Dual

By: Andrew Wing

Dual is a 2022 American satirical science fiction thriller film written, directed, and produced by Riley Stearns (also directed Faults and The Art of Self-Defense). It stars Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame), Beulah Koale (Hawaii Five-0), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Westworld), and Theo James (The Divergent Series film trilogy, Archive).

The plot follows a woman (Gillan) who has to fight a clone of herself to the death after she unexpectedly recovers from a terminal illness.

The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022. It was released in the United States on April 15, 2022, by RLJE Films.

THE GOOD

I’ll be honest, I did not think I was going to have the privilege of checking this movie out and reviewing it this soon. The reason being that it just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and despite its pretty good reviews, I wasn’t expecting it to be widely released not even a full three months after Sundance. Nevertheless, it came to the AMC+ streaming service which I have in May, and I quickly added it to the list. I mean we got Karen Gillan in a dual role playing both herself and her clone just a year after we saw Mahershala Ali do the same thing in Swan Song (see my full review here). So without further ado, was Gillan’s performance enough to make for a quality film? Keep reading to find out!

I won’t waste any time. I’ll get right into the main reason I checked this out, and that was seeing Karen Gillan’s dual performance. First things first, I just got to say that Gillan is a perfect match for this director’s style as she just totally understood the assignment. I thought her performance here was amazing and probably the best of her young career. She just did a fantastic job with her deadpan delivery and she was able to give so many different emotions to both her original character and her clone which truly is unfathomable to just a guy like me who watches a lot of movies. At the end of the day, she crushed this role and her performance alone made the film a very solid one.

Aside from Gillan who definitely gave the best performance, the next best performance belonged to Aaron Paul in his supporting role. He comes into this film about halfway through and he gets a lot of screen time and I just had a lot of fun with his character. There were a lot of enjoyable moments with his character, but there was one in particular where he and Gillan’s original character are slow-motion fighting and narrating their every single move, and it was so hilarious. All in all, I thought Paul nailed this role, and similar to Gillan, his acting style is a perfect match for the director.

And when it comes to the director Riley Stearns, his direction here was just great. I still need to watch his previous film The Art of Self-Defense which is currently streaming on Hulu starring Jesse Eisenberg, because apparently, his style is similar in both that and this. But when it comes to his style, I already love it after seeing just one of his films. Through his direction, he was able to create this very surreal world with this very odd and dry sense of humor where all the characters are slightly more robotic than people are in real life as they deliver everything very dry and weird. He just understands his style in his own way and I can’t wait to see what he does next because I’m already a fan.

Continuing with Stearns, not only did he direct, but he wrote the film as well and this writing was impressive. Dual takes place in a world where you can clone yourself with the intention of the original personal dying, but when that doesn’t go through like in this, the clones are forced to duel to the death in a public spectacle televised event. I mean come on…who comes up with this stuff? I mean I loved this premise despite its absurdity and I had a lot of fun indulging in this premise. Also, continuing with the writing, it’s a really funny movie. I laughed a lot at the dialogue as the humor was just totally up my alley.

THE BAD

I really enjoyed this film, but unfortunately, I can see most people not liking it. A big reason why is this film just makes you ask a lot of questions that you just shouldn’t ask. Questions like why these characters don’t elicit normal human emotions, and many many more. I would totally understand people not liking this, but what I would suggest is to just not look at the big picture and just try to enjoy the dark dry comedy that’s right in front of you.

Also, if you’re looking for a movie where you can emotionally connect to the characters, this is absolutely not it. But the director knew that from the start and he really didn't care. But that is just what makes this movie an experience as this film really gets to the heart of emptiness and nothingness. Need proof? Just wait until you see the end of Dual, which I didn’t love to be completely honest, but it still made me appreciate the director’s work as he was trying to show us the bigger picture of the world he was painting.

THE VERDICT

Behind a career-best performance from Karen Gillan in a double role, Dual is a satirical science fiction thriller that shows Riley Stearns is already one of the most unique writer-directors working today. It’s off-beat, absurd, and emotionally hollow, but Gillan’s deadpan delivery, Stearns’ dark humor, and a great supporting performance from Aaron Paul that provided a lot of laughs made this film really work for me, and I can’t wait to see what Riley Stearns does next.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.9/10

Dual is now streaming exclusively on AMC+. Check out the latest trailer below.

Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 action drama from director Joseph Kosinski, the man who brought us TRON: Legacy and Only the Brave, from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, and a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks. It is the highly anticipated follow-up to the 1986 hit film, Top Gun.

After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. Training a detachment of graduates for a special assignment, Maverick must confront the ghosts of his past and his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who choose to fly it.

The cast includes Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Bashir Salahuddin, and Ed Harris.

Top Gun: Maverick made it’s theatrical release on May 27th, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

THE GOOD

I mean, where do I start? The original Top Gun, which made it’s theatrical debut when I was still doing #1 and #2 in a diaper and eating dirt for no logical reason, is an absolute classic and one of the most quotable films in recent memory. You’ve surely heard the “Maverick” or “Goose” reference, even if you pretended to know what it meant but in actuality had no idea. Either way, Top Gun is one of those films that found a way to reverberate through the film industry for decades, and that is quite an accomplishment. I made it a point to re-watch the original film right before I made my way to the theater to see Top Gun: Maverick, and I am glad I did. Keep reading to find out why!

Boy oh boy, Top Gun: Maverick brings the heat, and then some. I went in with what I considered to be sky-high expectations thanks to all of the early screening feedback, and my expectations were met, and exceeded. I mean sure, it wasn’t like they reinvented the wheel or tried to get extra crazy with a new elaborate story, they just offered up a quality product serving as a continuation of the original, and in the process giving fans everything they wanted, and more. I loved so much about this movie, but my favorite thing about it would have to be how it felt like a passionate extension of the original film. Top Gun: Maverick opens with a mirror image to the opening sequence of the original film, and I thought that was such a nice touch. I was sitting close to an older couple who was probably in their late 20’s/early 30’s when the first Top Gun released, and the joy they were experiencing throughout the film was a big part of what makes movies so special if you ask me. The team behind the making of the film seemed to value one of my favorite sayings which is, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Seems simple enough, right? Back in 1986 Top Gun blew the top off the film industry for a reason, and the recipe for success was simple.

Tom Cruise riding his motorcycle with that awesome jacket of his and those slick aviators, I mean he was James Dean level cool (dated reference, but you get it). And some great flying sequences with a nice love story mixed in for good measure, as well as a bit of an emotional element. Speaking of Cruise, I have to attribute much of the success of the film to his involvement as he clearly cared about doing the original justice. When Top Gun: Maverick started and he put on that original jacket and jumped on that same motorcycle, I was giddy. Cruise as a person may have some questionable outlooks on life in general, but you just can’t deny his commitment to his craft, the guy is a generational talent. I firmly believe that without his involvement in the project and what seemed to be a certain level of creative freedom for him in terms of the story, Top Gun: Maverick wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. But, more on him later when I touch on my thoughts on the cast as a whole. Bottom line, the nostalgic element of the film was huge for me.

As I talked about already, the story in itself was a strength for Top Gun: Maverick, as it follows a similar recipe to the original with the “new generation” spin. Taking place over 30 years after the events of the original film, we find Tom Cruise and his Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell character working as a testing pilot for the Navy. Mitchell, who has always been a bit of a headache to his superiors, hasn’t changed one bit. Mitchell bites off more than he can chew once again, and even has another love interest to offer up just enough of a distraction from his work.

Top Gun: Maverick does begin with more of a purpose as the top pilots are brought in specifically to train for an intense and extremely dangerous mission, so the build-up is surely an advantage. I also noticed right away the comedic element was a bit more of a focus, especially considering they had lots to work with using the events of the original film as a reference point. They even paid homage to the iconic volleyball scene, and did an awesome job with that as well. The story also has more weight to it as far as the emotional element thanks to the strained relationship between Maverick, and his former co-pilot’s son Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw, played by Miles Teller. I loved the story as I was engaged from start to finish and even wanted to stand and clap a few times, and don’t tell anyone but my eyes may have gotten a little teary a few times as well. Damn allergies.

As far as the acting is concerned, from the stars to the supporting cast I can honestly say I can’t think of any issues I had with it. First I have to talk about the man himself, Tom Cruise. Now watching the original film which showcased a handsome and charismatic then 25-year-old Cruise, and now seeing him in the sequel 34-years later, I can’t help but be blown away. I mean, look at this guy, he is definitely drinking from the fountain of youth and taking huge gulps. It is undeniable that Cruise is one of the best and most accomplished actors in the history of film, but some may not realize just how multi-talented this guy really is. His commitment to his craft is second to none as he is also a pilot in real-life, and always insists on doing his own stunts. In fact, the World War II P-51 Mustang that appears early on in the film, is owned by Cruise. Pretty cool if you ask me.

It was just so cool watching him in the original film, and seeing the leaps he has made as an actor in Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise has been acting for so long you’d almost immediately assume he has 100+ acting credits, I know I did, but he is actually at an even 50, which includes Part 1 and Part 2 of the not yet released Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (check out the preview and trailer for Part 1 here), as well as the currently filming and untitled “SpaceX Project”, and the rumored sequel to Edge of Tomorrow, which I really, really, really hope comes to fruition. Sorry to get distracted with his upcoming projects, but the moral of the story is that when Cruise agrees to a role, he makes sure it is going to be worth doing.

I was very confused initially by the character Penny Benjamin played by Jennifer Connelly, who serves as the on again off again love interest for Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick. In the original film, Mitchell rides off into the sunset with his newfound love interest Top Gun instructor Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis. I don’t want to sound like an a-hole here, but a quick Google search makes it very clear why McGillis was not going to return to star alongside Cruise. It reminds me of Leslie Mann in This Is 40, where she complains about how Paul Rudd’s character seemingly doesn’t age yet she can’t seem to get into a night club because she looks like a really old mom. So yeah, in steps Connelly. Now as I mentioned early on, I made it a point to re-watch the original film right before seeing Top Gun: Maverick, but like a dummy I was still confused.

After doing a bit of light research a few lightbulbs went off in my head. Connelly’s character Penny Benjamin was mentioned on two separate occasions during the original film, once by Goose when he was razzing Mitchell about his “sexual escapades”, and next when Goose’s wife, played by Meg Ryan, brings up Mitchell’s wild history with Benjamin in front of Charlie, so I applaud the writing team for the audible and bringing in Connelly who was fantastic by the way. Not only is she beautiful and just seemed to own her role, her chemistry with Cruise felt genuine, and was a big reason for why the film worked so well. I hate to say it, but I absolutely prefer Penny over Charlie #TeamPenny.

The best addition to the cast in my opinion which was also the most impactful, is without a doubt Miles Teller, who I personally love as an actor. Teller takes on the role of Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw, the son of the Goose character from the first film, played by Anthony Edwards. Teller’s contribution to the story cannot be understated as his relationship with Cruise’s character was the driving force of the film. He had fantastic chemistry with Cruise, and once again proved why he is one of the better next generation of actors. Not only does he look the part with Goose’s signature mustache, he also has enough of a resemblance which helped with the believability as well. Plus like Goose he is taller than Cruise, but I mean, who isn’t. Sorry, unnecessary jab and I apologize just in case the man himself is reading this. The complex relationship between Cruise and Teller that develops throughout the film will be one of the biggest takeaways for viewers, I know it was for me. So yeah, massive casting decision.

As far as the supporting cast is concerned, Val Kilmer made his return as his iconic Tom “Iceman” Kazansky character, and even though he plays a very small part this time around, he is still a big contributing factor within the story. I really liked how they respectfully involved the legendary actor who has been battling throat cancer, making sure he was still an integral part of the film. Jon Hamm was another huge addition as Beau ‘Cyclone’ Simpson, a former Top Gun alum and Maverick’s new boss as he takes on his role back at the Top Gun academy. The former star of the hit series Mad Men, Hamm is an incredible actor so he was able to match Cruise in some of the more dramatic scenes, and I really liked how the relationship between their two characters developed. Charles Barnell did a really nice job as Solomon ‘Warlock’ Bates, the other authority figure alongside Simpson. I enjoyed their dynamic as Bates seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for Mitchell compared to Simpson, who seems to look forward to what he feels is inevitable failure.

Ed Harris was great as expected, but he played a very limited role. I really liked Bashir Salahuddin in his role as Bernie ‘Hondo’ Coleman, as he helped with the comedic element of the film. The new generation of pilots, aside from Teller of course, consists of Glen Powell as Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin, who was essentially the new Iceman. His competitive relationship with Teller is very similar to the Maverick vs Iceman battle in the original film. As I said before I thought everyone was really good, so I have to give a shout out to the rest of the supporting cast of Top Gun pilots including Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman (yes, the son of talented veteran actor Bull Pullman), Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Jack Schumacher, Manny Jacinto, Kara Wang, Greg Tarzan Davis (awesome middle name), Jake Picking, and last but not least, Raymond Lee. Everyone I mentioned deserves a ton of credit for appearing in such an incredible film.

I was genuinely impressed with director Joseph Kosinski, and felt like he handled everything pretty much as well as he could have. From his unique camera work during the action sequences to his commitment to ensuring Top Gun: Maverick paid tribute to the original, he was just on fire. During each takeoff you could almost feel the adrenaline the pilots were feeling thanks to Kosinski. I can’t wait for his next film, the Netflix original sci-fi drama Spiderhead (preview and trailer here), starring Chris Hemsworth and Miles Teller, set to release next month. Considering his directorial debut was the massive 2010 film TRON: Legacy, Kosinski is making a name for himself when it comes to big time action films.

As you can tell from the trailer, the flying sequences are incredible. It really is one white-knuckle scene after another, starting with the first five minutes of the film. Tom Cruise insisted Top Gun: Maverick prioritize actual stunts and real flying over CGI, and it really shows. The film uses minimal CGI and green screen effects, and even the cockpit shots are taken during actual in-flight sequences. For this to be possible, much of the cast had to take extensive G-Force training sessions to ensure they would withstand the physical elements of the G-Force pressure during flights.

If I wasn’t eating my popcorn or enjoying my ice cold soda, my mouth was wide open during every single one of these intense scenes. They were just so, so good. In fact, I keep going back and re-watching the trailer to get my fix. Another calling card for Top Gun: Maverick is the score and soundtrack, which was nothing short of top notch thanks to talented composer Lorne Balfe. He recently handled the music for the Michael Bay action thriller Ambulance which I reviewed just over a month ago (full review here), as well as the Prime Video sci-fi thriller, The Tomorrow War. His contribution to the film really helped to ramp up the feeling of nostalgia. I also really liked the commitment to quality cinematography this time around thanks to great work from cinematographer Claudio Miranda, known for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, TRON: Legacy, and Life of Pi.

THE BAD

Admittedly, I’m still riding the high of Top Gun: Maverick to the point where I can’t seem to identify any weaknesses for the film. Or perhaps they just don’t exist. I suppose I could say the fact that it took over two years to finally release, but that is more of a pandemic issue and I refuse to go down that rabbit hole. Everything about the film just felt so intentional and authentic without a single scene that seemed slow or out of place. Plus, even at two hours and 10 minutes, it absolutely flew by. The ending may seem a bit predictable, but it still had me smiling ear to ear and left me feeling extremely satisfied. So yeah, I’m going to chalk up the negatives as a big “Goose” egg, pun intended of course.

THE VERDICT

A tour de force of epic proportions when it comes to quality filmmaking and effective sequels, Top Gun: Maverick embodies everything that made the original film an instant classic, while adding more humor, a higher bar for thrilling edge of your seat action sequences, and a few not so subtle tugs on the old heart strings. Director Joseph Kosinski really hit it out of the park. From the identical intro to Maverick’s iconic jacket, this is how you give fans what they want while ensuring newcomers have more than enough to sink their teeth into. Simply referring to Top Gun: Maverick as a superior sequel is a disservice to both films which are such seamless continuations of each other, and I honestly couldn’t imagine a more perfect ending. As soon as the credits hit the screen, I was looking forward to seeing it again. Do yourself a favor and see Top Gun: Maverick in theaters as soon as possible so you can “feel the need for speed!” You can thank me later.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.8/10

Top Gun: Maverick is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

By: Andrew Wing

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a 2022 American live-action/animated action-adventure comedy film based on the characters Chip and Dale and a continuation of the animated TV series of the same name. Directed by Akiva Schaffer (Hot Rod, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) and written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the film stars John Mulaney (Big Mouth, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Palm Springs) as the voices of the titular pair, respectively, with Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Lego Movie franchise), Eric Bana (Hulk, Munich), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, The Prom), Seth Rogen (Superbad, Pineapple Express), J.K. Simmons (Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Whiplash), and KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk, The Old Guard).

It is a co-production between Walt Disney Pictures, producers David Hoberman (produced the 2010 sports drama The Fighter) and Todd Lieberman’s Mandeville Films (co-produced the 2017 live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures), and The Lonely Island (which Schaffer and Samberg are a part of).

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers premiered in Orlando on May 16, 2022, and was released in the United States on May 20, 2022, via streaming on Disney+ as an original film.

THE GOOD

I won’t lie, as the calendar turned from 2021 to 2022, when it came to upcoming movies, the Chip ‘n Dale reboot film was nowhere near the top of my list. However, after hearing all of the good reviews it was getting from critics and also coming out from the rock I was clearly living under to find out that comedy legends John Mulaney and Andy Samberg were voicing the titular characters, my excitement level went from 0 to 100. I absolutely love Andy Samberg as I probably listened to the inappropriate songs he did as a member of The Lonely Island, and for the past couple of years, I, like the rest of the world, have really taken a liking to John Mulaney, thanks in large part to his voice acting work as Andrew Glouberman in the Netflix original animated show Big Mouth. So now that I’ve given you some context, let’s see if those two comedy legends did enough to make this the surprise film of the year, or if they made it yet another in the long list of failed reboot movies. Keep reading to find out!

I won’t waste any time before I answer that question, this movie is easily the most pleasant surprise of the year for me, it is super funny, it is original in its own way, and it is just incredibly charming from beginning to end. I loved the way those in charge went about this reboot, and that’s because they knew their primary target audience was adults. I mean sure, kids can enjoy this too, but they made it knowing the adults now are the same ones who grew up watching the original animated series. I’ll touch on the director Akiva Schaffer and the writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand more so later in the review when it comes to what I liked the most about this, but just to state the obvious, they did an amazing job with Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.

Alright, now I said the main reason I checked this out in the first place was because of the inclusion of both John Mulaney and Andy Samberg, and hands down, they were the best part of this. The movie had great voice work from everyone, but Mulaney and Sandberg absolutely crushed it. Their chemistry was off the charts and I’d be shocked if we don’t see them work together again in an animated movie, and hopefully, it is a sequel for this. First, with Mulaney, his voice is just perfect for animation. He was amazing as Chip, and he just did such a great job at showing how Chip is the mature and optimistic leader of the Rescue Rangers with a strong moral standard by just using his voice. As for Samberg, I mean what can I say, I absolutely loved everything he brought to the table here and he is the perfect actor to voice Dale. Similar to Mulaney, Samberg was somehow able to convey that Dale is this happy-go-lucky character who usually acts before thinking with just his voice, and I really can’t say enough about their voice acting in this. It was that good.

Now to touch on some of the supporting voice performances. J.K. Simmons probably had the best voice work when it came to the supporting crew. You could just tell that he was so committed to this like he is for all his other projects and he was just hilarious as his voice is so recognizable. Seth Rogen was awesome too in his voice role and I loved how the movie made a reference to the fact that Rogen has voiced so many animated characters in his career. Lastly, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, and Keegan-Michael Key also were great in their small supporting roles, but Tim Robinson stole the show in his cameo voice appearance as the infamous Ugly Sonic.

This movie is labeled as a comedy, and I’ll get it out of the way right now if you were wondering, it is so so funny. Every couple of minutes there was something that happened that made me laugh out loud. Sure, a lot of that is thanks to the voice actors, but the majority of credit belongs to the director Akiva Schaffer and the writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand for what they created here because this movie is extremely clever. The meta-commentary in this was perfect and I really think this movie showed everyone what meta-humor should be. In the past couple of years, we have seen meta-humor used a lot more in movies and we have seen it used so terribly. But thankfully with this, we got what meta-humor should be because they took self-referential humor and intertwined it into the story in a way that was organic, functional, unique, and most importantly, funny. From the Ugly Sonic joke, the dumping on Alvin and the Chipmunks, to the references to the 2019 film Cats which is maybe the worst movie ever, there were so many amazing jokes that will make it endlessly entertaining for years to come.

I know I’ve already spoken a lot about John Mulaney already, but this isn’t his first time starring in an animated film. He was in what I think is the greatest animated movie ever back in 2018 with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and aside from all of the awesomeness that film had, its best aspect was its animation style. Since watching that, I have slowly gotten more into anime, and after watching Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, I can certainly say that their animation was very good. It was really cool to see the blend of different animation styles they worked throughout the movie and I can’t imagine what the animators had to do to make that work. But whatever they did, it looked great and I hope that come next year’s Academy Awards, they have the chance to bring home some hardware for what they accomplished.

THE BAD

There is no denying that this movie is a freaking blast from start to finish, and as I have already said, it is the surprise movie of the year for me. Sure, there are some jokes that don’t land like all comedies and I could’ve gone without the KiKi Layne human character because I don’t think it brought much to the story, but in Layne’s defense, it cannot be easy acting with air which is what she had to do in this because the movie is primarily full of animated characters. At the end of the day though, that is about all I can say negatively about Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, so with that said, it’s undeniably a very good movie.

THE VERDICT

After exceeding all of my expectations, I can say without a doubt that Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is the surprise movie of the year as it has everything you could ask for. It’s genuinely funny as it has got great meta-humor that is full of lots of funny references, and it also has solid animation and some incredible voice acting from the entire cast that is led by John Mulaney and Andy Samberg.

I really loved this movie. It is a lot of fun, it is very honest, it is sincerely made, it is adorable, and it is just a well-put-together film. It is super accessible to many different audiences which is why I think it is the perfect family movie, so if you’re looking for a movie to watch with your kids, this is the one.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.7/10

Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is now streaming exclusively on Disney+. Check out the latest trailer below.

Operation Mincemeat

By: Andrew Wing

Operation Mincemeat is a 2021 British war drama film directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). It is based upon Ben Macintyre’s book on the British Operation Mincemeat during the Second World War. The film stars Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Mamma Mia!), Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting, Boardwalk Empire), Matthew Macfadyen (Pride & Prejudice, Succession), Penelope Wilton (Shaun of the Dead, Match Point), Johnny Flynn (Lovesick, Stardust), and Jason Isaacs (Peter Pan, The Death of Stalin).

The film’s plot begins in 1943 during the war and follows two British intelligence officers (Firth and Macfadyen) who concoct Operation Mincemeat, wherein their plan to drop a corpse with false papers off the coast of Spain would fool Nazi spies into believing the Allied forces were planning to attack by way of Greece rather than Sicily.

The film had its world premiere in 2021 at the British Film Festival in Australia and was released in the United Kingdom on April 15, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures, before it was released on Netflix in North American and Latin American countries on May 11, 2022.

THE GOOD

Where do I start? Operation Mincemeat definitely snuck up on me, which is all the more surprising since I’d say I keep pretty good tabs on films that premiere at festivals, but I let this one fall by the wayside. Despite that, once I saw the trailer a week or two back and saw the two biggest names attached to the film in Firth and Macfadyen, I knew I was going to have to check it out once it hit Netflix. And that is just what I did. But did it match my expectations? Well, there is only one way to know that, so keep reading to find out!

I don’t know if I can say it matched my expectations, but Operation Mincemeat is a good film nonetheless. I went into this with fair expectations. I wasn’t expecting to be watching the next Saving Private Ryan or 1917 level of war film, and because of that, I enjoyed it. That said, the best part of this movie was hands down the story. The story in this movie rules so props to Michelle Ashford for writing an amazing script that is adapted from Ben Macintyre’s book on the British Operation. It is a legitimately great story and it was so bizarre that it reminded me a lot of the Best Picture-winning film Argo, which was also based on a true story. But yeah, it was super cool to hear about this operation that played a big role in the Allied forces winning the Second World War that I had never previously heard about.

Continuing with the story, I got to bring this up because we see it so much with war movies, but I liked that Operation Mincemeat served as a very realistic take on a very real operation. Sure, it takes some creative liberties like most of these films do, but not so much that I had to drop some points off for it. Honestly, I thought it was a more accurate representation of what spycraft truly is as it is more sitting at a desk going through things rather than halo jumping out of planes or jumping from building to building like Tom Cruise does as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible film series that I absolutely love. Seriously though, nothing felt over-dramatized in Operation Mincemeat which I appreciated, and that did the film wonders in my opinion.

Now I already mentioned why I watched this movie in the first place, and that was because of the inclusion of both Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen. Firth is an Academy Award-winning actor thanks to his unbelievable performance in The King’s Speech, and Macfadyen is just a legend mostly thanks to portraying the character Tom Wambsgams in the HBO drama series Succession. But when it comes to their performances in Operation Mincemeat, I thought both of them were solid. It wasn’t the best performance of their careers or anything, but I liked how both the film itself and their performances showed the audiences that they weren’t these superheroes without flaws. Rather, they were these valuable people working during the Second World War who were at times unsure of themselves as they didn’t know if what they were doing was right, and both of them made that feel so real and that was the best thing they brought to this film.

They were the stars of the show, but there were also some good side performances here as well. It was weird because both Johnny Flynn and Simon Russell Beale were in this and I watched it directly after watching The Outfit (see my full review here), a movie I recently reviewed. They were both good in that, and they were both just as good here although they had much smaller roles. Beale played a great Winston Churchill and Flynn played the famous Ian Fleming, whose most notable work includes only writing the most famous spy novels of all time, the James Bond series. Seriously though, I liked how they included Ian Fleming in this, and while I knew he was responsible for writing James Bond books, I had no idea he was a British naval intelligence officer during the war, so them adding that small tidbit was sick.

Lastly, when it comes to Operation Mincemeat, I absolutely loved this movie on the technical side of things. I really liked the production value of it. It looked great thanks to Sebastian Blenkov’s cinematography and its look really put me into that specific setting of the 1940s. I also liked the way they presented the timeline too and it helped me never feel lost or confused in the complex story.

THE BAD

Alright, as I’ve said, Operation Mincemeat is a good film, but there are a couple of big problems with it in my opinion. First, it just felt so slow which is never what you want out of a war film. Granted, it’s not a typical war film as it takes place more on the spy side of things rather than being out on the battlefield, but still it just felt slowly paced. It also felt very dry at times, and I just really think it could’ve used a better director than John Madden. I’ll be honest, I have never been a big fan of the legendary director that is John Madden, and I still to this day cannot fathom how his most notable film Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan at the 71st Academy Awards, like WTF!

A bigger problem than that though was what really hurt the film a grand amount. And that would be the love triangle side plot. Yes, there was this side plot in the movie revolving around a love triangle between Firth, Macfadyen, and Macdonald’s characters, and it was honestly pointless. It took time away from the movie and it was just such a colossal waste of time. It definitely makes the pacing issues of the movie hurt worse, and I just don’t know why they decided to add it to the film. Also tied with that, I didn’t like Kelly Macdonald’s performance here, and with her being a talented actress, I found them to waste her talent with this one unfortunately.

THE VERDICT

Despite it being a bit dry and having a pointless side plot that bogged it down, Operation Mincemeat is still a respectable war drama film that tells the true story of the British Operation that played a crucial role in the Allies defeating the Axis powers in the Second World War. It is great technically speaking and it also features two awesome performances from big-time actors Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen in their lead roles.

For me, undeniably the best part of this film was the story. Yes, they took some creative liberties with it as all historical movies do, but they told the story in such a realistic way that helped it tremendously so I have to give credit to Michelle Ashford for writing a fantastic adapted screenplay.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.3/10

Operation Mincemeat is now streaming only on Netflix. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Survivor

By: Andrew Wing

The Survivor is a 2021 biographical drama film, directed by Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man), from a screenplay by Justine Juel Gillmer. Ben Foster (Hell or High Water, Leave No Trace) stars as Harry Haft, a real-life survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he boxed fellow inmates to survive. Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread, Old), Billy Magnussen (Game Night, Aladdin), Peter Sarsgaard (Flightplan, An Education), John Leguizamo (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), and Danny DeVito (Batman Returns, Deck the Halls) co-star.

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2021 and was released on HBO on April 27, 2022.

THE GOOD

I have been looking forward to reviewing The Survivor for a long time now ever since I first heard about it. It was the first film from the legendary director Barry Levinson since 2015, and it was starring one of my favorite actors working currently in Ben Foster as Harry Haft, so I was pumped. Obviously, I was eager to learn more about this incredible true story that I had surprisingly never heard about before, but I’d be lying if I said anything got me as excited as Foster’s inclusion in this project. I mean, this has Academy Award Best Actor potential written all over it, and with my obsession with the Academy Awards, I knew I couldn’t miss this once it came out. And a long seven months after premiering at Toronto, The Survivor hit HBO Max, and you are damn right I checked it out first thing. But with all that said, was Ben Foster’s inclusion enough to have this film not only be a great film but live up to my incredibly high expectations for it? Keep reading to find out!

Well, unfortunately, the film didn’t, and I will talk more about why it didn’t work in the bad section, but there was one thing that exceeded my expectations. And that one thing was Ben Foster’s performance as Harry Haft. As I said, I had never heard about Harry Haft and his incredible true story, but Foster clearly did his research and he made a point of emphasis in his acting to show the toll it took on Haft as he went through these impossible challenges. Those in charge of this film really don’t sugarcoat anything, which I liked, and Foster went through the wringer (pun intended) in this film. On the same note, when discussing Foster’s performance, he truly gave us some beautiful things about the character, and those were the moral ambiguities that both he and we are faced with throughout the film. All in all, Foster undoubtedly honorably serves the man he is portraying and nothing is more important than that as an actor when playing a real person.

Continuing with Foster, I don’t know if he will be eligible for the 95th Academy Awards with this being a 2021 release, but I would love to see him tab his first Best Actor nomination for this because he damn well deserves it. For starters, the film covers three decades of Harry Haft’s life, starting with him before WW2, then going to him in the concentration camps, then after the war in New York when he is boxing, to ultimately a man in his 50s, and all of those four different timelines required Foster to give a completely different performance which is insanely impressive. Another thing was you could tell this wasn’t an impression to Foster like most other biopic performances are, but rather, Foster found the man inside himself. He showed that Haft was a man who wasn’t able to get away from his past, and he also did a great job at portraying the war fatigue that Haft dealt with. And lastly, Foster went as far as he physically could to inform the rest of Haft’s life by losing as much as 62 pounds to get to his recorded weight when he was in the concentration camps, and also put on 50 pounds after that for when he portrayed Haft in the boxing ring. I mean case closed honestly, with that alone Foster is deserving of a nomination and I really hope he can get it.

Now that I have addressed the best part of the film which was easily Foster’s performance, let’s hit on some of the other things I liked about The Survivor. First, I really liked Justine Juel Gillmer’s screenplay. I feel like some people will say it’s easier to write a biographical screenplay as opposed to any other screenplay, but it’s still super challenging to do because it can’t be easy determining which parts of someone’s life you want to write about the most. And with that said, Gillmer did a great job in my mind. I loved the dialogue she provided for later in Harry’s life as I found it to be super emotional and moving, and most importantly, I liked how she made it a point of emphasis to show that hope alone can get you through these tough times, and just how important it is to never lose hope.

Also, when it comes to things I liked about The Survivor, we got to address some of the other performances from the supporting cast. I wasn’t a fan of all of them, but I did enjoy what we got from both John Leguizamo and Danny DeVito. We see them only during the time when Harry is boxing, but they played their roles perfectly and I would love to see both of them have another role in the future where they are either a boxer’s trainer or mentor. They were good, but when it comes to the supporting performances, Billy Magnussen absolutely stole the show as he played the Nazi general at Auschwitz. I’d guarantee that this won’t be the last time we see him play a Nazi in a film because he crushed his role and his accent was flawless too.

Lastly, if you have been paying attention to the pictures throughout this review, the film is in color in Haft’s life after Auschwitz, and in black and white for both his time before the camps and while he was in the concentration camps. And you know I’m a sucker for some black and white cinematography, so I got to give a shout-out to the cinematographer George Steel. This was the first I’ve seen of him, but it was so well done and I look forward to seeing what he does next. Also, the editing that was done by Douglas Crise for this was really really good. I liked how well shot the boxing scenes were as we didn’t get too much of a shaky-cam, and after looking through his past work, I shouldn’t have been surprised that I liked his editing as he was the editor for the 2014 Best Picture-winning film Birdman that is one of my all-time favorites. And just one more thing, Hans Zimmer’s score was as great as you would expect any Zimmer score to be as he is the GOAT composer in my eyes.

THE BAD

When it comes to The Survivor, there is no debating that it is a good film, but it wasn’t the great film I was expecting it to be. Now it wasn’t due to Foster’s performance that I feel that way as I have already addressed, but I really think it falls on director Barry Levinson. Now Levinson is now eighty years old and there is no denying that he is a legendary director, but this will probably be one of his more forgettable pieces of work despite Foster’s amazing performance. Now I said I liked Gillmer’s screenplay and I did, but the inclusion of and Levinson’s decision to hop around from different timelines in Haft’s life hurt the film a little I think. It wasn’t terrible, but I think it made the film feel uneven if that makes sense, and I think their decision to do that also resulted in the film running too long.

Aside from the film’s uneven feel and long runtime, there was nothing else that really dragged the film down for me. I will say though that I wasn’t extremely pleased with what we got from both Vicky Krieps and Peter Sarsgaard. Now Sarsgaard’s character had a small role in the film, but I just felt like we got nothing out of it which was unfortunate as he is a very good actor. As with Krieps, and maybe I’m an outlier here, but I just wasn’t buying what she was selling. I’m surprised that I am saying that because she is a fabulous actress that I loved in Phantom Thread, but for all the emotional scenes towards the end with her character and Foster’s, Foster carried as I thought she didn’t bring enough emotion to her performance.

THE VERDICT

Behind a transformative performance from Ben Foster that is arguably the best of his career, The Survivor is a solid biographical drama that tells the story of Harry Haft, a real-life survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he boxed fellow inmates to survive.

Foster’s physical and emotional commitment to the role makes me think it is the best of his career. The story we got from Justine Juel Gillmer was powerful and the film was very nicely crafted thanks to Douglas Crise’s editing, George Steel’s stunning cinematography, and Hans Zimmer’s score, but some of the directorial choices made by Barry Levinson gave the film an uneven feeling and a long runtime that left more to be desired.

TED TAKES RATING - 8/10

The Survivor is available only on HBO and the HBO Max streaming service. Check out the latest trailer below.

Firestarter

Firestarter is a 2022 horror thriller film directed by Keith Thomas (The Vigil), from a screenplay by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills) based on the novel by Stephen King, and is produced by Jason Blum (Halloween, The Invisible Man) for Blumhouse and Oscar® winner Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, Constantine) for Weed Road Pictures. It is a reboot of the 1984 film of the same name.

A girl with extraordinary pyrokinetic powers fights to protect her family and herself from sinister forces that seek to capture and control her. For more than a decade, parents Andy and Vicky have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction.

The cast includes Zac Efron, Sydney Lemmon, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Michael Greyeyes, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, and Gloria Reuben.

Firestarter made its debut in theaters and on the Peacock streaming service on May 13th.

THE GOOD

Put your hand up if you’ve seen the original Firestarter starring Drew Barrymore. Anyone? Anyone? Obviously, I can’t see you right now and have no idea if you have your hand up or not, but I am going to assume most of you kept your hands down. For one, the original came out back in 1984, and secondly, it just wasn’t very good. The film came out two years after the instant cult classic I assume most have seen, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and talk about a regression. Luckily Barrymore’s career remained intact as she beat out the “child actor curse”, many others weren’t quite as lucky. To get back on track, they decided to remake the film and put my guy Zac Efron in a leading role which was sure to at least garner some interest. I for one was intrigued and willing to give it a chance so I did, hoping for the best of course. Was Efron able to help Firestarter get re-ignited for a new generation?! Keep reading to find out!

Nope, not even a little bit. The flame fizzled out in the first five minutes of the film as audiences will quickly realize how ridiculous this premise is, causing them to lose interest pretty fast. Now I talked about Efron being a draw for the film and he was, but his performance isn’t exactly keeping people around until the end credits and I will touch on that more later in the review. The score is on the shortlist of positives as the duties were handled by horror legend John Carpenter and his fellow Halloween franchise composers Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. Umm so yeah, I wish I had more good things to say about Firestarter but I just don’t. I guess if you watch it sarcastically you might enjoy it more, but the fact that they technically consider this to be horror, well that in itself is pretty damn hilarious.

THE BAD

Remakes can be tough, I get that, but usually, the remake has an uphill battle due to the fact that the original was usually really good. I mean, why else are we remaking a movie if that’s not the case. Well, someone decided that remaking a mediocre Stephen King adaptation from 1984 was a good idea, and I would love to give that person a nice slap aside the old noggin’. All jokes aside, the original film which starred a young Drew Barrymore, was watchable but not much beyond that. Fast forward to 2022, and as if we don’t have enough bumps in the road in the last few years, here comes a remake with an entirely new cast, and I could honestly spend all day talking about why this movie shouldn’t have been made.

First of all, I am a big Stephen King guy. As far as book-to-film adaptations, even though a few have been less than great, he has knocked it out of the park more often than not. I often think back to Pet Sematary, which was actually recently remade as well. The original terrified me as a kid to the point where I thought any of our pets that passed away were going to walk into my room in the middle of the night. So yeah, not the recipe for a restful night’s sleep when you are 5-years old. And as far as the remake goes, I really enjoyed it all things considered. It all comes down to the story, and as long as you focus on the meat of the story, you have something to work with. But, with Firestarter, we have a little girl who shoots fire out of her hands and makes dishes fall off the dinner table. So yeah, not really much to work with. This brings me back to my original question, WHY are we remaking this movie?!

When you start with what I consider to be a poor concept, bad writing is sure to follow, right? Scott Teems, the man who wrote the screenplay sure didn’t have much to work with. Teems, who looks like he could star in a Rob Zombie film, is starting to carve out a career for himself as a horror writer after last year’s Halloween Kills, with two projects in post-production where he shares writing duties including another remake with The Exorcist, and Insidious 5. But I have to be honest here, I am far from sold on Teems and his ability to put together a script with any substance. I mean sure with Halloween Kills it is what it is, and although the story was pretty ridiculous more often than not, it scratched that slasher itch for fans of the franchise.

With Firestarter, the memo had to be clear, do something to make this movie not suck. Work with King and come up with some cool ideas. Did he do that? Nope, not even a little bit. But even worse than that, he managed to serve up dialogue that had me thinking Zac Efron, who played famed serial killer Ted Bundy recently let’s not forget, might need to go back to the Disney Channel. Seriously, the dialogue was trash, often felt forced, and was just cheesier than a well-made grilled cheese sandwich (apologies for the dad joke, couldn’t help myself). Fingers crossed this was just a misstep for Teems and his upcoming projects are worth watching, because if he pulls this crap again, he will find himself on my screenwriter blacklist (which I will create just for him).

This seems like a nice segue (anyone else think that was spelled “Segway” or am I the only idiot?) into the acting that was served up in Firestarter. Perhaps we can blame the casting team because they basically said hey Zac feel like starring in a movie surrounded by a mediocre cast? I imagine he was like sure I have nothing else going on, I’ll film my scenes in one weekend. Seriously, I like Efron as a actor and feel like he has proven his versatility time and time again, so I know this isn’t on him. With that being said, at times it honestly felt like he was having a hard time keeping a straight face during the more “dramatic” scenes. I can picture him laughing when he read over the script.

Efron stars alongside Sydney Lemmon, who plays his wife in the film. Lemmon fits the bill for someone I would consider to be an unknown actress who proved she isn’t yet ready for the bright lights of feature-films. She just wasn’t very convincing. I did find it funny that the marketing team referenced her role in HBO’s hit series Succession when promoting the film, but she was in one episode. Now she’s not horrible here, and she is gorgeous (just sayin’), but she really falters when she has to be a bit more serious and clearly struggles with that. Maybe she’ll get there, time will tell. Michael Greyeyes takes on the role of Rainbird, who is essentially the man who also has some abilities of his own and is hired to bring this little girl in. He was fine as far as his role in general, and probably a bright spot as far as the acting to be honest.

Gloria Reuben, who takes on the role of the diabolical Captain Hollister, tasked with acquiring the girl at all costs leading her to bringing Rainbird out of retirement, was brutal at times in my opinion. One scene in particular during the middle of the film she goes to see Dr. Wanless played by Kurtwood Smith to make him aware of the dire circumstances surrounding this dangerous little girl, and to say that her acting was cringeworthy might be generous. It was just downright silly, and she couldn’t have been less believable in this role.

I will save you the headache and not go too much in depth on the dialogue choices, but they are pretty bad. I mean, with such a ridiculous premise you either have to have a little bit of slapstick humor to balance things out, or find a way to make things really, really dark. Unfortunately the tone is just uncomfortable from start to finish, which ties in nicely with what I consider to be bargain-basement special effects. I mentioned how it seemed like Efron was trying to keep a straight face during the majority of his dramatic scenes, and one scene in particular stood out to me. Cover your ears, or eyes I suppose, if you are a big time cat lover because the scene I am referencing involves a cat getting barbecued “accidentally”. Basically it scratched the wrong little girl and burst into flames, I mean, these things happen right? Anyway, this cat is toast, literally, and Efron quickly reassures his daughter that it’s okay and they have a little burial for her in the back of this random parking lot. Efron decides to say a few nice words because he is a great guy after all, and as he is referring to the cat he refers to it as either a she or a he because of course he has no idea, and even throws in the “they” at the end just for good measure. Now I’m not sure if this was a knock on the current climate or a futile effort to seem with the current times, but if it is the latter I like the film a little bit more. So yeah, just picture the scene it sums up the movie pretty well.

THE VERDICT

An extremely unnecessary remake where the bad acting and special effects make it feel more like a spoof film than a horror thriller, Firestarter overstays it’s welcome pretty quickly and puts into question why this film was made in the first place. I can’t help but question screenwriter Scott Teems and his ability to come up with a screenplay with any substance or dialogue that isn’t cringeworthy, or even just an original idea or two. But this isn’t all on Teems, and to be honest every single person that worked on this film has some explaining to do. If I am Zac Efron, I am chalking this up as a fun exercise in what it’s like to star in a really, really bad movie. Can’t wait to see him in the Three Men and a Baby remake to get this bad taste out of my mouth.

TED TAKES RATING - 2/10

Firestarter is now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock. Check out the latest trailer below.

Vendetta

Vendetta is a 2022 crime thriller written and directed by Jared Cohen, who is no stranger to the genre.

After the murders of his wife and young daughter at the hands of a ruthless crime family, an ex-marine seeks revenge by picking off members of the gang one by one until he completes his mission, even if it costs him his own life in the process.

The cast includes Clive Standen, Theo Rossi, Bruce Willis, Thomas Jane, and Mike Tyson.

Vendetta was released in limited theaters, VOD, and direct to Blu-ray and DVD on May 17th, courtesy of Vertical Entertainment and Redbox Entertainment.

THE GOOD

Like most people, I was shocked and just sad when I heard about the cognitive issues actor Bruce Willis was dealing with, essentially forcing him into retirement. We all had our opinions in terms of his decision to star in a ton of low-budget films, but we never expected that he was just trying to get in as many roles as he could before his illustrious career came to a close. The talented actor has just shy of 145 acting credits, with 20 of those coming in just the last few years. He is most often thought of as a guy starring in some kind of action/crime thriller film, and he has a great feel for revenge films. I personally thought he was fantastic in the 2018 remake of the Charles Bronson film Death Wish, which I reviewed back when it came out (find the full review here). The film was unfairly shredded by the majority of critics but is absolutely worth a watch for fans of revenge thrillers. So, when I find out one of Willis’ final films, Vendetta, was slated to come out in mid-March, I had to check it out and give it a fair assessment. So, does it hold up to Death Wish? Keep reading to find out!

I am sad to say the answer is a resounding no, which is a huge bummer because I was expecting so much more. I will get into my issues with the film, and the list is long, later in the review, but for now I will try and touch on some of the positives. Vendetta is your classic revenge thriller, borrowing basically the exact premise from the 2007 James Wan film Death Sentence that offers up a pissed-off Kevin Bacon on a path for revenge. Spoiler alert, that is much, much better. The basic premise behind Vendetta is family man William Duncan, played by Clive Standen, experiences the worst thing in the world as his young daughter is murdered as part of a gang initiation. If that isn’t bad enough, the broken justice system proves to be of no help even though they have the killer in custody, forcing Duncan to resort to vigilante justice. Lucky for him, and unlucky for the gang who had his daughter killed, he is a decorated veteran who is no stranger to death. Duncan embarks on his mission for revenge with little care for his own well-being, deciding early on that seeing those responsible suffer is enough.

I enjoyed the film’s opening sequence which did a nice job setting the tone for what was to come, and I have to say I was a bit too giddy when the gang members showed up wearing Jason masks. Even though things went a bit sideways soon after, the opening was pretty good. I also enjoyed certain elements of the film’s conclusion and the overall finale which had a nice high-energy feel to it. The ending was pretty good as well all things considered. Even though his character was about as out of place as a stripper in church thanks to zero explanation as to who the heck he even was, I enjoyed Thomas Jane’s role as Dante. His pipe smoking, Budweiser drinking, and rambling on about nonsense character was fun and added some element of comic relief. Speaking of comic relief, even though he is on the poster Mike Tyson is on-screen for all of five minutes, I liked his role as it felt like more of a cameo. In my opinion, Tyson earned the right to play in any movie he wants after knocking Ed Helms into next week in The Hangover, and we get to see him throw a mean right hook in this role as well.

THE BAD

Let me be clear, I’m not going to write a film off just because it is a low-budget straight to VOD and Blu-ray/DVD release. It’s entirely possible for films like this to actually be pretty good, plus as I mentioned before I made it a point to check out what is likely one of the last times we will see Bruce Willis on-screen. But, with that being said, I can think of several revenge thrillers that are so much better than Vendetta. I already mentioned Death Wish and Death Sentence, Law Abiding Citizen is amazing, The Brave One is fantastic, The Foreigner is one of the better revenge thrillers you’ll watch, and I’ll even add in Peppermint which sends mom jeans-wearing Julia Garner on a streak for vigilante justice. Bottom line, even though the premise for the films I mentioned are as simple as it gets, execution is key. Not only did Vendetta miss the mark on execution, but they also couldn’t even spell the word if their life depended on it.

The writing is just so bad, like cringe-worthy at times. Just as an example, the film is of course built on the gang initiation that ends up killing the daughter of the main character. That scene in itself was pretty awesome honestly as I touched on a bit above, where the gang members essentially overtake this poor girl sitting in the car waiting for her dad who is grabbing dinner. The father hears gunshots and comes out to find his daughter dead, and the idiot is too slow to get out of there before the cops arrive so he ends up arrested. But because of certain events that unfold, he ends up getting released. And I’ll ignore the ridiculous nature of this scenario for the sake of making my other point, but as the gang greets him upon his release, they tell him how proud they are and that he is a man know who is capable of “running the world”. Okay so did I miss something, or did this idiot not only botch his initiation, he killed a girl in broad daylight and stuck around for the police to arrive. This is exactly when I realized logic has no place in Vendetta.

At one point Clive Standen’s character is barely making his way down the hallway in the hospital with crutches and the help of a nurse, but in the next scene he walks out the front door right into a slow-mo “power scene” as he embarks on his second (yes, second) mission for revenge. And this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as plot holes go, just think about that for a second. This is silly but at one point during his training montage, if you want to call it that, for some reason, he continues to wear his hospital gown as he is working out. Lie huh? I can’t, I just can’t. I didn’t think you needed a big budget for common sense storytelling, but I guess I was wrong. This feels like as good a time as any to touch on the dialogue, and it is BRUTAL. So many scenes felt downright uncomfortable, and if I’m being honest a 4th grader could have given the cast more to work with. The acting, in general, isn’t great and at times is pretty rough, most of which I think we can blame on the script, but I was pleased with how they handled Bruce Willis and his limitations, keeping his lines short and effective. Oh and the technical elements are mostly atrocious, although the soundtrack is okay, I just don’t have the energy to get into it. The editing is so bad that it’s honestly nonsensical at times, like to the point where they either pulled crucial scenes that helped to weave together the story or just threw scenes together in random order just for the fun of it. Like somehow Standen’s character knew where one of the men in the gang lived, but had no clue about the gang’s hideout which was a strip club he had previously cased as part of his revenge mission.

THE VERDICT

A paint-by-numbers revenge thriller weighed down by a predictable plot and a frustrating lack of creativity, Vendetta may be watchable with a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit but is ultimately a disservice to Bruce Willis in one of his final roles. I went in knowing what to expect thanks to director Jared Cohen’s lackluster resume, but I still held out hope that perhaps he had a gem in the making. But long story short, all writing duties in the foreseeable future should be taken away from Cohen, for his own good and the good of the viewing public. Also, perhaps hiring an editing team with half of a brain between them is a good start as well. I know I sound bitter, and it’s because I am. I love this genre and I just hate when films take a big crap on it assuming viewers are too stupid to notice.

TED TAKES RATING - 3.2/10

Vendetta is now available VOD and for rental and purchase on Blu-ray and DVD. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Outfit

By: Andrew Wing

The Outfit is a 2022 American crime drama film directed by Graham Moore (best known for writing the screenplay for The Imitation Game) in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Moore and Johnathan McClain (who wrote multiple episodes of the AMC television series Mad Men). The film stars an ensemble cast including Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, Dunkirk), Zoey Deutch (Why Him?, Zombieland: Double Tap), Johnny Flynn (Lovesick, Stardust), Dylan O’Brien (Maze Runner trilogy, Love and Monsters), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Avenue 5, The Personal History of David Copperfield), and Simon Russell Beale (Into the Woods, The Death of Stalin).

The plot centers around an English tailor, or, as he prefers to be called, a “cutter”, (Rylance) in Chicago whose primary customers are a family of vicious gangsters.

The film had its world premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2022, and was released in the United States on March 18, 2022, by Focus Features.

THE GOOD

I’ll be honest, I was not with the majority when the first trailer for The Outfit came out. I don’t know why, given all the big names that I liked that were attached, but maybe it’s just the fact that there have been some bad crime drama films over the past couple of years. Anyways, once The Outfit hit theaters, it was getting generally favorable reviews everywhere, so I started to get more excited about it. I unfortunately never got around to seeing it in theaters, but once I saw that it was coming to the Peacock streaming service, I knew I had to check it out ASAP and write a review for it. So with all that said, was The Outfit yet another in the long list of failed crime drama films over the past couple of years, or was it a surprisingly good addition to the legendary genre of film? Keep reading to find out!

Let’s not waste any time, The Outfit was awesome. Sure it had its quips that I’ll touch on later in the review, but it was such a breath of fresh air for the genre and it honestly felt like something we haven’t seen before. Yes, it takes place in Chicago in the 1950s with all the typical mobs and crime bosses we’ve grown accustomed to, but all the surrounding elements were unique to me. And a big reason for that was what we got here from Graham Moore in his directorial debut. I was super impressed by Moore, and it says a lot about him as a director and a writer that he was able to make a movie that literally takes place entirely in a tailor shop for 106 minutes, and still have it be a good product at the end of the day. His direction here was great, but his writing alongside co-writer Johnathan McClain was even better. I’ll talk about some problems I had with the script, but it was still solid. Every time I thought I had this film figured out, it kept turning the tables on me and kept me in suspense, and I don’t know about you, but that's what I truly want from a script, to not know what is going to happen next, and they executed that.

As good as the direction and the writing is in The Outfit, it is undoubtedly carried by the performances. I’ll touch on all of them, but we need to start with the star of the show, and that is Mark Rylance. Rylance is an Oscar-winning actor thanks to his unforgettable performance in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, and I honestly thought he should’ve garnered another nomination last year after his downright hilarious performance in Adam McKay’s comedy Don’t Look Up (see Ted’s full review here). In this though, Rylance plays a more subtle and laid-back character with a lot hiding underneath the surface. Despite that, he conveyed all of his emotions just as you would expect an actor of his caliber to do before the final third of the film where he captivates you by releasing everything he has been keeping on the inside. Simply put, the man is a legend and he continues to kill it.

The second-best performance in The Outfit and definitely the most impressive for me was Johnny Flynn’s. I had never even heard of or seen this guy before watching this, but man did he make it so I won’t forget him. His character is a badass, and his accent was pretty sick too, but yeah I thought he really stole the show here. I also really liked Zoey Deutch’s performance here as the shop receptionist, Mable, and it was weird to see her not being in a comedy film like she often is, but she definitely showed her wide range of skills as an actress. 

Continuing with the performances, I just need to highlight both Dylan O’Brien and Simon Russell Beale who play father and son in this. First, with O’Brien, I know he caught a lot of crap after the Maze Runner trilogy even though I thought he was fine in them, but after last year’s surprisingly fantastic Love and Monsters, and now this, I think he is back on the right track and I’m sure he will start giving us more great performances. Now with Beale, he was so good in this as the Irish Mob boss. I mean he is certainly intimidating given his stature, but he was such a nice addition to the already awesome cast. Side note, speaking of Beale, if you haven’t seen The Death of Stalin, go do yourself a favor and watch that. His performance in that is freaking phenomenal and the movie itself is hilarious, and it’s easily one of my favorite films from the last decade.

Lastly, you know I had to touch on a couple of the technical elements when it comes to The Outfit. First, I loved both the production design and the costume design. As I said, the film takes place entirely in the tailor shop, but I was totally fine with it as it looked very nice and it really put us in the film’s setting. Also, to add to the feeling of being in the setting, the costumes were fantastic and I mean if they weren’t that would’ve been a problem given the film follows a tailor. And finally, the score for the film was superb. It was composed by Alexandre Desplat, so I am not surprised at all that I loved it as he is arguably one of the best film composers of all time thanks to his legendary scores for films like The King’s Speech, Argo, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Shape of Water.

THE BAD

There is no denying that this film is a good one. It’s a great addition to the crime drama genre of movies as I already mentioned and I would recommend it to anybody. However, there are just a couple of things that held it back from reaching that truly upper echelon of crime drama films. Its biggest flaw in my opinion and I hinted at it when discussing the screenplay, was I think its overabundance and overreliance on twists. It was a great asset in spots, but I also found it to be its biggest problem. Now I know I just mentioned I like scripts that keep me guessing and keep me on my toes, but this overdid it because it pushed my suspension of disbelief past a certain point if that makes sense.

Two other small things that took some points off of the film were first, its slow pacing in the first third. I don’t know, I was into the story at the very beginning, but it stayed pretty slow for the first 25 to 30 minutes, but it eventually got going and it was worth the wait. And two, I would’ve liked to see Zoey Deutch’s character either have a more prominent role in the film or just more screen time. It would’ve been tough given that the film was already 106 minutes long and it shouldn’t have been any longer than that, but I just liked her character and I thought she could have brought more to the film.

THE VERDICT

Graham Moore’s directorial debut, The Outfit, is a smart and gripping crime thriller that is a worthy addition to the crime-drama genre that has been weak for the past couple of years. Moore’s screenplay will most definitely keep you guessing, sometimes to a fault, but there is no debating that the film is carried by some awesome performances, its brought-to-life 1950s setting thanks to the production design and costumes, and a marvelous score from the legendary Alexandre Desplat.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.3/10

The Outfit is now streaming exclusively on Peacock. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Fallout

By: Andrew Wing

The Fallout is a 2021 American teen drama film written and directed by Megan Park (most known for her role in the television series The Secret Life of the American Teenager). The film stars Jenna Ortega (Jane the Virgin, You), Maddie Ziegler (The Book of Henry, Music), Julie Bowen (Modern Family, Happy Gilmore), John Ortiz (Fast & Furious, Fast & Furious 6, Bumblebee), Niles Fitch (St. Vincent, This Is Us), Will Ropp (The Way Back, Silk Road), and Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars, The Divergent Series). The score is composed by American musician and actor Finneas O’Connell (Billie Eilish’s brother).

The film follows Vada Cavell (Ortega), a high school student who deals with significant emotional trauma following a school shooting which she experienced in a bathroom stall alongside Mia (Ziegler) and Quinton (Fitch). Together, the three form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to healing in a world that feels forever changed.

The Fallout had its premiere at South by Southwest on March 17, 2021, where it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize in the Narrative Feature Film Competition, the Audience Choice Award in the Narrative Feature Competition, and the Brightcove Illumination Award. It was released on January 27, 2022, on HBO Max by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

THE GOOD

The hype surrounding The Fallout has been very hard to miss, to say the least. I remember a little about it after it premiered at South by Southwest last year, but once it came to HBO Max in late January, the buzz surrounding the film was insane. With that said, you are probably wondering why I am just now reviewing it in mid-May. Well, I am too, but after a busy semester of college, I have finally gotten some free time and The Fallout was right at the top of my watchlist so I checked it out. So was it worth the wait? Did it live up to my expectations and was all the hype real? Well, there’s only one way to know, so keep reading to find out!

So yeah, aside from having a busy semester that kept watching and reviewing this film on the back burner, when it came out, I had just recently watched and review another film that touched on the same topic of the after-effects of a school shooting, and that film was Fran Kranz’s Mass (see my full review here) that is now streaming on Hulu, and all jokes aside, I didn’t want to watch another heavy film with difficult subject matter like this right away. So months later I did, and to get right into the review, the way actor-turned-director Megan Park wrote and directed this film in her feature film debut was remarkable.

As I said in the introduction, The Fallout is a film about high school students that have to deal with a recent school tragedy that was a school shooting. And with that said, this movie is extremely emotional as it deals with a very difficult subject matter and thanks to Park’s direction and screenplay, it goes about it with a ton of empathy and sensitivity and in both an honestly raw and an incredibly sincere way. With her direction, it was all great, but a couple of her choices really stood out to me. Things like how she would let certain scenes sit for a while so you could get all of the underlying emotions that were being conveyed and I also liked all of the texting scenes going on between Vada and Mia as they silently packed a punch. 

Next with her writing, I loved how she made a point with her screenplay to show audiences that people deal with tragic events like this in their own way and grieve in their own way, and that there is no “right” way to grieve, and we should all be understanding of that. Also, despite the difficult subject matter at hand, Park still added humor to the script and I thought she did it perfectly. All in all, Park’s directorial debut was impressive and it is easily one of the most daring debuts in recent years as she tackled complex emotions tied to a terrible trauma through the eyes of a high school teenager.

And that certain high school teenager was portrayed by Jenna Ortega. Now, all of the performances across the board were astonishing, but Ortega absolutely stole the show. Before diving into her performance, it just needs to be said that Ortega is about to blow up, if she hasn’t already after having quite the year with both this and the A24 slasher film X from Ti West that Ted reviewed (see his full review here). But for real, she is an amazing actress at the young age of nineteen and I see a lot of awards in her very near future. But in this specifically, Ortega was phenomenal and her range of emotion was utterly ridiculous. It was hard to fathom how believable her performance was and I know it won’t, but she should really get looked at at next year’s Academy Awards when it comes to the Best Actress category because she was that good and her performance made the film unforgettable.

Aside from Ortega though, as I said, all of the performances were astonishing. First, with Maddie Ziegler, she was really good and as another nineteen-year-old like Ortega, she has a very bright future. Next with both Julie Bowen and John Ortiz as they played Vada’s parents, Patricia and Carlos Cavell. They were both so good, and Ortiz in particular had an “Oscar” scene towards the end that had me on the verge of tears. Niles Fitch was great as well and it was weird to see him in something that wasn’t This Is Us, Will Ropp was very funny as Vada’s best friend Nick, and Shailene Woodley made the most of her smaller role as Vada’s therapist, Anna.

Last but not least, the film’s score that was composed by Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas O’Connell was nothing short of perfect. The score was brutal and sombering and it just added to the brutality of this movie that was sad, and as I already mentioned, very emotional. We just saw Billie Eilish and him win the Academy Award for Best Original Song with “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die (see Ted’s full review here), and I know it’s a long shot, but I could see O’Connell getting a Best Score nomination at next year’s Academy Awards thanks to his score here.

THE BAD

If you haven’t got the memo yet, The Fallout was a truly incredible film that I don’t have a lot bad to say about. One thing I will say though is that in certain scenes, I felt like they were trying to lay some emotional bait if that makes sense which I could’ve gone without, but at the end of the day, it’s a movie and they are dramatic and try to pull on your emotional heartstrings, so enough said. Also before closing, and I say this as more of a warning before you go ahead and check this out, this movie portrays issues of trauma resulting from an act of violence, so viewer discretion is obviously advised.

THE VERDICT

Behind one of the most impressive directorial debuts in recent memory from Megan Park, The Fallout is a daring film that tackles the complex emotions a high school teenager faces after being a part of a school shooting. As I said, Park’s direction was great, her screenplay was fantastic, it had a sombering score from Finneas O’Connell, and it was backed by incredible performances, most notably Jenna Ortega.

All in all, The Fallout is a really really solid movie, and I implore you to check it out. It’s a movie that deals with a very difficult subject matter in an honest, mature, and appropriate way.

From Ted’s Perspective

A powerful and moving film that handles an extremely difficult subject with a delicate touch, The Fallout is at its core a film about the importance of human connection in the midst of unthinkable tragedy within a disconnected generation. Everything about this movie impressed me, from the acting to the soundtrack, it was just so easy to fall in love with everything about it.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.1/10

The Fallout is now available only on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.

Moonshot

By: Andrew Wing

Moonshot is a 2022 American science-fiction romantic comedy film directed by Chris Winterbauer and written by Max Taxe. It stars Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Riverdale), Lana Condor (X-Men: Apocalypse, To All the Boys film series), Mason Gooding (son of Cuba Gooding Jr., and he recently starred in Scream - see Ted’s full review of that here), Emily Rudd (Fear Street trilogy), and Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State).

The plot follows a college student, Sophie (Condor), who helps a barista, Walt (Sprouse), sneak onboard a space shuttle to Mars. Together, they join forces in order to be reunited with their significant others, embarking on a lively journey that takes them wildly off course.

The film was released on HBO Max on March 31, 2022.

THE GOOD

With as crazy a year as 2022 has already proven to be when it comes to movies, Moonshot completely went under my radar. I actually didn’t even catch it until it popped up on the HBO Max homepage one day last month. Needless to say, I did some research and saw that it was starring the guy I grew up watching every morning before school in Cole Sprouse from both The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck, so I knew right then and there that I had to check it out. Aside from that, it also starred Lana Condor who was the star of the Netflix To All the Boys trilogy (2018-2021) that I actually really enjoyed watching. Despite all that, I had never heard of the director before and it is labeled as a sci-fi rom-com which is a blend of genres that I don’t know if any film before has tackled all at once. With all that said, were the familiar faces enough to make this a quality movie that is worth the watch? Keep reading to find out!

I am not going to write a dissertation on this, so let’s just get right into it. This film pleasantly surprised me as I enjoyed it from start to finish. It was a unique story that was very well written by Max Taxe, and the fact that the director Chris Winterbauer was able to blend these three very distinct genres together and make a solid movie is very impressive to me. Continuing with Winterbauer, there was more he did that impressed me. None of his directorial choices were off the charts or mind-blowing, but he knew what he was trying to make and what he was working with, and that led to him having a pretty good feature film debut if I do say so myself, and I look forward to seeing what he does next!

Next with the performances, and it’s only right that I start with the two stars. Both Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor were great, but Sprouse is definitely the main character of the film and his performance was the best in my opinion. Sprouse has really just been doing the CW television series Riverdale for the past five years, which I admit I do watch, but it’s not that great of a show, to tell the truth. However, he starred alongside Haley Lu Richardson in the 2019 romantic drama film Five Feet Apart and he was great in that, and after another good performance in this, I really hope he starts getting more roles in movies. Yes, I am biased when it comes to him just because I loved him and grew up watching him on the Disney Channel, but he is really a talented actor and he put that on full display here.

With Condor, she was perfect in her role. As I said, I loved her in the To All the Boys trilogy, and in this, despite it still being a romantic film, she showcased some more of her acting skills with some comedy that I didn’t see coming. Her chemistry with Sprouse I thought was fantastic, and there is no denying that she has a very bright future ahead of her. Sprouse and Condor were the stars of the show no doubt, but all of the performances helped make the movie as enjoyable as it was. From Mason Gooding, Emily Rudd, to Zach Braff who played a sort of comedic Elon Musk type of character, all of the actors played their roles tremendously.

Other quick things I want to touch on when it comes to Moonshot were the cinematography, production design, visual effects, and also the soundtrack. The cinematography was done by Brendan Uegama and I will now remember his name as I thought there were some stunning shots in the film. The look of the film wasn’t on the level of some of the other sci-classics from the past decade like Gravity, Interstellar, or the lesser-known Ad Astra, but it added a lot to the film and continuing with the look of the film, the production design was superb when it came to the shuttle they were on, and the VFX were miles better than I thought they would be when I hit play. And lastly, the soundtrack was solid. It was very modern as it included a lot of the top songs from the past year, but it brought the film to life and it meshed very well with David Boman’s score.

THE BAD

Yeah, so if you can’t tell yet, I was pretty pleased with Moonshot. It was a fun watch, it was better than expected, and I would recommend it, but despite all that, it did have its flaws. First, it’s important to note that this film will not be in any awards conversations later in the year, and there is nothing wrong with that. But just to address some of the things I didn’t vibe with when it came to Moonshot, it was predictable like most rom-coms are, I think it could have been a good ten to fifteen minutes shorter but it didn’t bother me too much, and lastly, the side characters that were meant to be funny were terribly not funny. I won’t name names, but there was one character who to me was literally just trying to be like Kate McKinnon from Saturday Night Live and it was annoying, to say the least. Other than that, Moonshot definitely has more good than bad and I liked it.

THE VERDICT

While it won’t be in the awards conversation towards the end of the year, Moonshot was surprisingly pretty good as it’s a rom-com set in space that features two great performances from both Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor. Sure, it was predictable like most romcoms are, but it was a fun watch from start to finish and it also had a solid modern soundtrack and some stunning visuals.

TED TAKES RATING - 7/10

Moonshot is now available only on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.

Memory

Memory is a 2022 action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, known for GoldenEye (1995), Vertical Limit (2000), and Casino Royale (2006), from a screenplay by Dario Scardapane who was a contributing writer on the FX crime thriller series The Bridge. It is based on the novel De Zaak Alzheimer by Jef Geeraerts, and is a remake of the novel's previous adaptation, the Belgian film The Memory of a Killer (2003).

Alex Lewis is an expert assassin with a reputation for discreet precision. Caught in a moral quagmire, Alex refuses to complete a job that violates his code and must quickly hunt down and kill the people who hired him before they and FBI agent Vincent Serra find him first. Alex is built for revenge but, with a memory that is beginning to falter, he is forced to question his every action, blurring the line between right and wrong.

The film stars Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres, Taj Atwal, and Ray Fearon.

Memory hit theaters on April 29th, courtesy of Open Road Films.

THE GOOD

As Liam Neeson movies often do as of late, Memory sort of came out of nowhere for me. When I first came across it I expected a direct to on-demand release, so I was surprised when it received a wide release in theaters. Naturally, as a Neeson fan for obvious reasons I made it a point to check this out as soon as it hit theaters knowing full well it could be a gimmicky cash grab and a waste of my time. I made my way to the theater, grabbed my ice cold soda and large heavily buttered popcorn, and proceeded to my seat just as the trailers started. So, did Memory deserve the wide theater release it received? Keep reading to find out!

First and foremost not only is this one of Liam Neeson’s best films as of late, it is a very solid crime thriller with quality acting, an engaging and often intense story, and my favorite takeaway a very satisfying conclusion. Films that fall into the revenge thriller genre need to get viewers invested, but they also need “damn right!” fist bump moment as the story comes to a close. Memory not only gives us that satisfaction, it also offers up more substance than you might expect from what could have easily been little more than another run-of-the-mill cash grab with a few big names attached. Neeson will forever be remembered as the man with a particular set of skills in the hugely popular 2008 crime thriller Taken, but we all know he is much more than that. But, for what it’s worth, the man thrives in this genre and I have no issue whatsoever with him sticking to his guns, literally and figuratively. The film opens with a dark noir feel to it which is prevalent throughout the film and a big reason why everything works as well as it does. The dark tone and mostly top-tier acting allow viewers the opportunity to get fully immersed in the film while deep down hoping for the end the film deserves.

I touched on it already but the bread and butter of Memory is without a doubt the story, as well as the acting of course. Dario Scardapane was the man behind the screenplay, and let me just say he has a knack for this sort of storytelling rooted in harsh realities. As I touched on in the intro, Scardapane previously worked on the FX crime thriller series The Bridge, which ran from 2013-2014 and starred Demián Bichir and Diane Kruger. If you haven’t seen this series, you need to. It is INTENSE, and deals directly with the deep-seeded issue revolving around the lack of interest in all of the women that disappear over the border in Mexico every single day. It ran for two seasons and is streaming on Prime Video and Hulu if you want to check it out.

At the heart of Memory the premise shares quite a few similarities, as it opens with a joint task force between Mexico and El Paso FBI working to take down a human trafficking ring. Bureaucracy gets in the way over on the U.S. side as it often does, leaving agent Hugo Martinez, the contributing agent from the Mexico side of the border, feeling frustrated as it is all too often easy to forget the atrocities they deal with every day, and the sad fact that a missing person in Mexico is somehow deemed less important. That is the underlying message for the film, and helps to fuel Hugo’s character played by Harold Torres, as he proceeds to defy orders in a collective effort to do what’s right.

Liam Neeson is 69-years-old and he is still churning out his trademark action thriller films, that is insane right?! For that reason before I dive too much into the acting for Memory I need to give this guy his hard earned credit. Neeson made his acting debut in 1978, and has since racked up 139 acting credits according to IMDb, with three films in post-production and one currently filming. This guy is an absolute work horse! It’s funny because the project that is currently filming, In the Land of Saints and Sinners, has almost the same exact premise as this film. But hey, as they say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The Irish actor surely found himself type casted somewhere along the way thanks to his big 6’ 3 frame and brooding presence, but he is a very versatile actor, showcasing his softer side in films like Love Actually (2003). A fantastic film of his from 1989, which I would bet most of you have never even heard of, is the crime thriller Next of Kin where he stars alongside the late and great Patrick Swayze. That is a fantastic film well worth watching, and is now streaming on Prime Video. Check it out!

So to get back on track and talk about how the cast did in Memory starting with Neeson of course, I thought this was one of his better performances as of late. He was given a character with a ton of depth allowing him the opportunity to not just beat the living crap out of people which he still does and does well, but also to express a great deal of emotion as he struggles with old age and a willingness to do what is right. As a hitman with a strong moral code, I really enjoyed his character. Even though he is a bad guy just by the nature of his profession, he still finds a way to be sympathetic and relatable which I thought was a testament to his abilities as an actor. Starring alongside Neeson is Guy Pearce who plays FBI agent Vincent Serra who is hot on the hitman’s trail. Neeson and Pearce form a complex relationship as it turns out they both want the same thing. I was sold on Pearce’s character from the start and really liked how invested he was in this role. As far as performances go, Pearce delivers the best the film has to offer. It’s interesting that Pearce plays in a film about a man slowly losing his memory as he previously starred in Christopher Nolan’s crime thriller Memento (2000), which has a few prominent similarities.

All things considered Memory is a very technically sound film, which should come as no surprise considering veteran director Martin Campbell is captaining the ship. I thought the camera work throughout the film was that of a man who knows his way around a crime thriller, giving us some great action shots, as well as some great shots designed to build suspense. Sticking with the noir style the film had a very dark feel with each shot feeling like it mattered more than just what you may be seeing on-screen at any given moment, which I thought was a testament to David Tattersall’s cinematography. Neeson’s character works alone so the film relies heavily on feel and tone, which the cinematography helps contribute too. To say Tattersall is a veteran would be an understatement, as he worked on the 1999 drama The Green Mile, and more recently the intense revenge thriller The Foreigner, which we reviewed back in 2017 (check it out here). That film is now streaming on Netflix. I was also pleased with the music/score from composer Flotek, as he helped to keep the dark tone.

THE BAD

This is easily one of Neeson’s best films as of late, but it is not perfect. Overall the screenplay impressed me, I just felt like at times the dialogue either felt forced or unnecessary. The acting which was a bright spot for the film did fall a bit flat during a few of the more intense scenes from some of the supporting cast, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. It was also a struggle to accept a Liam Neeson character with vulnerabilities, because well he is Liam Neeson, but I eventually warmed up to the idea. Memory does feel a little slow at times and could have probably cut out a few scenes for that reason, but even more than that I think they left something to be desired during the more pivotal scenes as they were building towards the film’s conclusion. Also I loved the ending, but I can think of a few small changes that would have made it even better. But the bottom line is this, the film has quite a bit more in the good column compared to the bad, which is really all we can ask for at the end of the day right?

THE VERDICT

A gritty crime thriller unafraid to shine a light on a serious issue plaguing our society, Memory is easily the best Liam Neeson film as of late as he teams up with Guy Pearce while offering a very satisfying final act. As I talked about in the review, my expectations for this film were admittedly grounded but I left the theater very satisfied. The story kept me engaged and intrigued from start to finish, and also kept me guessing to the very end. I also really liked how the plot felt so relevant and important which allowed viewers the opportunity to get invested. A revenge thriller like Memory lives and dies by how it closes things out, and as far as that goes they did the film justice and then some.

Personally I think the majority of the criticism from critics is unwarranted, especially when you take a step back and look at the film as a whole. I mean, at the end of the way what are we comparing it to? Memory is not without it’s flaws, but the overall experience is more than worth a trip to the theater if you enjoy the crime thriller genre, or just can’t get enough of Liam Neeson kicking ass. I say bring on both!

TED TAKES RATING - 7.2/10

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

The Northman

The Northman is a 2022 epic action-packed revenge thriller from visionary director Robert Eggers, co-written by Eggers and Sjón. It is Eggers 3rd film after he directed and co-wrote The Witch (2015), and The Lighthouse (2019). The film is said to be very loosely based on the story of Amleth, which was inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Prince Amleth is on the verge of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy's mother. Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who's on a mission to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.

The all-star cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe.

The Northman made it’s debut in theaters on April 22nd, courtesy of Focus Features.

THE GOOD

I can’t even begin to explain how excited I was to see this movie after the first trailer released, and seeing it a few times in theaters only compounded that excitement. Robert Eggers is a man that values the finer elements of filmmaking, and if you take the time out to watch a film of his, you know you are in for for a real treat when it comes to storytelling and technical mastery. I became a huge fan of his after seeing The Witch, and The Northman served as a reminder of why. I knew I had to see this movie in theaters, and I knew I had to see it on the biggest screen possible. So, was I in for a treat as I hoped or did I leave the theater disappointed? Keep reading to find out!

It would be impossible begin a review for The Northman without talking about the man himself, writer/director Robert Eggers. Eggers, who looks like he could have starred in the film with his full beard, is originally from Lee, New Hampshire. The 38-year-old began his career as a costume and production designer, and quickly became known for his obsessive attention to detail. His debut film, the horror thriller The Witch (2015) also starring Taylor-Joy and set in 1630’s New England, which I (sort of) reviewed way back in 2016 (full review here), really set the tone for his filmmaking career. Next he did another horror film set in the 1890’s called The Lighthouse (2019), which he co-wrote with his brother Max. If you are paying attention you’ve noticed the trend of films that are set way back in the day, and that is beginning to become his calling card of sorts. Eggers himself has said he refuses to do a film set in present-day, and to be honest, I don’t blame him. First of all, present-day is scary enough as it is, and second of all filmmaking is supposed to be a form of escapism, and we are allowed a unique form of that when we are transported to a time so long before us.

Robert Eggers has done it yet again! As advertised, The Northman is an epic fantasy adventure spread across vast countryside’s, complete with jaw-dropping visuals, exceptional acting, incredibly immersive storytelling, and the perfect payoff in the final act. The story is told in chapters, and to say that it included everything you could possibly want in a Viking-era film would be a huge understatement. I need to see it again as soon as possible just to soak it all in because quite a lot happens as I am sure you can imagine. The costume and production design will have you in absolute awe, which is no surprise considering Eggers’ background.

The first thing I noticed about The Northman was just how purely massive of a film it was, which just sucked me in right away and kept me on the edge of my seat. The story is just a fantastic blend of ultra-violent Viking-era goodness with dashes of folklore which added a layer that was just icing on the cake for me. I won’t give anything away of course, but Eggers finds a way to blend fantasy and reality within the confines of the story in such a way that you can’t help but feel connected to the characters and their journey. Man, I just want to sit in the same room with Eggers and listen to this guy talk about how he makes his incredible vision come to life on-screen.

As much as the incredible scale of the film and the gorgeous visuals matter, they wouldn’t be effectively utilized without storytelling that really in so many ways defies all odds. Co-written by Eggers and the talented Icelandic author Sjón, who recently co-wrote the 2021 horror drama Lamb, the screenplay is without a doubt the backbone of the film. It is just so intensely detailed and well thought out that I couldn’t possibly bang out a review right after seeing it, I needed at least 24 hours to process. Plus, I am finding it increasingly difficult to talk about how amazing of a film it is without giving anything away. But, as always I will stick to my spoiler-free promise. I know my wife won’t see it so I tried talking to her about the movie and she just looked at me like I had 6 heads, so yeah, YOU (just picture me pointing like the old school Army recruitment poster) need to see this so I have someone to dissect it with. Just prepare for hours of slowly marinating in the delicious juices of quality storytelling.

Just to scratch the surface, the story itself is built around Alexander Skarsgård’s character Amleth, and the trauma he endured as a child. The journey he embarks on that is fueled by relentless revenge is as incredible as it is grueling, and you can see the unrelenting determination in his eyes and in his mannerisms. Once you see Skarsgård and his 6 foot 5 inch physical specimen of a frame maniacally roaming a poor village covered in blood while wearing a damn wolf as a hat, and just straight murdering people like they are nothing more than mosquitos, you’ll know this movie means business. The wolf part is significant but I won’t get into it to avoid spoilers, but I will say that the character of Amleth is the absolute last person you want to piss off. Trust me on that. Without giving anything away, the film does include a really cool scene that I can only describe as the Viking version of rugby, and it was such a cool addition to the film that also proved to be a pivotal piece of the story.

If I had to describe the acting for The Northman in one word, it would have to be groundbreaking in terms of how big of an impact it had on the film. You can tell by just reading names off the cast list that it is pretty much stacked, but some certainly contributed more than others. The majority of the screen-time is reserved for Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, and Claes Bang. I know I talked about Skarsgård some already and his overall impact on the film, but it simply cannot be understated. His performance was just insane in my opinion, and considering what he likely had to endure to deliver such a performance, he is more than deserving of a Best Actor nomination at next year’s Academy Awards. He just crushed this role.

Starring alongside him is one of Hollywood’s fastest rising stars in Anya Taylor-Joy, who made her feature-film debut back in 2015 with The Witch. in 7 short, or very long years if you want to point out 2020-2022, she has become a household name. I was a fan of hers after seeing The Witch and knew she was an up-and-coming actress, and we even got a shout out from her on social media when we did our review. Also, is it weird to say that Taylor-Joy became a woman right before our very eyes in The Northman?! But in all seriousness, the talented 26-year-old actress from Miami, Florida is deserving of her success, and her performance in The Northman was nothing short of spectacular. I bought into her character from the outset, and loved the relationship that developed between her and Skarsgård. The chemistry was absolute fire, with one particularly intimate scene that just blew my mind, and I see a best supporting actress nomination in her future.

Next up is a generational actress in Nicole Kidman, who made her acting debut back in 1983. Although she only has a single Oscar win which is a travesty if you ask me, she is without question one of the best out there. In the film she plays Queen Gudrún, the mother of Amleth, and to say there is more than meets the eye with her would be selling you short. Her character is extremely complex, allowing Kidman the opportunity to utilize her full range of acting talent and she does just that. The final chapter of the film offers up some very intense and exciting, if not a bit cringeworthy at times, scenes including her and Skarsgård. A supporting actress nod could be in her future as well, although her limited screen-time compared to Taylor-Joy may hurt her chances. Danish actor Claes Bang stars as Skarsgård’s uncle, and the films primary antagonist. I thought he was fantastic throughout the film, and I enjoyed trying to figure out his character as he seemed to transform within the films primary story arch. Bang also manages to somehow match Skarsgård’s intensity, which was no easy feat trust me. Ethan Hawke stars in the film as well, but he plays a much more limited role as Skarsgård’s father. But rest assured, he is fantastic in his limited minutes as per usual. Be sure to check him out this summer in the horror thriller The Black Phone (preview and trailer here).

The supporting cast is aplenty so I can’t touch on all of them, but from one of my all-time favorite actors in Willem Defoe, to Iceland native musician turned actress Björk who is amazing as The Seeress (check out the films alternate posters if you have a chance), right on to Olwen Fouéré, Gustav Lindh, and Elliott Rose, the list is long and trust me when I say everyone brought their A-game, and then some. And if you were expecting me to make mention of Alexander Skarsgård's real-life brother Bill, the star of the It remakes, he had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts after production halted due to the pandemic.

The camera work was as good as you will ever see, with every single shot feeling so genuinely intentional and raw. I loved how Eggers made it a point to always ensure each frame had a primary focal point, which speaks to his keen eye for detail. His chemistry working with Blaschke is obvious as the two work very well in sync with each shot, ensuring that viewers always feel close to the action and immersed in the environments. Eggers previously worked with him on his first two films, The Witch and The Lighthouse. Admittedly I have a sweet spot for amazing cinematography and I couldn’t take my eyes of the screen even if I wanted to. I often found myself mesmerized and just staring off into this world that was created for us to enjoy. Louise Ford did a great job with the editing as well, making sure that even though the film had a ton going on, it all felt seamless and it all just flowed really well. She also worked with Eggers on The Lighthouse. They were able to create a few long-shot scenes as well, most importantly during the films finale.

Next I have to talk about the films score which was just chilling and invigorating all at the same time. You just knew when something important was about to happen, and Skarsgård’s imposing presence was always matched with a burst of musical energy. It was hard to describe what exactly I was hearing at any given time, but the sound always had an upbeat and thrilling feel to it. After reading up on Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough, I learned that the two have worked together for quite some time under Carolan’s independent music label, Tri Angle. Gainsborough specializes in a combination of electronic and orchestral music. The label has collaborated with several artists over the years, but singer/songwriter/actress Björk was one of the early supporters. Björk, who plays a supporting role in the film, seemed to have had some influence when it came to bringing Carolan and Gainsborough to work on The Northman, as this is the first film score the two have worked on together, or separately for that matter. Quite a way to break in to the business, and judging by Eggers seemingly unrelenting loyalty working with many of the same people on his projects, I think it is safe to say we will be hearing from this duo again.

Taking a break from gushing over the beauty of the film for just a moment, the sheer scale of The Northman is quite an experience in itself. The gorgeous and vast Icelandic filming location offered the film an opportunity to feel as grand as it’s cast and story. I loved everything about this setting and the way that it made the world Eggers was able to create feel larger-than life. Each time the camera panned back and allowed the environment to take over the frame, I was in pure awe. It got to the point where I just couldn’t wait to experience the next shot just to take it all in, and I absolutely preferred the daylight scenes as it allowed me the opportunity to really take it in.

Now we have arrived at Eggers 3rd and by far his biggest film as far as budget and scale, The Northman, and his first film not to be under the umbrella of famed independent film distributor/production company A24. From the outset it is clear this is one of his films as his signature style is felt throughout. Whether it be the attention to detail that stays true to Norse mythology and the Viking age, the masterful detail in the sets throughout the film, or the incredible costume design, it was clear this was a film he took great pride in making.

THE BAD

I have very little to harp on when it comes to this film, but I feel like a few things should be mentioned. A film from Robert Eggers isn’t meant to appeal to mainstream audiences, and The Northman is no different. But in no way is that a knock on the film itself, quite the opposite to be honest. He isn’t concerned with CGI or cheesy action sequences, he wants to immerse viewers in this world he has created right before your eyes, and he wants you to take something away from it. This means you will be treated to stunning visuals and some very creative camera work which oftentimes take center stage, but that is just part of his genius. At the end of the day he is an artist offering up a piece of himself to allow us to experience something truly special, and for that I am thankful. So let that serve as a bit of a heads up in terms of what to expect, but if you give the The Northman a chance, it will pay off huge in the end trust me.

Okay this a Viking-era film, set in the year 914 to be exact, so needless to say it is extremely violent. I lost count in terms of how many heads were permanently removed from their bodies, but it was closing in on John Wick headshot numbers. But let me say this, The Northman really isn’t as violent as it could have been, and that is a testament to Eggers and his vision. He isn’t concerned with blood and guts for the sake of blood and guts, he wants substance that will help move the story along in an authentic way. He wants you to feel and experience the violence of the film as it is a necessary element to the storytelling, but he finds ways to get the point across without being overly in your face. But, the film is still very violent pretty much from start to finish, with a few holy sh*t that just happened type scenes, so just brace yourself for that and you will be fine.

THE VERDICT

An epic tale of revenge brought to life by stunning cinematography and transformative performances from Alexander Skarsgård and Anya Taylor-Joy, The Northman is a powerful and expertly crafted film that serves as yet another notch in the belt of talented writer/director Robert Eggers. I mean, Braveheart meets 300? Interested? Yeah, I thought so. The film is just a clinic when you talk about the technical side or better yet the finer elements of filmmaking, the beating heart of film if you will.

The Northman is as massive as it is unique, and without a doubt begs to be seen on the big-screen as it is a special experience you won’t soon forget. I know I didn’t touch on the awards potential too much during the review, but if this film isn’t named in a ton of categories at next years Academy Awards, I will throw my remote through my TV, and regret it immediately. So with that being said, please, please, please for the love of all things cinema and all of the men and women who pour blood sweat and tears into making a film like this possible, go and see The Northman in theaters to ensure that talented directors like Robert Eggers continue to be entrusted with creating quality films like this. He is the future of filmmaking and his films need our support, so go see this movie as soon as you can. And if you are anything like Andrew or myself, you’ll want to see it two or three times at least before purchasing the Blu-ray when it releases just to soak it all in. Highly recommended.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.5/10

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

Everything Everywhere All at Once

By: Andrew Wing

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a 2022 American science-fiction action film written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as “Daniels”). It stars Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians), Stephanie Hsu (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Ke Huy Quan (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies), Jenny Slate (Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation), Harry Shum Jr. (Glee, All My Life), with James Hong (Chinatown, Big Trouble in Little China) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween franchise, True Lies, Knives Out).

The plot follows a Chinese-American woman (Yeoh) being audited by the Internal Revenue Service who discovers that she must connect with parallel universe versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from causing the destruction of them all.

Everything Everywhere All at Once premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2022. It began a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 25, 2022, before a wide release on April 8, by A24.

THE GOOD

Where do I start? Ever since this movie premiered at SXSW in early March, the buzz has been completely insane. As a massive fan of everything A24 has ever put out, I remember going through their scheduled films to be released in 2022 and seeing this film and being like WTF is this movie with way too long of a title? However, after doing some research and seeing that it was to be directed by Daniels, the directing duo that gave us Swiss Army Man (now streaming on Showtime), which is the most unique film I’ve ever seen, and also seeing the involvement of the famous Russo brothers as producers, I knew this movie would be special. And so many people would agree. Since releasing in March, the reviews and ratings for this film have been as good as any film since Parasite back in 2019, which just so happens to be what I think is the best movie ever, so you shouldn’t be surprised when I say that I was not going to miss this once I got the opportunity to see it. Well, I did, but was it so good that it can already be heralded as one of the best movies of the past decade? Keep reading to find out!

I won’t waste any more time, I absolutely freaking loved this movie. It was as good as advertised, if not better. This movie has been a sensation and it’s easily one of the coolest original films that have come out in the past decade, and we as a society of film lovers, need more movies like this. I know it’s early, but I truly think this will be my favorite movie by the end of the year and I agree with the statement I’ve heard that it’s already one of the best of the decade. I mean this movie just hit it out of the park on all levels. But for you, someone who maybe hasn’t seen it yet and is reading this review to determine if you will or not, let’s break down every part of this film and find out why it’s so damn good.

We might as well start with those that created this work of art. As I said in the intro, this film comes to us from Daniels. It took one film, Swiss Army Man, for me to fall in love with them. It’s an overlooked movie, but it’s amazing and fantastic, and definitely one of my favorite movies of the past few years that I’ve watched. But this new film of theirs is just on another level. With Everything Everywhere All at Once, they give us everything they have to offer cinema and it was a fucking treat. The amount of energy and density packed into every second of this movie is insane and that’s why I loved it so much. It’s so impressive how they even pulled off what this movie is because on many levels the multiverse concept that tackles five different genres shouldn’t also be able to make you cry and be heartfelt. Like none of that should really work here but somehow they made it work and for that alone, I would love to see them get a Best Director nomination at next year’s Academy Awards.

Their directing was perfect, but what was more perfect was their script. As I mentioned, the plot follows a woman going through these alternate universes to try and ultimately save the world. More than that though, and I know this film’s genre is said to be a science-fiction action film, but it’s really a swirl of genre anarchy as you can also throw in comedy, black comedy, drama, and maybe even some thriller and some romance in there too. This film really has everything, pun intended, and this script deserves to be put in a museum somewhere because it’s straight gold. As I said, it fires on all cylinders but the comedy was the best in my opinion. It made me laugh out loud as the physical comedy is absolutely hilarious. There are a lot of really great gags, and there’s one revolving around the famous Disney Pixar film Ratatouille that nearly made me piss myself. Also, as an action film, it was phenomenal. It’s one of the most exciting that I’ve seen as the middle of the film is nonstop action full of endless possibilities. The action and the comedy just went together seamlessly and it was all extremely awesome.

Continuing with the writing, as fun as it gets, the writing allows us to get enveloped in the world on an intellectual level. They are able to take us through this odd and complex world and make us understand it. Despite all of the craziness, I loved how they kept the core of the story the core of the story, and that’s the mother and daughter relationship who are just these mediocre ordinary people living in a laundromat trying to get by. For all the movie's genre-bending rides it takes us on, they ultimately come back to that story and the familial connection was beautiful, and that’s all a testament to Daniels' superb writing. All in all, I have a hard time seeing a script to come out this year that’ll be better than this, and with that said, go ahead and give them the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay right now.

Now it’s time to touch on some of these performances. First with the star of the show, Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh is no newcomer to the film industry and she has been acting for almost forty years and has starred in some pretty big movies, but after seeing her in this, I really think this is what she’ll be remembered for when she calls it quits. She was responsible for the majority of the emotional moments in the film thanks to the connection she has with both her daughter as they share the generational drama and also with her husband. More than that though, with the film being 139 minutes long, I’m not joking when I say she is on screen for almost all of it. I was just in awe of her performance as she really showcased her wide range of skills with the film touching on so many different genres. She is always digging into this character and bringing it out to us as she is constantly delivering in every moment. She can kick ass thanks to her martial arts training, she can make you laugh, and as I’ve hinted at, she can certainly make you cry, and her performance was so crucial to the movie working as a whole in the first place. With all of that said, I would be ecstatic to see her get nominated for Best Actress, and if she won I would absolutely love it because she’s been at this for a while now, and she deserves it!

Next with what might’ve been the best performance of the whole film, and that belongs to Ke Huy Quan. I was shocked to learn that he was the same actor who starred in two huge movies back in the 1980s, as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Data in The Goonies. Despite me finding out before the movie though, I still would like to think I would’ve recognized him as his voice has not changed one bit since the 80s. For real though, Quan stole the show. His character is really endearing towards the end as he gives us arguably the most emotional part of the film. Throughout the film too, he switches back and forth between being the protagonist’s husband Waymond, and also the Waymond from another universe, and that was super amusing and that showed how talented of an actor he is.

Another huge standout like Quan was Stephanie Hsu as she played the daughter. You connect a lot with her character especially towards the end as she has some of the most touching moments in the film. But aside from that, her character is really fun and some of her line deliveries were hilarious. I could totally see her getting a Best Supporting Actress nomination, but after seeing what she does in this movie, I can really see her being a star sometime in the very near future.

To be honest, I really liked all of the performances and I bet they’ll win an award for an ensemble, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t touch on the performance we get from Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis plays the IRS inspector agent Deirdre Beaubeirdra, and I was really happy with the role she was given here. She played this curmudgeon character perfectly and she had me laughing in all of her scenes.

Now onto the tech side of things, let’s talk about the film’s unbelievable editing. The editing of a film is definitely one of those things that you can usually go through an entire film and not even think about it, but as a person who watches a ton of movies, I’ve paid more and more attention to a film’s editing and Everything Everywhere All at Once’s is maybe the best I’ve ever seen. Back to the action scenes, the combat was very stylized and the coverage of all these scenes was great as we got to see some of the choreography play out over a longer take. As fast as this film goes, the editing never felt like it had rapid cutting that is often quite annoying, but they just gave it this frenetic and urgent pacing that was top notch. Every cut felt very deliberate and necessary and I never felt like I got cheated out of moments. The editing allowed us to see exactly what’s happening, and it shined through to me personally by being able to see it in a theater. As I said, it was some of the best editing I’ve ever seen, and because of that, it should win Best Editing too at next year’s Academy Awards.

Continuing with the technical side of things, let’s talk about the overall sound of the film. The degree of sound this film uses is something we don’t too often see and it’s very similar to the way Dune (see my full review here) used sound to make sure that we were going through every single moment with the characters. Really though, every five seconds is its own journey in this movie and it added so much to the viewing experience. You can lock in a Best Sound nomination too if you’re keeping track reading this. Not just the sound, but the score too was astounding. It was done by Son Lux, and it included collaborations with musicians Mitski, David Byrne, and André 3000, and I bet you are about to be shocked, but I see them getting an Oscar nomination as well. In conclusion, the sound and the score worked together to take you through that journey and the film would be so different if they didn’t make the musical choices they did.

Before I close and start making this into a dissertation, I just wanted to touch on some other small things I appreciated about the film. The costumes and production design were amazing. Some of the outfits are Cruella-level weird, and to show you why that might be helpful to all of the nominations this film will get, Cruella (see Ted’s full review here) won for Best Costume Design at last month’s 94th Academy Awards. The production design though was so cool. This thing takes place in a corporate office building and because of the production design and how they shaped the lighting in all of these scenes, we feel like we go on this whole journey despite being in the same location for most of the film. Also, and you should have been expecting this if you’ve ever read a review of mine, but Larkin Seiple’s cinematography was sick. Lastly, I liked how it touched on both existentialism and nihilism. With nihilism though, which is really the belief that nothing matters in the world, I loved how the film tries to offer an antidote to that sort of existential dread. There’s no denying that at some point in our lives we’ve maybe taken on a nihilistic mentality and this movie was a comforting reminder that we can still find love and joy in life despite the perceived smallness of our own existence.

THE BAD

You guessed it, I don’t have much bad to say about this film as it will be receiving the best score I’ve given a film in a few years. Honestly, though, I really loved everything about this movie and I think most people will feel the same way. Two things I will say though are that it is long with a 139-minute runtime, but it definitely flies by, and second, it can feel overwhelming because there’s so much to take in at first, but once you begin to understand what’s going on your mind will be at ease. Needless to say, I will definitely still be giving it a rewatch to one, pick up on some things I missed, and two, more importantly, to just bask in its undeniable glory.

THE VERDICT

Without question, Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of 2022’s must-see films as it is a cinematic masterpiece of epic proportions. You can already lock in the fact that this will be regarded as a classic film as the performances are amazing, it’s technically impressive, and thanks to Daniels, the film effortlessly blends both a heartfelt tone and an otherworldly imagination.

I think it will dominate at the 95th Academy Awards, but even if it doesn’t, it will still be one of the most fun movies I’ve ever seen. I was blown away by Daniels as they reached into their imaginative tool kit and gave us unapologetically the wildest film ever. Despite all the craziness, thanks to their phenomenal script, the story makes sense as we get this great family story that will make you feel so many different emotions. It’s just a blast from start to finish and you need to see it in theaters while you can.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.9/10

Everything Everywhere All at Once is now playing at Smitty’s Cinema. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a 2022 action comedy film directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten.

Nicolas Cage begrudgingly accepts a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a billionaire super fan. When things take a wild turn, Nic is forced to become a version of some of his most iconic and beloved characters in order to extricate his wife and daughter from the fan who is a notorious drug lord.

The film stars Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself, along with a supporting cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Jacob Scipio, Lily Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tiffany Haddish.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent made it’s debut in theaters April 22nd, courtesy of Lionsgate.

THE GOOD

When I first read about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, I will be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to think. But when I watched the trailer, I grabbed my calendar immediately and blocked off April 22nd. And I am not a calendar guy at all, so this was a big deal. Literally everything about this movie grabbed my attention, and I honestly didn’t even care if early release feedback was negative. I was ready. Just for a little background, Andrew and I are hardcore Nic Cage fans, devoted followers you might say, just not in a cultish way. And listen we have heard it all, you are either #teamnicolascage, or you think he is a wannabe actor who has been riding his uncles coattails since his first feature-film role in the 1982 cult classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It was the last time he was officially credited as his birthname, which was Nicholas Kim Coppola. Apparently his stage name of Nicolas Cage was taken from the Marvel comic book character, Luke Cage.

Just to offer up a bit of background on the man, the myth, the legend, Cage, born January 7th, 1964, in Long Beach California, is the nephew of famed director/writer/producer Francis Ford Coppola (his father’s brother), who has been in the business since the late 50’s. He’s just the guy who directed and co-wrote The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and The Godfather: Part III (1990), no big deal. Easily one of the most influential names in the history of cinema. But, it’s not Cage’s fault he is his uncle, and he surely ended up paving his own way. I could talk about the history of the man all day long, but you are here to find out if The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is worth your time or not, so keep reading to find out!

I absolutely loved this movie, big surprise right? But it is for reasons that stretch well beyond my appreciation for one Nicolas Cage. The film is genuinely funny and well-intentioned, the acting was sublime (obviously), the screenplay was creative, engaging, and more than anything else relevant, and the technical aspects of the film were top notch. Now sure we are talking about a movie where Nic Cage plays a fictional version of Nic Cage, but that is just part of the genius behind the film. And if you are still questioning his abilities as an actor, assuming you haven’t seen The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), or Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), just check out his recent under-the-radar and painfully underrated indie gem Pig, which Andrew reviewed back in August (read the full review here), now streaming on Hulu. He absolutely crushed it in that movie.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is just vintage Nic Cage, an actor that always makes his presence felt in any project he is involved with. Sure he’s had his fair share of duds, but with almost 110 acting credits on his resume, four of which are currently in post-production, that is par for the course, and they have all contributed to the man he is today. if you don’t think he is one of the hardest working actors in the business, you just aren’t paying attention. In the film he is a struggling actor who even though he has had a long and successful career, he is still having a hard time making ends meet. He is also more disconnected from his daughter than he ever was, and as he points out during the film, it is impossible as a parent to be close to a 16-year-old. Just so much of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent hit home for me, and the film just felt like such a rewarding experience.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent paints Cage as an actor that is obsessed with film, and is always talking about how you can’t conceivably pick your all-time favorite film from 100+ years of quality filmmaking. He points out that what might be your favorite in the moment could depend on your mood which would of course influence the genre you might prefer, which rang true to me considering my wife always tells me she needs to be in the “right headspace” to watch an intense crime thriller like the True Detective series on HBO, whatever the heck that even means. Anyway, he is portrayed as a film fanatic who loves what he does, too much in many ways, and it all feels so authentic considering his roots. I mean, this guy grew up around film and still wanted to make it his life’s work, now that is saying something. His character is just delightfully naïve and well-intentioned, and very likable.

Throughout The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, we are treated to several clips of Nic Cage classics, including the films opening with a glimpse of the 1997 classic Con-Air, and I thought this was such a nice touch. For the film to work, we needed to envision Cage as a larger-than-life figure, which he already was of course, but plenty of background and relevant reasons are provided to help convince the naysayers. For my money, Javi, the alleged drug kingpin played by Pedro Pascal, was the perfect character. He played a Nicolas Cage “superfan”, and to say he was well-versed on the man’s career would be an understatement. He had a shrine documenting all of his classics, a few of which that were more of Easter eggs for true Cage fans, and this got me real fired up. Love him or hate him, Nicolas Cage has acted in a ton of movies in the last nearly 40-years. If you don’t consider that impressive, you may need to re-evaluate your priorities.

Naturally, we have to touch on the acting in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. I will do my best to not focus too much on the performance of the great Nicolas Cage playing the great Nicolas Cage, but he really was that good. Cage grabs the wheel and drives this film from the outset which was more than okay with me. I just loved this fictionalized version of him, and I could personally watch him go about his business all day long. Starring alongside Cage is Pedro Pascal as Javi, and he was nothing short of amazing. The chemistry between these two actors was just perfect, making the film feel like one of the more genuine buddy comedies in recent memory. Pascal isn’t necessarily a big name to your average film fan although he has played roles in some big films and shows including Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), Game of Thrones, and The Mandalorian, but I can’t picture anyone playing this role as well as he did. He just has such a presence on-screen that matched Cage perfectly, and the two were so much fun to watch.

The supporting cast was flawless as well, from Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz as the CIA agents, to the always fantastic Sharon Horgan as Cage’s wife, and Lily Mo Sheen as Cage’s daughter. The London native is the daughter of Martin Sheen and Kate Beckinsale, and by the end of the film I genuinely believed she was in fact Nic Cage’s daughter. I really enjoyed how her relationship with Cage developed throughout the film. I am a HUGE Neil Patrick Harris fan, and I enjoyed his limited screen time as Cage’s agent. I enjoyed Paco León as Javi’s sociopath of a brother, and felt like he really owned his role. I can’t think of anything negative to say about the entire cast.

THE BAD

Alright, so this section is going to prove difficult for me. First of all, I am a Nicolas Cage guy. Many of you may not be, and I suppose that is okay. Needless to say if you have an issue with Nicolas Cage you may very well have an issue with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. But, with that being said, it may actually turn out to be the exact opposite. Let me take a few minutes to explain. First and foremost, Nic Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself very much rooted in a reality that seems true to what you would expect a struggling yet well-known and successful actor to be going through.

He comes across as genuine and grounded, even if he may annoy the crap out of his 16-year-old daughter due to his obsession with old cinema. The film itself just works as it manages to take a simple yet intriguing concept and craft an experience for viewers of all ages. I realize I am straying off track a bit, but unless you just don’t enjoy action comedies, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent checks all of the right boxes. I suppose they could have given Neil Patrick Harris a bigger role, but that feels nitpicky.

THE VERDICT

An immersive and hilarious trip down the Nicolas Cage rabbit hole, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a fresh take on the action comedy genre that provides relentless entertainment value while also serving as a love letter to fans of film. Bottom line, I thought this movie was fantastic. I went in expecting something at least moderately along the lines of a slapstick type comedy, but it was so much more than that. The film is extremely self aware, the entire cast is fully invested, and somehow everything just works. Plus, the replay value is no joke and I can’t wait to see it again. I will also be adding the Blu-ray to my collection as soon as it becomes available. I was already a big Nic Cage fan as I made very clear throughout the review, but after watching this movie I can’t wait to go back and re-watch all of his classics throughout the years. Do yourself a favor and see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in theaters sooner than later, you’ll be glad you did!

Once you see the film you will likely be intrigued by the numerous name drops of classic Nic Cage and non-Nic Cage films and want to know more, so when that time comes go ahead and check out this very helpful and detailed write-up from Mashable.com by clicking this link.

TED TAKES RATING - 9.3/10

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Father Stu

Father Stu is a 2022 biographical drama film written and directed by Rosalind Ross, in her directorial debut. The film is based on the inspirational true story of Stuart Long.

After surviving a motorcycle accident, a former boxer and longtime agnostic starts to wonder if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he's meant to be a Catholic priest.

The cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, Jacki Weaver, Teresa Ruiz, Malcolm McDowell, Aaron Moten, Cody Fern, and Winter Ave Zoli.

Father Stu made its debut in theaters on April 13th, courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

THE GOOD

Admittedly Father Stu snuck up on me somehow. As a native New Englander, I am a Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark guy through and through and will support any project he is involved with. I go back to some of his earlier more under-the-radar films like the 1998 action-comedy The Big Hit, or even the 1996 thriller Fear. Or a pivotal point in his career was when he played Bobby Mercer in the 2005 gritty crime thriller Four Brothers, which I felt was the first film where he was an absolute badass. Let’s get back on track though, so Father Stu somehow flies under the radar for me to the point where I forgot about the movie entirely until I’m on a walk with my kids, and I meet some new neighbors who mention the movie after my movie review website comes up in conversation. Naturally, I’m like what the heck am I doing and I make sure the film is on my radar going forward. I will say though, that I decided against reading up on the true story the film is based on, preferring to be surprised instead. So, did I regret my ignorance or was Father Stu a waste of 2-hours of my life? Keep reading to find out!

Okay, so I’m an idiot because this movie was really, really good. Father Stu tells an emotionally charged true story that will tug on your heartstrings throughout while serving as a perfect opportunity for star Mark Wahlberg to yet again prove that he is one of the best Hollywood has to offer. At this point in his career, Wahlberg has plenty of money. Whether he is acting, producing, or dabbling in some other kind of business venture, his success is undeniable. But, instead of packing it in and taking the easy road by cashing a big check for some direct-to-streaming deal (not a direct knock on Adam Sandler, butttt….), he is showing up in a real way and making movies that matter.

I really liked how the film somehow finds a way to make humor a constant throughout even the most emotionally charged scenes, which for me was a testament to the writing as well as a collective effort to take advantage of Wahlberg’s abilities as an actor. Stuart Long’s story will hit you like an emotional bag of bricks, that is a fact. But the lighthearted moments are sprinkled throughout to ensure that the audience has an opportunity to experience a wide range of emotions. Oh, and we are treated to a ton of great one-liners, and an abundance of bad language just for good measure. At one point, Wahlberg is banging on Gibson’s trailer door and he comes to the door telling him he is going to wake the entire neighborhood, to which he responds “this ain’t no damn neighborhood, it’s a trailer park!”. That is just an example, but it had me laughing pretty good. We get a great deal of great banter like this between Wahlberg and Gibson, which was a real treat if you ask me.

As you probably figured out from the beginning of this review, the acting was very much a sweet spot for me when it comes to the success of Father Stu, but I will talk about that more later in the review. Right now I wanted to touch on the other vital part of this film’s success, and that would be the screenplay. I might be getting ahead of myself a bit, so let me pump the brakes. As film critics, or just regular guys who enjoy talking about movies which is how Andrew and I would describe ourselves, oftentimes the best part of doing a movie review is the tidbits you discover while doing a bit of research while writing the review. Granted, that can lead you down quite a rabbit hole, but it is often worth it.

I am still wracking my brain on this, but not only is Father Stu the directorial debut for Rosalind Ross, but it is also her feature-film writing debut for the screenplay. Oh and one more fun fact, the 31-year-old writer/director has been dating the 66-year-old Mel Gibson, who also stars in the film as Stuart Long’s father, since 2014. She also birthed his 9th child who was born in 2017, and yes I said 9th as in right before the even number of 10. For those of you bad at math, myself included, Gibson was around 35-years-old when Ross entered the world. I know it sounds like I am being overly critical of Gibson or Ross for that matter for their life choices, but I promise you I am not. More power to the happy couple. Most of Hollywood may hate Gibson for this reason or that, but for my money, he is still one of the most talented individuals in the industry whether he is acting or directing, I mean his 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge (our full review here) was nothing short of fantastic. Plus, people may not realize this, but not only did he star in the epic film Braveheart back in 1995, but he also directed it as well. Yeah, Mel Gibson is Hollywood royalty and anyone who says otherwise can go pound sand.

I touched on it briefly already, but the acting was without question the icing on the cake for me with Father Stu. Mark Wahlberg was incredible in what is considered a passion project for him. Father Stu was not only an emotional commitment from him as an actor, but it took a significant toll on his physical well-being as well. As someone who trains like a madman, Wahlberg had to transform his body to make this role insanely believable, and he does that and then some. His physical transformation is absolutely mind-blowing. During one of the later scenes in the film when it is the most evident, the entire theater shared a collective “oh wowwwwww”. It honestly catches you off guard. Even though this is based on a true story, Wahlberg’s portrayal of Stuart Long felt so incredibly genuine, that I swear the two men became one and the same. For me, that is a testament to Wahlberg and his commitment to such an important role. As well as a special tribute to a special man.

The next best performance, even though it was a much smaller role comparatively, was delivered by Mel Gibson who played the role of Stuart Long’s father, Bill. I love me some Mel Gibson, a fact that I likely already made quite clear in this review, but he was stellar in this role. Even with his fairly limited screen time, Gibson’s character progression was very impressive, and I enjoyed watching his relationship with his son grow. It was clear from the outset that he was dealing with a great deal of unresolved trauma, but thanks to his performance we get to see quite a transformation. Where Stu and Bill end up compared to where they started is almost difficult to describe, but man was it amazing to experience. The other transformative performance was delivered by Jacki Weaver, who can someone go from playing Bradley Cooper’s sweet as pie mother Silver Lining’s Playbook to a massive BI**H in the hit television series Yellowstone. The bottom line, she has impressive range as an actress. I can’t say enough great things about her in the role of Stu’s mom Kathleen Long as she developed insane chemistry with Wahlberg and Gibson, ensuring that by the end of the film you won’t have a dry eye in the theater.

Father Stu also included some great supporting roles that contributed a ton to the film, including Teresa Ruiz as Stu’s love interest Carmen and Malcolm McDowell as Monsignor Kelly, both of which played their respective roles well, especially McDowell. Aaron Moten as Ham, a man who befriends Stu as he begins to work towards becoming a priest, and last but surely not least Cody Fern who played Jacob, a complicated man who becomes a big part of Stu’s journey.

THE BAD

If you have been paying attention during this review, my guess is you are ready to just skip over this section. If not, you may want to go back because the odds are you missed a few paragraphs. But in all seriousness, I am struggling to find anything truly negative to say about Father Stu. It may not be the most polished film from the technical side of things, but we are also dealing with a debut film from the directing and writing side of things. But, I’m honestly not sure if that even matters. The bread and butter of this film is the story, and how well it was executed. That’s it. I went in a bit blind as I said before in terms of what Stuart Long’s story entailed, and his story resonated with me on so many levels which is likely part of why I enjoyed the film so much. At the end of the day, criticizing this film as a whole is an attempt to take away from how hard Rosalind Ross and the entire cast worked to tell this incredible story, and that is no bueno if you ask me.

THE VERDICT

A heartfelt and powerful true story that will have you tearing up one second and laughing the next, Father Stu is an inspirational journey made possible by an incredibly talented cast. The entire cast shines, and it was clear and obvious from the start that this was a passion project for Mark Wahlberg, as he just seemed to be incredibly invested and sacrificed a lot. Even though certain parts of the film are more entertaining than others, it is never boring and I felt like the 2-hours really flew by. As the end credits began to roll we are shown some photos of the real Stuart Long, and I just sat there and took it all in. Father Stu is a movie that matters, and one I highly recommend seeing in theaters.

TED TAKES RATING - 8.7/10

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

Master

By: Andrew Wing

Master is a 2022 American psychological horror-thriller film written and directed by Mariama Diallo in her directorial debut. The film stars Regina Hall (Girls Trip, The Hate U Give), Zoe Renee, and Amber Gray (Hadestown musical).

The film follows three women as they strive to find their place at an elite Northeastern university as old as the country. However, when anonymous racist attacks target a Black freshman (Renee), who insists she is being haunted by ghosts of the school’s pasts, each woman must determine where the real menace lies.

Master had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2022, and was released in the United States via Prime Video on March 18, 2022.

THE GOOD

While you can go ahead and put it on the record that the horror genre is probably my least favorite of movie genres, you can also put it on the record that psychological thriller is one of my favorites. With Master, we get a psychological horror-thriller film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it received generally favorable reviews. It reminds me of Hereditary, another psychological horror film from a newcomer director that premiered at Sundance, and let’s just say that film was pretty good and it was easily one of the best horror films of that decade. So with all that said, is Master on track to be the 2022 version of Hereditary? Keep reading to find out!

My answer is maybe. We will really have to wait and see, and while I don’t know if I see Master being one of the best horror films of this decade when I look back eight years from now, I definitely do see Master being regarded as one of the best horror films of this year for sure. And a big reason why I say that is because of what Mariama Diallo does with her direction in just her debut. I saw online that this film took inspiration from The Shining, one of my favorite movies ever, regardless of genre, and I could definitely see it in this film. It showed the most just by how creepy and scary this film was. I will talk more about what I liked about Diallo’s direction aesthetically later in the review, but I think she definitely passed the test as a director in her first outing. I judge a horror film on if I can watch it at night or not, and with this, I had to hit the pause button at night and have it wait until the sun was out, and that’s a huge testament to Diallo. Simply put, this film is terrifying at times, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Not only was Diallo’s direction impressive but her writing here was astounding. On the surface, it’s a social horror, but deeper down it’s a damning examination of racism on college campuses, and not just what one student experiences, but how a whole institution is tainted by this white supremacy. All the white administrative figures in the film refuse to see or acknowledge it, but all the people of color face it every day, and the film does a great job at painting these universities as being defensive, unwilling to change, and even worse, as using black staff members as tools to further uphold and bolster the institution to meet the modern-day demands of diversity and inclusion. So yeah, it’s a heavy film to watch because of the screenplay, but it’s a great script and it does a good job validating these experiences people have as they step onto a majority-white campus.

Now to the performances. All of the performances were amazing here, but the three main players that portray the three women were fantastic. First, with Regina Hall, she gave a great performance and I was shocked by how good she was. When I think of her, I immediately think of comedy, but in this, she shows that she is an excellent dramatic actress. Next with Amber Gray as she played the biracial English teacher. She was solid, especially towards the end when she is given more dramatic scenes. And lastly with Zoe Renee as she portrayed the new student on this campus. I was super impressed by her, and something tells me this won’t be the last horror film we’ll see her in because she was incredible in this.

Lastly, and you knew this was coming if you have read any of my reviews, but this film looked really nice. It was filmed in New York, so you can’t go wrong there, and the film’s general look reminded me a lot of another great horror film, Get Out, just with the way it was lit. All in all, I was blown away by Charlotte Hornsby’s cinematography here, and I will keep an eye on her. Now I said I would touch on Diallo’s direction aesthetically, so here it is. In film, especially in films of this genre, a great way to build tension in a scene is to leverage the shot selection to individual shots, and in Master, Mariama Diallo frames each character individually and it adds so much tension to every scene. By shooting a single character in each frame, each moment built on the next one as the audiences awaited to hear and see the next character’s reaction, and it was just so well done from start to finish.

THE BAD

There’s no denying that I really enjoyed the film, but there was one thing that really brought it down in my opinion, and that would be the fact that it focuses too much on the supernatural horror elements more than the social horror. The social horror elements were what really terrified me here, and I get that the supernatural played a very heavy role in the plot, but I still felt it was a little unnecessary by the time the film concluded. It was just clunky, and I didn’t see how the supernatural related to the social themes so that dropped the film some points for sure. I just don’t know why they went that way, but it was still an overall solid film.

Another thing I’ll bring up that was disappointing when it comes to Master is that it really slows down in the second act. The first third of the film is amazing and its final act as a whole is superb despite me not loving the ending, but the middle is pretty messy. That’s also the same time where they bounce around between social horror and supernatural the most, but I’d be lying if I said the film didn’t lose me midway through it a little bit. You’ll see my score shortly, but I think if that middle was a little better and not so slow, this movie’s score could’ve been much higher.

THE VERDICT

With what will definitely be one of the best directorial debuts of 2022 from Mariama Diallo, Master is a psychological horror-thriller that breaks down a New England university that claims to be one focused on diversity and inclusion but is rather a foundation of hatred and white liberalism. The performances are great, especially Regina Hall, but I really loved how Diallo confronted this particular issue in a way that I haven’t seen another movie do. It gave me a different perspective which is important.

Sure, they overfocused on the supernatural horror rather than the real-life ones, it’s pretty bleak, and also very damning, but it’s a good film and I’m certain it will be one of the best horror films of 2022 by year’s end.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.8/10

Master is now available only on Amazon Prime Video. Check out the latest trailer below.

The Bubble

By: Andrew Wing

The Bubble is a 2022 American comedy film directed by Judd Apatow from a screenplay co-written with Pam Brady (best known for her work on South Park). The film features an ensemble cast that includes Karen Gillan (Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Iris Apatow (Knocked Up, This Is 40), Fred Armisen (Portlandia, Saturday Night Live), Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), David Duchovny (The X-Files, Californication), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, The Prom), Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife, This Is 40, Blockers), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live, The Spy Who Dumped Me), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman 1984), Guz Khan (Man Like Mobeen), and Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun of the Dead, The Tick).

The film’s plot takes place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and follows the cast and crew of a blockbuster action franchise, Cliff Beasts, as they attempt to shoot a sequel while quarantined at a posh English hotel.

The Bubble was released on April 1, 2022, by Netflix.

THE GOOD

When I first saw the trailer for The Bubble, I was pumped. I mean it was coming straight to Netflix and it was from director Judd Apatow. If you haven’t been living under a rock for the entire 21st century, then you would know that Judd Apatow has been killing it. From The 40-Year-Old Virgin, to Knocked Up, to Trainwreck, Apatow has been responsible for some of the best comedies we have ever seen. Add in the fact that his most recent film, The King of Staten Island, starring Pete Davidson that came out in 2020 was freaking amazing, and I had every reason to think The Bubble would be a solid comedy. But was it? Keep reading to find out!

Spoiler alert. It was not. Trust me when I say that I will address the many things I did not like about this film later on in the review, but let’s start on a positive note. There’s no denying that this film has a stacked cast, and while they don’t all give great performances, there still were a couple. First with Karen Gillan as she is kind of the main character of the story. I really like Gillan and I obviously love her as Nebula in the MCU, but this makes two straight years where she has given good performances in Netflix films following last year’s Gunpowder Milkshake (see my full review here). She is really starting to show how skilled she is as an actress and I cannot wait to watch her double role in the upcoming sci-fi thriller film Dual (see our preview here).

Gillan was definitely the best in my opinion, but a close second would have to be Maria Bakalova. Bakalova became a star in 2020 after starring in the hilarious sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. She was so good in that, and the fact that she went blow for blow in a comedy alongside the legendary Sacha Baron Cohen showed her capabilities. Well, she put them on display again here, and she was easily the one responsible for the majority of my laughs here. The only other actor I thought gave a good performance here was David Duchovny. I know he’s a big name thanks to starring in The X-Files, but since I’ve never seen an episode of that, I’m not too familiar with him as an actor. However, I’ll definitely be watching more of him in the future because he’s good at his job. He just played his character perfectly here as the arrogant workaholic and he was one of the only bright spots of this film.

In closing, because there really isn’t a lot of good to say when it comes to The Bubble, I will say it made me chuckle a couple of times. I certainly didn’t laugh as much as I had hoped once I pressed play, but there were some pretty funny moments. Unfortunately though, the majority of them came from Bakalova’s character who didn’t get nearly enough screen time, or they came in the form of cameos from other big names who were only on screen for a minute maybe. We had Benedict Cumberbatch as himself in what was a very weird scene, Daisy Ridley as an exercise AI, John Cena as a stunt coordinator, and lastly, my personal favorite, James McAvoy as himself. At the end of the day, it probably isn’t a good sign when a viewer’s favorite moments don’t even come from the main cast members, but I just enjoyed them a lot and they potentially saved this film from getting goose egged.

THE BAD

I won’t lie, this movie sucked. You’ll see when I give my score, but I didn’t think it was possible for there to be a movie I’d watch this year worse than Home Team (see my full review here), but boy was I wrong. I realized very quickly that this movie had no idea what it wanted to be and that is really the worst thing when it comes to a movie. To reference Home Team again, at least that knew what it wanted to be, and I can at least have a little bit of respect for that, but this I have no respect for whatsoever. I just cannot fathom what Judd Apatow did here. Like this is such a massive s**t stain on what was almost a near-perfect resume. He is a legend of the comedy genre, and some might even call him the GOAT with how many phenomenal films he’s made, but I don’t know, in what world did he think this movie was okay? 

Next, let’s address the performances of the other members of the cast. As I already mentioned, this cast was stacked and I was intrigued by it. They weren’t all terrible, but some are just incredibly bad. I mean we got Fred Armisen, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, and many many more, and they all gave career-worst performances from them without a doubt in my mind. It was truly so disappointing, and I hope whatever these guys do next is better than this because if it isn’t, they might have a hard time getting future phone calls for projects. 

Another thing that stunk about this movie was the fact that it was way too long. Over two hours? Are you kidding me? The perfect comedy is around the 90-105 minute range in my eyes and this one was just so bad I couldn’t wait for it to be over, and they couldn’t even do me that service of ending it faster. In conclusion, this movie has zero re-watch ability and the worst part of it was that it just was not funny. I don’t even think a younger version of myself would’ve thought this was funny, and that is saying a lot.

THE VERDICT

With the film’s self-awareness absolutely nowhere to be found, The Bubble is a very tough watch and it’s a massive flop from director Judd Apatow. Sure, Karen Gillan and Maria Bakalova both gave good performances, but as good as they were, the many more bad performances from other legends of modern comedy gave this film no chance.

I mean the purpose of me writing these reviews is obviously to get y’all to check them out, but this might not be worth your time, because it was certainly a waste of mine. I’m still going to suggest checking it out just so you can experience it for yourself. The good news is that it’s a free movie with it being a Netflix original so go ahead and give it a chance and please share your thoughts with me!

TED TAKES RATING - 2/10

The Bubble is now available only on Netflix. Check out the latest trailer below.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 2022 adventure comedy film based on the video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog, published by Sega. It is the sequel to 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog (our full review here). The film is directed by Jeff Fowler, and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington.

After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove he has what it takes to be a true hero. His test comes when Dr. Robotnik returns, this time with a new partner, Knuckles, in search of an emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations. Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a globe-trotting journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands.

The cast includes James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, Adam Pally, Shemar Moore, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey, and Lee Majdoub. 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 made its debut in theaters on April 8th, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

THE GOOD

The first Sonic the Hedgehog was a blast, and legit put me into a time machine and transported me to my childhood. And the good times, none of the traumatic moments that shaped who I am today. In all seriousness, they did things right with the original film and satisfied hardcore fans as well as those just looking for a really good time. After seeing the first film and the subsequent success it had, a sequel was a foregone conclusion. We knew the core of the main cast would be back for another fun romp for the ages, but would it be able to live up to the success of the original film or fall victim to the inevitable downfalls of a sequel? Plus, as a videogame adaptation, the odds are already stacked against Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Did it make this fan proud? Keep reading to find out!

Bottom line, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is without a doubt a worthy sequel. It keeps the nostalgia of the original film intact while bringing in even more nostalgia by introducing a few new characters that were huge in the video games. The film opens where the original left off, with Dr. Robotnik still stuck in “mushroom land” and doing whatever he possibly can to get out of there. We are even treated to a bit of a shout-out to Tom Hanks and his buddy Wilson, the famous soccer ball from the 2000 film Cast Away. I won’t sit here and spoil things, but Robotnik is relentless as ever and will stop at nothing to have his revenge on that pesky Sonic, and lands himself a bit of a lottery ticket with the assistance of a powerful being also on trail of the blue hedgehog. Enter Knuckles, a worthy nemesis not to be taken lightly. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 already has the stage set by the original film, meaning we can jump right into the action, and right into the action is exactly where we go.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 brings the heat from start to finish. In true sequel fashion, the action starts quickly and never really stops until the end credits. The film has a few fun interwoven storylines for the sake of entertainment, and it all seems to work at least from where I was sitting. We get a bit more storyline with James Marsden and Tika Sumpter’s characters and their relationship with her sister, played by Natasha Rockwell who was also in the original film, and her husband to be played by Shemar Moore. I enjoyed that added layer of the storyline, but the action and the heart of the film still rested with Sonic and his always exciting new lifestyle. Whether we are watching a snowboarding chase down a giant snowy mountain or the destruction of an entire town thanks to a giant robot, the action sequences are aplenty and sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. I personally tried to get my three-year-old hooked on the original film, but because of the fact that it includes quite a few slower story-building moments, he lost interest fast. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 turns up the volume for the majority of the film, ensuring that any little ones in attendance have very little opportunity to be bored.

Similar to the first film, the acting is without a doubt a huge positive for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I love me some James Marsden, and he is great here yet again. I mean, if we can just call a spade a spade, Marsden is a damn good-looking man that packs a ton of charisma making for a heck of an on-screen presence. He was a big reason why I loved the first film so much, and he continues to bring the heat with the sequel. Ben Schwartz is great yet again as Sonic, reinforcing why he was chosen for the role in the first place. Jim Carrey is stellar as the infamous Dr. Robotnik, the relentless thorn in Sonic’s side. I just love how this character feels so much like a return to the old-school roles for Jim Carrey, an opportunity for him to flex his muscles as a true showman. Casting him in this franchise was a huge win.

I also really like Carrey’s dedicated follower Agent Stone, played by Lee Majdoub. He helps contribute to a great comedic element of the original film and keeps that fire burning for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Colleen O'Shaughnessey, who somehow has 238 acting credits according to her IMDb filmography, is a great addition as the voice of Tails. Adam Pally, who has the definition of a supporting role between the original film and the sequel, is still fantastic in my mind. His genuine and innocent stupidity is just so good, and I’m glad they made sure to keep him around for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Well deserved. My favorite part of the film as far as the acting or the voice cast is concerned is without a doubt the great Idris Elba as Knuckles. Now whether he is tearing up the old west in The Harder They Fall (see Andrew’s full review here), or portraying a very powerful and hell-bent on revenge animated cartoon character, Elba is always all business. I enjoyed the trajectory of the character within the backstory of the film, and Elba just helped to ensure he was a focal point throughout.

The technical elements of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are obviously straight fire. From the incredible visuals to the score and soundtrack, everything is in tip-top shape and performing as you would expect. It still blows my mind to think about the trailer reveal for the first film and how bad Sonic looked, didn’t take long for them to fix that potential disaster and come back with the Sonic we all know and love. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 brings him back and delivers up Knuckles and Tails, two characters fans of the videogames will be very familiar with. I was personally very pleased with Knuckles first and foremost and loved how powerful and iconic he came across. It was obvious from the start this dude meant business. The CGI and special effects are glorious as far as live-action films go, and the soundtrack helps to drive the intensity of the film.

THE BAD

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a great sequel that I can’t sit here and pick apart. Is it perfect? No. What stands out most for me is the fact that in my personal opinion, the original film is just better. Big surprise right? But hear me out, it’s not necessarily a knock on this film as much as it is a credit given to the overall feel of the original. The first film absolutely sold me on the emotional element of Sonic’s character and the fact that he was made to be an outcast by default. The film tugged on my heartstrings and also served up an important message for kids when they decide to pick on someone just because they are different. All Sonic wanted was to fit in and be a part of a family or even just a community, and that message in my mind helped to build the overall effectiveness of the original which was just lacking a bit in the sequel. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 instead continues with the action and the excitement which is commonplace for a sequel, making for a movie that is fun from start to finish and I don’t think anyone will try and dispute that.

THE VERDICT

An effective and genuinely fun sequel that receives a significant boost thanks to the dynamic debut of Idris Elba as Knuckles, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is yet another action-packed adventure for the charismatic blue hedgehog sure to satisfy the entire family. I really enjoyed this movie, and I felt like they did a great job picking right up where the original left off. I would argue that the original is better in the sense that the overall story hits harder and has a bit more emotional weight to it, but the shifted focus on more action will surely help to reign in the little humans who will likely be in tow. And if this is just a movie outing for the adults, that is more than okay as well of course. Oh and be sure to stick around for the post-credit scene.

TED TAKES RATING - 7.4/10

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.

Morbius

Morbius is a 2022 superhero film directed by Daniel Espinosa, and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. It is based on the Marvel Comics character Morbius, the living vampire. It is produced by Colombia Pictures in association with Marvel, and is intended to be the third film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. After announcing plans for a new shared universe of films inspired by Spider-Man characters beginning with Venom (2018), Sony began developing a film based on Morbius.

Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others from the same fate, biochemist Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside of him is soon unleashed.

The cast includes Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, alongside Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson.

Morbius made its debut in theaters on April 1st, courtesy of Sony Pictures and Marvel.

THE GOOD

First things first, this movie is not nearly as bad as most critics would lead you to believe. I mean, currently sitting at a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 35% on Metacritic, you’d think it would be more or less unwatchable. I guess if you want to compare it to Spider Man: No Way Home or The Batman, an argument could be made. But that is just silly in my mind. This is an origin story more or less from scratch, and more than anything else it is very unique in several ways. Morbius is a blood-sucking vampire, which hardly qualifies him as a superhero in any sense of the word. Super human, sure, but not a superhero. Okay so before I go down that rabbit hole, let’s get into what I thought of Morbius after going to see the movie with admittedly fairly low expectations.

Did I hate this movie? No, I did not. For my money Morbius is an entertaining sci-fi action film that includes a talented cast, and an overall backstory with decent depth as a character I was not familar with is introduced. The overall impact of the story falls a bit flat in my opinion, but I will touch on that a bit later in the review. Although I did enjoy the tug-of-war going on throughout the film related to the moral dilemma the characters faced. The acting is solid as expected from the main cast with a star like Jared Leto leading the way. The overall “world” created within the film feels authentic, and the Matrix style CGI and special effects made for some satisfying action sequences. The first real action scene where we are introduced to the “new and improved” Dr. Michael Morbius, I thought the slow-mo effects were pretty cool. Let’s just say some guys we care nothing about meet their demise rather quickly. The intriguing element of Morbius is the fact that even though he is a genius in the medical field, he suffers from a degenerative blood disease he has been trying to cure his entire life and is in very poor physical health because of it. Growing up as an outcast because he was not like the other kids, it is satisfying to see him finally match his mental acuity with his physical strength. I mean sure, he had to become a vampire who survives on blood to get there, but we all have to make compromises in life. Bottom line, people won’t be picking on this guy anytime soon.

The star of the show is of course Jared Leto who is an A-list actor in terms of his overall talent. The guy has played some pretty ridiculous roles, going all the way back to his transformative performance in the 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club, and I very much enjoyed him in the recent drama based on true events, House of Gucci (our full review here). Although his version of DC’s Joker didn’t quite make the impression he was hoping for, I will give pretty much anything he is in a chance. Leto shows off his acting chops as expected, and shines during the Dr. Michael Morbius scenes, where his talents were most needed. The beautiful Adria Arjona lit up the screen during each and every scene she was in, and her chemistry with Leto felt genuine throughout the film which was important for the story. Matt Smith was solid as the films typical good guy turned bad antagonist, Milo, and I enjoyed his relationship with Leto’s character and the overall trajectory. Veteran actor Jared Harris is fantastic as per usual, taking on the role of father figure/mentor Dr. Emil Nicholas.

Before I make you think otherwise, I really like Tyrese Gibson as an actor. I enjoy his role in the Fast & Furious films, and I thought he was fantastic in Four Brothers. Baby Boy hasn’t quite stood the test of time, but all things considered he makes the most of the roles he is given. With that being said, I had a bit of a hard time buying into him as the hardened detective hot on the trail of Morbius. Maybe I am just always waiting for that trademark humor of his to make an appearance, but for me he didn’t quite fill that gritty role they seemed to be going for here. His acting in itself was fine, his character was just meh in my opinion and had little to know backstory at all.

The technical elements of the film are a bit of a mixed bag, and I will get more into that later. But for the sake of the “good” section of the review, I mostly enjoyed the CGI and special effects in the film. They felt very similar to what you would see in The Matrix, as far as the reliance on slow-motion technology, and what I can only refer to as a bit of a blurring/shadowing effect that is used when Morbius is moving quickly. That element of the special effects reminded me of a videogame, but I wouldn’t consider that to be a knock on the movie. Even though this is technically a superhero film, it without a doubt embraces the whole vampire thing as the special effects are a big part of the movie. I was fine with seeing something a little different and I felt like Morbius gives us that. I also enjoyed the soundtrack/score much more than I thought I would.

THE BAD

Morbius is not without it’s fair share of issues, big surprise right? As an origin story it does feel a little slow during the majority of the film as the writing was a bit dull and fairly linear for my taste. Plus the writing is outlandish in so many ways, often feeling like you are watching an episode of the Power Rangers as they take out bad guys. I love the Power Rangers for the record, and I am still waiting for a sequel to the 2017 film. One of my biggest issues with the screenplay is it never had that action sequence or finale that felt like a big exciting payoff. It just sort of resolved things to an extent and ended leaving viewers wanting more, assuming you enjoyed the movie in the first place of course. The majority of the film feels a bit isolated from the rest of the world, never quite feeling like Morbius is destined to extend his reach beyond the events taking place in the film. I also feel like the reluctance to take the leap and make this film R-rated was very limiting in terms of the overall feel they seemed to be going for. There is a fine line between intense and corny with a film like this, and unfortunately the PG-13 rating did far more harm than good in that sense. You can go down the lost of successful vampire films, and I promise you the majority that experienced the most success had an R-rating.

I touched on what I liked about the CGI and special effects above, but there was plenty that just didn’t fit. In general, the style of this film is not for everyone, it feels very much like a videogame in terms of how they decided to showcase the action. But that part of it I liked. What didn’t quite hit home with me was the CGI of the faces which just looked way too corny more often than not. I mean I get that they are supposed to be transforming into vampires, but it just looked silly and nowhere near what we have come to expect from a film with Marvel attached to it. I don’t know what they could have done differently, but maybe this is also why vampires belong in the horror genre. Just a thought. Also, getting back to why critics have been ripping this movie to shreds, they aren’t wrong. I mean from a “quality filmmaking” perspective, Morbius is riddled with holes. It doesn’t really do anything extremely well, and leaves plenty to be desired in most areas of the film. Most of the biggest Marvel films fall outside of awards consideration for reasons we understand, but this movie feels less like it belongs in the superhero genre while also not carving out a niche like 2019’s Joker.

THE VERDICT

Far from the gritty new addition to the MCU we were all hoping for but still better than most critics would lead you to believe, Morbius offers up some quality entertainment value while committing to more of a vampire movie or a video game adaptation feel thanks to the unique CGI and special effects. I personally enjoyed this movie all things considered, and felt like the Matrix-esque special effects were fun, and I do believe this could still become a solid franchise. I do however agree that an R-rated approach would have opened more doors for the films potential considering the subject matter. Origin stories can be tough in terms of setting the stage while still remaining action-packed, but thanks to a post-credit scene sure to excite fans of all things Spider-Man, Morbius is still worth a watch if you keep your expectations in check.

TED TAKES RATING - 6.1/10

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

The Harder They Fall

By: Andrew Wing

The Harder They Fall is a 2021 American Western film directed by Jeymes Samuel in his feature film directorial debut, who co-wrote the screenplay with Boaz Yakin (directed Remember the Titans and Safe). The film stars Jonathan Majors (The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Lovecraft Country), Idris Elba (The Wire, Beasts of No Nation), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Deadpool 2), Regina King (Ray, If Beale Street Could Talk), Delroy Lindo (Malcolm X, Da 5 Bloods), Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out, Atlanta), RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, I’m Dying Up Here), Danielle Deadwyler (Paradise Lost, Station Eleven), Edi Gathegi (Twilight film series, The Blacklist), and Deon Cole (Black-ish, Barbershop).

It is one of few Westerns whose principal cast members are all Black. Its characters are loosely based on real cowboys, lawmen, and outlaws of the 19th-century American West. The plot itself follows Nat Love (Majors), a man gunning for revenge who saddles up with his gang to take down his enemy Rufus Buck (Elba), a ruthless crime boss who just got sprung from prison.

The Harder They Fall had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 6, 2021. It received a limited release on October 22, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on November 3.

THE GOOD

You’re really going to have to start referring to me as the respect police, because like I did with two movies I recently reviewed, Passing (see my full review here) and Together Together (see my full review here), I watched them months before writing the actual review. The reason was because of how shocked I was at the lack of respect and notoriety these films got, and The Harder They Fall might have been the most shocking. To take you back in time, I knew the second I saw the trailer for this that it was going to be a must-watch. I mean it’s a modern take on the Western genre with its all-black cast, and the cast itself was maybe the most powerhouse cast of the year. From Idris Elba, Regina King, to two of the biggest young actors in the industry right now in Jonathan Majors and Lakeith Stanfield, I was not going to miss this one once it came to Netflix. But enough of the jibber-jabber, let’s get into my review and find out why this film was deserving of more praise than what it got!

I mean it’s only right that I start out with “The Good” section by addressing this powerhouse cast, right? Well good, because that’s what I’m going to do. The characters in this film are all based on real people that were living in the west at the time, and as much as I loved some of the other stuff in the film, the cast was hands down the most fun part of this movie. I don’t know how he did it in his feature film debut, but Jeymes Samuel somehow assembled an absolute all-star cast. Everybody was great as they nicely divided up the screen time so all of the big names got their own sort of moment and their time to shine. It was so hard to pick a favorite from the film, but I’d say that mine would have to be Jonathan Majors. Majors played his role so damn good as he portrayed this charming yet extremely violent cowboy who is seeking revenge for his father. I just think he was the number one standout for sure and it helps too that he was the main character so we got the most out of him. He was great throughout but he really shined at the end of the film when the movie shows you a different side of that character towards the end in a way I didn’t see coming.

Yes, I picked Jonathan Majors as the best of the bunch, but all the supporting performances were awesome. First with Idris Elba. Elba was amazing as he played the villain in the film, Rufus Buck, and he was as intimidating as he’s ever been in his acting career. There were others too that shined at the very end like Regina King who was quietly fierce the entire movie, and I really think that’s the best word I could use to describe her as an actress, “fierce”. I just reviewed Nine Days (see my full review here), a movie that featured a great Zazie Beetz performance and now I’m reviewing this, another movie that features you guessed it, another great performance from her as she was really good. Oh, and she sings in this too, and she crushed it. There were so many more performances too that were great like Lakieth Stanfield as the terrifying gunslinger Cherokee Bill, RJ Cyler as the uber-confident Jim Beckwourth, Delroy Lindo as the old-timer U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, and last but not least, Danielle Deadwyler as Cuffee, a character who is inspired by Cathay Williams (google search that name if you want to learn about her amazing story). This was the first thing I’ve seen from Deadwyler, but I feel it won’t be the last as she is set to star as Mamie Till-Mobley in her next film titled Till, which is set to come out in 2022.

While the performances from the cast were arguably the best part of the film, the direction from Jeymes Samuel in his feature directorial debut was by far the most impressive. This movie was a freaking blast. I have always loved the Western genre and with this movie’s new and modern take on the genre, it was so fun. And all the credit for that belongs to Jeymes Samuel. There have been a lot of good directorial debuts from 2021, but Samuel belongs near the top of that list. He clearly has a love for the Western genre too as this movie was composed of some amazing gunslinging scenes, ridiculously intense standoffs, and so many more quips of the genre. He just had fun with it in all the ways you’d expect, but he really puts his own spin on it with the production design, costumes, and the music, all of which are things that I will touch more on later in the review. He just gives a different flavor to the Hollywood depiction of the west and it was so cool because it's a fact that there were black cowboys back in the day. It’s just we have never seen a film centered around them and I’m so glad this is one of the first films to do so!

His direction was phenomenal, but the writing he did alongside Boaz Yakin in this was just as good. There was so much awesome dialogue and the film also contained some twists and reveals at the end that I definitely didn’t see coming, and that’s always a testament to the writing. Overall, I just found myself completely invested in this story and I appreciated every decision they made with the script. I’ll just hit on the same point again, but it was really so nice to see the western genre revamped like this and the way they wrote this film made that the case. I just hope after getting this story that we get more films like this where the Western genre is one that everybody can relate to, because well, why shouldn’t that be the case?

There was so much more I loved about the film, and the technical elements here were responsible for that as they were all superb. First, this film was very well shot thanks to cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr., who is most known for shooting PTA’s The Master, and I think every shot in this film looks pretty gorgeous. The cinematography throughout was super dynamic too and the one scene that shows that the most is the train scene. It also was beautiful thanks to the lighting and colors in every scene, and I loved how this version of the west was very vibrant rather than that dusty look we usually get. As for the production design and the costume design, they took an opportunity to reinvent the west and everything was just so well put together. But before I finish up, I need to bring up undoubtedly the best element of all the technical elements, and that would be the film’s soundtrack and score which was also done by the multitalented Jeymes Samuel. The film blends the soundtrack and score so much, but no matter what I call it, it was so much fun and it added a ton to the movie. Lastly, it’s an absolute shame that the film’s main song which was done by Jay-Z and Kid Cudi, “Guns Go Bang”, that played over the opening credits sequence didn’t get nominated at the Oscars because it was easily one of the best original songs of 2021.

THE BAD

There is definitely no denying that this film was one of the more enjoyable films of 2021. I don’t have a lot of negative things to say about it, but I will say that sometimes it felt like they were maybe over-focused on style rather than substance and story. Samuel definitely executed his vision as I already said, but it just felt that the story sort of came second and followed after the vision. I know I just said I loved the story, and I did, but I definitely wanted to know more about a lot of the characters. But that’s the tough thing when you have an all-star cast like this, it’s impossible for you to get all you want out of them, but I certainly think there’s some potential for a sequel or even a prequel spinoff series type of deal where we can come to know more about some of the main players in this film and how they came to be.

Aside from that, I loved this film so much. I really don’t know why it didn’t get much love from the big awards bodies. Maybe they dismissed it as this Netflix movie that was just a “fun western”, but this film was super unique and there were plenty of places it could’ve and should’ve gotten some awards consideration.

THE VERDICT

Fueled by an energetic soundtrack, The Harder They Fall is a grand slam directorial debut from Jeymes Samuel that is just dripping in style. Samuel perfectly executed his vision as he created a film that absolutely revamps the Western genre we’ve known for decades. It’s helped out significantly by the all-star cast that included Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Regina King, and Lakeith Stanfield just to name a few.

Sure, maybe they focused more on style rather than substance, but at the end of the day, I would give this movie a very broad recommendation. If you like westerns, action, or even just fun, you need to check this one out ASAP!

TED TAKES RATING - 8.7/10

The Harder They Fall is available only on Netflix. Check out the latest trailer below.