Reviews

Okay

Pixar films have always been seen to be set at a higher standard than others in animation. Their newest is HOPPERS, a story about animal-lover Mabel (Piper Curuda) trying to save a very special grove from being replaced by a highway. She finds out that scientists at her university have developed technology to transfer the mind into a robot beaver. They make a joke about how this is definitely NOT like AVATAR. While in beaver form, Mabel is able to understand the other animals, so she tries to gather them to stop greedy Mayor Generazzo (Jon Hamm) and his plans. This was a lot of fun. The animals have their own council, each leader having a tiny crown. I loved the sneaky references to other Disney films. If AVATAR had relations with THE WILD ROBOT, it would be HOPPERS. It has a very big heart, focusing on the beauty of nature and how it connects us to all living things. Empathy, for all species. It handles the emotion of anger really well, stemming from fear. It’s very entertaining and funny. There are a couple of scenes that might scare really young children, but kids today need a bit of fear anyway. This movie skews towards a younger audience than your more adult-themed Pixar films, but it still delivers. The bar for Pixar movies is higher than other animated films, which might not be fair. Overall, HOPPERS is on the lower end of an already high bar for Pixar films, but it still delivers a good message with great laughs. It’s still a dam good movie. Remember, it’s hard to be mad when you’re part of something big.

Perfect

In 2019, we got a surprise hit in the form of READY OR NOT, a violent, bloody, fun time. Now there’s a sequel, READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME. This picks up right where the last one ended, with Grace (Samara Weaving) smoking a cigarette, wearing a blood-soaked wedding dress that feels like a superhero costume at this point. Because she survived the night, she has triggered a new game with much higher stakes. This time she is joined by her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton). I love their chemistry and dynamic. They need to survive another game of hide and seek, being hunted down by the heads of the council families. This movie successfully builds upon the world that the original introduced. There are quite a few new rules to this world, but that’s why we have “The Lawyer” (Elijah Wood), keeper of the book of rules, to guide us through. He’s definitely the stand-out newcomer here. The rest of the ensemble cast have such a fun time, especially Kevin Durand and Sarah Michelle Gellar. They smartly don’t repeat the first film too much, but those who loved that one might be overwhelmed by the amount of characters and settings in this one. It has much higher stakes, but also a bigger playing field, which loses the claustrophobia of the original. The action scenes are nicely varied, except for one that felt less silly and too brutal. Overall, READY OR NOT 2: HERE I COME is as fun as the first, if not pretty similar. It’s very silly, but we could all use a little Grace and Faith these days.

Horror continues to thrive this decade. The newest is A24’s Canadian horror UNDERTONE. I went into this expecting a bad story with cheap jump-scares. Boy am I happy to be wrong. Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcaster who moves back home to care for he dying mother. She records a podcast with her friend Justin (Adam DiMarco) called The Undertone Podcast. Evy plays the skeptic while Justin plays the believer. They get an anonymous email that has 10 audio recordings in it. They decide to listen to these for the podcast. As they go through each one, things start happening, as they often do in a horror film. The feeling of paranoia gets heightened. Curiosity is a powerful motivator. You know these guys shouldn’t listen to these audio files. You know bad things will happen when they do, but they, and you, are too curious. You want to hear all 10, damn the consequences. This movie is locked in one house, making it feel claustrophobic. There’s a great use of space, including some unique camera tilting that gives us a feeling of dread. Often, the camera is aimed in between our protagonist and a dark hallway, where you can’t help but look to see if something is there. This is heightened when Evy puts on her headphones, cancelling out all noise. You start to question yourself, questioning if you’ve seen or heard something. This is called audio pareidolia. This movie doesn’t hold your hand through the nightmare. It doesn't spoon-feed the plot to your distracted minds. It forces you to pay attention to what is being said and heard. This is where the brilliant chill-inducing sound design comes in. I was genuinely freaked out for a lot of the short runtime. It’s meant to disturb you. The atmosphere is foreboding and threatening. This has a slow burn that has a great and scary payoff. To be fair, I know people who hate this movie. You might hate this. You could think there’s no story, or it’s boring, or the ending is underwhelming. I’m just not one of those people. It’s remarkably effective and diabolically immersive. This literally cost half a million dollars, talk about efficient use of funds! If writer/director Ian Tuason could put this out as his feature debut, I’m excited to see what he does with the reboot of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. After seeing what he’s done here, I believe he has what it takes. Overall, the well-crafted UNDERTONE accomplishes what it sets out to do, costing a fraction of what movies usually cost. I would say see it in the theater, but it might not be there much longer, so I’ll now say see this using noise-cancelling headphones, trust me. Remember, it wants to be heard.

a tragic love story about the male ego

One of those really singular movies. Like, you're not going to find anything like it. The way its shot and the practical effects are really cool. It was giving adolescent angst, but then its themes seem to expand in the end. A puzzler, but a great watch for those that like crazy-weird movies.

It’s not very often that a movie comes out that appeals to everybody, without it trying too hard. PROJECT HAIL MARY is that movie, based on the novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up from an induced coma, with no short-term memory. He realizes he’s in space, alone. As the movie progresses, we get flashbacks from before he leaves Earth, his memories puzzle-piecing together one by one. I thought this was a cool way to tell the story, even though it fluctuates the pacing. There is a microorganism that’s slowly dimming the sun, which kicks off a space mission appropriately called Project Hail Mary. This is the last hope for humanity. It felt good seeing different countries coming together, actually trying to save the planet we call home. This movie has everything going for it. The visuals are gorgeous and breathtaking, especially in a theater. It has an amazing score by Daniel Pemberton, who also did the SPIDER-VERSE films. This is a dream role for Gosling, who is on screen for most of the runtime. It might be too long for some, but I was never bored. It’s inspiring, uplifting, fun, charming, tense, funny, and emotional. It has the tone of E.T, the spectacle of INTERSTELLAR, and the heart of THE MARTIAN. The core of this movie is a certain friendship that I don’t want to spoil for you. It’s in the trailer, but I highly recommend you don’t watch that. This is the kind of feel-great movie I want to make in the future. Everything works harmoniously, making this the best movie of 2026 so far. Overall, if you call planet Earth your home, PROJECT HAIL MARY is a must-see movie on the big screen. We need more movies like this.

Hii nice 👍fhbjgyjcjvbvbkb

Another day, another Gos slay.

Una historia por demás interesante. Una vez más Jesse Plemons conquista e incómoda con su actuación. La dupla Stone/ Lanthimos siempre funciona.

Un documental importantísimo sobre una de las épocas más oscuras en la Argentina. Lo tienen en Amazon prime.

Una especie de comedia romántica con tintes oscuros. Una versión joven del juego de Gerald(?

Surreal

Interstellar directed by Spielberg written by Garland. The cinematography was juicy, match cuts like 🧈. The pokemon inspo was welcomed.

Ggg

There hasn't been a movie this divisive in a very long time. THE BRIDE! has now been revived, gracing movie theatres with her presence. This is director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second feature, her first being THE LOST DAUGHTER. Based on Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, this version of the Bride is played by Jessie Buckley, who just won an Academy Award for her performance in HAMNET. She gives us another incredible performance here, having the range of multiple personalities, going back and forth on a whim. In 1930s Chicago, Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) has been living in solitude. Fed up with his own crippling loneliness, he asks scientist Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening) to create a partner for him. Thus begins a mind-bending wild ride that is unlike anything you’ve seen before. I need to take a moment to appreciate Maggie. She boldly swings for the fences with this one. It felt like exactly what she wanted to make. It’s unabashedly hers. She has created a heightened, slightly punk rock, noir world. She throws so much into this: a “Bonnie and Clyde” reinvention, a psychological look at a woman fighting men on what a woman “should” be, a love story, a crime story, a satire, a tragedy, a musical, an examination of the legacy of Mary Shelly, an homage to past Frankenstein movies, a feminist examination of patriarchal society in the 1930s, and a “cat and mouse” story. All of these pieces of this movie feel stitched together, like Frank himself. Speaking of Frank, he is enamored with the power of cinema and its escapism, like I am. This includes a fun cameo from Maggie’s brother Jake. Her husband Peter Sarsgaard also has a role here as a cop. This is ambitious and chaotic. It’s unconventional, sometimes abstract. Stylistic yet overbearing. I was completely engrossed with this experience. Despite the inconsistent flow and tonal whiplash, this movie managed to captivate me with its bold storytelling. The messaging might be too “in-your-face” for some, but sometimes you just gotta scream, or put an exclamation point in your movie title. This film is ultimately about violence against women, and has a message that’s sadly more prevalent today. My biggest concern with this movie is the fact that it will lose money, making Hollywood hesitate next time a female director has a bold, original idea. Overall, THE BRIDE! is a big bonkers bombastic movie that I couldn’t pry my eyes away from. It deserves way more than what it’s gotten. I know I enjoyed this more than most. Here comes the mother****ing Bride!

I'm ready to be hurt again.

I have followed the SCREAM franchise with passing interest over the years. I was never a huge fan of them, but I’m invested at this point. After an extremely tumultuous and controversial production, it has finally come out. Going in, I expected it to be bad. It successfully met my expectations. Neve Campbell is back as the scream queen herself Sydney Prescott. She is now married to an inept cop played by Joel McHale, with a teenage daughter Tatum, played by Isabel May. Trying her best to have a normal life, Sydney has pushed her trauma all the way down, avoiding talking about it with anybody, even her curious daughter. When a new Ghostface emerges, she is forced to face it, realizing how naïve it was to not prepare her daughter at all. If you’re not aware, actress Mellisa Barrera, the star of the past 2 movies, was suddenly fired when she spoke out against the genocide in Gaza. A day later, Jenna Ortega leaves production, the reason why is up for debate. This movie feels shallow and rushed. The new characters are bland, the known characters try to carry the movie, but are crushed under a…I don’t know…a T.V or something? The killer reveal was one of the dumbest in the franchise. I don’t even remember the motive, and I just saw it. There are hints of new themes and potentially interesting ideas, but they are quickly stabbed out of existence by what we’ve already seen in this well-tread franchise. It just goes through the motions, complete with stupid jump-scares and odd casting choices. I still enjoy Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding’s banter from the previous two installments. They’re not in this one nearly enough. The characters are just meat-sacs waiting to be killed. It has nothing new to say. They try saying something about A.I. and deepfakes, but it just turns into more nostalgia. I’ve never seen so much nostalgia crammed into one movie. The movie dangles its keys in front of your collective faces with nostalgic cameos and references from past films, hoping you ignore the abysmal writing and the off-putting vibe. It wasn’t a complete waste of time though. There are a couple great kills and a few tense scenes, but that’s still not nearly enough to save this slasher. This franchise has finally become the thing it’s known for making fun of. This isn’t the worst movie, but it sure is the worst of the franchise. Overall, SCREAM 7 is a half-baked mess of a movie that keeps getting up after being shot several times. You should know by now, you gotta shoot them in the head!