Tag Archives: movies

Abigail

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This movie was awesome, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it could have been so much better, perhaps even the best movie of the year, but it has to settle for awesomeness thanks to the trailers.

I went into the film wondering why the movie would reveal in the trailers that the little girl who had been kidnapped was, in truth, a vampire. I did not understand the idea behind it, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking that perhaps there was another, more dramatic reveal in the film that made it okay to give away this major plot point.

After seeing the movie, I am even more flummoxed about why the studio would give away what could have been a major twist in the story in the trailer.

The first part of the movie treated this like a kidnapping story and that the crew of hired thugs were to babysit the hostage in this old, spooky house. There were times in the early part of the film that tried to make the little girl, Abigail, into a victim and the film tried to pull on the heartstrings of the audience. The thing is, I knew the whole time that Abigail was a vampire.

It also tried to play a bit of a game of “who can you trust” by making it seem as if Frank, played by the amazing Dan Stevens, was behind the entire thing, and that would have been a cool twist, had I not known that the little girl was a vampire. All this early part of the movie would have worked so much more had they not spoiled that reveal in the trailer.

And the argument would be trying to get people into the theater, but I honestly think there could have been a way to weave together a trailer that painted this into a different picture, while protecting that one major concept. The reveal of Abigail as a vampire would have hit so much harder, been so much more impactful if I did not know it was coming.

After all of that, this movie still rocked really hard.

I was shocked to see at the film’s beginning that Alisha Weir played Abigail. Alisha Weir was the lead of one of my favorite movies of a couple years ago, Matilda the Musical. I absolutely loved her in that role and she is fabulous here too. She is an amazing young actor and she has a bright, bright future. In what could have been a one note role in Abigail, Weir brought so much emotion, vulnerability and power to her character while still being sinister and downright terrifying.

The rest of the ensemble cast was great too. Melissa Barrera was fantastic as the main protagonist, who was the character that the audience was intended to connect with and I certainly did. However, they still imbued her with plenty of mistakes and a back story that was filled with mistakes. She was a bad ass, but also a character with more regrets than happy memories.

Dan Stevens is always amazing, and this is no exception. This is a character that is anything but likable, but you still find yourself rooting for him even though. Dan Stevens does a tremendous job with this character that had surprising depth for this type of movie.

Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand and the late Angus Cloud formed a ragtag bunch of lowlifes that mixed beautifully with the horror/comedy vibe of the film. Giancarlo Esposito had a small, but meaningful role as well.

As I mentioned, this was a horror/comedy film and I laughed out loud multiple times at some of the situations that these characters wound up in.

I might have legitimately given this movie 5 stars had the vampire twist been kept as a secret. I came out raving about this movie even without the surprise, but I can’t help but think it would have been so much more without the spoilers.

4.75 stars

Civil War

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This was a really well done movie with some dramatic moments.

I do not want to every see it again.

There have been several movies that I have seen that I loved, but that had such an impact on me that I would not want to watch it again.

Despite what you might think, this is not a political movie. The film does not go into specifics on how the film’s civil war started nor does it take sides. I think that was a very smart thing to do, but I do expect that some people from either side may see what they want to see in the movie even though it is not there.

The film focuses on four characters who are photo journalists in their attempt to go from New York to D.C. It is essentially a dystopian road trip movie, with a series of scenes that show the horrible events that a war brings. Innocent bystanders are caught in crossfire, lives are ruined, death surrounds them all.

The four main characters have great chemistry together and bring an energy to the darkness around them. Kirsten Dunst played a battle weary photo journalist named Lee and Wagner Moura played her partner Joel. They are joined by up and coming photo journalist Jesse, played by Cailee Spaeny. Then fourth of the group was the wonderful Stephen McKinley Henderson whose character was a grizzled veteran reporter, Sammy.

These characters interact with each other and the film is truly a character piece involving their road trip toward D.C.

The sound mixing team on this film did an amazing job as it sounded unbelievable. The gun shots would literally resonate in the audience’s gut, creating an uneasiness and an awkwardness that empowered the tone of the film.

Civil War is a violent film that does an admirable job at not taking a side in the conflict, nor does it blame either. It spends time with four characters who have to deal with the consequence of war and trying to exist in a war zone. It is a compelling movie with strong lead performances that anchor the film.

4.25 stars

Monkey Man

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Dev Patel had his debut as a feature length director. He was also a writer on this project as well as the lead actor, so Dev had a huge presence across Monkey Man.

I would say that the best parts of this movie was Dev Patel. His performance was outstanding. He took this character and provided a ton of emotion for him.

According to IMDB, “Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash. After years of suppressed rage, Kid discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.“

This was very violent and brutal in many moments, but the biggest problem I had with the movie was the use of shaky cam. So much of the fight scenes were difficult to see because of the shaky cam. There were some scenes where the camera was set and not shaking and they looked great.

There were several moments that the film felt kind of dull. It feels as if it were too long and could have used some editing.

Monkey Man has its flaws, but it is a good movie despite those. It was an impressive debut for Dev Patel behind the camera.

3.4 stars

Immaculate

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Sydney Sweeney has now appeared in two of the worst movies of 2024. First, Madame Web and now this religious themed horror movie, Immaculate.

According to IMDB, “Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney), a woman of devout faith, is warmly welcomed to the picture-perfect Italian countryside where she is offered a new role at an illustrious convent. But it becomes clear to Cecilia that her new home harbors dark and horrifying secrets.“

I should not single out Sydney Sweeney, because there is no doubt that she is the absolutely best part of this fart of a movie. Her performance is savage, and she dominates her screen time.

The problem is that the film is just not very good.

The first hour of the movie was very dull and it spent the entire time throwing jump scares at the audience where the music suddenly spikes loudly, only to see nothing in particular. It was one of the most prolific uses of jump scares I have seen in quite awhile.

While the film’s premise had some promise, the film just goes off the rails in the third act, settling for shocking moments over any sort of storytelling. While I appreciate some of the swings it took in that final act, particularly right at the end, it depends on shock to create emotion in the audience, not anything to do with character or story elements.

Sydney Sweeney was really good in this. She gave it her all. The material was just not up to the quality of her performance.

1.3 stars

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

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Godzilla and Kong are back together once again with the Monsterverse as a new threat forces the two titans to work together. Yes, the story is a little wonky and lacks any real sense of dread, but there are some epic monster fights, and where else are you going to see Godzilla give King Kong a suplex?

That was a life-affirming moment for me.

The new threat is another giant ape by the name of the Scar King. Scar King has been trying to escape from the bowels of Hollow earth for a long time and, with Godzilla on the surface, Scar King has been having more success. He has marshalled his forces together, including a cold controlling titan that he is using pain to force it to help him (that’s not coming back at the end…sarcasm). Kong realizes that he can not take the new threat on his own and he went back to earth to recruit Godzilla, who has been sensing trouble and has been charging up with some nuclear energy.

The plot of this film is really weak. What this movie had to do to hit its purpose was to have great monster fights, and I already mentioned the suplex, right? The fights were well done and the CGI looked fantastic. Was there some cheesy moments? Sure. Kong gets a bionic arm to help with his injured arm. Luckily this bionic arm was already in Hollow Earth.

However, there was a major problem. I never felt as if Scar King was a danger to any sort of combination of Godzilla and Kong, along with whatever other Titans that might show up (no spoilers). I never believed Scar had any chance of taking them down, even after he did well in his initial fight with Kong.

The humans were kept as a sideshow, as they should have been. The human cast included Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle. Kaylee Hottle, played the lovely young lady Jia, reprising her role from Godzilla vs. Kong. Hottle had a real presence on screen and she stood out among the human characters. She seemed to fit beautifully in with the grandness of the monsters around her. I was very impressed by this young actress, who apparently is deaf as well.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was a fun time if you wanted to see giant monsters fighting. Though it is an unfair comparison, this does not match up to Godzilla Minus One at all. That was a much better movie, but this is still fun and a decent popcorn flick.

3.2 stars

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2

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Last year, in my opinion, the worst movie of 2023 was Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. By far. Despite the negative word of mouth (and honestly, probably because of it), I saw that movie on streaming and hated it. There were several movies that I saw last year that, in my movie reviews, I said that this ‘new movie’ would be the worst movie I saw that year, except that I had seen Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.

I was very surprised to see a sequel already to this horror schlock. What was even more odd was that I saw that it had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time (6 reviews).

Admittedly, this sequel is better than the first one. Honestly, that bar was REALLY low.

Then, it kicked off with an opening between Rhys Frake-Waterfield, the director, and Scott Chambers, who had assumed the role of Christopher Robin. They spoke about their new Pooh cinematic universe that they are building including movies featuring horror-takes on Pinocchio, Peter Pan and Bambi, and then even a Poohniverse film where all the monsters assemble like the Avengers. I’m not making this up. The most unbelievable part was when they spoke to the director of the upcoming Bambi: The Reckoning, Dan Allen, who said if you liked movies like Jaws, Aliens and Jurassic Park, you will love Bambi: The Reckoning. What?

Then, Pooh 2 started with an animated intro which made me pause. I thought it was very well done, and I was intrigued with the set up coming out of the opening. Could this actually be a good film after the pile of crap that the first one was?

Short answer: No.

The very next scene was a kill scene with Pooh, his new cohort Owl and a reanimated Piglet, attacking and killing three of the worst female characters you will ever see in a movie. There was no rhyme or reason to it. It was just to have some kills, and I realized that my initial possible thoughts (dare I say, hopes) would go unfulfilled.

I am going to say this. I actually thought when the film focused on Christopher Robin in the first act of the film, it was decent. I liked the conflict of Christopher Robin being accused of being involved in the 100 Acre Wood Massacre (which was basically the first film). Chris had become a doctor and he was struggling not only with the events of the last movie, but also a trauma involving his brother when he was a young boy. All this piqued my interest.

Sadly, that entire storyline was interposed with some of the dumbest scenes of Pooh and Owl killing random people in graphic and gory fashion. Some of these kills were laugh out loud funny, and I did that several times. They took away most everything from those initial scenes with Chris.

By the end of the film, I hated the Christopher Robin story too because they had taken it in the most bizarre and stupidest path. Predictable too. I said several points during the film that were so obvious that it was shameful that they tried to pass them off as reveals.

There were several story elements that were brought up, but either never followed though with or tossed aside with a rampant abandon.

The film did look better. Frake-Waterfield and Chambers had said in their intro that the success of the first film allowed them to approach this one with a considerably larger budget and it did show in the look. However, just because something looked better, does not mean that is better.

Case in point, the film introduces Tigger late in the third act and does nothing with him. He is there for basically one slaughter scene and he was a tiger with long claws that killed people. No sign of “the tops are made of the rubber, the bottoms are made of the springs” that you might associate with Tigger. The film did nothing to establish that this was the Tigger we knew. It made him generic.

The relationship between Pooh and Chris took an even more messed up twist that was completely unnecessary and barely acknowledged.

Yes, this is better than last year’s film. I don’t think that this is an automatic, no-doubter for the worst movie of 2024. However, I am not saying that it won’t be the worst movie of 2024. It will be in the conversation.

1 star

Man from Atlantis S1 E4

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Spoilers

“The Disappearances”

This is the fourth and final TV movie of the series, which was actually entitled “Man from Atlantis IV: The Disappearances.”

It is interesting that I remember this being one of my favorite TV shows when it was on back in the 1970s, but after watching the first four TV movies, I do not remember anything about them.

I enjoyed this fourth movie of Man from Atlantis quite a bit. In fact, it might be my favorite of the four.

According to IMDB, “Elizabeth is kidnapped, one of dozens of scientists held prisoner on the island of Felicitos, controlled by special mineral springs that render their victims completely happy and compliant. Dr. Smith is using them to build a rocket to take her away from our troubled planet in search of some better world, and Mark must find a way to counter the brain-washing and free the captives“

I really do like this show. There are problems, of course. The acting is not what I would call great, but for the 1970s TV, it is acceptable. They have the most conveniently placed cameras around the sub and areas where people can watch what is happening on monitors. That is just a weird bit that doesn’t really affect anything. In a show about a man with webbed fingers who can breathe underwater, having cameras in places that make no sense should not be the biggest drawback.

I did like the Dr. Smith villain of this episode. She was quite brutal and cruel, yet I could understand why she was doing what she was doing. It could be an episode that features a debate on climate change, even before it became a real thing.

Mark was a real hero in this episode. He came up with solutions for everything from the torpedo to the mind-control. I thought the look of Mark when he was trapped in the shed without water was great for the special effects of the time. His underwater scenes were excellent as they always are for this show. Those scenes underwater were well done and looked great. I am not a huge fan of the manner in which Mark always swam, but that would be the way a real person would swim. Today, he would be more CGI and could look like he was swimming faster. Still, I liked the realism of the shots.

Moving ahead, the show starts its regular series run of 13 episodes, which was all the show would get. This is actually a pretty decent sci-fi series and, despite some flaws, has been a fun watch so far.

Road House (2024)

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I just watched the original Road House on Hulu this morning. I wanted to have seen it before watching the remake on Amazon Prime tonight. I did not love the original. I did not hate it because I could see the appeal. The 2024 version of Road House I did not love, but I liked it more than the original.

Jake Gyllenhaal steps into the role of Dalton (who gets a first name in this movie, Elwood), this time a former UFC fighter whose career ended after a tragedy. Dalton’s name was enough to intimidate most people so Frankie (Jessica Williams), who owned a bar named Road House in Florida came to find Dalton and offer him a job to help clean up the bar.

Just like the original, Dalton discovered that the backwoods town had problems with certain individuals who want the Road House gone.

These people bring in Conor McGregor to try and kill Dalton.

I was actually more engaged with the character of Dalton immediately in this movie because of a scene with a train. I found him more interesting than the late Patrick Swayze version.

The villains were every bit as one dimensional as the original. Even McGregor was just the violent killer character.

This was just as violent as the original with Gyllenhaal being quicker to fight than it was with Swayze. The fight scenes were very brutal and displayed Dalton’s skills in mixed martial arts.

There were less involvement with the rest of the bar employees in the new film than the original, but they were there in the scenes.

Gyllenhaal is the star of the film and I thought he did a really solid job. The film is not brilliant, but I was entertained and I did find it better than the Road House I watched this morning.

3 stars

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

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I love the Ghostbusters movie from 1984, and no Ghostbusters movie since has come anywhere close. That does not mean that every film since has been garbage. I had heard that the new film, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was not very good. It lowered my expectations for the movie. I think that helped.

According to IMBD, “The Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.”

I did think the story was decent. I liked the idea of the villain and the powers made it very cinematic. There are some great moments with the cast, in particular McKenna Grace, who once again had the biggest arc among the new characters. Paul Rudd was playing Gary in the best Paul Rudd manner. Carrie Coon did not have much to do. Finn Wolfhard was a nice addition for comedic purposes.

However, there was way too many in the cast. There are too many characters who were just here because they were in the last movie, and they added several new characters who are performed by great actors. I do not think that any of the new characters were needed additions. I love both Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt, but they felt forced into the story.

And I hate to say it, but of the original Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz was the most important. Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson were there for no major reason and Annie Potts was just collecting a paycheck. It is nothing against any of these actors, because they are all great, but there was just not enough in the script for this many people to do.

Making William Atherton’s Peck the new Mayor of New York though is a stroke of genius. He is a perfect antagonist for the Ghostbusters and it makes sense why he hates them.

The special effects are great. They use them in the proper times and it does not seem to be overused.

However, the finale of the film was a touch underwhelming for me because of which characters were central in the battle, and I saw it coming a mile away.

I enjoyed the film for the most part, but it did feel as if there were just too much stuffed into the two hour run time, making the movie feel cramped. Very few of the new characters are developed. There were a couple that I did not even mention. Still, as a fan of Ghostbusters, this was a good time at the movies. It could have been considerably better.

3.25 stars

Road House (1989)

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As I was going to Amazon Prime yesterday, I saw that the new Road House movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal was now available for streaming. With the schedule, I plan on watching that later this afternoon or evening, but I thought I should watch the original 1989 movie starring Patrick Swayze first. I have never seen Road House even though it has a large cult following. I have heard a wide variety of opinions on the film. Everything from it is a favorite movie of all time to it is one of the worst. I found it on Hulu/Max so I watched it this morning.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “The Double Deuce is the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Dalton (Patrick Swayze) has been hired to clean it up. He might not look like much, but the Ph.D.-educated bouncer proves he’s more than capable — busting the heads of troublemakers and turning the roadhouse into a jumping hot-spot. But Dalton’s romance with the gorgeous Dr. Clay (Kelly Lynch) puts him on the bad side of cutthroat local big shot Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara).”

Starting off, this is a silly, mostly stupid, film with poor dialogue and simplistic characters. It is not a very good film.

However, it is entertaining. It is one of those film that you need to approach knowing what kind of film it is and not to expect a lot. There is fun to be had in the mindless violence and one-note characters.

This is basically a 1980s-style Western, with two main characters, Dalton and Mason (Sam Elliott), who are the silent, gunslingers, who coming into the town to clean it up. They are Clint Eastwood-like characters coming face-to-face with the mustache-twirling villains. The story fits right into the genre of the Western, right down to the shootout in the finale.

I will say that the longer the film went, the more ridiculous it became. There is no attempt at realism and it felt much more a cartoon than anything else.

It was awesome to see the late Terry Funk in this film. Sure, he was not much of an actor, but he wasn’t supposed to be. As brutal henchman, he was right in his element.

The more I reflect back on this movie, I can see why people enjoy it, but it really is not a movie that I would recommend unless you are bored on a Saturday afternoon and looking for a really dumb film to pass the time.

Arthur the King

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This was the second film I saw today that I disagreed with the Rotten Tomatoes score. Arthur the King, the new dog movie starring Mark Wahlberg, had a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I did not find it as enjoyable as that.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. Based on an incredible true story, ARTHUR THE KING follows Light, desperate for one last chance to win, as he convinces a sponsor to back him and a team of athletes (Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Ali Suliman) for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. As the team is pushed to their outer limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.“

I really felt as if this film was pushing the boundaries of emotion manipulation with the times it put the dog in jeopardy, and the fact that this dog somehow followed this group of people across some brutal environments because Michael gave him some meatballs was just too much to believe. Yes, it is a true story, but I find it difficult to swallow.

There were some dramatic moments in the film, including one stunt with bicycles and a wire that was harrowing. The landscape was beautiful and was shot very well.

I never doubted what was going to happen in the movie. It was very predictable, which is not always a bad thing. Here, it just felt so manipulative that I rolled my eyes more than I should have.

I do love Simu Liu, but his character was really inconsistent throughout the film and it does not do an adequate job of explaining why he is as he is. Some of his scenes are in direct opposition to moments earlier in the film and even Simu’s great charisma could not help these moments.

A major problem I had was not necessarily the direct problem of the movie, but they showed WAY too much in the trailers, including several scenes from the very end of the movie. Any real tension there may have been in the scene was robbed because I knew there were scenes we saw in the trailer that had not yet happened in the movie. Scenes including the end of the race and subsequent after effects. Some films are hurt by their trailers, and, in my opinion, this is one of them.

I think a lot of people will love this movie, but I am not one of them. It was a basic story that we have seen dozens of times with a dog and a manipulative story. Still, it was not an offensive film and families should like it.

2.75 stars

Oscar Winners-How Did I Do?

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So the Oscars were last night, and I wanted to see how well I did. Here was the list of nominees, and my original picks for who should win and who will win. I will add the who did win section with some thoughts.

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

WHO DID WIN: Oppenheimer

Not a surprise.

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

SHOULD WIN: Christopher Nolan

WILL WIN: Christopher Nolan

WHO DID WIN: Christopher Nolan. Nolan was another fairly obvious pick.

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Emma Stone

WILL WIN: Lily Gladstone (I’ve got a feeling on this one. I could see Emma Stone winning easily too)

WHO DID WIN: Emma Stone. I should have stuck with my gut, but I thought Lily Gladstone had the momentum.

BEST ACTOR 

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

SHOULD WIN: Paul Giamatti

WILL WIN: Cillian Murphy

WHO DID WIN: Cillian Murphy.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

SHOULD WIN: Da’Vine Joy Randolph

WILL WIN: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (LOCK!)

WHO DID WIN: Da’Vine Joy Randolph. It was a Sure thing lock. She was wonderful with ehr speech too.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Robert Downey Jr.

WILL WIN: Robert Downey Jr. (Almost a LOCK)

WHO DID WIN: RDJ. Downey Jr. deserved his award for his performance and for years of great work.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Samy Burch, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives

SHOULD WIN: The Holdovers

WILL WIN: Anatomy of a Fall (I have not seen this film, waiting for the June Swoon.)

WHO DID WIN: Anatomy of a Fall. Got this one right. I did really well on the films that I have not yet seen.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

SHOULD WIN: American Fiction

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

WHO DID WIN: American Fiction. I did the Should Win here. Too bad I didn’t put it on the Will Win.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Io Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom

SHOULD WIN: Society of the Snow

WILL WIN: The Zone of Interest

WHO DID WIN: The Zone of Interest. Easy to pick, even if I liked Society of the Snow. I’ll see Zone of Interest in June Swoon 3.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

SHOULD WIN: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

WILL WIN: I’m uncertain for this. I am tempted to say The Boy and the Heron, but I’ll stick with Spider-Man.

WHO DID WIN: The Boy and the Heron. I had this feeling, but I could not pick against Spidey. I was not surprised at this ‘upset.’

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol

Haven’t seen any of these. I’ll guess 20 Days in Mariupol

WHO DID WIN: 20 Days in Mariupol. Good guesser!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

WHO DID WIN: Oppenheimer.

BEST EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Poor Things

WILL WIN: Poor Things

WHO DID WIN: Oppenheimer. Part of the Oppenheimer rush -7 total wins!

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Barbie

WILL WIN: Poor Things

WHO DID WIN: Poor Things. Very funny with a naked John Cena presenting this award.

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP 

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow

SHOULD WIN: Poor Things

WILL WIN: Poor Things

WHO DID WIN: Poor Things. People were surprised this did not go to Maestro. I was confident in Poor Things.

BEST SOUND

The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

WHO DID WIN: The Zone of Interest. This was a surprise for me. Of course, I have not seen the Zone of Interest yet.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

SHOULD WIN: The Creator

WILL WIN: Godzilla Minus One

WHO DID WIN: Godzilla Minus One. I was excited for this win.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Barbie

WILL WIN: Poor Things

WHO DID WIN: Poor Things. I did well with my Poor Things picks.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbie
“I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
“The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
“It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers of the Flower Moon

SHOULD WIN: “I’m Just Ken”

WILL WIN: “What Was I Made For?”

WHO DID WIN: “What Was I Made For?” However Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” was one of the best moments of the night!

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

WHO DID WIN: Oppenheimer

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

SHOULD WIN: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

WILL WIN: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

WHO DID WIN: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Sad that Wes Anderson wasn’t at the ceremony.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

SHOULD WIN: Letter to a Pig

WILL WIN: War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

WHO DID WIN: War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko. Got this right. Letter to a Pig is much better still.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nai Nai & Wai Po

Again, have not seen any of these. Guess: The Last Repair Shop

WHO DID WIN: The Last Repair Shop. Another lucky guess!

I was 18/23 and I really came close to picking Emma Stone and The Boy and the Heron.

EYG 2024 Academy Award Picks

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https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/awards-insider-oscar-nominations-2024

Here are the picks from EYG for tonight’s Academy Awards. I am giving the Should Win, Will Win choice for each. These are my picks, the nominees I think are going to win, not necessarily my favorites.

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

SHOULD WIN: Christopher Nolan

WILL WIN: Christopher Nolan

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Emma Stone

WILL WIN: Lily Gladstone (I’ve got a feeling on this one. I could see Emma Stone winning easily too)

BEST ACTOR 

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

SHOULD WIN: Paul Giamatti

WILL WIN: Cillian Murphy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

SHOULD WIN: Da’Vine Joy Randolph

WILL WIN: Da’Vine Joy Randolph (LOCK!)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Robert Downey Jr.

WILL WIN: Robert Downey Jr. (Almost a LOCK)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Samy Burch, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives

SHOULD WIN: The Holdovers

WILL WIN: Anatomy of a Fall (I have not seen this film, waiting for the June Swoon.)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

SHOULD WIN: American Fiction

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Io Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom

SHOULD WIN: Society of the Snow

WILL WIN: The Zone of Interest

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

SHOULD WIN: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

WILL WIN: I’m uncertain for this. I am tempted to say The Boy and the Heron, but I’ll stick with Spider-Man.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol

Haven’t seen any of these. I’ll guess 20 Days in Mariupol

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

BEST EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Poor Things

WILL WIN: Poor Things

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Barbie

WILL WIN: Poor Things

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP 

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow

SHOULD WIN: Poor Things

WILL WIN: Poor Things

BEST SOUND

The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

SHOULD WIN: The Creator

WILL WIN: Godzilla Minus One

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Barbie

WILL WIN: Poor Things

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbie
“I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
“The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
“It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers of the Flower Moon

SHOULD WIN: “I’m Just Ken”

WILL WIN: “What Was I Made For?”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

SHOULD WIN: Oppenheimer

WILL WIN: Oppenheimer

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

SHOULD WIN: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

WILL WIN: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

SHOULD WIN: Letter to a Pig

WILL WIN: War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nai Nai & Wai Po

Again, have not seen any of these. Guess: The Last Repair Shop

Damsel

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Millie Bobby Brown has had success with her movie role choices since her breakout performance on Stranger Things. This weekend saw her brand new film, a fantasy film, debut on Netflix.

According to IMDB, “A  young woman who thinks she is being married to a perfect prince is thrown into a pit where she discovers she’s not going to be a princess after all, but a sacrifice to appease a bloodthirsty dragon. Trying to survive long enough until someone can save her — she soon realizes that no one is coming and this “damsel” must save herself.“

Led by Brown, the cast of this film was solid. Robin Wright, Angel Bassett, Ray Winstone, Nick Robinson, Brooke Carter, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Milo Twomey. However, Millie Bobby Brown spent a lot of time on screen and the other powerful actors were supporting for sure. This is definitely Millie Bobby Brown’s movie.

The special effects/CGI of the movie were pretty good, specifically the look of the dragon, which was on screen a lot.

The story was fairly simple. It was a survival tale, bit it took the concept of a “damsel in distress” from fantasy movies and flipped it on its head. She did not need anyone to come rescue her.

I did enjoy the voice of Shohreh Aghdashloo as the dragon. Aghdashloo, who I remember from 24, has a very distinctive voice and it gave that dragon a strong presence.

There is a lot of fun in this movie. Brown is very charismatic and easy to root for. It may be a simple film, but that does not mean it is a bad one.

3.4 stars

Imaginary

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2024 must be the year of imaginary friends. The film IF with Ryan Reynolds is out later this year, and this weekend dropped the latest horror movie featuring the idea of the imaginary friend.

According to IMDB, “a woman returns to her childhood home to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and unhappy that she abandoned him.”

Here is the thing with Imaginary. I was fully engaged in the first 2/3rds if this movie. I was invested, surprisingly so. Then, in the third act of Imaginary, everything absolutely fell off the cliff. The last third of this movie absolutely crushed the enjoyment from the first part of the film and brought this rating way down.

So what went wrong in that third act? Without talking in spoilers, the problems are varied. The movie suddenly falls into exposition. It starts to explain things and doesn’t seem to stop. SO MUCH EXPLAINING!!!! And it was multiple scenes.

Not only are they over explaining things, they are explaining things that we just saw happen, as if we were not smart enough to understand what had just happened. There was one scene in particular where once the action ended, the characters told us what we had just seen. I do not like to think the movie thinks I am too dumb to understand what I am watching. This sure as hell is not Dune 2.

The third act became ridiculous. The story was convoluted and then everything had to be explained. Things happened that did not make sense. The special effects were okay, except for the look of the bear. The monstrous bear known as Chauncey looked like a fraud Bigfoot on a poor video recording.

The acting was, at best, passable, but the writing was extremely weak and the dialogue felt wooden in a lot of times.

They used a bunch of jump scares in the film because they could not really create the type of horror that built on it normally.

I was enjoying the first two acts, despite the fact that it was a little slower. But that third act just drove the film into the ground. I went from being invested to laughing at the scenes. It has been a long time since a movie took this hard of a turn into badness for me.

1.5 stars