Copshop

Copshop is a 2021 action thriller film directed by Joe Carnahan, and written by Kurt McLeod and Carnahan, based on a story by McLeod and Mark Williams. Carnahan was behind the camera for some great action films like The A-Team (2010), the very underrated Smokin’ Aces (2006), and the 2021 Hulu original time-loop thriller Boss Level (check out our review here), also starring Frank Grillo.

Screaming through the Nevada desert in a bullet-ridden Crown Vic, wily con artist Teddy Murretto hatches a desperate plan to hide out from lethal hitman Bob Viddick: He sucker-punches rookie officer Valerie Young to get himself arrested and locked up in a small-town police station. But jail can't protect Murretto for long. Viddick schemes his own way into detention, biding his time in a nearby cell until he can complete his mission.

The cast includes Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder, and Toby Huss. Copshop received a theatrical release on September 17th, courtesy of Open Road Films.

THE GOOD

I pride myself on knowing what movies are coming out and when, yet somehow Copshop snuck up on me. A month or so ago, maybe a month and a half, I came across the trailer and because it wasn’t on my radar I immediately assumed it would be a direct to VOD (video on demand) release. I went ahead and watched the trailer and was admittedly blown away, so I wasn’t at all surprised find out that it was going to release exclusively in theaters. I next found out it was directed by my guy Joe Carnahan and starring Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo and that was all I needed to hear, I would be there opening day.

Alright so I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts since seeing the movie, and Copshop was an absolute blast. It is just a fun ride from start to finish. The only thing I enjoyed more than the movie itself has been telling people about the movie, while doing my best to avoid spoilers of course. I really enjoyed the world they created and I loved the characters. It definitely had a Smokin’ Aces meets Assuault on Precinct 13 feel to it, which is a damn good combo if you ask me. Frank Grillo’s character Teddy Murretto is more or less the Jeremy Piven of Smokin’ Aces, who thinks that assaulting a police officer in an effort to hide out in a local police station is a good idea. Unfortunately for him, relentless hitman Bob Viddick is hot on his trail. The game of cat and mouse between these two is a joy to experience, but the real fun starts when psychopath hitman Anthony Lamb shows up, played by Toby Huss. Lamb is real nut job and not a second of his screen-time is wasted. To say that this small police station will never be the same is a severe understatement.

The violence is prevalent pretty much throughout the film, but the humor is as well which really balances things out nicely. Mixed in with all of the profanity is a ton of well-written dark comedy one-liners, including a few pop culture references. All things considered I very much enjoyed the comedy aspect and laughed out loud quite a few times. I also thought the pacing was great as the movie never once felt boring. Copshop is chock full of fantastic characters and memorable back and forths, making overall replay ability undeniable.

Copshop is undoubtedly anchored by the incredible cast. Frank Grillo is damn near unrecognizable in his role as smooth talking Teddy Moretto, right down to his man bun and goatee, which was a really nice touch. It becomes clear pretty quickly that he would sell out his mother to save his own ass. I really liked his character and felt like Grillo was the perfect person to play this role, once again proving why he and Carnahan are so successful together. I am a huge Gerard Butler Guy, and I honestly feel like at this point in his career he is basically Mr. Crime Thriller. I’ve seen Law Abiding Citizen, a very underrated movie, at least 50 times, and his more recent Den of Thieves (full review here), is another great watch I highly recommend. His portrayal of cool, calm and collected hitman Bob Viddick is just perfect.

I also mentioned Toby Huss in his role as Anthony Lamb, and to be honest he might just be my favorite character. He is a complete sociopath and finds joy in shooting people, usually while cracking jokes or dancing, or both. He points out the fact that the contract for Teddy is a “free fire” meaning anyone with the initiative has the option to try and take him out to collect on the big pay day, which is where he comes in. From his intro scene the tone is set for Lamb’s character, and you will be like a kid in a candy store each and every time he is on-screen, or at least I was anyway. For those of you who have seen the Apple TV series The Mosquito Coast (preview and trailer here), which is a great show by the way, his character reminded me of the contract killer Bill Lee, played by Harry Potter actor Ian Hart, although he is the more calculated and less “colorful” version. If anyone in Hollywood is reading this, a movie with these two characters together would be EPIC.

I also have to give a huge shoutout to Alexis Louder in her role as resourceful rookie cop Valerie Young. I really liked how many layers there were to her character, and I felt like she was believable right from the start. She is a legit badass and is a big reason why this movie worked so well. Louder was asked by Carnahan to channel her inner Dirty Harry as she prepared for her role, so she watched The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and Dirty Harry to prepare for her character, which is described as a modern-day gunslinger. After watching the movie it all makes perfect sense, and I couldn’t have enjoyed her character more. She is an actress to keep an eye on.

I talk quite a bit about star Frank Grillo and director Joe Carnahan’s personal and professional relationship, and the fact that they have a production company together called WarParty Films in my Boss Level review, which did also produce Copshop. Carnahan might not be a household name, but he sure knows his way around an old school shoot em up action thriller, and he is quickly becoming a favorite of mine especially if he continues working with Grillo. His movies are fun and full of energy, and include lots of laughs, what more could you ask for? On the technical side of things Copshop is fantastic. The old-school feel is fully realized thanks to lots of nice touches with the editing including the opening which is borrowed directly from the 1973 film Magnum Force starring Mr. Dirty Harry himself, the ageless Clint Eastwood. The very upbeat and energetic soundtrack also keeps things going, and in my opinion was a crucial ingredient for the success of the film.

THE BAD

Full disclosure, I’m a sucker for this style of movie for several reasons. You really don’t need a complex plot for it to work if you have great acting and a unique and stylish feel. But, interestingly enough, one of the best elements of Copshop also proves to be something that limits its potential. The characters, primarily Grillo’s Teddy Murretto and Butler’s Bob Viddick, are extremely fascinating and the driving force for the success of the movie but we aren’t really afforded the opportunity to get to know them. The dialogue between the two helps paint a picture as far as who they are and what their personal history is, but they barely scratch the surface. I would love to have seen more time spent on flashbacks so that we could have gotten to know their characters better.

Frank Grillo actually took to social media blasting the films final cut after the editing process was completed saying that his performance was in his words, “castrated”, which significantly impacted the final product. He is pissed that critics have been critical of his performance, and says that the cut he and director/friend Joe Carnahan handed over was skipped over for a different cut which he says makes his character very one-dimensional in comparison. Personally, I still loved his character but I get his frustration. They certainly left lots of untapped potential on the table. I hope they release the directors cut on Blu-ray so that I can compare the two, and maybe Grillo can convince Carnahan to start working on a sequel, perhaps even a prequel focused on Murretto and Viddick’s characters. I would love that.

THE VERDICT

A stylish old-school shoot-em-up action thriller packed to the brim with gratuitous violence, humor, and memorable characters, Joe Carnahan’s Copshop is one heck of a fun ride and well worth the price of admission. Could it have been even better? Sure. I talked about the untapped potential of the film but at this point, I will watch anything Carnahan is involved with especially if Grillo is in a lead role. I just hope he continues to include Butler in the future as well, and maybe we will even get a Copshop sequel/prequel. Fingers crossed. So yeah, ignore the so-called critics who can’t seem to stomach a nice blend of violence and comedy, and go see this at your local theater, you won’t regret it.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.7/10

Copshop is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Killing of Two Lovers

The Killing of Two Lovers is an 2021 drama film, written, directed, produced, and edited by Robert Machoian. The film tells the story of a man named David who desperately tries to keep his family of six together during a separation from his wife, Niki. They both agree to see other people but David struggles to grapple with his wife's new relationship.

The cast includes Clayne Crawford, Sepideh Moafi, Chris Coy, Avery Pizzuto, Arri Graham, Ezra Graham, Avery Pizzuto, Jonah Graham, and Bruce Graham

The Killing of Two Lovers had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27,th 2020. It received a limited release on May 14th, 2021, courtesy of Neon.

THE GOOD

The Killing of Two Lovers was on my radar prior to its initial limited release on May 14th. I knew right away it was a film I would appreciate so I kept my eyes peeled for it to get a streaming release. Well that day has come as it is now available on Hulu, so I made sure to watch it right away and more than anything else, this is a powerful film. The Killing of Two Lovers sets the tone within the first five minutes, and by then you will be able to tell if it is for you or not. I mean, it is intense from the start, and right down to the 4:3 ratio that you will be watching it in you can tell this is going to be a movie that will hit hard.

The film focuses on one of the most complex issues within our society today, which is of course that of relationships and family dynamics. Writer Robert Machoian isn’t concerned with catering to the audience and setting the stage for an easy to understand story. He throws us right into the fire, and forces us to figure things out along the way. I was on the edge of my seat from the first scene, and I could feel the emotion and despair oozing from the screen. Not only will you feel bad for David, you will relate to him in one way or another as we have all been in his position in some form or fashion, although hopefully not to the same extent.

You get to see how David is with his kids, and how those within his community go out of their way to say hello in the local store or around town, and I personally felt like I really got to know him and that was huge for me. I really enjoyed seeing how important family was to him. He desperately wants to keep his family intact, but is teetering on the edge of making a decision out of anger that could ruin his life. By the end I just wanted things to work out in his favor, and in many ways I felt as helpless as he did. Life is hard, raising kids is hard, raising four kids and trying to salvage a marriage is downright brutal. But, sometimes that is the card you are dealt and you just have to roll with the punches and do what you can try and make things work. His wife Niki is not portrayed as the villain either, which is a testament to the quality writing.

I thought the acting was great from everyone, but I really loved Clayne Crawford as David. A hard working actor who has done a ton of TV work, Crawford is able to display a variety of complex emotions seamlessly throughout the film and is the primary reason why it all comes together and works so well. Many of the scenes are just close up shots of him, and just his face is able to tell the story and keep things moving along. Veteran actor Chris Coy was great in his role as the man David’s wife starts seeing, and I felt like he added a ton of value to the film. Coy had a brief stint in the hit series The Walking Dead. I also feel it is necessary to give a shout out to the kids, played by Avery Pizzuto, Arri Graham, Ezra Graham, and Jonah Graham. They all did a great job. I also really enjoyed Bruce Graham in his role as David’s father. All three kids are definitely siblings in real life which is pretty cool if you ask me, and I assume Bruce is the grandfather, but Google let me down when I was trying to confirm or deny that.

On the technical side of things, The Killing of Two Lovers charts its own course. What I mean by that is it relies on the performances, cinematography, and sound editing more than anything else. The film has no soundtrack whatsoever, and you won’t even hear any music playing during the many truck rides during the film. You will encounter plenty of silence and just pure well intentioned dialogue that moves the storyline along. The sound editing is amazing, as during some of the scenes where David’s emotions and anger are ready to boil over, you feel like you are in his head as the “ringing in his ears” takes over and you can’t hear anything being said in the background. I felt like this was a nice touch and helped to make David that much more relatable especially considering the different emotions he was forced to try and deal with. The Killing of Two Lovers is also designed to feel claustrophobic as far as David’s anxieties and struggles relating to his broken marriage, so the setting in the beautiful yet tiny and isolated town of Kenosh, Utah, is just perfect.

After what is admittedly a small sample size, I am extremely impressed with director/writer/editor Robert Machoian. His camera work for The Killing of Two Lovers is nothing short of exceptional. He makes you feel like you are a part of each scene. Certainly far from a household name, this guy is talented. Looking at his filmography he seems perfectly content focusing on smaller scale art house type films and I understand why. When you watch a movie and a signature style from a director/writer stays with you the way it did for me with The Killing of Two Lovers, you can’t help but appreciate it. His style is raw and genuine, and more than anything else it feels unique. You can tell that this is a movie he is proud of. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

THE BAD

Bottom line, The Killing of Two Lovers is not for everyone. This is very much an art house type film that requires investment from viewers to be appreciated. It doesn’t include any explosions or awesome fight scenes, just beautiful cinematography and great acting. One person could watch this movie and absolutely love it, and someone else could turn it off five minutes in and say it was garbage just because it is filmed differently. But at the end of the day, filmmaking is an art form and its not designed to please everyone. You can say you didn’t enjoy The Killing of Two Lovers, but you can’t say it is a bad movie.

THE VERDICT

A beautifully shot and emotionally powerful journey you won’t soon forget, The Killing of Two Lovers is a raw and intimate portrayal of the complexities of marriage and family. Bottom line, if it doesn’t leave a mark on you by the end you weren’t paying attention. I mean sure this will undoubtedly appeal to the indie film crowd, but I say step out of your comfort zone and give this one a try. You won’t regret it.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.5/10

The Killing of Two Lovers is now streaming on Hulu. Watch the official trailer below.

Vacation Friends

By: Andrew Wing

Vacation Friends is a 2021 American buddy comedy film directed by Clay Tarver (co-showrunner and an executive producer of Silicon Valley), who co-wrote the screenplay with Tom Mullen, Tim Mullen, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. It stars Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Uncle Drew), John Cena (Trainwreck, The Suicide Squad - see full review here), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Meredith Hagner (As the World Turns, Palm Springs), Robert Wisdom (The Wire, Prison Break), Lynn Whitfield (A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Madea’s Family Reunion), and Andrew Bachelor (better known as ‘King Bach’). 

The film follows Marcus and Emily (Lil Rel Howery and Yvonne Orji) who are on a vacation in Mexico where they run into the wild and carefree Ron and Kyla at their resort. Living in the moment, the usually level-headed Marcus and Emily let loose to enjoy a week of craziness with their new “vacation friends.” Months later though after returning from Mexico, Marcus and Emily are horrified when Ron and Kyla show up uninvited at their wedding, creating chaos and proving that what happens on vacation, doesn’t always stay on vacation.

Vacation Friends was released on Hulu on August 27, 2021.

THE GOOD

I won’t lie, upon seeing the trailer for Vacation Friends I immediately said to myself “this movie is gonna stink!” I just thought the trailer looked really dumb and corny, and it seemed like they were just bringing two really funny actors together in Lil Rel Howery and John Cena and hoping that would be enough to make a good comedy flick. Well, if that was their original plan, it worked! Don’t get me wrong, the film has its fair share of dumb and corny moments, but overall I really enjoyed Vacation Friends.

Hands down the best part of the movie in my opinion was the back and forth banter and surprisingly great chemistry between the stars Lil Rel Howery and John Cena. As I said earlier, I knew going into this that both actors were funny, but I was skeptical that they would be good together but they proved me wrong right from the start. I absolutely loved Lil Rel in his feature film debut Get Out in 2017 as the comedic relief character in that very thrilling film, and he has only continued to make me laugh more and more in his numerous film roles since that. Probably my favorite thing that he does as a comedic actor is when he gets angry and completely freaks out which leads him to completely ramble on and on and he does that a couple times thanks to Cena’s character’s foolish ways. 

As for Cena, the summer of Cena continues and I am loving every second of it! In my review for The Suicide Squad, I highlighted that he was my favorite part of that insanely amazing superhero movie and I don’t know, I just love seeing this guy on the big screen! He just cracks me up in every scene with everything from his facial expressions to his nonsensical but still hilarious dialogue that just leaves you laughing at the top of your lungs. Being a WWE legend, he obviously is cut from the same cloth as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and while I’m not saying he is at that upper echelon of movie-star just yet, if he can follow up the amazing year he is having in 2021 with a few more just like it, John Cena could be right up there with “The Rock” because he just knows how to put a smile on your face and that is very important to me as a viewer.

I also really liked the performances from both Yvonne Orji and Meredith Hagner as the wives of the main characters in this movie. I had no knowledge of either of them going into this and I can certainly say that I am already a big fan of both of them and am looking forward to checking out more of their work in the future. Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor was really funny too in this as the annoying younger brother who disapproves of his sister’s husband which led to some pretty great moments between his and Lil Rel’s character. There isn’t much more to say, I had a great time watching this movie and I was very pumped to see that 20th Century Studios already announced that a sequel titled Honeymoon Friends is already in development, with the main cast and director set to return!

THE BAD

I’m not going to write a dissertation on this, but despite how much I enjoyed the movie, it is extremely far from a perfect comedy. As I said earlier, similar to films like Grown Ups and The Benchwarmers, it is certainly stupid in so many ways but that doesn’t make it an overall bad film. There were definitely a few jokes that missed and it sometimes felt like overkill when it came to the idiotic nature that is the Ron and Kyla couple, but Vacation Friends knows exactly what it is. It’s main purpose is to entertain and that is exactly what it did for me.

THE VERDICT

Although it is far from the perfect buddy comedy film and the laughs aren’t always in a steady supply, Vacation Friends is a turn-your-brain-off movie that you can stream without any serious reservations as it is thrusted forward with some great performances from a terrific cast led by two of the funniest actors in the industry today in Lil Rel Howery and John Cena.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.2/10

Vacation Friends is now streaming on Hulu. Check out the latest trailer below.

Malignant

Malignant is a 2021 horror thriller directed by James Wan, the man who brought us Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring. The screenplay is from Akela Cooper, and is based on an original story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Cooper. The film tells the story of Madison, a woman who is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.

The talented cast includes Annabelle Wallis, Jake Abel, George Young, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Mckenna Grace.

Malignant made its debut in theaters and streaming on HBO Max September 10th for a limited time, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

THE GOOD

As a horror fan through and through, once the trailer dropped for Malignant, I couldn’t wait for its release. I mean the trailer itself was intriguing on its own, but the name James Wan is what sold me from the start. Wan has become a fixture in the horror community, and has directed his fair share of great films over the years, most notably 2010’s The Conjuring, which kicked off one heck of a franchise. But with a name like his attached comes high expectations, so the obvious question becomes, does Malignant live up to these expectations?

Overall, I was pleased. Malignant is quite an experience, and will undoubtedly keep your attention for the entire almost 2-hours. I was never bored, not even a little bit, and couldn’t wait for the story to unravel and reveal what the heck was going on. The visuals were incredible, and created this really cool immersive experience as you were part of these “nightmares” right along with the main character. They did a fantastic job with that part of the film. The writing was great for the most part as well, offering viewers breadcrumbs throughout but never revealing anything until the end even though you could tell the conclusion was going to catch you off guard. I was also impressed with the performance from Annabelle Wallis in the lead role which was a big positive for the overall impact of the film. She is nearly unrecognizable with her dark hair which was a nice touch for the ominous tone of the film.

Bottom line, Malignant is a very entertaining horror “hybrid”. What I mean by that is it really isn’t a true horror film, blending sci-fi action elements especially towards the end, more specifically the films final act. One thing about James Wan is the guy loves to wow audiences, for better or for worse. Whether he is “goring it up” with Saw, or jumping vehicles off cliffs in Furious 7, he is a man that thrives when he can step outside of his comfort zone and get creative. A few scenes even had a John Wick vibe which I certainly did not expect going in. One thing is for sure, you will not see the ending coming with Malignant, but how you actually feel about it will be the big question. I won’t give anything away of course, but it surely caught me off guard. Instead of writing this review right away I took some time to digest things, and I feel a little different about it now than I did right after I finished the movie. And to be honest, I am going to re-watch it again soon which is always a good sign.

I absolutely LOVED the soundtrack for Malignant, it just added so much to the overall experience which is an underrated part of filmmaking these days if you ask me. The featured track that will no doubt end up stuck in your head, is “Where Is My Mind” by Pixies. The song was also prominently used in the final scene of the hit film, Fight Club (1999). It was cool because during Malignant the song would start playing after a pivotal scene with a well placed slo-mo just for added effect. Just a really nice addition, you will get it once you see the movie.

THE BAD

I really enjoyed Malignant as you can tell, but it certainly had it’s issues which keep it from being great. The acting was good but not great especially from the supporting cast, but I don’t think it necessarily took too much away from the film. I also thought most of the characters lacked any real unique qualities. My biggest issue with this movie is that it felt like some sort of genre clashing experience by the time you reached the ending. I won’t spoil it but the ending is next level ridiculous and almost humorous in a way. I personally would have preferred sticking with more of a horror storyline especially considering how great the first half or so of the movie was. It had the makings of a horror classic early on but decided to take a bit of a detour into other genres, and was also plagued by some poor writing at times.

Another significant issue I had with Malignant is the fact that it wasn’t very scary. I mean sure, early on it has some great horror elements and had me creeped out for the first 45 minutes to an hour, but I also watched it late at night with every single light in the house off. Okay at one point something in the pantry fell and the stability ball decided to roll across the living room floor on its own which was a little nerve wracking, but I recovered. Thanks to a pretty ridiculous conclusion, I was able to turn off the TV and go straight to bed without much of an issue. It just ended up feeling more like a sci-fi action film than it did a horror, which is good and bad I suppose.

THE VERDICT

Entertaining from start to finish and unique in many ways, James Wan’s Malignant highlights the directors signature style with an abundance of blood and gore and an admittedly outlandish final act sure to get mixed reactions. Overall, I was very pleased with this movie and felt like it held my attention and even warrants some repeat viewings, but the ending definitely took away from the overall potential to be a clear cut horror classic. I am still conflicted on whether or not I can even consider this a true horror film for the reasons I previously pointed out, but sometimes its better to be a little different instead of doing what everyone expects you to do. Whether you see Malignant in theaters or stream it on HBO Max, it is absolutely worth a watch so that you can form your own opinion. If you want to watch something that’ll keep you up at night, check out my recent review for The Night House here.

TED TAKES RATING - 6.8/10

Malignant is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

By: Andrew Wing & Ted Trafton (but mostly Andrew)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics featuring the title character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), preceded by Black Widow (see Ted’s full review here). The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (also directed Short Term 12, Just Mercy) from a screenplay he wrote with Dave Callaham (also wrote Wonder Woman 1984, Mortal Kombat) and Andrew Lanham, from a story by Cretton and Callaham. It stars Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience) as Shang-Chi alongside Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, The Farwell), Meng’er Zhang in her film debut as Shang-Chi’s sister Xu Xialing, Fala Chen (The Undoing), Florian Munteanu (Creed II), Benedict Wong reprising his role as Wong, Doctor Strange’s right-hand man, Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Tony Leung (Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love) as Xu Wenwu, Shang-Chi’s father and leader of the Ten Rings, and last but not least Ben Kingsley, who reprises his role from Iron Man 3 (2013) as Trevor Slattery. In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past after he is drawn into his father’s Ten Rings organization.

A film based on Shang-Chi entered development in 2001, but work did not begin until December 2018 when Callaham was hired to write the screenplay. Cretton joined in March 2019, with the project fast-tracked as Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead. The film’s title and primary cast were announced later that year in July, revealing the film’s connection to the famous Ten Rings organization, which previously appeared throughout the MCU. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first Marvel Studios film with an Asian director and a predominantly Asian cast. Filming began in February 2020 but like so many other movies finally coming out this year, was put on hold in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in August 2020 before completing in October.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premiered in Los Angeles on August 16, 2021, and was released in the United States on September 3, 2021, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. So far, the film has broken numerous box office records, and has already grossed over $146 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

THE GOOD

I won’t lie, when Kevin Fiege and Marvel announced their slate for Phase Four of the MCU, I was skeptical when I saw Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as one of the feature films. The main reasons I was skeptical was because one, I had no knowledge of the title character Shang-Chi, and two, the last time Marvel made a movie dealing with the Ten Rings organization, it was Iron Man 3 in 2013 and that is widely regarded as one of the bottom tier MCU movies. Boy oh boy was I wrong though. This movie far exceeded my expectations for many reasons that I will discuss in this review. Before getting to that though, I just have to say that this was hands down one of the more enjoyable MCU movies I have seen in recent years with its straight up action scenes and its insanely different and fresh introduction to a character that is going to be around for a long time in the MCU.

Another reason I think I was skeptical heading into this movie was simply the fact that I had never heard of the actor Simu Liu who plays the title character Shang-Chi. But now, with his amazing performance in this, I can say for a fact that I will never forget him. His performance as Shang-Chi is definitely one of the best parts of the entire movie. I really felt that he just embodied everything that it takes to play a superhero in the MCU with his ability to be a complete badass when fighting but also make you laugh out loud like we have seen with other MCU actors for years now such as Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and obviously Chris Pratt as Star-Lord. His on-screen chemistry with co-star Awkwafina who plays Shang-Chi’s best friend Katy was amazing, and the comedic scenes of them going back and forth made myself and the entire theater crack up more than a handful of times. But honestly, Marvel made a great decision picking Liu for this role and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him in the MCU as Shang-Chi.

After having a few days to sit on it, I can say with certainty that the best part of this movie in my opinion is the choreography of the action sequences. In particular, the bus scene that really kicks off the movie is just great and is exactly what all fans of Marvel movies want. It felt contained in a way that allowed you to just take in everything you were getting in that scene and the visual effects in that entire sequence were top-notch. I would have to say that it was definitely one of the best action sequences to take place in a Marvel movie that I have seen in recent memory. Speaking of action sequences, I also really liked the one that took place on a tall building with scaffolding because it shows you just how good Marvel is when it comes to fight choreography because it was really freaking good.

Outside of the great performance by Simu Liu in the lead, there were a few performances from supporting characters Tony Leung, Awkwafina, and Meng’er Zhang that stole the show. First with Tony Leung, I thought he was truly amazing as the film's antagonist. I felt his performance as Xu Wenwu made him an above average Marvel villain because one, he was human, and two, like other Marvel villains in the past, his reasons for doing what he is doing are arguably justified. Next with Awkwafina, I thought Marvel knocked it out of the park casting her as the comedic relief character who is this grounded character with no powers that we see often in superhero movies. It was so funny seeing her react to everything going on around her like the regular person she is and I just thought she was extremely well utilized in this film from start to finish. Lastly, Meng’er Zhang was the most badass character of them all as Shang-Chi’s estranged sister Xu Xialing. It was crazy finding out that this was Zhang’s feature film debut because of how awesome she is in the movie and I don’t think I’m going out on a limb saying that she will be in many more action movies in her young career. 

There were a couple more things that I loved about this movie that I felt were worth noting. First off, it was just great to finally get a Marvel movie that explores and represents Asian culture. Obviously, Black Panther was an outstanding landmark in cinema with its cultural significance to the African-American culture, and I really think Marvel did it again with this as it continues to break box office records all over the world. Also, this movie is incredibly funny. I went and saw it with my brother in a packed theater and it was just great to hear the crowd laugh over and over again at it. The scenes that probably got the most laughs took place when the main characters drive to Ta Lo and are being guided there by Kingsley’s hilarious character Trevor Slattery and his animal companion Morris. Lastly, it was so damn cool seeing Florian Munteanu (actor who played Viktor Drago in Creed II) as Razor Fist, a member of the Ten Rings who has a freaking machete blade for his right hand!

From Ted’s Perspective…

Similar to Andrew, I went into Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings somewhat blind as far as knowledge of the character, or anything related to the film and how it fit into the MCU really. When the first trailers dropped, I was excited to see it because it looked like a visual powerhouse, and it was a Marvel film, always a good combo. And man was this a blast to watch in the theater. The fight choreography was amazing, the CGI and overall visuals were glorious, and the fun factor was just through the roof. Oh, and it was very funny as well. It is definitely the most culture heavy Marvel film since Black Panther, and I mean that as a compliment.

It has come to be expected that acting is top-notch for any Marvel film, and although we are lacking the long list of big names we are used to, that is still the case with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Lead Simu Liu is fantastic in his role and is believable from start to finish. I never once thought he came across as corny, and for me that is huge. He has a very bright future in the MCU. I am a fan of comedian/actress Awkwafina, but do feel she is more often than not typecast in her roles which limits her value. Lucky for me and other fans of this particular film, her trademark brand of humor actually works extremely well and adds an element of comic relief that I really enjoyed. Andrew was also spot on when he gave actress Meng’er Zhang her credit as Shang-Chi/Shaun’s sister. Be sure to stay for the incredible post-credits, it had me pumped up and I can’t wait to see more from her. The cast was great all around.

Part of why this film is unique is the fact that we look at Shaun, or Shang-Chi, as a regular guy who just happens to be someone who is capable of manhandling a guy built like an NFL linebacker, with a machete for an arm! As fans of movies like this, we love to see that regular guy who is all of a sudden someone nobody wants to mess with. Its relatable and fun, and for me that’s always a key ingredient as far as entertainment value. Plus the action is pretty much nonstop from start to finish, so the 2+ hours goes by really fast.

THE BAD

There is no denying that this is an overall good movie that is extremely enjoyable and fun to watch. There were some things that I would have liked to have been different that I will discuss, but it is important to remember that this is a superhero film serving as an origin story to a new character, so you are just going to get some of the usual cliches that are tough to avoid when making these movies.

I know I just said in “The Good” portion that the best thing about this movie is the choreography of the action sequences and IT IS in my opinion, but I couldn’t help but feel that the editing in those action scenes felt a little too quick at times. I am no expert when it comes to martial arts films, but I felt it would’ve been beneficial for some of the fight scenes (not the bus one because that is PERFECT) to be shot in one long take so we can truly watch and be amazed by the choreography because it is amazing.

Another thing that bothered me was that for as much as the film pushed family dynamics, I did not walk out of the theater thinking about the dynamics of family and how Shang-Chi had to overcome all of his past hardships with his family. Maybe it is just me, but I just felt the way this movie settled those issues was sort of generic and almost default in a way. In my opinion, it just didn’t pay off at the deeper level that I think it was going for because of the amount of exposition it spent on the topics surrounding family.

The last thing I just got to get off my chest is that I found there to be an overabundance of CGI in the final big battle scene with all of the dragons and the other creatures. I honestly don’t know why they went that route, I would have much rather seen more martial arts fights and more using of the actual Ten Rings than watching screeching dragons trying to tear each other apart for minutes on end but that’s just me.

From Ted’s Perspective…

You’d be hard pressed to criticize much about Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it is just an all-around very enjoyable film. But if you had to get nitpicky, I suppose you could say that sometimes they opt for more of a comedic tone which can at times take away from the intensity of the more pivotal scenes. But in all honesty, I think they actually had a nice balance. I mean this is a Marvel film kicking off Phase 4 of the MCU, and much like the tail end of Phase 3 with Avengers: Endgame and Thor Ragnarok etc, all of the films find that balance of serious and funny which has become a trademark for Marvel. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings might favor the humor similar to Ragnarok, but it still works.

THE VERDICT

While Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings isn’t entirely free of Marvel’s familiar formula, it still makes for an exciting and fresh origin story that expands the MCU in more ways than one. 

The 25th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is definitely a top-tier Marvel movie in my book as it explores and represents Asian culture like no other superhero movie has before. It is propelled by some impressive choreography in the action sequences, a ton of humor, and obviously some standout performances from Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, and Tony Leung as the film’s antagonist and leader of the Ten Rings.

From Ted’s Perspective…

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is easily one of the deeper films in the MCU as far as a backstory with considerable substance. The root of the story is anchored in the complicated web of love, companionship, family, and just what it means to become a parent and everything that comes along with it. As a parent myself, I appreciated the complexities that the film explored when it comes to legacy, sacrifice, and commitment to your significant other. I’m still blown away by just how fulfilling of an experience this movie was, and can’t wait to add it to my Blu-ray collection. Be sure to stick around for the two post-credit scenes as well, because they will have you fired up for what is to come. I can’t wait!

But aside from all that, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the perfect example of why we go to the movie theater, which is why it demolished the box office over Labor Day weekend, and even influenced the release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage to move up a few weeks. I realize I have said this before, but I am going to say it again, movies are definitely back!! So start digging in the couch cushions for change if that’s what you need to do, and check this out sooner than later. I hope to see it again very, very soon.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.9/10

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters and IMAX. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Night House

From director David Bruckner, the guy behind horror films V/H/S, Southbound, and The Ritual, The Night House is a 2021 psychological horror thriller, based on an original screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.

Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together – but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing – a mystery she’s determined to unravel. The film stars Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg (Barry, Elementary), Vondie Curtis Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, and Stacy Martin.

The Night House released in theaters on August 20th, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

THE GOOD

As soon as the trailer dropped for The Night House however many months ago, I was giddy with excitement. I love a good horror film, and I am a big fan of David Bruckner’s work. He is one of those directors who still believes in the value of score and cinematography, and just overall feel when it comes to a finely crafted horror film. He also makes sure to have great acting in his films which can be rare for this genre, and I certainly appreciate that as well. It took me a bit longer to make my way over to the theater to see it, as it was more of a limited release than I originally expected. But I refused to be denied. My expectations just grew with my anticipation, and I am pleased to say that I was not let down. The storyline was engaging and thought provoking, and held my attention from start to finish. I wouldn’t say it was next level scary, but I got chills and jumped a few times I will say that. And for me, chills are always worth the price of admission.

With that being said, this isn’t your run of the mill cheesy horror film, instead it relies on real-life elements like devastating grief and loss, and how that can impact a human being. The Night House also included so many interesting “aha” moments as the story unfolded that I just couldn’t wait to talk about. After the movie ended of course, please don’t be “that guy” in the movie theater. It sort of had a Final Destination feel to it, with the underlying message being that if death has you in its crosshairs, it is only a matter of time. That in itself will make your skin crawl and instill a deep down type of fear, and the film is able to create this almost alternate reality based on that idea which was really cool, and horrifying, to experience. I was actually able to see The Night House with my movie review co-pilot Andrew, who just reviewed the highly anticipated horror Candyman (full review here), so it was nice to have the opportunity to talk about some of the themes of the film as we walked out of the theater. As big horror fans who appreciate the finer elements of filmmaking, we both seemed to have the same takeaways and were equally impressed.

One of the biggest strengths of The Night House is the acting, and Rebecca Hall is absolutely exceptional in her lead role as the troubled and recently widowed lead character Beth. A big reason why the film works so well is how believable Beth’s character and her backstory is, and that is all because of Hall. You can see the grief in her face as she portrays a woman who is beaten down emotionally and physically. You will feel for her character, and will want her to find peace somehow. Hall has a very diverse resume including a prominent role in the incredible 2010 crime thriller, The Town. She is an actress that takes full advantage of her opportunities, and she was without question the right choice for this film. I look forward to seeing more from her in the future. The supporting cast was great as well, with a fantastic role played by Sarah Goldberg, who most will recognize from the HBO series Barry, alongside Bill Hader. I also really enjoyed Vondie Curtis-Hall, who played a small yet crucial role as an empathetic neighbor with a few secrets of his own.

On the technical side of things, The Night House is near perfect. The film is highlighted by beautiful cinematography, as it was filmed at a picturesque lake house in Syracuse, NY. As soon as it starts, you will be wishing you were there, but probably not so much by the end. Just the camera work in general does such a great job of taking full advantage of the setting, and adding that much needed intimate and isolated feel that allows a horror thriller the opportunity to really unnerve viewers. The small details with the shots, utilizing shadows for effect and staying on a characters face longer than expected before transitioning to the next scene, made everything feel that much more real. I was also extremely pleased with the score for the film, which sets a very effective ominous tone throughout.

THE BAD

The Night House is a top-tier horror film, plain and simple, and I won’t budge on that. But as I have pointed out in a bunch of my previous reviews, it is impossible to please everyone and the balance can get extra tricky when you dive into the horror genre. I have been a horror fan for as long as I can remember, and over the years I have come to realize that what I consider to be scary most consider to be downright traumatizing. A prime example would be Ari Aster’s horror gem Hereditary (our full review here) from A24, anyone who says that movie isn’t scary needs to seek professional help because it is just f’ed up on another level. Another great example is Brian Bertino’s deeply disturbing horror film The Dark and the Wicked (preview and trailer here).

I bring up these examples for one basic reason, these are horror films crafted to scare you from the inside out, they don’t care about jump scares, they want you to feel something well after the movie ends, and The Night House is similar in many ways but for that same reason, it might not appeal to the jump scare/run of the mill horror audience looking for some cheap scares while they demolish a bag of delicious popcorn. The story is unique and thought provoking, but may move along a bit slow for some. It puts extra weight into character development and feel throughout the film. David Bruckner also has a certain directing style which requires you to pay extra close attention, or you will risk missing an important detail that may seem like just part of the background initially, making it so you will need to give the movie another watch to fully appreciate the nuances. So yeah, this isn’t so much a section pointing out “the bad” at all really.

THE VERDICT

David Bruckner’s The Night House is a very well-written and immersive horror film anchored by a breakout performance from lead Rebecca Hall, exploring real-life themes sure to leave its mark on viewers. Horror films are often willing to trade quality for jump scares in an effort to satisfy the masses, but that is not the case here. I feel like it is rare to say that the story and the acting is the biggest strengths of a horror film, but that is absolutely what we get with The Night House. Bruckner creates an experience that is as equally entertaining as it is terrifying, so if you consider yourself to be a horror fan, you need to see this sooner than later.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.5/10

The Night House is now playing in select theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Candyman

By: Andrew Wing

Candyman is a 2021 supernatural slasher film directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele (director of Get Out and Us), Win Rosenfeld (executive producer on BlacKkKlansman), and DaCosta. The film is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman film series, based on the short story “The Forbidden” by English novelist Clive Barker. The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, The Trial of the Chicago 7) in the lead role as Anthony McCoy, a visual artist who becomes obsessed with the Candyman legend. Also featured in the film are Teyonah Parris (If Beale Street Could Talk, WandaVision), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits, Utopia), and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead, Euphoria), while Vanessa Williams, Tony Todd, and Virginia Madsen all reprise their roles from the original film.

Plans for another Candyman film began in the early 2000s, with original film director Bernard Rose wanting to make a prequel film about Candyman and Helen’s (Virgina Madsen’s character) love. However, after the studio turned down that idea the project entered development hell. It was not until 2018 when Jordan Peele signed on as producer with Universal Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that DaCosta signed on as director. Principal photography for the film began in August 2019 and wrapped in September 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.

Unfortunately though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film’s release date was delayed three times from an original June 2020 date. After a long wait, Candyman was theatrically released in the United States on August 27, 2021, by Universal Pictures.

THE GOOD

First off, there is no denying that I was very excited to see this movie, and the three delays only added to my excitement. I watched the original a few years back and I enjoyed it a good amount, it certainly had its issues just like this one does, but overall I found the original to be a pretty solid horror movie. Also, once I heard that Jordan Peele was attached to this project, I almost lost it. The dude just gets the horror genre and it didn’t take longer than ten minutes into the film for me to realize that his fingerprints were all over this.

Enough about Peele though, I was very impressed with Nia DaCosta’s direction in this movie. I thought she did a fantastic job at blending these serious issues around social commentary with horror. The film certainly explores so many valuable themes that dive into racism, police brutality, and many other problems that we see a lot of in our country today. We saw Peele explore these same issues in his feature film Get Out in 2017, and it is important that these topics continue to be discussed in movies like Candyman because they truly are thought provoking.

I will touch on the performances of the cast, but what stood out the most to me were the smaller things that sometimes don’t get mentioned enough. For starters, the film looks incredible. The visual presentation of this film is amazing, DaCosta gives us some very interesting shots and angles of said shots that had me in awe. I particularly loved the way some of the horror/thriller scenes were shot and I found them to be very effective, and the Candyman kill scenes that you expect to see going into this movie are extremely well done. The production design, cinematography, and score were all around pretty good as well. But yeah, DaCosta makes it clear that she can direct a movie, and I am very excited to see what does in The Marvels, the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel that she was recently hired to direct which made her the youngest filmmaker to direct a Marvel film. 

Onto the performances, and I found them all to be solid. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was great in the lead role and he continues to show that he is one of the best up and coming actors in the movie industry. Specifically with him though, I loved watching his character’s descent into madness as the movie went on. It was astounding to see on the big screen and it left me wanting to see him in more roles like that. Despite his greatness though, I felt Colman Domingo’s character was the stand out.

It is crazy to say that being a huge fan of The Walking Dead franchise, because it is rare to see someone from that franchise have this much success in the movie industry, but his performance in this, as well as other films/series he has been in recently probably put him right up there with Jon Bernthal as the most successful actors/actresses from The Walking Dead franchise. For real though, Domingo has a really great monologue in what I felt was the best scene of the entire movie and because of how strong a performance he gives, I felt he epitomized what the movie was going for more than the protagonist in a way if that makes sense.

THE BAD

I won’t lie, being a fan of the original I ultimately liked how they connected Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s character to the original, but even that couldn’t help the fact that his character was underwritten. It felt like they focused more on how they would connect his character back to the source material than actually developing his character. As much as I loved Abdul-Mateen’s performance of Anthony McCoy, I found him to be a pretty weak protagonist which is something you never want to see with any film of any genre. He just had so much more to offer the story that I would have liked to see, and because of his lack of development, I was confused at the end of the film as to what the point of his character was to the story and I just couldn’t follow his character arc unfortunately.

I think that ties into my next complaint about this movie and that is simply that it is too short. The movie tries too hard to call back to the original film and just spends too much time explaining things that happened in the first film so you could better understand what was going on in this and before you know it you are already an hour into the movie. I think that might be why the end of this movie definitely leaves something to be desired. I did not think it was going to end the way it did and it just felt incomplete and rushed. In the last third of this movie you just sort of watch it fall apart before ending abruptly and I really just think that this is the perfect example of a movie that could and should have been longer than its runtime of 91 minutes.

My biggest complaint with Candyman is easily just the fact that it is far more complicated than a horror movie should be. Going into it, I figured with Peele on board that it was going to focus more on the deeper themes surrounding Candyman in a more developed and mature way than the original only flirted with. And while I thought this film did a better job at tackling these issues than the original, I still wanted it to be explored more. I mean the Candyman is basically a terror created by white society, and the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago where the story takes place is just another sad example of this cycle of poverty that is created due to government neglect which leads to the majority black populations living in these terrible conditions.

Perhaps a longer runtime could have solved this problem too, but I just felt we were never given a strong perspective on these issues, instead they were just explained to us through narration which is why I say the movie as a whole is complicated. For example, with another Peele movie like Us in 2019, that movie is more complex than complicated and you knew what that movie was going for, but with this I just felt unsure at times at the points they were attempting to make and I wish they would have gone more in depth. 

The last thing I’ll say about this movie is that in my opinion, it was nowhere near as terrifying as some other horror movies I’ve watched recently and I don’t even think it is as scary as the original which is something I did not expect to say after watching. There were not enough horror scenes in the movie to be honest, and the movie as a whole just didn’t have that “mysterious horror” elements that the original did. I think I say that because the movie feels too explained and over discussed and that just takes away from the mysterious intrigue that is the Candyman character.

THE VERDICT

Candyman is a slasher film that checks almost every box as it blends social commentary with horror with some great performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Colman Domingo, and a visually thrilling approach to the terrifying legend, but it is more complicated than a horror movie should be. As much as I admired Nia DaCosta’s ambition with this movie, there were just far too many ideas going on that a 91-minute movie can properly touch on and handle, and because of that, I have to give the slight edge to the original film.

Despite its complications, I would still strongly suggest checking it out if you are a fan of the original or just a fan of the horror genre in general.

From Ted’s perspective…

I was late to seeing the film, so I actually had the opportunity to read Andrew’s review before going giving me a certain amount of advance perspective. I agree fully with the majority of his takeaways, especially the fact that it should have been longer, at least 20-30 minutes. I think they focused too much on the social commentary, which felt very forced for me because it was so front and center so often, and I think this took away from opportunities to build on the story and the legend that is Candyman. I absolutely loved the slasher scenes that graced the screen when people were dumb enough to say his name 5 times in the mirror, and thought the overall portrayal of the urban legend with a hook for a hand was extremely satisfying. I remember when the original came out, I pre-date Andrew ever so slightly haha, and after seeing the movie I refused to even look in the bathroom mirror for like two years. I wish I was kidding.

Andrew is spot on with saying the original is still a superior film, which is honestly too bad really considering how much potential this new version had with the unique camera work, eye-popping cinematography, and amazing score. It is still very good and well worth seeing, so please don’t let us deter you. I also agree that they overcomplicate the story unnecessarily, which took away from the overall feel and lasting impression of the film. I won’t talk too much about the acting as I agree with Andrew’s thoughts, I did want to point out how much I enjoyed the supporting roles of Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Kyle Kaminsky, who added a little extra much appreciated humor to the film. Andrew also hit the nail on the head saying that Abdul-Mateen II was a weak protagonist, at times it felt like he was a background character in what was supposed to be his story. Where we disagree the most would be the ending. I actually really liked it, I thought it was high energy and the last 5 minutes of the film reminded me the most of the original Candyman. Overall, it was just a satisfying ending making up for some of the other issues, leaving the door open for another film. Candyman covered in bees, oh the nostalgia. I’m actually looking forward to seeing it again.

TED TAKES RATING - 7/10

Candyman is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

CODA

By: Andrew Wing

CODA is a 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film that follows a hearing teenage girl who is a child of deaf adults (CODA for short). Written and directed by Siân Heder, the film stars Emilia Jones (Locke & Key, Doctor Who) in the lead role as Ruby Rossi, the hearing girl, with Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God, Switched at Birth) and Troy Kotsur as her culturally deaf parents and Daniel Durant as her deaf brother. Eugenio Derbez (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo (Sing Street, Vikings) also star in the film.

CODA had its world premiere on January 28, 2021 at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Dramatic Audience Award, and a Special Jury Ensemble Cast Award, while director Siân Heder won Best Director in the U.S. Dramatic section. Following its success at Sundance, Apple acquired distribution rights to the film for a festival-record $25 million. The film was released in theaters and through the Apple TV+ streaming service on August 13, 2021.

Also, the film was filmed on location in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and it is an English-language American remake of the 2014 French film La Famille Bélier, directed by Éric Lartigau.

THE GOOD

Ever since I heard that CODA won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at the famous Sundance Film Festival, it has been very high on my list, and although it has been almost seven months since Sundance, I can certainly say that CODA was worth the wait. Where do I start? CODA is an extraordinary film that strongly represents the deaf community behind incredible performances from the entire cast. But for real, the performances of everyone in the film are astounding and very deserving of some praise which I will give them.

First with who I felt was the star of the film, Emilia Jones. Jones is remarkable in this film as the titular C.O.D.A., and she brings such a sense of realness to her character and you can’t help but to become emotionally attached to her throughout the film. Her singing in the film is amazing and I would love to see her have some more roles where she sings because her voice is that good. Also, the fact that Emilia Jones did not know sign language before this film is stunning, and only adds to just how great she was in CODA.

Outside of the performance of Jones in the lead role, the performance of the entire supporting cast was amazing. There are definitely some Oscar nomination worthy performances from the supporting cast, specifically Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur who play her culturally deaf parents, who are actually also deaf in real life. Matlin actually won the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress at the young age of 21 for her performance in the 1986 film Children of a Lesser God, becoming the only deaf performer to have won an Academy Award as well as being the youngest ever Best Actress winner.

With that said, I would not be surprised one bit if she garnered her second Academy Award, this time with a Best Supporting Actress win following her fantastic performance in this. I also loved the performances of Daniel Durant as her deaf brother who made me both laugh and cry at times throughout the film, Eugenio Derbez as the choir teacher who is simply awesome, and lastly Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, who also has an amazing voice which he puts on display in this, and also in his debut film Sing Street in 2016.

In conclusion, I just had a blast watching this film. There is a lot of comedy in it which I did not expect going into it, but it is also an extremely heartfelt film. The representation of deaf people in this film feels very honest which I felt was important dealing with a movie of this magnitude. Also, the family dynamic portrayed is very unique and beautiful and it provides a valuable perspective to the audience which I loved.

THE BAD

I’ll be completely honest, I really don’t think there was anything “bad” about this film. The only thing I will say though is I felt like the cinematography could have been a little bit better. With it dealing with her family’s fishing business, which takes place on the Atlantic Ocean in Massachusetts, I felt it was a missed opportunity to capture some amazing shots of the ocean considering the film’s setting.

Also, with this being a coming-of-age film, there were some parts that I felt were a bit too predictable. However, the fact that it still moves you and touches your heart in those predictable scenes shows that there is nothing wrong with that and that it doesn’t take away from the film as a whole.

THE VERDICT

With the combination of an unbelievable performance from the entire cast and beautiful representation of the deaf community, CODA is hands down one of the best movies of the year. Director Siân Heder’s touching story will touch your heart in so many ways and there is no denying that this film will leave a lasting impression on you.

CODA is my second favorite film of 2021 behind Pig (see review here), and I highly recommend checking it out. I strongly believe that everyone will enjoy this movie just as much as I did, and I’ll go out on a limb and predict that you might shed a tear or two along the way.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.2/10

CODA is now streaming on Apple TV+. Check out the latest trailer below.

Reminiscence

By: Andrew Wing

Reminiscence is a 2021 American neo-noir science fiction film written and directed by Lisa Joy, in her feature directorial debut. Joy also produces the film alongside her husband and creative partner Jonathan Nolan (younger brother of acclaimed director Christopher Nolan). Lisa Joy is best known as the co-creator, writer, director, and executive producer of the HBO science-fiction drama series Westworld (2016-present) that has garnered both and her husband, who is also a co-creator for that series, multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

The film stars Hugh Jackman in the lead role as Nicolas Bannister, a veteran turned self-esteemed private investigator living in Miami, who is an expert in a dangerous occupation in which he offers his clients “reminiscence”, the chance to relive any memory they desire. The film also features other big names such as Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Doctor Sleep), Thandiwe Newton (Mission: Impossible 2, Crash, Westworld), Cliff Curtis (Training Day, Fear the Walking Dead), Marina de Tavira (Roma), and Daniel Wu (Tomb Raider, Into the Badlands).

Reminiscence was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on August 20, 2021, and will also have a month-long simultaneous release on the HBO Max streaming service.

THE GOOD

As a big fan of the HBO series Westworld, I was super pumped when I saw that Lisa Joy was making a science fiction movie, and even more pumped when I saw the names attached to it. We might as well start there, both stars Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson are great in this movie. Jackman is obviously one of the best actors out there today and he shows you why in Reminiscence. We all know he is great when it comes to action as we have seen him do time and time again as Wolverine / Logan in the X-Men film series and he puts his skills on display in multiple scenes throughout the movie.

But my favorite thing about Jackman as an actor which I don’t think gets enough attention is how good he is in dramatic roles as we saw with Prisoners (2013) and even a little bit in The Greatest Showman (2017). You instantly feel emotionally attached to his character of Nick Bannister in the first half of the film despite not knowing much about his character’s backstory in the military, which is all credit to Jackman’s portrayal of him.

As for Rebecca Ferguson, she just shines in every scene she is in. She obviously grabs your attention with her natural beauty, but she pulls you in even more with her powerful presence on the screen. Also, with her character being a jazz singer, we get the privilege to hear her sing and boy does she have an outstanding voice. She was my favorite part in the 2019 horror film Doctor Sleep, and she has also been a perfect addition to the Mission: Impossible franchise, and to say her future is very bright would be an understatement.

Other than the acting in the film, my favorite part would have to be the cinematography done by Paul Cameron. The movie just looks so cool and I thought they hit the ball out of the park on the setting. The movie takes place in Miami in the near future, where climate change has caused the seas to rise and flood the city, so the roads were flooded with water obviously and there were just a ton of scenes dealing with water and they were all so well done. You can tell right away that they wanted it to look similar to Westworld and it does with the big city/tall buildings similar to what we get in season 3 of the series, but it still makes it its own thing with the addition of the water and I loved that.

THE BAD

When making a movie in the science fiction genre, it is so critical that the story be original and as much as I enjoy this movie’s narrative, its biggest flaw has got to be how similar it feels to some of the best science fiction films ever made, specifically Blade Runner (1982) and Inception (2010) in my opinion. I say Blade Runner because it is set in the near future and it also just brings off the same vibe with the two main characters loving each other, and honestly the posters of both movies even look similar to be honest.

Obviously Inception comes to mind just because you had them “dreaming” as the main part of that movie, whereas in this they are “reminiscing” on their past memories. The worst part about this movie being similar to those was that for me, it made the movie too predictable in some scenes which was disappointing. Just ask my brother whom I watched it with, a couple times throughout the movie I looked over and told him “I knew that was going to happen” or I gave him a sarcastic “shocker”.

The other thing with this movie that I felt was annoying was just the fact that I did not know why everything was happening. Obviously, I was able to follow the main plot between the two main characters and that is good, but there was so much more that I felt I should have known about the main characters. For example, Jackman’s character has a gimp when he walks the entire movie and it's assumed that he got it while serving, but we never find out exactly how. We really never got to know much about his time in the military which ticked me off because he clearly carries a lot of baggage with him from his experience as any veteran would.

Also, why is the world now sleeping during the day and awake at night? I know it had something to do with the climate change that caused sea levels to rise, but I just wanted to know more about this world. Don’t get me wrong, the world the movie is set in is certainly interesting, but I just felt it would have been beneficial to not only myself as a viewer, but to also the movie as a whole if we could have gotten a 5-10 minute introduction to why everything is the way it is in this, but I guess we will never know unfortunately.

Also, I hate to say this but I did not particularly like the performances of both Thandiwe Newton and Cliff Curtis. Newton’s performance was really disappointing in my eyes. Her character is one of my favorites in Westworld and because of seeing her talent in that, I felt she was underutilized in this movie. Her character’s relationship with Jackman’s is so much more than we get to see and I wanted to see more of them together on screen. As for Curtis, he is such an underrated actor, but I did not love him in this. First off, I didn’t like him as the antagonist, and also I don’t know why they had to give him an accent...like is it supposed to make him more intimidating? Because for me, it did quite the opposite.

Lastly, and I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts, but the ending kind of felt like a punch in the face. You spend over one hour and forty minutes diving into this story, getting emotionally attached to the characters, only for the so-called “winner” in the end of everything to be someone you see on screen for maybe a total of a minute or two.

THE VERDICT

Despite its ambitious take on the science fiction genre and some fantastic cinematography, Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy’s directorial debut Reminiscence still felt far too similar to some of the classic sci-fi flicks of the past. That similarity made the movie a bit too predictable at times for me, but the performances from stars Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson make for an exciting journey.

TED TAKES RATING - 6.2/10

Reminiscence is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Protege

The Protégé is a 2021 action thriller directed by Martin Campbell, and written by Richard Wenk. Campbell is an accomplished director known for his revenge thrillers, including 2017’s The Foreigner (review and trailer here) starring Jackie Chan, Edge of Darkness (2010) starring Mel Gibson, and last but not least James Bond films Goldeneye (1995) and Casino Royale (2006).

Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) and trained in the family business, Anna (Maggie Q) is the world’s most skilled contract killer. But when Moody – the man who was like a father to her and taught her everything she needs to know about trust and survival – is brutally killed, Anna vows revenge. As she becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer (Michael Keaton) whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse, their confrontation turns deadly and the loose ends of a life spent killing will weave themselves even tighter.

The full cast includes Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Patrick Malahide, David Rintoul, Ori Pfeffer, Ray Fearon, Caroline Loncq, and Robert Patrick.

The Protégé released in theaters on August 20th, courtesy of Lionsgate.

THE GOOD

Okay so I have to admit, this movie was very much under-the-radar for me from the beginning. I feel like they did a poor job with the marketing up until maybe a week before release, which makes zero sense considering the big name cast and very accomplished director. I mean I didn’t even watch the trailer until a few weeks ago when I realized this would be a wide release movie, which is very odd for me since I pretty much watch every single trailer. Once I finally watched the trailer, I was excited for what The Protégé had to offer. The cast included the beautiful, badass, and very underrated Maggie Q, the legend that is Samuel L. Jackson, and one of my favorite veteran actors, Mr. Michael Keaton. If you haven’t seen the cult classic comedy Multiplicity, what are you doing with your life? I mean, seriously. Plus, as I touched on in the intro the man behind the camera, Martin Campbell, knows his way around a gritty R-rated revenge thriller. If you have yet to see The Foreigner and you enjoy a good revenge flick, watch it ASAP. I absolutely love a well made revenge flick, and have seen Gerard Butler’s Law Abiding Citizen at least 30 times. So what did I think about Campbell’s latest?

Long story short, The Protégé is a very engaging and very fun movie. As I mentioned, my expectations were moderate going in but I was hoping to get something that felt similar to The Foreigner, and that is exactly what I got. The action scenes and fight sequences are brutal and very bloody, taking full advantage of that R-rating. The lead character Anna, played by Maggie Q, knows her way around a knife, or any sharp object really, and can also fire a handgun or shotgun with the best of them. I lost count as far as how many bad guys ended up as brain graffiti on the nearest wall, but it was a lot. The movie poster and trailer point out that the studio also churned out the John Wick franchise, and similar to that deadly pet loving assassin, Anna is not interested in sending her enemies to the ER, she is looking to put them on a slab in the morgue. So yeah, best to avoid getting on her bad side.

I enjoyed so much about The Protégé , but more than anything else I loved the energy and the feel. The opening scene set the tone for me, and really established that John Wick-esque element that I was looking for. In order for a movie like this to work, the main character has to be believable as someone you just do not mess with, and they were able to accomplish that, and then some. For a movie that is just shy of 2-hours, The Protégé never feels slow which speaks to the very effective pacing to keep the story moving along. I also really liked the relationships they established between the characters. The acting in itself was stellar, especially from the big 3, but I feel like that was a given. I mean sure Maggie Q is underappreciated in so many ways and is without a doubt one of the biggest female action stars in the business right now, but many of us expected her to crush this role. She is formidable, intense without seeming over the top, and just the perfect balance of beautiful and dangerous. I mean lets be honest, she is the girl we all want but know in our heart of hearts, we couldn’t even come close to handling.

Maggie Q, born in Hawaii as Maggie Quigley, moved to China after high school to pursue acting and modeling. She soon realized people in China had a hard time pronouncing Quigley, and changed her name to Maggie Q. The rest is history as the physically gifted actress who trained under the one and only Jackie Chan in the late 90’s, would go on to star in Mission: Impossible III and the hit CW series, Nikita. She is legit, folks. Oh, and she did all of her stunts for The Protégé with little to no training fresh from bed rest while recovering from spine surgery. Just let that sink in.

Which brings me to one of my favorite elements of The Protégé , which is the relationship between Maggie Q’s Anna and Michael Keaton’s mysterious Rembrandt character. As I mentioned earlier I am a big Keaton guy, so I was pumped that he was in this movie. Anna and Rembrandt cross paths in such a unique way, and to say that relationship develops into something none of us expected would be an understatement. I wasn’t quite sure how Keaton’s character would fit in to the plot I just knew he was one of the “bad guys”, but I really, really loved how many layers were given to his character making it so he was a fan favorite even though he was literally “in bed with the enemy”, which is an inside joke you’ll get once you see the movie. His relationship with Maggie Q’s character was something I was looking forward to seeing develop during the entire movie, and it was never predictable that is for sure.

On the technical side of things, I was thrilled with the fight choreography and stunt work which was top notch. As I mentioned Maggie Q did all of her own stunts and for that reason Anna was established as a real badass after the first 5 minutes of the movie, and it got better from there. I really liked the cinematography as well, taking full advantage of the filming locations in both London and Vietnam. As I touched on before, this is a very violent and very deserving of the R-rating movie. We are treated to a bit of nudity early on, but the majority of the rating is thanks to the many enemies who meet their demise, most of which with either a knife to the jugular, a face that goes Chip Gaines demo day on a sink, or just an old fashioned close range bullet to the head, which is always a crowd pleaser. I loved one scene in particular where Keaton’s character makes it a point to break an arm and a leg of one of his enemies quite violently, before making a hammer part of this unlucky guys face. But don’t worry, it was well deserved.

THE BAD

Okay so as you could tell from the previous section, I really enjoyed The Protégé . But, it wasn’t perfect. One of the biggest and easiest knocks, or lowest hanging fruit as they say, would be that the storyline itself felt fairly “been there done that”. But, I will say that they added some unique wrinkles with the relationships between the characters to make sure that it all still felt unique and new. With that being said, it still had other missed opportunities.

I felt like a more energetic soundtrack would have been a great addition to Maggie Q’s “don’t you even think about messing with me” energy. But I can honestly say that the soundtrack, or lack thereof, had little if any impact on me. I think about the Jason Bourne franchise as an example, it always had a great soundtrack and the final scene right before the screen faded to black always had that trademark score/soundtrack that left you wanting more. I also felt like some of the bigger and more pivotal scenes lacked the intensity they needed, but it was never a deal breaker.

THE VERDICT

An extremely violent and unique take on the revenge thriller genre, The Protégé is a thoroughly enjoyable and not so subtle reminder that former Nikita star Maggie Q is a legit badass and Hollywood needs to take notice. Sure you can argue that revenge flicks are a dime a dozen, but for me they never get old especially when they are able to add in a few unique and intriguing wrinkles we didn’t expect. I thoroughly enjoyed The Protégé and feel like it does more than enough right taking full advantage of a stellar cast and is well worth seeing in theaters.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.5/10

The Protégé is now playing in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Annette

By: Andrew Wing

Annette is a 2021 musical romantic drama film directed by French director Leos Carax in his English-language debut. Carax co-wrote the screenplay for the film with brothers Ron Mael and Russell Mael of the band Sparks, an American pop-rock duo that have been together for more than 50 years. The story of Annette also comes from the Mael brothers and their band did all of the music and the songs in the film. The plot follows a stand-up comedian, Henry McHenry (Adam Driver), and his opera singer wife, Ann Defrasnoux (Marion Cotillard), and how their lives are changed when they have their first child, Annette (Devyn McDowell). Simon Helberg also stars in the film in a supporting role as “The Accompanist”.

Annette was released in Carax’s native country of France on July 7, 2021 by UGC Distribution, which was actually a day after it premiered as the opening film at the celebrated 2021 Cannes Film Festival where Carax won for Best Director and the Mael brothers won the Cannes Soundtrack Award. Annette was released in the United States in a limited release on August 6, 2021, prior to being released to digital streaming on Amazon Prime Video on August 20, 2021.

THE GOOD

Before diving into this review, I got to get something out of the way and that would be that Adam Driver is one of my favorite actors to watch on the big screen. As a huge fan of Star Wars, my introduction to Driver came in the form of him as one of the best cinematic villains of all-time in my opinion, Kylo Ren. Since then, my fandom for him has only grown more after seeing his performances in the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman (2018) in which he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Academy Awards, and obviously in Noah Baumbach’s amazing drama film, Marriage Story (2019) for which he earned his first of hopefully many Best Actor nominations. So yeah, if you haven’t been able to tell thus far, I am probably his biggest fan and I didn’t think twice about checking this movie out once I found out that he was in the lead role.

As for Driver’s performance in Annette, and I swear this isn’t just me gassing up my guy, but he is absolutely amazing in this. Marion Cotillard and Simon Helberg are very good in this, but there is no debating that this is really Adam Driver’s show here. His range as an actor is so freaking impressive because he can really do it all and with Annette, he plays a comedian, Henry McHenry. With his character being a comedian, he will certainly give you a couple laughs as you get to know his character, but as the story goes on you learn that his character is this toxic guy who struggles to love and he kills it in every aspect. I think what made Driver’s performance stand out despite the strangeness of the film is that he is able to match the true insanity that this movie is with the intensity of his acting. Every scene he is in, you can see how committed he is to playing the role perfectly. His performance made me buy into the movie as a whole and you got to give it up for the guy because the man can act.

With any movie I review, I always like to do some background research on the director and take a look at their filmography and see how successful their movies have been in the past. When it comes to this director, Leos Carax, I really didn’t know much about him other than the fact that he is French, as are his movies, and that his magnum opus is Holy Motors (2012). As I did more research on him, I found out that Annette would be his first feature film since Holy Motors in 2012 so this movie was gaining a ton of buzz, and also that when it comes to his filmmaking, he is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love which are both very evident throughout the entire film. With all that said, I have to say I was pretty impressed with his direction of this movie and after watching it, it is no surprise at all that he won Best Director at Cannes for this. As crazy as Annette was, I have so much admiration for how he ultimately put this production together. It was a really beautiful movie to look at, and it seemed to me that Carax didn’t care much for the audience being able to connect with and follow this movie, but that he was more trying to drop the viewer’s jaw and raise eyebrows and he did just that with this movie.

Lastly, with this being a musical, I have to discuss the music in the film. The soundtrack was done completely by the Sparks band (Mael brothers, Ron did the keyboards, and Russell was the vocals). They wrote all the songs, composed the whole thing, and I loved the rock opera elements every song had to it. The brothers’ unique style was a perfect match with Leos Carax’s filmmaking as both the music and the filmmaking were truly bonkers. Most of the highlights of the film were truthfully those big musical moments, specifically the original song that served as the opening to the film “So May We Start”, which I absolutely loved and have been singing to myself over and over again since I watched it.

THE BAD

As much as I enjoyed the film, there is no denying that this movie has its flaws. For starters, the movie truly is nuts. It is a really difficult movie to wrap your head around and it was a lot to take in in one viewing without a doubt. As much as I would love to go back and watch this again to try and understand the entire thing better, I probably won’t because of how long it is.

140 minutes is way too long for a movie like this. Its length made it very hard as a viewer to tell where I was in the film’s ever-evolving plot. Even if you are like me and feel like you have a pretty good understanding of what is going on with the plot, I promise you that you will still find yourself asking questions such as “what is this movie trying to communicate to me?” or simply, “why is it so weird?”. And as for it being a musical, throughout the film there are times where it feels like it is drifting back and forth between being a musical and not. Sometimes the characters are doing this combination of talking/singing and I didn’t love that and it honestly felt a little off putting at times.

There is also a fair share of disturbing and head-scratching scenes throughout the film. For example, and trust me this isn’t a spoiler, but the baby Annette is not a real baby, it is instead a wooden marionette puppet. I have no idea what they were going for with that, but it had me absolutely lost for a couple of scenes. With the child being a puppet, it made an already wacky movie even more challenging to take seriously. It tied into the movie as a whole because I felt that the ridiculous nature of the film made it so hard for me to become emotionally invested in these character’s journeys as I would have liked to be.

I don’t know what more to say, it certainly is a very challenging movie to get a grasp on and there is no doubt in my mind that it will be an extremely divisive movie for audiences. Lastly, for those like myself who were hoping for this movie to get some awards love prior to watching, you can throw that right out the window. There is no possible way this movie is going to get any nominations, maybe for original song, but even Driver’s performance is a longshot with how weird the movie is. At the end of the day, this just isn’t a movie made for the Academy.

THE VERDICT

From the mind of French director Leos Carax comes Annette. The director’s first English-language feature film comes in the form of a musical drama that is unlike any musical or any movie for that matter that I have ever seen. Despite the craziness that this movie is, I really admired Carax’s vision and still had a lot of fun watching it, thanks in large part to yet another incredibly provocative performance from Adam Driver.

This movie is definitely worth a shot checking out and I would love to hear your thoughts, whether you love it or hate it. Just a warning though, if you do go ahead and decide to check it out, prepare to fully commit to the absurd because it is a wild ride.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.5/10

Annette is now streaming on Prime Video. Check out the latest trailer below.

Beckett

By: Andrew Wing

Beckett is a 2021 action thriller film directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino in his English-language feature film debut. The film stars John David Washington as the title character, Beckett, an American tourist vacationing in Greece who becomes the target of a manhunt after a tragic accident, and he must reach the embassy to clear his name. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Green Knight - see review here), Vicky Krieps (Hanna, Old - see review here), and Boyd Holbrook (Logan, The Predator) also star in supporting roles.

Beckett had its world premiere at the 74th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on August 4, 2021, and was digitally released on August 13th, by Netflix.

THE GOOD

Once I saw the trailer for Beckett on Netflix a month or two ago, I immediately knew I was going to check it out because of who was starring in it, and that would be John David Washington. For those of you who don’t know, John David Washington’s father is Denzel Washington, just one of the best actors on the planet today and probably ever. Talk about having big shoes to fill. Acting clearly runs in the family though, as John David has already made quite a big name for himself after being the lead actor in two very successful movies that I thoroughly enjoyed, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (2020).

So yeah, Washington was definitely the main attraction for me when it came to Beckett, and although I didn’t love the film as a whole as I’ll discuss more in depth shortly, I was very pleased with Washington’s performance. I thought he did an amazing job at playing the “man-on-the-run” character of Beckett and really showcasing all of the emotions that character was dealing with throughout the manhunt. He also shined when it came to all the action sequences throughout the film. I thought they were very well-done and I’m sure all of Washington’s practice with the action scenes in Tenet paid dividends when it came to this movie.

Lastly, I really liked the way the film looked overall. I thought the shots of the mountains in Greece were beautiful. It also did a great job of capturing the chaos of the city of Athens when the film reached its climax, which I thought was a nice touch.

THE BAD

Unfortunately, there were a lot of things that I did not like about this film. The one thing that stuck out to me like a sore thumb from the first fifteen minutes of the film was that this felt like something we have seen before in terms of the overall story and that’s exactly what it was. It was just your typical couple on a vacation who turn out to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and must go through holy hell to get back home safely.

While there is nothing wrong with those kinds of stories because as mainstream as they are, they can still be entertaining to watch, but that just wasn’t the case for me when it came to Beckett. I just wasn’t a fan of this particular screenplay, the story felt convoluted and confusing so many times and the film’s pacing didn’t do it any favors. I think the main reason for me feeling that way was because they were just trying to hit on way too many themes in this and they ultimately didn’t execute on any of them really. For example, they had international politics, the corrupt government officials, kidnapping, incredulous heroics, and just all of these other subplots that made the story pretty messy. I don’t know, I just wasn’t all that enthralled with this movie, which is the total opposite of what I should be saying after watching an action thriller.

Easily the most frustrating part about this movie was just the underutilization of the other characters, specifically Beckett’s girlfriend April (played by Vikander) and Boyd Holbrook’s character, CIA employee Stephen Tynan. I really think this movie had a lot of potential despite the poor screenplay just because of the names attached to it. I mean for anyone who has seen the 2017 superhero film Logan, in which Holbrook plays the antagonist just like he does in Beckett, we know how good he is at being the bad guy, and I understand this is different from a superhero movie, but I just wanted more from his character. 

As for Vikander, we just didn’t get to know anything about her character April, in large part because of her ridiculously quick demise (not really a spoiler), but all we learn about April is that she likes to look at strangers and creates backstories on them. I was also shocked by how there was absolutely no chemistry between Washington and Vikander as a couple, but I think that all goes back to her limited screen time. I even think that if they were to show some flashbacks of their relationship, it would’ve helped both their chemistry and the overall movie, but they didn’t do that and it just annoyed me to see two talented actors/actresses be underutilized like they were.

THE VERDICT

Despite some great action sequences and a solid performance from John David Washington as a man on the run, Beckett fails to captivate the audience with its far-too familiar story, an overabundance of themes, poor pacing, and the underutilization of its talented cast.

TED TAKES RATING - 5.8/10

Beckett is now streaming on Netflix. Check out the latest trailer below.

Respect

By: Andrew Wing

Respect is a 2021 biographical musical drama film based on the life of American singer Aretha Franklin. The film is directed by Liesl Tommy in her feature directorial debut, from a screenplay written by Tracey Scott Wilson. The film stars Jennifer Hudson as Franklin, and the supporting cast consists of Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, Black Panther), Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, White Chicks, A Haunted House), Marc Maron (GLOW), Tate Donovan (Argo), and Mary J. Blige (Mudbound, The Umbrella Academy).

Respect premiered in Los Angeles on August 8, 2021 and was released theatrically in the United States on August 13, 2021 by United Artists Releasing.

THE GOOD

For those of you who do not know me, I am a massive fan of the Academy Awards, more popularly known as the Oscars. I am always trying to stay up to date with each and every award and see what the early predictions are for what is likely to get nominated and obviously what is projected to win. With all that said, my love for the Oscars is the main reason why I just needed to check this movie out, more specifically the performance of Jennifer Hudson as the legendary “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin.

I won’t waste any more time, Jennifer Hudson has a very good chance at receiving a Best Actress nomination at the 94th Academy Awards for this performance. Hudson was so good and there was just something special about hearing her re-create some of Franklin’s biggest hits. Obviously with any movie that she is in, her voice is going to be the main asset and that was exactly what we got with Respect. Her voice is extremely powerful and they couldn’t have found a better actress for this role. Outside of the musical sequences where Hudson shines the most, I was impressed by her raw emotions she showcased as Aretha throughout the film with the numerous hardships she had to endure to make it to the top of the music industry.

Although Hudson had the best performance of anyone involved, I was also fond of some of the performances from supporting actors Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans. The both of them just demanded your attention whenever they were on the screen and the scenes where the two argued with one another were pretty intense to say the least.

THE BAD

With Respect, there was one grueling mistake that stuck out more than anything else, and that was that it was just too long. At basically two and a half hours, I couldn’t help but continually check the time on my phone which is never a good sign, and I really feel like this movie could have been better if it were an hour shorter. I don’t know what it is with some of the recent musical biopics, and I understand it is a biography of someone’s life, but do we really need to put every detail of their lives in and also show every single song in its entire capacity?

I just found it to be very dull at points, and I’m going to go ahead and blame that on the writers because I don’t know what they were going for here. If they were going for something like Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman, they completely missed it because those movies were far more entertaining to watch. It just lacked creativity and it felt like the plainest version of itself. I understand they wanted to show all of the bad things that she endured and the pain it caused her, because it would make her overcoming those hardships more rewarding in a sense to the viewer, but I just would have liked to see more of the good and happy things about her life. For example, and this really isn’t a spoiler, she has four children and we didn’t get to see her relationship with any of them, I don’t even think we learned any of their names.

You would think that for a movie about a person who is about as inspiring as they come, you would gain inspiration after watching it, but that was just not the case. It couldn’t have been more uninspiring which really is not what I was expecting with this. I walked out of the theater asking myself what the main take-away from the film was and to be completely honest, I couldn’t tell you.

THE VERDICT

Despite a powerful and potentially award-winning performance from Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, Respect is a mediocre film at best. It’s way-too-long runtime and bland storytelling of one of the most memorable people ever, ultimately and unfortunately makes for a pretty forgettable experience.

TED TAKES RATING - 6/10

Respect is now playing in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Don't Breathe 2

By: Andrew Wing

Don’t Breathe 2 is a 2021 American horror thriller film directed by Rodo Sayagues in his directorial debut. Sayagues co-wrote the screenplay with Fede Álvarez, the director of the first film, and it was produced by Álvarez, Robert Tapert, who also produced The Grudge (2004) and Drag Me to Hell (2009), and the legendary Sam Raimi, who is most known for directing the Evil Dead series and the Spider-Man trilogy (2002-2007). The film is a sequel to the 2016 film Don’t Breathe, and stars Stephen Lang, reprising his role as Norman Nordstrom / “The Blind Man”. Also starring in the film in supporting roles are Brendan Sexton III as the antagonist Raylan, and Madelyn Grace as Phoenix, Norman’s adopted daughter.

Following the critical and commercial success of the first film, talks for a sequel began just three months after its initial release in November 2016, with Álvarez set to return as the film’s director. However, in January 2020, Rodo Sayagues replaced Álvarez as director. Production began in Serbia during August of last year and wrapped up in October. 

Don’t Breathe 2 was theatrically released in the United States on August 13, 2021, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

THE GOOD

I will speak for all movie lovers like myself when I say that I was blown away when I watched Don’t Breathe for the first time in 2016. I was excited going into it because of the uniqueness of the story dealing with a blind guy, but I never thought it would turn out to be easily one of the best American horror films of my lifetime. As I said, I was obsessed with the premise of the movie, but what really stuck out to me was the performance of Stephen Lang as “The Blind Man”. He was just so damn scary the whole movie and you just knew from watching that if it was you in that situation and you had to escape him, you would be toast. And as you will come to find out the more you get into my review, there are many things different between the original and this sequel, but the one constant is Stephen Lang’s performance.

Lang’s performance in the original really took me by surprise based on the fact that I really did not know much about him. I recognized his face from his supporting roles in films like Avatar (2009) and one of my Dad’s all-time favorites Tombstone (1993), but because of his performance in both the original and this, I now know I will never forget him. It really is remarkable how easy he makes playing a blind man look. Yes, I know the movie industry and production teams probably trained him and made him wear some sort of contacts that black out his vision, but still it is fascinating to me. Forget the fight scenes and all the choreography that goes into that, just the scenes of him walking his dog, talking to his adopted daughter, and doing basic daily functions did it for me. Lastly, I thought Lang did a great job showcasing his range as an actor in this movie with some of the more emotional scenes that took place, and I’m curious to see what else he does in the future because he has certainly made a fan out of me.

With any sequel to an original movie, it is very important that you don’t just make the same movie twice, and that was definitely not the case with Don’t Breathe 2. The overall story was new and intriguing, picking up eight years after the events of the first film with plenty of new characters. Despite its relatively short runtime of 90 minutes and some change, those involved with the movie did a great job at making all the new characters feel important to the story due to them giving us a great amount of insight into how they got where they were.

Also, I just have to mention how good the sound editing was throughout the entire film. It just added so much to all of the intense scenes and it kept you on the edge of your seat.

THE BAD

As much as I loved the original, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical when I heard they were releasing a sequel to this. I know it doesn’t make sense to say I didn’t want a sequel to a movie I really enjoyed, but I just didn’t for some reason. I loved what they did with the original so much that I didn’t want its reputation to get tarnished by a sequel that some look at as just a “cash grab”. And while I don’t think the sequel was so bad that it hurts the reputation of the first film, I still think they could have gone without it but that’s just me.

The biggest thing that stuck out to me in a negative way when watching this is just that there was something missing, and that something is a good guy/protagonist that you want to cheer for. In the first movie, we had the Rocky character portrayed by Jane Levy who yes, I know was a thief who robbed The Blind Man’s home, but we still cheered for her because she was doing it so she could get enough money to escape to California to give her and her sister a better life. In this, they try to make “The Blind Man” the good guy, but I don’t know about you, I just had a hard time cheering for him after seeing some of the brutal things he did in the original movie.

The most frustrating part about this movie for me was just the fact that it really wasn’t that scary. The original film was legitimately terrifying and it felt when watching that there was a jump scare almost every scene with how well done it was. With this, I wasn’t truly scared one bit and I can’t put my finger on why this movie wasn’t scary. Maybe it was the unrealistic nature of some of the situations the characters found themselves in, or it could have just been the disappointing performances of the majority of the supporting characters. It honestly felt like it was more of a ‘drama’ at times than a ‘horror’ because of the family elements they included and that was unfortunate to say the least.

THE VERDICT

Despite it clearly being a step down from what we got with the original film back in 2016, Don’t Breathe 2 is still an enjoyable watch for fans of the original with another thrillingly imposing performance from Stephen Lang as “The Blind Man”.

TED TAKES RATING - 6.4/10

Don’t Breathe 2 is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Free Guy

From director Shawn Levy (Date Night, The Internship), Free Guy is a 2021 action comedy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn. A bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, decides to become the hero of his own story…one he rewrites himself. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way…before it is too late.

The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi.

Free Guy released in theaters on August 13th, courtesy of 20th Century Studios.

THE GOOD

Fair warning, this section might go on forever. Free Guy has been circled on my calendar for what seems like forever, and with each and every trailer that dropped I was getting more and more excited. I am a full on Ryan Reynolds fanboy, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I’ve seen Waiting… and Van Wilder 200 times between the two, if not more. And if that wasn’t enough, he went and became everyone’s favorite antihero Deadpool, and now he is nothing short of a national treasure. Yeah, I said it. Next enter New Zealand native Taika Waititi, who I first became familiar with after watching one of my favorite coming-of-age films, Hunt for the Wilderpeople (full review here), which is now streaming on Hulu and Netflix. Waititi’s unique and creative brand of heartfelt humor immediately won me over, and I will happily support any project he is involved in. Now we are lucky enough to have Reynolds and Waititi working together, not counting Green Lantern of course, and the sky is the limit.

My expectations were through the roof, and I absolutely LOVED this movie. I loved it in the insatiable way I love NFL Football or Chinese food, I just can’t seem to get enough of either one. An action comedy that literally sets the bar, a very high bar, for all other action comedies while nearly creating it’s own genre altogether. Free Guy is hilarious, unique, action-packed, heartfelt, and just really, really, really, entertaining. Within the first 60 seconds of the movie I wanted to watch it again because I could tell right away this was going to be the incredible movie I was hoping for, and then some.

To say it was worth the wait after numerous delays would be a gigantic understatement. As a huge movie fan dating back to when I was still in diapers, there is nothing quite like going to the movie theater and being so absolutely immersed in a movie that by the time it ends, you feel like you just woke up from the best dream you’ve ever had. And that my friends, sums up Free Guy. It seriously felt like I was in a private theater because of how locked in I was from start to finish, I mean sure everyone laughed out loud throughout the movie, but their laughs were drowned out by my own. It’s just that good.

You can just feel how much fun everyone involved had working on Free Guy, from director Shawn Levy, the entire cast right down to the crew behind the scenes, nothing feels forced or artificial (see what I did there?). The premise itself is actually extremely smart and refreshing, and I was impressed by the fact that the trailers actually didn’t give away the sequence of events like most trailers seem to nowadays. I thought the pacing was great, and the movie never felt boring, not even for a minute. Writers Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn deserve a ton of credit. Penn actually co-wrote the screenplay for Ready Player One, which of course makes sense, and he also wrote the script for The Avengers. He is a talented guy with a pen, or keyboard I guess, at his disposal.

Free Guy will draw plenty of comparisons to other movies, and rightfully so, but at the end of the day it’s biggest strength is the simple fact that it still feels unique, almost like it somehow dips into an entirely new genre. Most people will think of Ready Player One, which was very entertaining and quite a spectacle on the big screen especially in IMAX 3D, but the reality is it pales in comparison to Free Guy, at least in my opinion. It’s weird to say and I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but this is essentially a videogame movie that somehow manages to not feel like a videogame movie, if that makes any sense at all. It taps into our innate need for human interaction, and also reminds us that sometimes doing nice things feels pretty damn good. Free Guy is just so much fun, and I don’t think the ear to ear smile I had left my face during the entire movie.

Like any successful open-world video game, Free Guy feels immersive and alive, with excellent characters which are a huge strength of the film. Which brings me to the cast, which is nothing short of spectacular. Ryan Reynolds once again proves that he doesn’t just play a role, he literally becomes his character. His portrayal of Guy is without a doubt the backbone of this movie, and once again cements his place as one of the most multi-talented actors working today. I loved Lil Rel Howery in his role as Guy’s co-worker and best friend, Buddy. The two have great chemistry together and really help to bring this virtual world known as Free City, to life. Howery and his perfectly timed comedic delivery just keeps getting better with each movie he is a part of. Jodie Comer is awesome in her starring role alongside Reynolds, and I honestly barely recognized her when she was playing her “in game character”. She is beautiful and talented, a real dual-threat. Joe Keery is great as well, and his chemistry with Comer feels genuine. I also really enjoyed Utkarsh Ambudkar in his supporting role.

I LOVED Taika Waititi’s character, and thought he was the perfect bad guy for this movie. Bad guy is a loose term in this context though, as he is far from a “bad ass”. First of all, his New Zealand accent is the best thing ever and I really need a Korg and Deadpool spinoff in the MCU, like yesterday. In Free Guy, he is basically a hilarious version of Kevin Spacey’s character in horrible bosses, but much more eccentric and arguably more diabolical. Just a super, super douche-y boss. But still, very funny. Maybe I have an unhealthy infatuation with the East Coast of New Zealand native, but I was basically giddy during every scene that he was in.

One of my absolute favorite thing about Free Guy has to be the amazing cameo appearances, one of which is actually not a cameo but a huge star in a pivotal role, and I did not expect it. The connection to YouTuber’s and streamers leads to a ton of cool cameo’s from some of the biggest names in the industry, but I am not ashamed to admit most of which I didn’t even recognize. My mission in life is to keep my 2 1/2 year old from going down that YouTube/Twitch rabbit hole, and so far, so good. But don’t get me wrong, I certainly get the appeal. The movie also has a very bittersweet posthumous cameo from Jeopardy’s very own Alex Trebek, a real legend. My favorite cameo by far is towards the end of the film during one of the fighting scenes, and no joke I nearly jumped out of my seat. It is literally killing me that I can’t talk to anyone about it quite yet, but I am a man of my word and as per usual, no spoilers. Just please, see this movie ASAP and reach out so we can talk about it like a couple kids at recess without a care in the world. Don’t make it weird.

The technical side of the film is hotter than that bikini photo Blake Lively shared to help promote Free Guy for her loving hubby. Yeah, I went there. The soundtrack is simply ahhhhhmazing, headlined by the likes of the one and only, Mariah Carey. It sets the tone for the movie in such a fun and hilarious way, and really gets the juices flowing. Oh and the 1981 song “Genius of Love” by the Tom Tom Band, which is also playing in the trailer, will forever remind me of the It’s Always Sunny “The Gang Squashes Their Beefs” episode during the super awkward yet pee my pants hilarious scene where DeVito and the landlord are having some sort of weird dance-off. So good, and definitely worth a Google. The CGI and special effects are top notch as well of course, but more impressively they somehow manage to not overpower the story and instead are a contributing factor.

THE BAD

As you can surely tell by now, this movie met and far exceeded my expectations. I would honestly have a hard time imagining anyone not enjoying Free Guy, but just like in life, you can’t please everyone. I’m sure some will cry and moan about the PG-13 rating instead of just going all out with a Deadpool-esque R-rating, to which I would argue it is much more difficult to pull off a legitimately hilarious movie for adults within the strict confines of a PG-13 rating. I think the wholesome qualities are part of why the movie is so good. Aside from that, why anyone would dislike this movie, especially after watching the trailers, is anyone’s guess.

THE VERDICT

If Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row had a baby, and that baby was adopted by Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi and raised in a loving and supportive home, that baby would be named Free Guy, and it would be nicknamed the movie of the year. Period. I understand that is quite a statement to be making, but this movie was by far the most fun I’ve had at the theater this year. Sorry Jungle Cruise (review here), you still hold a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to see this movie again (and again, and again), and you should definitely take my advice and see it as soon as humanely possible.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.2/10

Free Guy is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Green Knight

By: Andrew Wing, Contributing Writer

The Green Knight is a 2021 American epic medieval fantasy film brought to us by David Lowery, who directed, wrote, edited, and produced. The film stars Dev Patel in the lead role as Gawain, a nephew of the legendary British leader King Arthur, who sets out on a journey to test his courage and face the Green Knight. The film is an adaptation of a famous 14th-century medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The film also stars Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl), Joel Edgerton (Loving, Boy Erased, The King), Sarita Choudbury (A Perfect Murder, She Hate Me, Sean Harris (Prometheus, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible - Fallout), and Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones) as the titular character.

The Green Knight was theatrically released in the United States on July 30, 2021, by A24, my personal favorite film production company that has given us some celebrated films such as Moonlight, Lady Bird, Hereditary, Eighth Grade, and Uncut Gems just to name a few.

THE GOOD

When the trailer for The Green Knight first came out a couple of months ago, I instantly knew this was a movie I was going to check out. First off, it comes from A24 and I pretty much watch anything in their catalog and I am not joking when I say that they rarely miss. Their films are almost always indie films with very low budgets ($15 million for The Green Knight) compared to the likes of Marvel’s $200 million for Black Widow (see review here) or Warner Bros./DC’s $185 million for The Suicide Squad (see review here). And because of the low budget and less marketable name, they must find other ways to bring people to the screen with captivating new stories, distinguished performances from big-time actors/actresses, and stunning cinematography and The Green Knight checks all of those boxes.

There were so many things I loved and appreciated about The Green Knight as the movie buff I am, but the thing I loved the most has to be the film’s cinematography. It truly looks incredible and is just a visually stunning movie to look at. The film was shot in Ireland in 2019 and I’ll just come out and say that I had no idea Ireland was such a beautiful country. With this being a medieval film, you know there are going to be castles and the castles in Ireland were just breathtaking and that, as well as all of the sick outfits they were wearing just helped me get into the zone. The sound of this movie was phenomenal as well, from an eminent soundtrack that helped set the mood to the amazing sound of the actual Green Knight crunching when he moved around because well, he is a tree-like character. This movie is just a prime example of purely great filmmaking, it was exceptional in all areas from the sights to the sounds.

There is no doubt that this, like most other A24 films, is a very artistic movie, but this movie brought so much more to the table with notable performances from the entire cast, but none stuck out more than the star himself, Dev Patel. I absolutely loved Dev Patel in this movie. He is just such an amazing actor, and while I don’t think this is his best work simply because of the excellence that is Slumdog Millionaire, this is probably right up there as his second best work in my opinion. He continues to just knock it out of the park in every role he is in, and while it is a long shot just because of all the big movies still to come this calendar year, he definitely has a chance at his first ever best actor nomination at the Oscars. Also worth noting is just how cool he looks in this movie with his long hair and beard flowing in the wind as he is riding his horse and his crown is pretty sick too.

Another special thing about this movie is just the story as a whole and David Lowery’s direction. The story is awesome, the film truly creates a world unlike anything we have ever seen in films before and it just left me in awe. This isn’t a spoiler but the round table scene in the beginning of the movie when the Green Knight introduces himself is so intense and definitely one of my favorite scenes in recent memory. This is nowhere near the first Arthurian films with it being such a famous medieval topic and legend. However, instead of being an intense action film like most Arthurian films of the past, Lowery brought an extremely unique take to this story and I was just digging it. I feel it was unique because we are raised to believe that these Knights of the Round Table are one-dimensional god-like heroes, but in this, Gawain is portrayed as a normal person who is troubled. His character is simply a stubborn young man who just wants glory and to be looked at by his peers as an honorable man but he is afraid to do what must be done to earn those things. Lowery really did just hit the nail on the head when it came to this premise and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Some other quick things I liked about The Green Knight include the performances of the supporting characters. The gorgeous Alicia Vikander is one of the best supporting actresses in the industry today and she just grabs your attention whenever she is on screen. Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris were very good in this despite limited screen time, but they both played vital roles in Gawain’s journey. Ralph Ineson really does have one of the best voices and they could not have found a better actor to play the Green Knight. The Green Knight as a character was just so badass and intimidating. The visual effects on him were extraordinary and you could just tell they paid attention to all the small details that we take for granted and I just love how this movie was put together.

THE BAD

Yeah, if you are still reading up to this point, you can tell I really enjoyed the film, but there is no denying that this film is not for everyone. This is definitely one of those movies where critics are raving about it, while the audience scores are not as supportive. For example, I went and saw this with my Mom and she thought it was really weird. Also, I could hear other people in the theater making comments and I could tell by their facial expressions leaving the theater that they were asking themselves “What the f**k did I just watch?”, and that may in large part be due to the ending that is certainly open to interpretation.

But yeah, this movie is not everyone’s cup of tea, and it has nothing to do with what some like to call “movie intelligence”. Arthurian stories are just not some people’s thing, there have been plenty of bad King Arthur movies in the past and it can be kind of boring. It is an over 2-hour movie and it can be slow and grueling at times, but I found that to be by design on Lowery’s part to sort of show you what he is going through and having you feel like you are a part of his journey because well, you technically are.

If you are like my Mom and think because this is a medieval movie that you are going to get a lot of combat and sword fights you are sadly mistaken. There is some combat, but not a lot. Instead, there is slow and deliberate pacing because of the amount of symbolism in this movie, and trust me, some of it will leave you scratching your head. The movie as a whole really didn’t feel very medieval to me, I was definitely getting more fantastical when watching and I was even picking up some sci-fi vibes. Like most other A24 movies, you can tell from the jump that the film has countless themes present throughout and that it is going for a deeper meaning here so just be prepared.

Lastly, this movie is definitely not a feel-good movie in any sense, which really makes it a tough movie to recommend. The main character, Gawain, is not the easiest guy to root for for starters. He really is just doing whatever it takes to achieve glory and be considered an honorable man, and not worrying about anything else in the process. But at the same time, I liked that because they made the character feel relatable because I think all of us can say at some point in our lives we have been self-centered. For me, as I have said, I was pumped when I saw the trailer to check this out and before seeing the movie, I did some minor research on the poem that the film is based on and also some stuff on King Arthur and his family. I guess you could say I was in the right mindset heading into this film, and I’m not saying you need to do all that to enjoy it, but for me, doing all of that made The Green Knight quite a remarkable movie.

THE VERDICT

With a uniquely thrilling take on the Arthurian legend from American filmmaker David Lowery and a profound performance from Dev Patel as Gawain, The Green Knight is an epic medieval fantasy film taking place in the 14th century that will captivate audiences with outstanding cinematography, an imposing story, and some of the best visual effects you have ever seen on the titular character.

The Green Knight is one of my favorite movies of the year and is another home run from the entertainment distribution company A24.

I strongly recommend checking this movie out if you get the chance to and I would love to know your thoughts, good or bad. It is a movie meant to be seen in theaters and you can do just that at Flagship Premium Cinemas in Falmouth where it is currently playing.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.1/10

The Green Knight is now playing in select theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Suicide Squad

By: Ted Trafton & Andrew Wing, Contributing Writer

The Suicide Squad is a 2021 superhero film based on the DC Comics team Suicide Squad. It serves as a standalone sequel Suicide Squad (2016) and is also the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The Suicide Squad was written and directed by the always entertaining James Gunn who is most known for directing Marvel Studios’ The Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and its sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).

The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Idris Elba as Robert DuBois / Bloodsport, John Cena as Christopher Smith / Peacemaker, Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag, Sylvester Stallone as the voice of Nanaue / King Shark, David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill / Polka-Dot Man, Daniela Melchior as Cleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2, and the award winning Viola Davis reprises her role as Amanda Waller, the director of the government organization in charge of the Suicide Squad.

David Ayer, director of Suicide Squad (2016) was set to return as director for a sequel, but decided to take on another project instead. Warner Bros. considered several replacement directors before ultimately landing on James Gunn, who at the time had recently been temporarily fired by The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios. As writer and director, Gunn drew inspiration from war films and the original comics which resulted in a very interesting and action-packed plot. In the film, a task force of convicts (The Suicide Squad) are sent to destroy a Nazi-era laboratory, but to do so, they must encounter and defeat the giant alien Starro.

The Suicide Squad hit theaters on August 5th as well as streaming service HBO Max, where it will be available to watch up to a month after its release.

THE GOOD

From Ted’s perspective…

I have been pumped for The Suicide Squad for quite some time. I might be in the minority, but I actually enjoyed 2016’s Suicide Squad from director David Ayer. Was it flawed? Absolutely, but I thought it was fun and had that cool comic book feel from start to finish. I also purchased the extended edition Blu-ray which I thought was even better. Jump ahead to present day and we have what seems to be a gem that everyone is raving about, The Suicide Squad, thanks to the decision to bring in the talented and risk-taking James Gunn. So is the hype real?

Long story short, the hype is very, very real. The Suicide Squad is by far the best DC film since 2019’s Joker, and is unquestionably more enjoyable and less depressing, obviously. I had such a great time watching this movie and had a huge smile on my face as I laughed out loud more times than I could count. The cast is absolutely stacked, the R-rating is front and center, the action is non-stop, and more than anything else the fun factor is always the priority. The film has Gunn’s much needed “I don’t give a fu**” feel and attitude, and allows the cast the opportunity to play to their strengths without any limitations. As with any Gunn film, the dialogue is epic. A few minutes into the movie I was already looking forward to watching it again just to fully appreciate the hilarious back and forth banter.

It was clear right away The Suicide Squad had a healthy budget, treating viewers to some top-tier CGI and just incredible visuals. I loved the soundtrack and the score, and felt like everything helped to keep the mood surprisingly upbeat and fun considering all of the blood and guts. I really enjoyed the creative camera work which in my mind was a big part of why the movie worked so well. I really liked the special effects, and absolutely loved what they did with David Dastmalchian’s character, Polka-Dot Man. I won’t spoil anything, but his motivation to kill and how it is used throughout the movie is just too damn good.

As I touched on briefly, the cast is next level. Idris Elba delivers a perfect performance as expected in his leading role as Bloodsport. Joel Kinneman is great once again reprising his role as Rick Flagg, even though he is slightly less angry this time around. John Cena is easily my favorite as he takes on the role of Peacemaker, an anti-hero who clearly struggles with his sense of morals and values. Man or woman, if he doesn’t win you over in his whitey tighties, you are definitely doing it wrong. Not weird at all I promise. I am a huge Cena guy and think he is hilarious, and he is easily my favorite character. I cant wait for his HBO Max spinoff series Peacemaker which was recently announced, coming in 2022.

Margot Robbie once again owns the role of the beautiful yet severely troubled Harley Quinn, who has just a few thousand daddy issues. She remains one of my favorites, and I actually really enjoyed Birds of Prey. For me the dark horse character who I really liked was Ratcatcher 2, played by the gorgeous Daniela Melchior. Not only does she have the best daddy cameo ever, she has fantastic chemistry with the rest of the cast and brings some much needed raw emotion to her character. The decision to bring her in was huge. King Shark, voiced by the legendary Sylvester Stallone, is a crowd-pleaser and will steal the show for most viewers. He is a man of, I mean a shark of, few words but you will definitely have a soft spot for him. Just be sure to establish basic friends ground rules so you know, he doesn’t eat you.

From Andrew’s perspective…

Where do I even begin? This was easily one of the most enjoyable movies I have ever seen. I watched it with my younger brother and we were experiencing just about every emotion during the 132 minute runtime. We were hollering, we were gasping, we were cheering, and we were laughing, like a lot. I knew going into the movie that there was going to be a solid amount of humor involved because of Gunn’s writing in both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but this movie had one thing that those films didn’t and that would be the one and only John Cena. 

If you weren’t yet convinced that the former WWE wrestler is one of the funniest actors we have today by his performances in both Trainwreck (2015) and Blockers (2018), his role in this will have you convinced in his first scene. Just seeing him in the Peacemaker uniform made me laugh and I will assume I am not alone when I say I want to see more of his character, because Warner Bros. has already announced a spin-off television series, Peacemaker, starring Cena that is set to debut on HBO Max in January 2022 and you already know that I’ll be tuning in for that.

Not only did Gunn excel when it came to the humor elements of this film, but his direction as a whole for this was just flawless in my opinion. I am so happy Warner Bros. let him have full control and freedom when it came to making The Suicide Squad, because it is definitely out of the ordinary for a superhero movie to be this off the rails. For starters, I loved the fact that this movie got an R rating, and lets just say that it earns it. First we had the Deadpool movies being rated R, and now this, and while I’m not campaigning for all superhero movies to be rated R obviously, it does allow them to showcase what can happen when a superhero movie is allowed to just be self-aware and energetic while also indulging in the violence, gore, and language. 

Yes, the movie is violent and hilarious, but at the same time it sneaks in a bit of heart too which is just another reason why James Gunn is one of the best when it comes to the superhero genre. I also loved his great new character additions that we didn’t get to see in Suicide Squad (2016), specifically Bloodsport, Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, and my personal favorite, King Shark who is voiced by Sylvester FREAKING Stallone!

Other quick things I want to highlight with The Suicide Squad include: the soundtrack is great, the visual style throughout is perfect, it is a SIGNIFICANT improvement over its predecessor, it is certainly rewatchable, and lastly, nobody will ever be able to play Harley Quinn the way Margot Robbie can, she is the character and the character is her.

THE BAD

When you have a movie like The Suicide Squad which is literally leaps and bounds better than it’s predecessor, it is really hard to pick it apart. From top to bottom this is just a really, really good movie that includes a little something for everyone. So yeah, there really is nothing “bad” about The Suicide Squad, but there are just two quick things I must warn you about if you decide to go ahead and check this out, which you should:

1. The movie is rated R. There is a lot and I mean a lot of violence, gore, and language throughout so just keep that in mind.

2. I’m not going to consider this a spoiler because the director himself, James Gunn, said it in an interview months ago before the film released, but there are a lot of casualties from beginning to end so take my hard advice and don’t get emotionally attached to any of the players involved.

THE VERDICT

From Ted’s perspective…

Brutally violent and unapologetically hilarious, the great James Gunn takes full advantage of the R-rating and a stacked cast to ensure The Suicide Squad is one of the best movies to come from the DC universe. This is good old fashioned R-rated fun for people who enjoy a few good casual murders superhero, or antihero, style. Marvel surely isn’t hurting for quality cinema, but a few more movies of this caliber and they will surely be put on notice. I’ve said it several times and I will say it again, the decision by Disney and Marvel to fire Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge mistake. They of course have since groveled and begged him to come back, which he did.

Now I won’t get into the political BS or any of that of course, but to think you can have a guy like Gunn who everyone loves working with specifically because of his willingness to push the envelope creatively especially when it comes to violence and dialogue, but not expect him to have a few “unfavorable” tweets over the years? I mean, is that ignorant or what? Perhaps James Gunn should follow the path of my man Nicolas Cage (shout out to Andrew’s recent review for Pig which you can find here) and just rid himself of social media altogether. Seems to be the smart play career wise, especially when the world is full of computer nerds who spend all day digging through peoples past while living in their mom’s basement.

From Andrew’s perspective…

From the horribly beautiful mind of writer/director James Gunn comes The Suicide Squad, the perfect summer blockbuster that is a masterpiece of the superhero genre. It is an absolutely insane, crazy, wild ride that is endlessly fun and will have you on the edge of your seats until the screen cuts to black.

The Suicide Squad is a must-see movie, and one that we absolutely suggest checking out sooner than later. A movie like this is meant to be seen in theaters if possible, and the IMAX treatment would be even better. At the end of the day, there is nothing quite like the big screen. We will likely watch it at least five more times on HBO Max, and can’t wait for the inevitable Director’s Cut 4K Blu-ray.

TED TAKES RATING - 9/10

The Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters and streaming for 31 days from release on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.

Pig

By: Andrew Wing, Contributing Writer

Pig is a 2021 American thriller drama film co-written and directed by Michael Sarnoski in his directorial debut. It stars Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, and Adam Arkin. The film follows Robin “Rob” Feld (played by Cage), a former Portland-based chef turned reclusive truffle forager, who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness with his beloved truffle-finding pig. But when his pig is stolen, Rob must face his demons of the past and go on a cat-and-mouse run through Portland with the help of Amir (played by Wolff), his primary truffle customer.

Principal photography for the film began in September of 2019 in Portland, Oregon. Months later in March of 2020, film production and distribution company Neon (whose most notable films include I, Tonya, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Palm Springs, and my favorite film of all-time, the 2019 South Korean film, Parasite. Pig had a theatrical release in the United States on July 16, 2021, and the film has received widespread acclaim from critics since its release.

THE GOOD

The career of actor Nicolas Cage is a truly fascinating one. Cage’s first film role was a minor one and it came in the 1982 coming-of-age comedy-drama film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Years later he starred in the Coen brothers 1987 classic Raising Arizona, and following the success of that he really took off in the 90s with hits such as Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The Rock (1996), and Face/Off (1997). However, the 21st century for Cage wasn’t as friendly until as of late as he had his fair share of stinkers with The Wicker Man (2006), Bangkok Dangerous (2008), Knowing (2009), Season of the Witch (2011), Stolen (2012), and Left Behind (2014) just to name a few. Despite going through that rough patch, Cage has slowly been working his way back up to the top of the industry since 2017 with successful films like Mom and Dad (2017), Mandy (2018), Color Out of Space (2019), and Pig is truly in my opinion a PSA to all movie-lovers like myself that Cage is BACK!

There is no debating that this is one of Cage’s best performances of his illustrious career and it just might be his best. It really is a revelation. In every scene of this movie, Cage showcases his brilliance as an actor with an affectingly raw performance. You would never think that a movie dealing with one’s love for companionship with their pet pig would hit you in the feels, but it really does and I don’t think that happens without Cage. I just have so much respect for him as an actor because obviously he is as entertaining as they come, but you can tell that he just loves what he does by how he just gives his all into every performance and that is just the case with Pig. With that said, Cage has only been nominated for the Best Actor award twice, winning for his role in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), and I really hope that with his performance in Pig, that he could get that long-awaited third nomination.

Enough with me fanboying about Nicolas Cage though because there are so many other aspects that make Pig my favorite movie of the year. For starters, it is pretty impressive that this is director Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut. I mean damn, talk about starting your career off with a bang. Let’s just say I will be eagerly awaiting to see what he follows this up with and he has quickly made a fan out of me. Also, it is pretty remarkable that at the young age of 23, Alex Wolff has already been in some pretty big movies such as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Hereditary (2018), Bad Education (2019), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and his most recent film Old (2021), which Ted recently reviewed. I am a big fan of his as well, and he is already making a name for himself as a solid supporting actor in the industry. Lastly with this film, there were some beautiful shots of the Oregon nature throughout the film and the score does such a great job at setting each and every scene.

THE BAD

As you will soon be able to tell by my score for the film, there was nothing I found particularly bad about it.

The only thing that I will say is that the film itself is definitely very different from what we are accustomed to seeing and you could say that it is weird for sure. I mean in simplest terms, it is a movie where Nic Cage plays a truffle forager who goes on a 90-minute revenge tour when his pig is stolen. For me though, the film’s uniqueness and wholly original story is the thing I love most about Pig and a big reason why it is one of the best films of the year in my opinion.

THE VERDICT

With what just might be a career-defining performance from the legendary Nicolas Cage, Michael Sarnoski’s Pig is one of the best films of the year. It is a beautiful tale of love and loss and is one of the most captivating movies I have ever watched.

DO NOT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. As crazy and outlandish as the film’s presence may be, Pig takes you somewhere and as time goes by you soon realize that you are fully invested in the delightful companionship that is a man and his pig.

This is absolutely not a film you want to miss, so check it out, you will not regret it. Now available for rent or purchase on video on demand.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.4/10

Check out the latest trailer for Pig below.

Stillwater

By: Andrew Wing, Contributing Writer

Stillwater is a 2021 crime drama film directed by Academy Award-Winner Tom McCarthy, based on a script he co-wrote with Marcus Hinchey, Thomas Bidegain, and Noé Debré, The film stars Matt Damon as Bill Baker, an unemployed oil rig worker from Stillwater, Oklahoma, who travels to Marseille to visit his estranged daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin), who is in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit. With the help of a French woman, Virginie (Camille Cottin), Bill must overcome the language barriers, cultural differences, and complicated legal system to prove his convicted daughter’s innocence.

Stillwater had its world premiere at the famous Cannes Film Festival on July 8, 2021, and recently hit theaters this week on July 30th. The film is also loosely based on the story of Amanda Knox.

THE GOOD

I remember being really excited when I saw the trailer for Stillwater for the first time a few months ago. I mean how could I not be? It is a movie starring Matt Damon in a lead role as a true Southerner with one hell of a goatee. Also, being someone who as recently as this year watched Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight, the 2015 drama film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 88th Academy Awards, for the very first time, I knew I had to check out Stillwater as soon as it hit theaters and I’m glad I did.

I might as well go ahead and state the obvious but the best part of this movie was hands down the performance of Matt Damon as Bill Baker. Out of the 140 minutes of the film’s run time, Damon is probably on screen for about 130 of them and in every scene he just shows us why he is one of the best in the business today. His performance just feels so real from the beginning to the end and his chemistry with all of the other major characters only adds to that feeling of realness you get when you watch.

You will find yourself feeling like you are experiencing everything with his character through the ups and downs and all you will want to do is hope he gets his daughter back and ultimately finds the happiness he has been searching for his whole life. It might not be his best work which would probably be either Good Will Hunting (1997) or The Martian (2015) in my opinion, but it is right up there in terms of his individual performances and I wouldn’t be surprised if he collected his third Best Actor nomination with this one.

Other than the all-star performance from Matt Damon, this was just another great drama brought to us from the mind of Tom McCarthy. The one thing you know you are going to get with any McCarthy film is an intelligent story with many themes throughout that tackle real-world problems and that is just the case with Stillwater. Also with McCarthy films, you know you are going to get solid performances from the supporting characters and in this movie that was Abigail Breslin and Camille Cottin. Breslin’s performance as Baker’s daughter Allison is superb as she is able to showcase her wide range of emotions with the character, and Cottin’s performance was really impressive as it was the first film I had ever seen her in, but it won’t be the last with her as she is starring in Ridley Scott’s biographical crime film House of Gucci coming later this year so I look forward to seeing her in that.

THE BAD

I think you would be hard pressed to find anybody who will say they straight up did not like this film. It is just a well-done film that I really enjoyed, but I won’t lie, there were a couple things that I wish would have been different.

First, with more than 90% of this movie taking place in Marseille, there are many scenes where the language being spoken is French, and while there are obviously subtitles that tell you what is being said, it makes you really have to pay attention and I couldn’t help but feel that there was just something missing in the important scenes because rather than the hearing what was being said, I was reading it. I also understand that McCarthy did this to try and make us feel what Damon’s character needed to overcome with the language barrier to get his daughter back but that is just my opinion.

Second, and I’ll be curious to know your thoughts if you go ahead and take my suggestion and check this movie out, but I did not love the ending to this. With this movie being as long as it is (140 minutes = not a bad thing), it felt like throughout the movie they were building up to this big epic finale and in my opinion, what I got just wasn’t what I was expecting. Overall, I was fine with the ending and it doesn’t take away from it being a really good movie, but without giving too much away, it almost felt unfinished to me in a sense.

THE VERDICT

With another hard-hitting dramatic tale from the great Tom McCarthy and another outstanding performance from the one and only Matt Damon, Stillwater tells the emotional journey of Bill Baker, a simple man from the southern United States who must overcome numerous obstacles to prove his daughter’s innocence as she is in a French prison for a crime she claims she did not commit. It is now playing in theaters and I highly recommend checking it out.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.3/10

Stillwater is now playing in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Jungle Cruise

From director Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Run All Night), Jungle Cruise is a 2021 fantasy adventure film written by Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa, and is based on Disneyland's theme park ride. Dr. Lily Houghton enlists the aid of wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff to take her down the Amazon in his ramshackle boat. Together, they search for an ancient tree that holds the power to heal -- a discovery that will change the future of medicine.

Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti.

Jungle Cruise hit theaters on July 30th, and is also available to stream on Disney+ with Premier Access.

THE GOOD

I walked into the theater aka my happy place and sat down in my comfortable reclining chair with my popcorn and soda, expecting a fun but mostly watered-down adventure comedy. This assumption was reinforced by the packed theater with quite a few kids in attendance. I figured it was going to be a long two hours. But I am happy to report that the saying is true, you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover. 

Jungle Cruise is two hours of pure entertainment, which kicked into gear well before we even reached the very cool title graphic. I mean sure the young kids kept asking their parents random questions throughout the movie as kids often do, but thanks to the non-stop action and awesome soundtrack, I had no idea what they were saying. My eyes were literally glued to the screen from start to finish. I laughed out loud more times than I could count, the acting was exceptional top to bottom, and I found the story to be extremely interesting with a twist I actually did not expect. 

Jungle Cruise is promoted as a fun adventure comedy for the entire family, which it absolutely is don’t get me wrong, but it really is much more than that. It’s easy for a movie like this to go through the motions with average to below average acting, a few corny jokes, and relying almost entirely on the incredible visuals that will surely keep the audience satisfied. But thankfully for me and the other adults visiting the theater kid free (shout out to my wife for taking care of our little ones), this movie exceeded my expectations. This is quite literally what going to the movie theater is all about. From the great writing, incredible visuals, infectious acting, and immersive feel, Jungle Cruise brings it.

I already touched on the acting briefly but it is a huge part of why this movie is so good. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are perfection as always, and I was actually impressed with the chemistry they shared. You could tell they enjoyed working together and had a ton of fun making this movie. I really enjoyed Jack Whitehall’s character as he was a big part of the comedic element of the film along with Johnson’s character. Édgar Ramírez is great as one of the films primary villains, and remains in my mind a very underrated actor.

Jesse Plemons, who plays the films primary villain, is easily one of my favorite characters. It still blows my mind how far he has gone in his career, from pimply faced teenager Landry Clarke in Friday Night Lights, to one of the best and most versatile actors working right now. He actually played a small role in the 1999 classic Varsity Blues, in only his second movie. If you want a taste of what he is capable of watch season 2 of Fargo which is incredible, or even the hilarious comedy Game Night (review and trailer here) to get an idea of his acting talent. Paul Giamatti remains one of the best supporting actors working today, and his character really helps to set the tone for the film.

As expected, the technical side of things for Jungle Cruise is firing on all cylinders. The CGI is fantastic with a Pirates of the Caribbean feel at times throughout the film which is definitely a compliment. Disney has no shortage of funds, and for that reason all of the animals in the film jump right off the screen and really help to pull audiences in. I also really enjoyed Johnson’s pet “cat” Proxima. I absolutely loved the camera work, taking full advantage of the incredible scenery and putting the audience right in the middle of the action. It really felt like a theme park ride from the comfort of the movie theater. The soundtrack is just awesome, and even includes an amazing track from Metallica during one of the best moments of the film. Yes, you heard that right. The same rock band that made it’s debut in 1981, and they still got it!

THE BAD

So, what annoyed me about Jungle Cruise? As I mentioned earlier, I expected to come face to face with plenty of corny moments during the film but that wasn’t really the case. I mean, we all know that Dwayne Johnson is arguably the hardest working actor in Hollywood - the guy is crazy busy and somehow finds time to still be in freakish shape as well. The film lives and dies by how his character comes across to viewers, and I think that is precisely why I am having a hard time finding much negative to say about the film. As always he exudes personality, is hilarious, and finds a way to make everyone else that much better. Plus, are you really expecting me to find something negative to say about the technical side of a Disney film? I mean seriously, these guys know what they are doing. So yeah, not much to report.

THE VERDICT

An exciting and uniquely immersive adventure with an exceptional cast lead by the undeniable chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, Disney’s Jungle Cruise is a theme park ride you’ll happily wait in line for. This movie was a blast, and never once felt forced or like it was trying too hard. I felt like I was out on the boat experiencing the adventure right along with the cast, and that is quite an accomplishment if you ask me. 

But I mean let’s be honest, put Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in a movie together and I’ll be first in line opening day every single time. I know the summer movie season officially kicked off with Black Widow for most people, but Jungle Cruise adds the exclamation mark with a movie literally everyone can enjoy and appreciate. So go ahead and grab the family and head to the theater sooner than later. I will be adding this to my 4K Blu-ray collection, and can’t wait to watch it again.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.5/10

Jungle Cruise is now playing in theaters and available on Disney+ as a $29.99 Premium Access. Check out the latest trailer below.