★★★★ Netflix has fleetingly tackled nearly every holiday in one way or another (both excellent Christmas Chronicles movies from legendary director Christopher Columbus spring to mind instantly), and now with Nightbooks, the streamer sets its sights on Halloween! From Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, Nightbooks is a twisted family film with horror sensibilities. Love for … Continue reading Film Review: Nightbooks
TIFF 2021: The Starling
★★★★ After years on the “Black List” for most liked unproduced screenplays in Hollywood, The Starling is finally here, and thankfully it is well worth the wait. If one has lost a loved one recently, this film may provide the balm of looking forward and moving on after grief. Director Theodore Melfi is no stranger … Continue reading TIFF 2021: The Starling
TIFF 2021: 7 Prisoners
★★★ 7 Prisoners deals with an incredibly traumatic and upsetting facet of society: human trafficking. The fact that those preyed upon are trying to better their financial situations (often to help their families) makes it altogether more depressing. I found the methods of torment to be absolutely abhorrent and appalling, which I suppose is exactly … Continue reading TIFF 2021: 7 Prisoners
Film Review: Kate
★★★ Netflix’s action shoot-em-up, Kate, comes on the heels of several excellent movies from the streamer. While it may not reach the high highs of last month’s Gunpowder Milkshake, Kate will thrill fans craving John Wick-style visceral combat and choreography. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is firmly channeling Jason Statham in Crank, and every second of her … Continue reading Film Review: Kate
Film Review: Afterlife of the Party
★★ How exactly does one waste the charm and natural charisma of Victoria Justice? Look no further than Netflix’s new comedy, Afterlife of the Party! It takes a fresh and fun premise dealing with death and what comes after, then fails to do anything with it that we haven’t seen before. The entire movie has … Continue reading Film Review: Afterlife of the Party
Film Review: Sweet Girl
★★★ Sweet Girl, Netflix’s newest, is little more than a generic on-the-run thriller that lacks the tension and stakes to truly go the distance. It does, however, give the audience well-choreographed action, and the muscles of Jason Momoa in an attempt to get on your good graces. Everything about Sweet Girl is too average to … Continue reading Film Review: Sweet Girl
Film Review: The Kissing Booth 3
★★★★ The Kissing Booth 3 concludes another stellar rom-com trilogy from Netflix, the second this year after To All The Boys ended. Though The Kissing Booth 2 remains the high mark of the series for me, this three-quel earns major brownie points for emphasizing its character relationships over petty dramatics. The love triangle of 2 … Continue reading Film Review: The Kissing Booth 3
Locarno 2021: Beckett
★★★★ Netflix films have been knocking it out of the park this year, between The Woman in the Window, the Fear Street trilogy, and A Classic Horror Story. Next on their roster is politically-charged thriller, Beckett. Starring John David Washington (Tenet, Malcolm & Marie) as the titular lead character, director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino wrings maximum … Continue reading Locarno 2021: Beckett
Fantasia 2021: Hayop-Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story
★★★★ Acting as my first review for 2021’s Fantasia International Film Festival, Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story (coming to Netflix later this year under the translated title, You Animal!) could not have been a better table-setter. A saucy and deeply horny animated love story that is decidedly not for younger viewers, this film took … Continue reading Fantasia 2021: Hayop-Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story
Film Review: Vivo
★★★★★ Despite a noticeable lack of advertising push, Sony Animation’s Vivo is a colorful, emotional, and utterly profound family film. When I started watching on Netflix, I figured I was essentially in store for an animated In the Heights—instead, Vivo feels much more Coco. I did not realize just how deeply I needed a feel-good … Continue reading Film Review: Vivo