all these characters finally rallying around him for one final mission. He has a consistent emotional arc throughout the film with a lot of moments that genuinely got me in the feels. He has a scene early on with Ving Rhames that I thought was executed perfectly and the final scene was muse about everything I wanted it to be.

The ensemble aspect also isn't lost at all and every character feels as if they get a moment to shine. Simon Pegg has become an invaluable part of this franchise tot be point where he's as inseparable from it as Cruise is. I loved the leadership role they gave his character and it came across in a way that felt totally earned. Pom Klementieff stole Dead Reckoning and she's every bit as good here, I didn't expect to like the more heroic role she takes on here but she plays it so well and most of laughs come from her. Rolf Saxon's return from the first movie also really surprised me because it actually felt like an integral part of the story rather than a cheap Easter egg. It ties back to the first movie in a really beautiful way.

I think Final Reckoning is at it's best when it's telling its own story rather than trying to tie things back to the previous movies but I really did love the sense of finality this movie gave me. It has so much love and reverence for everything that came before it and even if I didn't love everything about the callbacks I still got a major kick out of seeing references to those films I love. It leans rock hard into its expository elements but it's all in favour of this impending sense of dread and I can honestly say I was locked into this movie from the first minute to the final one. If this truly is the end I can honestly say it's been a privilege to see this franchise blossom into its current form and nothing will ever convince that this isn't one of the begs franchises of all time. Thank you Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie for everything you've done with this franchise and even if I'm sad at the idea of it being over I'm still unbelievably grateful for the journey it's taken me on and I always will be.

I knew for the trailer that this film was going to be a bit generic but I suppose I was hoping it wouldn't be that generic. As someone who grew up on Indiana Jones, loves Uncharted and has a soft spot for National Treasure this felt very familiar but not in a knowing way because there's nothing this movie does with the established formula that feels remotely unique. Guy Ritchie doesn't bring any of his signature energy to this movie and it's starting to feel like his tendency to put out as many films as possible over the last few years is starting to come back to bite him. Fountain of Youth just feels flat in every way and it ends up feeling like something made for streaming. John Krasinski's a badass and Natalie Portman is charming but it kind of just feels like the script is trying too hard to make them overly likeable and it actually felt a bit annoying after a while. The film starts out a quick pace but starts to drag on in the second half and the climax in particular was a bit of a slog to get through. There's a lot of talented people involved in this movie but I'm not really sure what drew them to it in the first place. It just oozes mediocrity and as someone who's a big Guy Ritchie fan I'd like to see him get a bit more selective with his projects.

I don't think the problem with the MCU post-endgame had been a lack of great projects. There's more than a few they've made in this era that are in my top 10, it's about keeping that quality consistent while giving the sense that all these story's are actually leading to something. Thunderbolts might not reinvent marvels storytelling structure but it manages to use the things I love about this universe in a fresh way to deliver something not only enjoyable but surprisingly wholesome. It's not only a great movie, it's a great addition to the franchise and it finally manages to tee up elements that I'm excited to see come to fruition in future instalments.

Jake Schreier manages to do something with this movie that only a few directors like James Gunn and Taika Waititi have done and direct an MCU film and have a real voice shine through. It's so well shot in how visually creative it is and there's a surprising amount done in camera. There's plenty of CGI of course but it feels like it's enhancing what's already there rather than using it as a crux when creating all of these sequences. The writing here is also really strong in a way that I noticed a lot more than I have in other MCU films at this quality. It has a lot to say about loneliness and depression and it manages to tackle it with a lot of respect and restraint and the script manages to incorporate those themes into the story fairly seamlessly. The actual climax is actually quite emotionally fulfilling and it can feel quite cheesy but in a way that I actually ended up liking.

Thunderbolts is full to the brim with characters that either haven't been blessed with the best projects to star in or been in ones that haven't serviced them in a satisfying way. But I can honestly say most of these characters have never been better than they are in here. Florence Pugh is one of the best of her generation and she adds so much to this movie. I loved the arc they took that character on and she carry's so much of the emotional weight of this film, she's a bonafide movie star and one of the MCU's best current assets. John Walker was a character I actively disliked in Falcon and The Winter Soldier but for all the wrong reasons but they massively turned him around here. He's unlikeable at points but in the corrects ways this time and I actually came to like the douchey persona they gave that character. David Harbour continues to be the perfect comic relief, Hannah John-Kamen takes a nothing character from Ant-Man 2 and makes her one of the coolest parts of this movie and I really have come to like the elder statesman role they've given to the Bucky Barnes character, Sebastian Stan has more than earned it at this point.

The story is solid and I actually liked seeing how they tied all of these characters together but I couldn't help but feel as if there were elements of it that could've been fleshed out more. The plot isn't as expansive as I was expecting and really stays put in a few locations and I think it hamstrung the development of these characters a bit. By the time the climax ramps up you're supposed to believe this group has this amazing connection but because of the limited amount of time that had actually passed it felt a bit rushed. I think this most rears its head in the Lewis Pullman's Sentry. He's great and adds a good amount of the emotional weight but I just didn't think his turn to the dark side was that earned and I think the idea that his connection to this group is what adds a lot of the conflict didn't really shine through as much as I think it should have.

Thunderbolts ends up feeling like what I've been wanting from Marvel for a while now and this movie to me feels like a new template for them to follow. It's manages to fit in to the wider universe seamlessly all the while telling its own story and having a real personality. It has some of the MCU-isms that I've gotten tired off and not everything about how the sorry unfolds works but it really feels like they're building towards something meaningful again and despite the rocky road it's taken to get there I can't deny that I'm excited to see how things come to ahead.

Until Dawn, the video game, isn't exactly a masterpiece of writing but what it does do well is take tried and tested horror movie cliches and use them in an interesting way that feels right for that medium. Until Dawn, the movie, on the other hand uses every horror movie cliche in the book and executes it in the most equally cliched way imaginable. I don't know what happened here because it's a horror movie without a tone or an atmosphere and I was in utter shock at how relentless miserable I was while watching it. I didn't think I'd watch another movie this year I hated more than Minecraft but in just over month I managed to find something else that made me hate my life more for it's entire runtime.

Phones losing reception, character taking slow walks down dark corridors and masked killers walking slowly towards their running victims are just a few of the countless horror staples this movie not only manages to use but also totally butcher. It didn't make me go "oh they're doing that" it made me go "oh they're doing that". David F. Sandberg has shown he's got chops in both horror and comedy but nothing he does behind the camera had any kind of effect on me, at least not the one he intended. It's flat and lifeless from beginning to end and even the jump scares stopped having any kind of an effect on me after a while.

When it tries to be mysterious it fails, when it tries to be scary it fails and when it tries to be funny it fails (and I'm putting it mildly on that last one) because that's all it kept coming across as; like it was trying to be those things. I was one of the few people who saw the trailer and liked the idea of time loop angle. I don't think a literal adaption of the game would've done this movie any favours and I thought changing aspects of the story for this medium would be an aid to it. But like everything else it fails miserably because this movie has no idea what it's trying to do and just continues to throw all of these concepts and creatures at the wall and none of it sticks. Every new creature was more underwhelming than the last and every new introduction gave me whiplash in all the worst ways. Peter Stormare's few brief scenes were the one of the only things that ever peaked my interest and if it weren't for him I'm not sure I could list a single redeeming quality.

But I could accept all of that, all of it, if there was at least one thing about it I could root for (other than for it to finally end that is). I didn't just find the characters in this movie to be annoying I actively despised them and there was not a single redeeming feature about any of them. The characters in the game could be unlikeable at times but that felt by design and that's not the case here at all. The game took time to build up their connection but the film just starts without any reason to get behind them and they just feel like non-entities with absolutely no chemistry. They're horrifically incompetent and cruel to each other and there was nothing about them I found to be worth saving. The acting is horrific which I don't usually like saying but I just can't deal with it here and I know it's an overused criticism nowadays to say something feels like it's written by AI but that's exactly how the dialogue felt. The one thing driving these characters is tossed aside in the closing scenes and they even try to build a wholesome connection between the cast towards the end and all it did was make me cringe in the most intense way possible.

I'm under no illusions that easy to make any kind of a movie but I don't understand how something this bad gets made when there's genuinely solid source material to draw upon. The film just pissed me off from the first scene to the final one and it's one of the only films I've seen in recent memory that felt like a genuine waste of my time. I don't know what happened here or who looked at this script and thought it would be anything other than complete garbage but not since Madame Web have I been this in awe that a film got made to the quality that it did, at least Minecraft has the box office receipts to justify it's existence. If I see another movie in 2025 I hated more than this one I won't just be surprised, I'll be genuinely amazed.

I never saw the original Accountant when it was in cinemas mainly because I was on a long streak of disappointing movies and the mixed reviews scared me off from watching it. It was only the really solid trailers for this movie that convinced me I finally had to watch it and I really do believe I should've listened to my initial instincts. I really enjoyed that first movie and it honestly felt like it was trying to tell it's story in a unique way without ripping off other action movies. Watching both movies within the space of a week gets me really excited at the idea of a new potential franchise because The Accountant 2 is even better than its predecessor.

The second film does what all good sequels should do and reprises what worked about the original and builds upon the things that were only alluded to. The film doubles down on the connection between the Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal characters after being apart for most of the first movie and it's all the better for it. They play of each other insanely well and most of the laughs come from their scenes together. Some of their moments border on being cheesy but always ends up coming across as sincere as does the whole movie. It's a lot more playful tonally than the first movie and I think that choice mostly works. It's much funnier than I expected to be without ever devolving into slapstick. There are parts where I felt they overplayed the humour somewhat to the point where some parts did overstay their welcome but it still made me laugh a lot more than it didn't. The action scenes are gritty and brutal and they did get audible reactions out of me but I like that they're not the main focus. The mystery is the focus like the first film and I found the process of unraveling the plot beats to be very satisfying. I think the editing could've been tighter in places given that there are a lot of scenes in the back half that feel overlong but I still appreciated how patient the script was with it's story overall.

Both of The Accountant movies are a lot better than they have any right to be and it's exciting to see the prospect of a genuine home grown franchise rather than another reboot. I appreciated the fact that it was a mystery first and foremost and the Affleck/Bernthal pairing is absolutely perfect. It takes the best lessons from the first film and never feels like a retread. I really hope we get a third movie and more after that if they can keep the quality up because the possibilities for these character seem endless and I can't wait to see where they go next.

The Amateur has one little twist up its sleeve that it's trying to use to separate itself from the rest of the action genre but even that twist itself I don't think is that special. It's trying so hard to be the new Jason Bourne or John Wick but it's just so generic from top to bottom that all it did was bore me relentlessly. The script doesn't use its fish out of water hook to do anything interesting or unique and the first act in particular I found to be excruciatingly dull since it takes such a long time to set up a simple plot. And when that plot does kick into gear it just becomes visual noise very quickly. Rami Malek is an actor I've really liked in the past but I really didn't care for his performance here. It's not the problem that he feels out of place, that's the whole point of the character, it's that the emotional moments that are supposed to be really impactful just fall totally flat. I also don't think they took the time needed to get you on board with his characters main goal which only added to the relentless boredom I was feeling. Laurence Fishburne and Michael Stuhlbarg end up being the strongest elements but they're not in it enough to raise the quality up that much. Solid action scenes might've even made things that bit more entertaining but even they manage to fall flat. It's not that The Amateur is a complete failure of a movie, there's much worse things out there, but as an action movie it's not even remotely entertaining and at that point all I can ask is; what does it honestly have going for it?

There are certain movies I watch where from essentially the first scene I'm totally on board with the vibe of it. I have no problem with discovering my love for a film over the course of it's runtime but I just love that feeling of being in the hands of master from the first shot and that was exactly my experience with Sinners. I've really liked what Ryan Coogler had done with a true life story and with existing IP but I've been dying to see something that's truly his own and if this movie is any indication we have a new master who's on the cusp of a truly legendary career.

Because I was engaged with this film from very early on and Coogler uses a smart framing device that allowed for that intrigue I had to grow and grow as the movie went on. It's very much a film of two very distinct halves with two very different genres and it really shouldn't work but it just does. Despite only taking place over the course of one day the world Coogler creates feels so lived in and the characters themselves manage to feel so rich in their back stories. When the script plays out as a gangster film it is so engaging to watch, the dialogue is unbelievable and it introduces the characters in such a seamless way but it manages to build them up without ever seeming too expository. The tonal shift into the vampire aspect came across as a little bit abrupt to me but once I got used to it I loved seeing the aspect of the story play out. It's not only intense, it's genuinely terrifying at points and because Coogler takes the time to build up the characters it always feels like there's real stakes at play.

The visual effects in the scenes with 2 Michael B. Jordan's is seamless but the effect only enhances the performance that's already there. He is outstanding in the ways he conveys the little differences in both the characters and I loved the direction their relationship goes in which is aided massively but the Miles Catton character who is 100% worthy of all the acclaim he's receiving for this movie. He's the heart of the movie and his presence is really what lends the film most of its emotional weight. While I questioned the idea to put the conclusion of his arc as a mid-credits scene it still ended up being the best scene in the movie for how genuinely profound and how heartbreaking it was. This is very much a movie where everyone is great and could be argued as a scene stealer. But in particular Delroy Lindo manages to be hysterically funny and deeply affecting, often at the same time, and Jack O'Connell gives the best work I've ever seen from him in a character I just loved seeing chew the scenery.

Ryan Coogler's breakdown of the different uses of aspect ratios for this movie really forced me to pay attention to it more than I usually would have. This movie feels enormous in scope despite being fairly small scale and I absolutely loved the way Coogler directed this movie. The whole thing just flows so well and some of those aspect ratio changes genuinely gave me goosebumps. I know it's only April but I could truly see this being the film that walks away with the cinematography Oscar. We talk about actors and directors being chameleon-like in their style but Ludwig Göransson has a range in his score like no other composer I've seen. Music is such an integral part of this story to the point where I struggled at points to distinguish which of his score was diegetic or not. It fits in with the visuals so seamlessly and as someone who's never had much of an infinity towards the blues this film makes me want to get into it more.

The film balances so many different distinctive styles and it's hard not to be in awe of how well Coogler pulls it off but I'd be lying if I said everything about it felt smooth. The way the actual vampire element is introduced is very abrupt and I think the script could've done a better job at building up to that aspect. I also felt like the actual abilities these creatures possessed could've been established a bit better and while the actual climax was extremely satisfying I couldn't help but feel aspects of it were resolved too easily.

Sinners ended up feeling like a bit of a miracles of a movie to me. It takes such a skilled hand to pull of this many distinctively different genres in a coherent way and with Ryan Coogler at the helm he manages to create something that not only feels wholly unique but kind of groundbreaking. Every single technical and performance aspect feels as if it's operating at the highest possible level and the script is so impressive in almost every aspect. As someone who's been wanting to see Coogler do something like this for a long time he did not disappoint in the slightest. If he wants to leave IP behind all together and produce original content like this full time I'd be absolutely elated and he is without a doubt one of the most exciting current filmmakers.

I have never been in combat, and god willing I never will be, but Warfare felt like it gave me the slightest comprehension of what it must be like to live through. Outside of the first 5 minutes I don't think there's a single moment in which I didn't feel some sort of dread and every single decision made behind the camera feels as if it's in aide of depicting this event in a way that feels the most real. I hesitate to say I loved every minute of the movie given the content but I honestly can't remember the last time I felt immersion like this.

The choice to tell this story entirely in a first person perspective is the best approach the filmmakers could've taken. Similar to something like 1917 it truly makes you feel like you're there and only ever seeing as much as these character see makes things all the more tension filled. The first 20 minutes just build and build the intensity with an impending sense of real doom for when the fighting begins and the actual start of battle could not have been done better in my opinion. Garland and Mendoza never miss an opportunity to insert moments of humanity into the script to the point you have to be infinitely aware of this being a true story. I was worried that the film wouldn't be able to maintain it's intensity after the shooting started since the opening built it up so well but it's by no means a non-stop shoot out and moments of lull during the fighting are just as terrifying.

The acting is outstanding in large part because of how understated it is. The performances never feel anything less than authentic and for as little as we learned about these characters I constantly feared for their well being. Similar to Civil War, the depiction of violence is stomach churning but it gets a whole other layer of effectiveness to it when everything is pulled from real events. The sound design is outstanding, I can't remember the last time I jumped out of my seat this much, and the moments in which the sound was either muffled or removed are just as effective. It's disorienting in all the right ways and I can honestly say I never lost track of the geography of the ___location it primarily takes place in or where the characters were at any given time. I perhaps would've liked to have a little bit more context to this event as I think it would've made things that little bit more effective but I have no issues with the perspective this story takes.

I don't know if or when I'll watch Warfare again but I can confidently say that it will always stick out in my mind as the most visceral depiction of conflict put to film right next to Saving Private Ryan. I was never anything less than totally engaged and that's down to masterful direction with a vision that uses all of the correct filmmaking tools to tell this story to the highest possible level of immersion. This is the kind of film that can only be achieved when the story comes from a true lived experience and because of that it never felt anything less than completely real.

I don't need every action movie, or any movie period, to reinvent the wheel with it's plot but I do always appreciate a film that manages to add its own twist on a tried and tested formula and Novocaine was very much that for me.

The film makes good use of its premise about a man who can't feel pain and it was actually much less of a gimmick than I feared it would be. It actually ends up being a fundamental part of the story and character and I found the first act to be my favourite part of the movie because I just found it interesting seeing how this guy lives with this condition.

Jack Quaid is continuing to prove that he can just do just about anything and he is so perfectly cast as this lovable loser and his chemistry with Amber Midthunder is so on point that I'm convinced he could have a dynamic with anyone or thing.

It works really well as a dark comedy and it's a very satisfying action movie in large part because of how ironically it makes the pain feel real in those sequences. The problem is that the movie just never escaped having a generic feel about it to me. It's got one unique hook but beyond that it's a story set up we've seen countless times before. The central romance also goes in a very obvious direction which was a bit disappointing to me since there's a development with Midthunder that took me of guard and gave me hope that it wasn't just going to go through the expected beats.

The film also drags considerably in the back half since it's really once the script feels like it's out of ideas on new ways to use its hook. I had no idea going in that the runtime was pushing 2 hours and I don't think the film justifies that length when there's a very clear point where things feel like they're wrapping up only to rev right back up again and in no good way.

Novocaine doesn't always feel like it lives up to its full potential but it's an enjoyable time and something that'll be easy to recommend. Seeing Jack Quaid in something like this and Companion in such a short period of time only goes to prove that he is one of our new great actors and I can't wait to see what he does next.

I thought this since I first saw the trailer for this movie and to reference one of my favourite movies: drop the "The" just "Alto Knights".

But overall this was fine in a way that was inoffensive but didn't really present anything we haven't seen before from the mob movie genre. It's very well shot and breezily paced but the editing is just annoying and there's no other word I can think of to describe it. The one thing this movie is trying to do to differentiate itself just doesn't really work. For this story there's no real justification for the dual performance and since the editing is so poor there's actually scenes where I would get confused as to which De Niro character we were following. Robert De Niro is good in the movie, yes I can't believe it either, but him playing both characters just ends up feeling like a bit of a gimmick. I think having another actor of De Niro's legendary status playing the other character would've really benefited this film as well. The ending makes you realise the importance of this story in the history of American organised crime but it almost comes too late since the whole thing just feels generic up until that point. Martin Scorsese makes these kinds of movies look easy to pull off but Alto Knights is a very good argument for why it's not so easy in practice.

Black Bag is a movie that is cool in every sense of the word and it does it in a way that seems so effortless. As a spy film it doesn't just feel it just retreading old tropes but it comes across as something I haven't seen in the genre before and it's all the better for it. It's not James Bond or Mission: Impossible and I couldn't be happier about that.

Because this film is about 95% dialogue with about one gun shot in the entire thing and that is dialogue is so good that I didn't want this film to revolve around anything else. The script manages to reveal so much about these characters in a way that never felt expositional and it's the kind of film where I just couldn't wait to see what it had up its sleeve next. You have to be actively intrigued by these characters in order for the whole plot to work and I can honestly say that I was from the get go. They set up the dynamics so well early on and only continue to build upon them in the most satisfying ways. It's tense, it's intriguing, it's got a dry sense of humour that I loved and it's the type of script where I was constantly impressed by but not in a way that drew attention to itself. The cast are all outstanding, Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett are a duo I never knew I needed but now I don't know how I've gone this long without seeing them together on screen. The entire supporting cast are every bit their equal, Pierce Brosnan was my favourite Bond for a large portion of my childhood so seeing him in another spy film like this was something I got a major kick out of.

I'm so impressed by what Soderbergh was able to pull off with a mere 90 minute runtime but part of me couldn't help but wish it was a little bit longer. The characters are the real strength of the movie but the story itself did feel a little undercooked at times. I think with a slightly longer runtime the stakes would've felt more tangible and less like added exposition. I also really didn't care for a lot of the lighting choices here which were frequently distracting in how much attention it draws to itself. There were scenes in which the actual actors faces are washed out and for the acting talent on display it was something I found really frustrating.

Black Bag ends up being the first true surprise of 2025. The initial pitch intrigued me but Steven Soderbergh being as inconsistent as he is left me cautiously optimistic but this truly ends up feeling like some of his best work. It's got an outstanding script and a cast to match and for film that is almost entirely about characters talking in rooms I was never anything less than gripped. Presence represented Soderbergh at his worst but Black Bag shows just how good he can be with the right script.

Some movies manage to hook you from the core premise alone and others have a cast and crew that convince me it's something I have to see, Mickey 17 was lucky enough to have both working in it's favour. Following up a film as monumental as Parasite would always be tricky but Bong Joon-ho brings his sensibilities to a story that feels like something only he could've executed in this way and I can honestly say that I've never seen a film quite like it before.

I think the best thing I can say about Robert Pattinson in this movie is that when he's playing 2 different versions of the same character it's still easy to tell them apart purely based of the performance he's giving. He manages to play a character who's fairly pathetic but never unsympathetic and I truly believe that this movie doesn't succeed to the degree it does without his work. He managed to easily stand out in a supporting cast of characters that I unfortunately found to be a bit weak. It's not a matter of the performances, as they're all uniformly great, but other than Naomi Ackie's character I found basically everyone else to be a bit too one noted.

While I wanted to film to wrestle with its own moral implications a bit more I still think it does a good job at making the most out of its premise. The many deaths of this character is largely played for humour and it mostly works. It's the type of scenario where you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it and because of that the tone overall really worked for me. I also liked how much darker it become as the film went on and there were more than a few moments that disturbed me in exactly the right way.

With it being a Bong Joon-ho movie it's obviously immaculately directly. The way he moves the camera feels unique to him and I think the first half in particular flows so well with his trademark dark comedy on full display. The visual effects fit in so seamlessly with the rest of the film and from a cinematography perspective it's absolutely stunning. Also like many of his other films class structures is the main point of focus and I couldn't help but think things were a little too surface level. The parallels are definitely thought provoking but they aren't that deep overall. These leadership characters played by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette are far too over the top to the point where I didn't find much of anything to do with them to be that interesting. I also think the film becomes a little too messy in the second half where it feels like the pace of the whole thing grinds down after how quickly everything flowed in the beginning because there's just so many elements at play.

Mickey 17 might not nail everything in its execution but it's unbelievably enjoyable as an experience where I just couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Robert Pattinson is perfectly cast as this character and the whole film does such a good job a putting you in his perspective. It's not as deep in its commentary as I would've liked but it's thought provoking nonetheless and it's just a world I was constantly interested in. It's really satisfying to see a film of this scale where a director is given complete free rein and I appreciate Mickey 17 for that if nothing else.

I think I can put the reason I watched this movie down to sheer morbid curiosity. That and 13 Oscar nominations and the controversy that came with persuaded me that this was something I had to see with my own eyes. In the end? I didn't hate it but I didn't think it was particularly good either.

Some movies just shouldn't be musicals and this is absolutely one of those cases. All of the musical sequences are shot and staged in the flattest way possible. They're basically just shot like standard dialogue scenes and they just came across as lazy ways to exposit the characters back stories. It doesn't really succeed as a musical or an an examination of cartel violence and there isn't really any one character to root for. The performances are solid but with one of them being a former kingpin the script and by extension all of the other characters just seem to excuse that and it made them all that bit more unlikable to me. I suppose the film is unique which I can give it credit for but I would probably appreciate it more if it wasn't such a bore to get through.

I know many have found this film offensive but as someone who's not apart of the classes this film examines I can't really comment on that. What I can say though is that I fully agree that this isn't really worthy of all the nominations the academy has buried it in. I thought it was a perfectly mediocre experiment of a movie that didn't do much of anything for me.

After finding Longlegs very underwhelming, I didn't quite know what to expect from The Monkey other than that I thought the trailers looked solid. It might not reinvent the wheel from a horror perspective but it is very entertaining with a tone that I found to be very satisfying. It never takes itself too seriously and that works for a premise this inherently goofy. It is laugh out loud funny in how dead pan the humour is and as someone who loves gory, over-the-top violence this fulfils that quota perfectly. It is also a bit more wholesome than I expected it to be with father-son story that worked surprisingly well. It isn't a flawless ride, there's a prologue that went on for a lot longer than I expected and it ended up wearing out it's welcome quite quickly for me. The film can also be a little bit repetitive in with all the gruesome death scenes that do start to feel very similar to each other. After not really liking Osgood Perkins last film it's pretty safe to say that The Monkey is a massive step up in almost every aspect. It has a clearly defined tone that it completely commits to and it's frequently hilarious because of that. I still don't quite know what to make of Perkins as a filmmaker but it's good to know that he is capable of delivering horror of this quality.

The Gorge seemed to, in theory, have everything going for it. A solid director, great casting and a really intriguing premise. All of that though won't help the fact that any movie going straight to streaming is only going to get me so excited. It's not a very good script and the back half definitely isn't as strong as the initial set up but I did for the most part find The Gorge to be an enjoyable experience.

Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller do really end up being the reason to see this film. Their chemistry is insane and the movie's at its best when we're seeing their interactions play out, even when they're not directly on screen together. You ship them straight away and, even if it was predicable in places, I was still very happy with how the central romance played out. It's a lot funnier than I expected it to be and the script does do a good job and building up the mystery of this gorge. I do think they revealed the nature of what's in the gorge too early however and it's when the film starts to answer the questions it's been building where things start to falter for me. The second half is basically a completely different movie and it's just where things started to feel a bit generic. The exposition is very lazy and it feels like Scott Derrickson is trying to play into his horror roots but to mixed results. The threats these characters face feel very copy and paste from other films and it ends up feeling quite drab visually. The CGI is weak and the most accurate way the I can describe the cinematography is that it looks like something designed directly for streaming. Thankfully the mystery ends up taking a back seat to the character interactions in the closing scenes and as cheesy as it was the ending did work for me.

The Gorge is at its best when it lets these 2 character play of each other and while the mystery and horror elements don't always work I was always at least entertained. It's just unfortunate that the script does know how to answer its intriguing questions in a completely satisfying way. It's much better than most of the slop that goes straight to streaming and I thinks it's an easy film to recommend in spite of its flaws.

Brave New World ended up reminding me of the MCU's best days but in all the worst ways. It attempts to tie up the loose threads from so many movies and characters that it couldn't help but make me long for all the movies it's constantly referencing. It's neither a return to form for the MCU or solidifies its downfall, it's just an exceptionally mediocre superhero movie that doesn't do anything you haven't seen countless times before.

Maybe I'm a little bit harder on this movie than I would be others since Captain America is my favourite MCU trilogy. The First Avenger was the first MCU movie I saw in theatres and as such I've always considered Captain America to be my entry point into this universe. I certainly didn't expect Brave New World to be completely on par with the Chris Evans movies but I at least expected it to continue things in a satisfying way. For as mediocre as I found Falcon and The Winter Soldier to be I at least thought it set up Anthony Mackie to take over this role in a satisfying way. But in the end he just ends up feeling a drift in his own movie.

The film is so plot heavy, with a plot that I didn't find to be particularly interesting in the first place, that the Sam Wilson characters ends up going without a character arc. I don't think the script does much to differentiate himself from Steve Rogers and there wasn't really enough moments where we saw him wrestling with his choice to take on the mantle. There's a few scenes that reveal interesting insights and debates but they never seem to go beyond those singular scenes. I also thought the film was pretty murky in its political commentary. Everything ends up feeling very surface level and the Harrison Ford character ended up feeling like a bit of a caricature. Ford is great, as to be expected, and he's written to be someone who can't be relied upon but I didn't think the execution was strong enough to justify some of the decisions he makes. The resolution to his arc I actually thought was quite childish and it really came across as if the film didn't have the guts to end on a darker note.

The political commentary isn't the only thing this movie fails at in comparison to the other Captain America because on top of that the action and story aren't especially strong either. There's a lot of jumpy editing that made a lot of these set pieces fall flat as well as a complete overuse of CGI. There's an entire sequence over the Indian Ocean that fell completely flat to me since everything was so effects heavy and there wasn't really anything tangible to cling on to. The story itself starts off in an intriguing place with a mystery I thought could be intriguing but everything ties together in a very convoluted way. They try to write this of with a mastermind villain who "planned" everything to occur exactly as it did but the writing wasn't strong enough to make that seem valid.

Brave New World feels like the end of a certain era in the MCU and one that I'm hopeful is truly over. One thing I do give this film credit for it that it does seem like it's trying to build to something unlike a lot of other films in Phases 4 and 5 but I would be more excited about it had this film not fallen so flat across the board. The whole thing kind of just stays on the same mediocre note for the entire run time and there's nothing that feels remotely original or like it was a story worth telling. I usually feel excited watching a new MCU film but everything about this movie feels like a pale imitation of their best work. The trailers for this really raised my expectations and given the fact that I got a very similar vibe from the Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four trailers I can only hope that those movies capitalise on their potential in a much better way than this movie did.

The 1972 Olympic hostage crisis is an event that I've had a long time fascination with. I think Spielbergs Munich, which covers it's aftermath, is a masterpiece and one of my all time favourite movies period, I've also been to the Olympic village in Munich where this event took place which I think really added something to my experience watching this movie. I was amazed how long it took me to finally hear about this movie and I've waited to patiently for its UK release all the while thinking that the trailers looked absolutely astonishing.

And astonishing is one of the only accurate words I can think of to describe the final product that I just saw. I say this with no exaggeration; I could not think of a single thing about September 5 that I didn't think was perfect. Because this movie does what I think all movies based on true events should do and that's take an interesting and important story and tell it in a fascinating way. This movie plays out like a thriller in many ways and it's more riveting than 90% of the ones I've seen in the last few years. It's so well paced and at just over an hour and a half the film squeezes every ounce of tension it can without a second of wasted screen time and it ends at just the right moment to leave the most amount of impact. It's also a movie about journalism first and foremost and the ways in which these character wrestle with the dilemmas that come about as a result of their coverage was something I found to be fascinating.

Journalistic integrity is at the forefront of almost every character beat of the entire script and it ends up feeling like such a time capsule of this very specific moment in history. The film never feels like it's playing inside baseball in how in breaks down the mechanics of this newsroom and instead makes it extremely digestible in a way that feels as if it's aiding in the overall brisk pace. There are constant hurdles in the way of these newscasters from language barriers, the use of TV satellites, time needed to develop footage and the actual distance they need to constantly travel and the filmmakers portray this all in such a breakneck way that I was never anything less than totally gripped. It utilises tension in way that reminded me a lot of David Fincher's Zodiac in that everything being depicted is aided by the knowledge that it all happened in real life. Knowing what I do about these events there's a gut punch towards the end I knew to expect but that did nothing to lessen the eventual impact. It's one of the most effective endings I've seen in the last year and one that left me totally shaken to my core.

The script here is totally flawless and I'm glad the film managed to sneak into at least one Oscar category with Best Original Screenplay but this should be a much bigger player in my eyes. It's edited to absolute perfection in that it just constantly feels like it's building and building without a second of respite but never in a way that felt overwhelming. It's also immaculately directed in how gritty it feels. There's barely a single static shot in the entire film and while that can sometimes get on my nerves elsewhere I thought it totally worked for the tension the Director was trying to get across. The entire thing basically takes place in a few rooms and I think that works in large part because it totally puts you in the shoes of these characters and all the things you don't see play out on screen are all the more effective because of it. This is the first film I've seen from Tim Fehlbaum and I'll definitely be eagerly anticipating whatever he does next. The acting here is perfect in large part because of how subdued the actual performances feel. They're playing real people in a real situation and while they have their moments of heightened emotion it never felt like anyone was given a needless "Oscar scene".

I knew going in that this film had been controversial and that's not really surprising. This movie chronicles a pivotal event in an ongoing conflict but to those saying this film is aggressively apolitical all I can say is; did we watch the same movie? This movie is not about the conflict as a whole but specifically about this event and more specifically the attempts by journalists to cover it accurately. It looks at this event through a journalistic lens and presents all of the facts to the audience and lets them come to their own conclusions. The film might not explore areas people expect but that does mean that it has nothing to say. There's a recurring thread about how the coverage will be used and who benefits from it and ultimately what right these people have to document this tragedy. You could very easily judge these characters for their motivations and their methods and the film doesn't offer up any easy answers. There's even whole scenes devoted to what the Palestinians present should be addressed as and it's one of many recurring conversations that the film is constantly debating. I'm not going to say people can't take issue with how this movie chooses to explore it's subject matter but I just cannot get behind the idea of this being classed as apolitical.

September 5 is a movie I've been excited about since I first heard about it and I had every faith that it was going to live up to my lofty expectations but I had no idea it was going to turn out to be the masterwork that it was. It has a script that I not only found to be totally riveting but also fascinating in its commentary, a technical prowess that has me gripped from the first scene to the final one and is full of the kind of tension that can only come from the knowledge of this being a true story. It's one of the best journalistic movies ever made, one of the movies to come out of the 2024 landscape and honestly one of the best depictions I've seen of a real life event put to screen period.

I do have to echo the idea that Companion is a movie best gone into knowing nothing. As someone who unfortunately had one very key aspect spoiled I think not having that knowledge would've enhanced a lot of my reactions to this movie. Having said that though it doesn't take away from how genuinely solid it is and how it had a much better script than it has any right to. I just think the writing here is really smart in that it takes a fairly simple plot and does it's own thing with it with some really smart moments of set up that pay off in ways that aren't just satisfying but also really hilarious. The casting is also on point with Jack Quaid continuing to prove himself as both a master of comedy and drama and Sophie Thatcher is really solidifying herself as a new Scream Queen to look out for. While the script itself does elevate it, I was a bit disappointed at how fairly straight forward the actual story was and I think it's because the trailers seemed to imply something a bit more unique. There's a reveal early on that's shows you what the movie really is but I think this is something that should've been saved for later as I think it would've made the set up a bit more intriguing. The film also devolves into being a bit more of a straight forward slasher after that reveal and there was a point where I was worried about things becoming a bit too generic. The final third does bring it back however and I just ended up feeling gratified by the experience of this movie. It's a unique approach to a bit of standard story and it just left me with a satisfied feeling at the end of the day.