The V/H/S series f films have been a success in the horror genre for Shudder. I have never actually seen any of the V/H/S films prior to the newest one. I had a chance to watch V/H/S/99 on Shudder this Halloween weekend. It was an anthology found footage horror film with five separate stories, all set in 1999. There are several odd interludes between the shorts that focused on a bunch of toy soldiers that were being filmed in a stop-motion manner, filmed by Brady, who was shown later in the film. It was a weird, but enjoyable interlude.

As most anthology films, some of the entries are better than the others. V/H/S/99 have five entries which included: “Shredding”, “Suicide Bid”, “Ozzy’s Dungeon”, “The Gawkers” and “To Hell and Back.”

Each of the stories had protagonists that were horribly rotten people. However, many of them got some form of comeuppance as the story progressed, leaving some form of satisfaction.

My personal favorite of the five stories was either “Ozzy’s Dungeon” or “Suicide Bid.” My least favorite of the film was “Shredding,” by far. “Ozzy’s Dungeon” was about a horrendous game show that kids participated in for a chance to gain their heart’s wish. General Hospital’s Epiphany, Sonya Eddy, appeared as the mother of the girl who had been horribly injured in the game show’s obstacle course and her Eddy came back with vengeance against the host on her mind. I’ve never seen Epiphany this way before and her mouth was foul as could be.

“Suicide Bid” was a college freshman named Lily (Alexia “Ally” Ioannides) who was desperate to join a sorority. In order to be inducted into the sorority, Lily had to spend the night in a coffin, buried alive. The other girls were utterly horrible and tormented Lily beyond any reasonable level, but it created a ton of tension and anxiety over what was going to happen to Lily.

I did like the fact that it seemed as if the film was most practical effects and not just some CGI fest.

Overall, V/H/S/99 was mixed for me. There were some of the stories that I enjoyed and a few that felt like a chore to get through. There was some creative kills in the horror film and the use of the found footage technique was effective for this movie. This film did make me somewhat interested in previous V/H/S films and for the next sequel next year, V/H/S/85.

3.1 stars

It is almost Halloween and now we have a brand new stop-motion animated film on Netflix right out of the mind of the director of Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, Henry Selick. The new film included the talents of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key.

Wendell & Wire is remarkably creative and original, with a ton of awesomely designed characters and some beautiful stop motion animation that takes the technique into some fantastic places.

The story starts out with young Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) involved in a tragic car crash that killed her parents. Kat blamed herself for the accident and spent the next several years hardening up.

When she was finally sent to an all-girls school in her hometown of Rust Bank where she immediately started having memories of the events she lived through years before.

At the all-girls school, she met several classmates along with school headmaster Father Best (James Hong) and Sister Helley (Angela Bassett). Kat met Raul (Sam Zelaya) and became friends with him.

Meanwhile, two scheming brother demons, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordon Peele) were stuck placing hair cream on their gigantic father’s head. The head demon, Buffalo Belzer (Ving Rhames), was working his sons hard and they were anxious to create their own design of a bemusement park called Dream Faire. They came up with a plan to escape their father’s dimension and go to the land of the living to set up their park.

Another pot thread was the Klaxons, Lane (David Harewood) and Irmgard (Maxine Peake) were trying to plot to open their own private prison in the rundown and near ghost town of Rust Bank.

These multiple plotlines emerged very cleanly, more cleanly than one would expect with the variety of stories being included in this animated movie. The voice acting was well done and it is always fun to reunite Key & Peele.

The stop-motion animation was exceptional, featuring some of the more creative imagery that you are going to see. There were blends of other styles of animation in flashbacks to distinguish between the time frames in a clever and enjoyable manner.

There are some really great themes sprinkled into the film as well as the movie deals with grief and trying to deal with moving on after a tragic loss. The film has a powerful theme dealing with family and friendship as well.

Wendell & Wild is a perfect family entertainment for the Halloween season. It is visually stunning and engaging for the audience and is able to blend several stories into a reasonably cohesive narrative.

4 stars

Based on a true story.

Some times those words are horrifying.

Especially in a case where there are more questions than there are answers.

The Good Nurse is based on the story of Charlie Cullen, a male nurse who wound up convicted on 29 counts of murder (though the total could be around 400) of hospital patients over years of working at multiple hospitals. All of these hospitals suspected what Cullen was doing but none of them took steps to stop him.

What else is frustrating is that, according to the film, he had never revealed the reason behind his killings. That may not be as accurate to the real world as some of the other aspects of the movie. This might be the “based on” part.

Charlie Cullen was played by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne and the nurse Amy Loughren, who was friends with Charlie and helped the police’s investigation, was played by Oscar winner Jessica Chastain. Both excellent actors brought some strong performances to these roles.

There is a good cast along with Chastain and Redmayne. The other actors include Noah Emmerich, Nnamdi Asomugha, Kim Dickens, Devyn McDowell, David Lavine and Myra Lucretia Taylor.

The film was told in Amy’s POV, although it does change at times. The heart issues that she had felt tacked on, but apparently this was a true situation for the real person the character was based upon.

The biggest draw is the performances in The Good Nurse. The story was terrible in reality but, on screen, turned out to be more like a medical procedural. The story was fine, but it was certainly elevated by the characters.

3.8 stars

We got a new emotional biopic released this week. Till tells the story of the lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year old boy from Chicago who went to Mississippi to see family and ended up being murdered because he innocently had done something that the white people took as insulting. Emmett, referred to as Bo, was beaten badly and his body was found in the river. His mother, Mamie, took up the mantel for justice for her son and became a huge leader among the Civil Rights movement.

This was so powerful that I was moved to tears a couple of times in the theater. At one point, I had considered not going to this movie, but I am so happy that I did. This was a difficult watch, but so emotionally moving.

Mamie was played by Danielle Deadwyler and she completely dominated the movie. Deadwyler deserves an Academy Award nomination for this performance. The absolute anguish that poured out of her when she got her son’s body back from Mississippi was completely brutal and tumultuous. But it was not just the visceral pain that Deadwyler showed, but also the bravery and the leadership she displayed having to face the hatred and the bigotry from the white people in the south.

The film started off by giving us some wonderful interactions with Mamie and Bo. Bo was played by Jalyn Hall who brought a lot of charm to the young boy. You could see what a promising man Bo was going to grown into, if he had been given a chance, and that made this tragedy all the more intense.

Whoopi Goldberg was in the film as well, providing a fabulous supporting performance as Mamie’s mother. Frankie Faison played Mamie’s father and he brought a lot to the role. I would have liked even more from Goldberg.

Part of the horror of the movie was how much guilt everyone involved was feeling over the death of Bo. Everyone from Whoopi, who blamed herself because she had encouraged Bo to go to Mississippi, to Bo’s cousins who were there when he made the mistake that would eventually cost him his life. Guilt is so horrific because you are not at fault and yet you punish yourself as if you were. This was shown brilliantly through the entire ensemble cast.

However, this is Deadwyler’s film and she runs away with it.

It is so sad that such hatred exists in our country and that there are people who feel it is acceptable to respond with such a violent manner. It is also shameful that there had not been a Federal law making lynching illegal until 2022. In fact, I thought that law had failed in Congress so when I saw that the Emmett Till Antilynching Act had been signed into law by President Biden this year I was surprised, but thrilled. It was a LONG time coming.

Till is an outstanding movie that was filled with emotion and a amazing lead performance from Danielle Deadwyler.

4.4 stars

I may have just watched this year’s Academy Award winner for Best International Feature Film on Netflix.

Based on the 1929 novel of the same name, this is the new German version of the classic war movie All Quiet on the Western Front debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last month and arrived on Netflix today, and this was completely epic.

Teenagers Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) and his friends Albert (Aaron Hilmer) and Müller (Moritz Klaus) decide to enlist in the German Army during the days of World War I. They were excited and thrilled to runoff to war, with images of glory flashing through their eyes.

Unfortunately for them, their passions did not last long when they arrived at the front and they discovered the horrors that the soldiers of World War I had to face. Reality was harsh and heartless.

All Quiet on the Western Front was bleak, painful, and brutal. There have not been near as many movies based in World War I than in World War II. A few years ago, 1917 became one of the best films of the year by using the historical setting. Now, All Quiet on the Western Front takes the anguish to a new level.

Felix Kammerer did not have a film credit since 1998 until he led this film as Paul. Kammerer was amazingly compelling with every second he is on screen, suffering through the loss of his wide-eyed innocence and the realization of how much pain and randomness war brought to his life.

The film spared nothing in the area of violence and brutality. It showed the horrors of the battlefield, especially in the trench warfare on the Western Front which was one of the most horrid areas of loss of life in the bloody war. You could not take a breath as the characters ran across the field with bombs exploding and guns firing at them. Adding to the tension of the situation, the film employed one of the most anxiety creating scores that I have heard in years. The sudden pounding bursts kept me anxious and off-balance, creating a fantastic mood.

It was also pretty cool when, after a group of actors who I did not know, suddenly there was the ever awesome Daniel Brühl as a German Matthias Erzberger. Brühl is always an amazing actor and he never fails to be anything but excellent.

You can’t help but sit and watch All Quiet on the Western Front with a tight feeling in your gut. You can never be sure what was going to happen next and the helplessness or hopelessness is strong, bringing an ache inside you.

The epic war film is brilliantly put together and difficult to watch.

4.5 stars

I have to admit that I struggled with this one.

Netflix has a new thriller/crime film called The Stranger featuring Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris and I was excited to watch it. The problem was that I was confused by what was going on for a good chunk of the film, and even at the close of the movie, I was not 100% sure of what I watched.

Part of the problem was my own because when I started the film, I had it on in the background and I was finishing up something else and I did not give it my full attention and, by the time I did, I was lost. The scenes all seemed to jump around and I was not sure when or where some of them were taking place.

According to the summary on Rotten Tomatoes, “A friendship forms between two strangers. For Henry Teague (Sean Harris), worn down by a lifetime of physical labor, this is a dream come true. His new friend Mark (Joel Edgerton) becomes his savior and ally. However, neither is who they appear to be, each carry secrets that threaten to ruin them — and in the background, one of the nation’s largest police operations is closing in.“

Despite my confusion of the plot, Sean Harris and Joel Edgerton were totally compelling and they each brought a tour de force performance to this film. Sean Harris especially brought a haunting quality to Henry that made him something special to watch.

I think the scenes with Mark and his son (Cormac Wright) were what threw me off the most because they were interspersed in the film and I was not sure where they were supposed to fall in the narrative. I thought maybe Mark’s son was somehow a victim in the eventual crime and I kept waiting for that twist to come.

The film was brutal and bleak. It was filmed as such and there were plenty of moments in the film that elicited powerful reactions from the audience. The visuals of The Stranger were just as impressive as the dialogue between the two seasoned actors.

This is a film that could benefit from a rewatch, with more attention given the beginning, especially with the foreknowledge of what was actually going on. Either way, the film contains two master performances and some original storytelling unlike most crime dramas out today. If it is more challenging than others, that is a great thing.

3.5 stars

Tyler Perry’s latest fil in currently on Netflix and it is a powerful story, a story of a love that was forbidden at the time. The film showed the way of life for a black person during the 1940s.

The movie started off with an elderly lady coming to see a lawyer (Kario Marcel) demanding that he investigate this case of murder from 1947.

The film is told then in flashbacks as the lawyer reads through the letters where we see Bayou (Joshua Boone) and his mother Hattie Mae (Amirah Vann) struggling to get by with an abusive father and Willie Earl (Austin Scott), Bayou’s older brother, who took the father’s side in most arguments. The father ran off after a troublesome confrontation, leaving his family alone.

Bayou fell in love with a young girl Leanne (Solea Pfeiffer), but her mother and grandfather did not approve and Leanne’s mother took the girl and left town.

Hattie Mae was able to start up a juke joint, and Bayou worked there. Bayou could sing like an angel and he would sing with his mother. After many years, Leanne returned to town, married to the sheriff’s brother, and she was passing herself off as white. However, Leanne and Bayou’s love had not been shunted.

Watching the way the black people were treated at this time in the South was very difficult. It is always amazing to me that human beings can be filled with so much hatred just because the skin color of another person is darker. People were treated with so much disrespect by many white people that it is a shameful history.

The film is a tragedy in telling. Because of that, the movie does not leave us with a happy scene. In fact, I really wanted to know what happened to some of the other characters that we met in the film after the wrap up of the third act. I understand why it is designed as it is, and it speaks to the successful engagement of the audience that made me want to know more.

There were strong performances from Joshua Boone and Amirah Venn. These two performances carried most of the emotional baggage of the movie. Solea Pfeiffer gave us a character who was anything but sympathetic. Leanne was the love of Bayou’s life, but she seemed to be more selfish of a character.

There was some great music in the film, as we get Bayou and Hattie Mae singing, Willie Earl on the trumpet and several awesome scenes with dancing and amazing beats. The music balanced out the horrible circumstances around these characters.

Written and directed by Tyler Perry, the story said that Perry had written this years ago but he sat on it until he could be sure to make it the way he wanted. He did a great job here and he provided yet another example of how painful life could be just because your skin tone is different.

3.9 stars

It has seemed like forever since Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was announced as taking up the role of DC Comics anti-hero/villain Black Adam. In fact, it was way back in 2014 that Johnson was announced for the role and that he would star in his own film. Johnson had been attached to the character previously as well. Through the chaos that has been the DCEU and the troubles with COVID-19, Black Adam has been delayed and pushed back many times. Finally, the big tentpole film debuted this weekend in theaters around the world.

Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) was freed from his mystical prison by Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) when she was being pursued by Intergang because she had a powerful relic from the past. The return of the god-like being attracted the Justice Society, led by Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), who were dispatched to capture Black Adam and take him to a specially designed cell.

This movie is quite messy, but at times it is highly entertaining. The scenes featuring Dwayne Johnson were awesome. Most of the action scenes with Black Adam wrecking Intergang members were fantastic and the Black Adam/Justice Society super powered battles were fun.

The opening exposition dump, which showed us the (sort of) origin of Black Adam was terrible for me. It really dragged and did not create the intended emotional kick that it wanted. Dwayne Johnson was not in that opening which definitely hurt it.

When the film tried to toss in a humorous moment, they almost exclusively did not work. They felt off because Black Adam seemed really stoic for most of the movie. The film tried to make Black Adam seem like a fish out of water, but it was not very successful and there were times when it felt as if he was doing his Arnold imitation from T2: Judgment Day, especially his interactions with kid Amon (Bodhi Sabongui).

I found the inclusion of Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) to be wastes of time. They were not given much to do, but to be other members of the Justice Society.

The film looked tremendous and had spectacular effects for most of the film. Some of the third act big battle CGI was iffy at times, but most of the action worked well. The times when Black Adam was flying around in the sky was especially epic and his use of electricity bolts looked great every time.

Speaking of that third act, it was not my favorite section of the film. Honestly, it felt as if the movie was over when it suddenly leaped into the CGI-riddled third act. I did enjoy the very end of the third act though as it provided a reasonably satisfying end. The villain of the movie was very weak and uninspired.

There is a great mid credit scene that has been spoiled all over the place on the internet (which I will not spoil here). The mid credit scene sets up a really exciting possible future for the DCEU and the character of Black Adam.

I did like some of the deeper ideas that were tossed out during Black Adam, though I do not think they really developed them very well. There was a moment when Adrianna chastised Hawkman for never coming to their country to help with the invading Intergang and only coming when their local “protector/hero” with massive power arrived on the scene. That was an intriguing idea of world politics and the use of heroes in the universe, but it was not focused on after that moment.

I also enjoyed the question of what makes a hero that the film brought up and the contradiction between Black Adam and The Justice Society, particularly Hawkman. This idea was used much more than the previous theme.

I loved Dr. Fate and Hawkman. Both were outstanding and were played wonderfully by Aldis Hodge and Pierce Brosnan. Both characters had awesome design as well with Hawkman’s wings and Fate’s helmet being huge positives. The other two Justice Society members looked fine and were designed well, but I just did not enjoy them much.

Overall, I think Black Adam was a fun time at the theater. The beginning of the movie was not good and it had plenty of flaws, but Black Adam stood out in a positive way and Hawkman and Dr. Fate were awesome additions. The film looked great and does survive a weak third act and a lackluster villain. I would like to see a little more charisma from Black Adam, considering he is being played by “the most electrifying man in all of sports-entertainment. “

I would look forward to seeing Black Adam again in future films, so this movie is a success in that manner.

3.4 stars

What do you get when you mix Father of the Bride (especially the new on from HBO Max), Momma Mia (but with no music) and those episodes of The Brady Bunch when they went to Hawaii? I’ll tell you what… it is the new film starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, Ticket to Paradise.

This movie could not have been more predictable if it tried. I, literally, could have sat down and written out just about every main beat of the story that happened in this film. If you have seen the trailer to this movie, it played out exactly as you would expect.

Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), after graduating from college and before joining a law firm, travelled to Bali on vacation where she met a charming young man, Gede (Maxime Bouttier) with whom she fell in love. After about a month, she sent a message to her divorced and constantly bickering parents Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David (George Clooney) that she was going to get married.

Unlike their relationship over the last several years, Georgia and David agreed that Lily was too young to make this decision and that she would be throwing her future away. Georgia and David decided that they would head to Bali for Lily’s wedding with the expressed purpose of bringing her home. They would pretend to be fine with each other and the marriage in order to sabotage from within to protect Lily from making the same mistake that they had made 25 years prior.

At this point, if you have watched any of the movies like this one, you should know exactly how this was going to turn out. However, just because something is obviously predictable, does not make it bad. Though there was nothing that surprised me along the way, Ticket to Paradise was still entertaining enough.

The biggest reason this movie succeeds over the predictability is out two main actors, George Clooney and Julia Roberts are charming as all get out and, even though you see where this was going, you didn’t mind being taken on the ride because of them.

Clooney and Roberts had very good comedic timing and made some of the typical scenes considerably more electric than they had any right to be. There was also a ton of chemistry between them, both when they were battling with barbs or bonding over the positive memories that they had.

Kaitlyn Dever and Maxime Bouttier were a nice addition, very likable and sweet. In fact, perhaps it was too sweet at times.

Ticket to Paradise was a cute, sweet, at times funny movie that was as predictable as it could be, but anchored by two major stars that provided a better experience because of who they were.

3 stars

Emily the Criminal is a crime thriller that marked the feature film debut of writer/director John Patton Ford. With this film, Ford showed that he has a bright future in the film industry.

Emily (Aubrey Plaza) was a down-on-her-luck woman, saddled with a mountain of student loan debt and a felony conviction in her past that kept her from being able to break out of the low paying jobs and pursue her dream of being an artist. In a desperate attempt to find a way out, Emily wound up involved in a credit card fraud ring, managed by middle man Youcef (Theo Rossi).

Struggling to get by, Emily and Youcef became closer and began to work in sync.

Emily the Criminal is a realistic look at what can happen to someone whose life is weighed down by debt and a mistake in the past. The film has plenty of dark elements to it, but it never goes off the rails. Emily is a complete person. You can see the path that took her into the criminal world and you could understand why she does what she does. Her life has hardened her and she is unafraid to take the steps necessary to get out from under it.

Aubrey Plaza is wonderful as the hard-nosed Emily. She infused Emily with a power and a bravery that, despite choices that are clearly bad, you have to respect. She is not the type of character that you would expect to react as she does, but it is perfectly believable when it happened.

The connection between Emily and Youcef seemed strong and that makes the ending all the more poignant.

Theo Rossi and Aubrey Plaza have a ton of chemistry and you can root for them, despite being people who are committing criminal acts. They are not necessarily your typical protagonists, but their desperation for survival in a world where the past has stacked obstacles against them allowed the characters to be relatable to an audience unfamiliar with the criminal lifestyle.

Emily the Criminal moves quickly and is full of character moments brought to life from a couple of strong lead performances. I was happy that I took the time to rent this off Vudu because it was a compelling story of a life that may be more common that expected.

4.2 stars

I was surprised when I saw The School for Good and Evil on Netflix tonight. I knew it was coming out, but I was not expecting to see it on the streaming site. I was excited bout watching the film, adapted from a novel written by Soman Chainani.

The School for Good and Evil is like an amalgam of ABC’s Once Upon a Time and Harry Potter. Sadly, though there was a lot of magic on display in the story, it was lacking any substantial magic of story.

According to IMDB, “In the village of Gavaldon, two misfits and best friends, Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) and Agatha (Sofia Wylie), share the unlikeliest of bonds. Sophie, a lover of fairy tales, dreams of escaping her ordinary village life, while Agatha, with her grim aesthetic, has the makings of a real witch. Then one night under a blood red moon, a powerful force sweeps them away to the School for Good and Evil — where the true story of every great fairy tale begins. Yet something is amiss from the start: Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil, run by the glamourous and acid-tongued Lady Lesso (Charlize Theron), and Agatha in the School for Good, overseen by the sunny and kind Professor Dovey (Kerry Washington). As if navigating classes with the offspring of Cinderella, Captain Hook, and the dashing son of King Arthur (Jamie Flatters) wasn’t hard enough, according to the Schoolmaster (Laurence Fishburne), only true love’s kiss can change the rules and send the girls to their rightful school. But when a dark and dangerous figure (Kit Young) with mysterious ties to Sophie reemerges and threatens to destroy the school and the rulebook entirely — the only way to a happy ending is to survive the fairytale first.“

This was such a disappointment. It was silly, derivative, and predictable. The characters were shallow and superficial. The friendship between Sophie and Agatha was unconvincing and did not make me believe that they could overcome this dreaded obstacle in their path.

Laurence Fishburne was wasted as the Schoolmaster. Charlize Theron was decent as the headmistress of the School for Evil, but her motives were all over the place. Kerry Washington was superficial and lacked any semblance of goodness. There were a bunch of side characters that were given legendary parents, but who were not given any sort of personality or depth.

The ending had a chance to do something interesting, but, instead, they succumb to a fairy tale trope that was as boring as it was expected.

Some of the CGI was decent while other parts were shaky. There was some good visuals and scenery in the film, but that was not enough to make it passable.

As it is with some films, a younger audience may find this more acceptable than I did. Unfortunately, I was ready to love this movie, and I just did not.

1.8 stars

I have always thought that mental powers in comics or the movies were the quickest way to becoming a villain. Being able to force others to do what you want is just too tempting.

However, there are those who seem more innocent than others and who are just trying to get some cheese puffs.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon focuses on a young Korean girl named Mona Lisa (Jeon Jung-seo), who we meet tied up in a straightjacket at a mental institution. It quickly becomes apparent that Mona Lisa could be dangerous as she was forcing an attendant to stab herself repeatedly in the leg.

Mona Lisa escaped from the institution and found herself in New Orleans. She met up with a drug dealer Fuzz (Ed Skrein) who bought her some cheese puffs and then she came across a stripper/dancer Bonnie Belle (Kate Hudson) who bought her a hamburger and gave her a place to stay.

Bonnie was not doing this out of the goodness of her heart though as she immediately convinced Mona Lisa to use her mysterious powers to get guys at the strip club to give a larger tip. Realizing Mona Lisa was an opportunity, she brought her to her home, introducing her to her son Charlie (Evan Whitten).

Mona Lisa was being pursued by police Officer Harold (Craig Robinson), who encountered Mona Lisa earlier in the evening and she forced him to shoot himself in the leg.

The film is interesting. It does not go into Mona Lisa’s background at all. We have no idea why she was in the mental institution or how she realized that she had these mind control abilities. These things were just simply part of who she was. Mona Lisa seemed very innocent, almost childlike in her persona so, despite the fact that she had some some very violent things with her powers, the audience was rooting for her.

The character of Mona Lisa reminded me of Kimiko, played by Karen Fukuhara from The Boys. Both are quiet, soft spoken (if not silent) but you do not want to mess with either of them.

Kate Hudson tried to take advantage of Mona Lisa and she succeeded for awhile, but Karma seemed to be coming for her. Hudson was another character that seemed to do some rotten things, but you understood because you could empathize with her struggles to make a better life for herself and her son. Bonnie made plenty of poor choices but her desperation was just below the surface of the character.

I’m not sure how I felt about the ending because almost the entire cast of characters was left with their futures uncertain. The last scene of the film, involving Snacky (Cory Roberts) was extremely satisfying though (no spoilers).

There were plenty of story beats that were left uninvestigated but the film was more interested in the interpersonal relationships of the characters and detailing the after effects of their poor choices. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is stylish and bright, with some intriguingly damaged characters that left plenty of story unexplored.

3.5 stars

Prime Video has had an original film, directed by Lena Dunham, on its service for the last few weeks. It has been on my “My Stuff” section for a bit now. Tonight, I put it on and watched Catherine Called Birdy.

The Amazon original movie was set in medieval times, though there was a distinct present day feel to much of the story, a comedy/coming-of-age tale of a young girl named Catherine (Bella Ramsey), also called Birdy, who desperately did not want to become a ‘lady.’

Birdy was the only daughter of her father, Lord Rollo (Andrew Scott) and mother, Lady Aislinn (Billie Piper). Lord Rollo was anxious to marry off his 14-year old daughter because their family had fallen on troubled time financially and he needed the dowry she would fetch to help their family. The problem, Birdy was rebellious, wanted no part of any marriage and she actively was sabotaging every suitor he father had arranged.

Bella Ramsey carried this movie with her remarkable performance as the troublemaking Lady Catherine. Her dry responses were quite funny and the situations she found herself in were humorously confusing. She was able to provide every emotion that Birdy had to go through and she did it realistically. Maybe not as realistic for the Middle Ages, but she felt very sincere as a young girl.

Andrew Scott was great as Lord Rollo. You could tell he was frustrated by Birdy’s machinations and that he felt guilt over what he believed that he had to do. Andrew Scott is always great in his roles and his relationship with Bella was an important piece of the film.

There were several side stories going on around Birdy and they were mostly compelling, especially the attempt of her parents to have another child despite continuous tragedies.

Funny and compelling, Catherine Called Birdy is a film that you should give a chance.

4 stars

I love Viola Davis so I have been wanting to go see her latest movie, The Woman King, for awhile now, but it was a long one and my schedule just did not accommodate it. Until this weekend, that is.

The Woman King is a fictionalized adventure featuring the Agojie, a group of warrior women who protected the African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Though the Agojie were a real group, the story told in The Woman King is not real. Viola Davis played General Nanisca, one of the leaders of the warriors, and she was involved in training some of the new women looking to join the king’s guard, including Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), whom Nanisca took special interest.

The cast included such top notch actors such as Lashana Lynch, Shelia Atim, John Boyega, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Jimmy Odukoya, and Adrienne Warren.

The whole film, all I could picture was how this was so much like the Dora Milaje from Wakanda in the Black Panther mythos of Marvel Comics. I can only assume that the creation of the Dora Milaje from Marvel was heavily based on the historical group of the Agojie. In fact, I kept thinking and comparing Viola Davis’s Nanisca to Danai Gurira’s Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This movie had a definite epic feel to it, as it featured some amazing battlefield wars with the Agojie and whatever group they were fighting, especially the slavers that had come for some of their people. The battles in The Woman King made me feel like I was watching the battles from Braveheart in scale. These scenes were wonderfully directed and shot by the film’s director, Gina Prince-Bythewood.

Viola Davis never fails to be outstanding. Even in the role of an African warrior, Davis is able to tug on your emotions and find the deeper aspects of her character. Thuso Mbedu was also very good in this movie and shared some powerful moments with Davis.

There was some great music in the film as well, with the score providing a strong backdrop to the action and some excellent moments when the warriors burst into a dance. The end credits song, “Keep Rising” (featuring Angelique Kidjo) had me bopping my head so hard that I needed to immediately pull out my phone and purchase the song on the iTunes store.

The Woman King might have been a touch too long, but the action scenes are worth every second as are some of the training scenes, such as an obstacle course that was full of tension. Vila Davis and Thuso Mbedu were outstanding in their performances and the Agojie were amazing in their fight choreography through their mostly practical stunts. The Woman King is really good and made me want a Dora Milaje Disney + series or a feature film.

4.25 stars

Netflix is known for having movies based on certain holidays for viewing on their streaming service and it is October and it is time for some Halloween action. Marlon Wayans led this comedic Halloween story that felt like a combination of Hocus Pocus, Goosebumps, Jumanji with a splattering of Stranger Things… only not as awesome as any of them.

According to IMDB, “A teenage girl, who accidentally releases an ancient and mischievous spirit on Halloween which causes decorations to come alive and wreak havoc, must team up with the last person she’d want to in order to save their town – her father.”

The teenage girl, Sydney, was played by Stranger Things actor Priah Ferguson and her father was Marlon Wayans. Wayans played Sydney’s father and he started the film as pretentious as he could be. He was dismissive and judgmental and simply unlikable. Thankfully, as you would expect, he changed his attitude as the weird Halloween stuff started happening.

This is, at best, a harmless, somewhat stupid movie that would be good for kids and their families during the holiday season. It does not try to do anything new or interesting. It feels just like a recycled plot of some of those better films that I mentioned earlier. In fact, there were moments that felt like it was directly taken from Hocus Pocus (when Sidney found the spell book, I literally yelled, ‘Boooooooooooook’ like Bette Midler did in the Hocus Pocus films). There was also a character here, played by John Michael Higgins, who was wearing, I swear, the identical outfit that was worn by Gary Marshall in the original Hocus Pocus. It is like they were not even trying to hide it.

Priah Ferguson was a fun, pseudo-lead of the film, getting to do more (though admittedly similar) things than she did as Lucas’s sister in Stranger Things. However, she is very charismatic and enjoyable to watch, so she is able to elevate the below average material to make it, at least, watchable.

Marlon Wayans was overacting as he always does in these films, but some of what he does is funny, so he could be forgiven. As I said, I think kids will enjoy the film more and be forgiving of its obvious flaws.

I think the best thing I could say about The Curse of Bridge Hollow is that it knows what its target audience is and it does a decent job of reaching it. Unfortunately, I am not in that range. I did not hate watching it, but I would not say that i was entertained by it either.

2.8 stars