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The Imagineering Movie Discussion Thread
- Thread starter PerGron
- Start date
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
My Old A*s hit me WAAAY harder than I was expecting it to. Between this and Didi 2024 has been an amazing year for coming of age movies. I love how high concept this movie is without it ever being in your face and "look how clever and WEIRD we are" about it (HI my slight distaste for Everything Everywhere All At Once 
) It's an incredibly economic movie in its storytelling and the pacing is pretty much flawless. Soooo many memorable monologues here. One scene near the end with the mother is a gorgeously written monologue about how bittersweet parenthood is. Chad's speech about no one remembering the very last time they played pretend as a kid genuinely gave me chills and made me loudly say "Damn..." in the theater, a phenomenal musing about how fleeting childhood is. Aubrey Plaza's final scene was so incredibly emotional I genuinely had a hard time looking at the screen and she's another shoe in for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Tikis. I'm also a sucker for island settings so that was another thing that was just right up my alley for me. As great as Didi is I think this one might be even stronger. Still emotional over it.
I hate to say it, but I kind of lean on just "really good" with The Wild Robot. It's a gorgeous looking movie with some really solid world building, I just thought the character work was a little on the light side and the pacing was a little wonky. It's certainly not on the same God Tier of Chris Sanders movies like Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon and I pretty definitively enjoyed Transformers One more.
) It's an incredibly economic movie in its storytelling and the pacing is pretty much flawless. Soooo many memorable monologues here. One scene near the end with the mother is a gorgeously written monologue about how bittersweet parenthood is. Chad's speech about no one remembering the very last time they played pretend as a kid genuinely gave me chills and made me loudly say "Damn..." in the theater, a phenomenal musing about how fleeting childhood is. Aubrey Plaza's final scene was so incredibly emotional I genuinely had a hard time looking at the screen and she's another shoe in for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Tikis. I'm also a sucker for island settings so that was another thing that was just right up my alley for me. As great as Didi is I think this one might be even stronger. Still emotional over it.I hate to say it, but I kind of lean on just "really good" with The Wild Robot. It's a gorgeous looking movie with some really solid world building, I just thought the character work was a little on the light side and the pacing was a little wonky. It's certainly not on the same God Tier of Chris Sanders movies like Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon and I pretty definitively enjoyed Transformers One more.
granted the A-Aron "cameo" went A LONG way towards warming me up to that one haha
Did a quadruple feature yesterday because I’m insane. The end of the month is nigh so I won’t go too into depth because you’ll see my ranking soon enough but here’s the bullet points.
Megalopolis- An insane beautiful mess. This was clearly a passion project and Coppola is one of the greats, but man did this not hit. Some of the performances were great but they felt like they were in a totally different movie from one another, like Shia Labeouf was in a totally different movie than Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza was in another movie. To me, I saw elements here that worked, but none of it came together so it ended up being two hours of what felt like an insane drug trip.
The Wild Robot- Unlike @TheOriginalTiki I fell in love with this movie immediately. It’s a beautifully animated film, possibly the best I’ve seen in 3D animation in my opinion, and I thought the characters and emotional beats were amazing. Pedro Pascal and Lupita Nyong’o were entirely unrecognizable in their voice acting and made it feel like these characters were more real. Maybe it’s me being a nature and animal guy, but I found this to be an almost perfect movie and I’ve got it as my favorite animation of the year.
Never Let Go- This was a really predictable horror movie with some of the best child acting I’ve ever seen. Halle Berry does a solid enough job, but damn the kids were amazing, especially the younger twin. Otherwise it telegraphs its ending way too early and relies waaaaay to much on cheap jump scares (it literally opens on one in the first two minutes) so I don’t think I’ll return to it.
The Killer’s Game- I was so disappointed here because I wanted a dumb fun action gore fest with Bautista just demolishing guys and it wasn’t really that. The violence was too tame despite the kills sometimes being solid and the acting from everyone was really bad. I know Bautista has acting chops but he wasn’t very good here, nor was Pom Klementieff, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, or anyone else for that matter. Of the four, this is the only one I wouldn’t recommend checking out at all.
I’d say Megalopolis is something serious film fans should check out because what the hell was it, Wild Robot is a genuine must see, Never Let Go should be watched once for the kids but can definitely wait for streaming, and The Killer’s game will be a skip.
Today is cleaning day so I plan on running a few new releases on the tv as I go.
Megalopolis- An insane beautiful mess. This was clearly a passion project and Coppola is one of the greats, but man did this not hit. Some of the performances were great but they felt like they were in a totally different movie from one another, like Shia Labeouf was in a totally different movie than Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza was in another movie. To me, I saw elements here that worked, but none of it came together so it ended up being two hours of what felt like an insane drug trip.
The Wild Robot- Unlike @TheOriginalTiki I fell in love with this movie immediately. It’s a beautifully animated film, possibly the best I’ve seen in 3D animation in my opinion, and I thought the characters and emotional beats were amazing. Pedro Pascal and Lupita Nyong’o were entirely unrecognizable in their voice acting and made it feel like these characters were more real. Maybe it’s me being a nature and animal guy, but I found this to be an almost perfect movie and I’ve got it as my favorite animation of the year.
Never Let Go- This was a really predictable horror movie with some of the best child acting I’ve ever seen. Halle Berry does a solid enough job, but damn the kids were amazing, especially the younger twin. Otherwise it telegraphs its ending way too early and relies waaaaay to much on cheap jump scares (it literally opens on one in the first two minutes) so I don’t think I’ll return to it.
The Killer’s Game- I was so disappointed here because I wanted a dumb fun action gore fest with Bautista just demolishing guys and it wasn’t really that. The violence was too tame despite the kills sometimes being solid and the acting from everyone was really bad. I know Bautista has acting chops but he wasn’t very good here, nor was Pom Klementieff, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, or anyone else for that matter. Of the four, this is the only one I wouldn’t recommend checking out at all.
I’d say Megalopolis is something serious film fans should check out because what the hell was it, Wild Robot is a genuine must see, Never Let Go should be watched once for the kids but can definitely wait for streaming, and The Killer’s game will be a skip.
Today is cleaning day so I plan on running a few new releases on the tv as I go.
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
I honestly think my lack of love for The Wild Robot comes down to a mix of it being really hyped up before going in and Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon being two of my all time favorite movies animated or otherwise. It's really good and you're absolutely right about the voice acting. The core characters are great, but most of the animal cast just doesn't gel as an ensemble the same way something like Over the Hedge does for me. Chris Sanders is kind of the movie's biggest strength and weakness. Obviously the directing is fantastic and he clearly elevates any material he's involved with, but his best movies are virtually IMPOSSIBLE to top and have touched me on an incredibly deep, fundamental level I literally don't even know is possible to still get from a new release this late into my life.
AceAstro
Well-Known Member
Now that I’m finally through Film Festival here and had a day to recover (25 movies over 9 days took me out lol) I get to talk about the highlights!
Anora - Before the screening I was at, they mentioned it was the fastest movie to ever sell out both screenings at the festival, beating out Parasite. And I get why. Truly an outstanding film from start to finish that really had you locked in the entire time for what was going to happen next.
A Different Man - A dark comedy that was incredibly dark with its story and humour. Sebastian Stan is great as always but Adam Pearson really steals the show with his performance!
The Apprentice - One I wasn’t sure how I’d feel going into it, but very happy I saw it. Some incredible writing that at times felt like an “origin story” or prequel film almost but in a way I really didn’t mind it set that way. I think it’ll get some Oscar buzz (mainly Hair and Makeup, as well as maybe acting noms for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong).
My Dead Friend Zoe - I didn’t really read the synopsis of this one, I just saw Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman were in it and I was sold. I really wish I read more about it to prepare ahead of time. I don’t know if I ever cried as much in a theatre as I did with this movie. It was a massive surprise hit that combined with the fact it was based on a true story from the Writer/ Director it was one that’ll stick with me for a long time.
The Gutter - I figured this was going to be a standard new comedy movie but man was I ever wrong. Set in an old bowling alley, it felt like a combination of the story of Happy Gilmore, combined with the comedy of Dodgeball. A lot of jokes in the movie that you’re shocked made it in/ didn’t get altered. People joke about “oh you couldn’t make this sort of comedy movie today” but they did and it is this movie.
I definitely have more I can talk about here or there (or more about these movies) but I wanted to leave it spoiler free and just hit the top 5 highlights that weren’t just Canada-core movies lol
Anora - Before the screening I was at, they mentioned it was the fastest movie to ever sell out both screenings at the festival, beating out Parasite. And I get why. Truly an outstanding film from start to finish that really had you locked in the entire time for what was going to happen next.
A Different Man - A dark comedy that was incredibly dark with its story and humour. Sebastian Stan is great as always but Adam Pearson really steals the show with his performance!
The Apprentice - One I wasn’t sure how I’d feel going into it, but very happy I saw it. Some incredible writing that at times felt like an “origin story” or prequel film almost but in a way I really didn’t mind it set that way. I think it’ll get some Oscar buzz (mainly Hair and Makeup, as well as maybe acting noms for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong).
My Dead Friend Zoe - I didn’t really read the synopsis of this one, I just saw Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman were in it and I was sold. I really wish I read more about it to prepare ahead of time. I don’t know if I ever cried as much in a theatre as I did with this movie. It was a massive surprise hit that combined with the fact it was based on a true story from the Writer/ Director it was one that’ll stick with me for a long time.
The Gutter - I figured this was going to be a standard new comedy movie but man was I ever wrong. Set in an old bowling alley, it felt like a combination of the story of Happy Gilmore, combined with the comedy of Dodgeball. A lot of jokes in the movie that you’re shocked made it in/ didn’t get altered. People joke about “oh you couldn’t make this sort of comedy movie today” but they did and it is this movie.
I definitely have more I can talk about here or there (or more about these movies) but I wanted to leave it spoiler free and just hit the top 5 highlights that weren’t just Canada-core movies lol
Well friends, as promised let's take a look at the 17 new releases I managed to get to in the month of September. We're in the endgame now and these are the months I look forward to every year with the awards contenders coming soon plus the big holiday-season blockbusters. September was, overall, a really solid month with some of its releases jumping easily into my yearly top 10 so far (three of them in fact). So without further ado, let's do this.
#17- The Front Room
[Watched in theaters]
Far and away the worst movie of the month, I was genuinely anticipating this movie when I first saw the trailer, I mean it was marketed as a religious horror with a seemingly possessed mother in-law and also had discussion about racism and interracial marriage and other topics that seemed like it could be interesting. Add onto that the directing team are Robert Eggers' brothers, one of which helped write The Lighthouse (one of my favorite films of all time) and this movie just seemed tailor-made to be enjoyable for me, but alas, it was absolute poop from a butt... Literally.
This movie is some weird scat fetish art because all of the horror from it comes from Kathryn Hunter's character repeatedly soiling herself, the bed, the couch, and the house in general while screaming racist things at Brandy. The religious horror I was expecting is entirely absent beyond one singular scene that felt so out of place. Like, the movie advertises this character believes she is "possessed by the Holy Spirit" and has these jump cuts to religious iconography and everything but that isn't remotely what the movie is about. This isn't a supernatural horror or even a religious thriller, this is a weekend with your incontinent in-law and it's a brutal watch. Genuinely may be A24's worst horror movie and has a running at their worst movie overall. I see Robert got the talent in the Eggers family.
#16- Uglies
[Watched on Netflix]
I have a theory that this movie was sitting on a shelf alongside The Hunger Games and Divergent and all the others of the dystopian young adult movies of the early 2010s but somehow got bumped off and fell behind the shelf gathering dust and cobwebs until some intern found it while cleaning, brought it to their boss and their boss had them release it. Seriously, this movie is straight out of 2012's YA boom and it really doesn't have a place in our modern culture.
The movie is incredibly surface level and overly unsubtle to the point it's groan-inducing. While I have another very unsubtle movie waaaay higher on this list, it's because the lack of subtlety was the point there. This movie wanted to be so obvious about its message that a gorilla could understand what it's going for and that really hurt the experience. By the end it had me ready to scream at Joey King "yes, we get it, you're not actually ugly" with how unsubtle it is. If this came out in the glory days of the subgenre, I think it would've just kind of slid under the radar but because in our media landscape we just don't get this stuff anymore it ended up sticking out way more and got picked on (rightly so) more.
#15- Megalopolis
[Watched in theaters]
Coppola is a master and one of the all time greatest filmmakers of all time with movies like The Godfather parts one AND two, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker's Dracula all under his name, so when an artist like this decides to create a passion project and uses his own money to fund it and get it into theaters, I will be seated. Unfortunately, I don't think this is actually a movie, I think it's a drug induced fever dream that I was subjected to when some underpaid Regal concessions worker spiked my popcorn because there's absolutely no way Megalopolis actually exists.
This movie was genuinely bonkers with some insane performances from an insanely weird cast all of which I think were cast in different movies and directed entirely differently because there's absolutely zero way Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, and John Voight were all told what this movie was and got the same answer. Driver is playing it so insanely straight I think he still thinks he's in House of Gucci, Voight came right off of the insane right-wing copium with Reagan to do his best Baron Harkonnen, Aubrey Plaza was just April Ludgate playing the role of a weird journalist, and Shia LaBeouf I'm not convinced knew he was being filmed, I'd not be the least bit surprised if this is just how he acts and dresses in real life.
The idea of casting actors from a wide spectrum of political ideologies and casting actors who have been "cancelled" as well as darlings is kind of an interesting concept, but holy hell there is absolutely zero consistency here. The story is all over the place, the performances exist in different universes, the visuals are sometimes great and sometimes really bad, and the message is trying to say so many things at once that none of them get any time to shine. If this movie gets some sort of director's cut (the director funded and released it himself so it shouldn't) I'd be genuinely interested to see what the hell it does. While this is low on my list, I actually think I loved it in a weird way? It's not good, it shouldn't be seen, but there's something about this movie that has stuck with me like a leech. I don't know what that says about me or my taste, but it is what it is.
#14- The Killer's Game
[Watched in theaters]
I think this is objectively a better movie-going experience than Megalopolis as it doesn't, at any point, give off an extreme existential crisis, but I think I'd rather watch that one because this movie is soooo boring and predictable. There are elements here that work, especially with the Bullet Train-style assassins who all have a fun little gimmick off to get Bautista's character and the plot is kind of fun where he takes out the hit on himself and then finds out his diagnosis was wrong (it's in the trailer, not a spoiler) but beyond the very baseline "huh, that seems fun" it really isn't.
I don't buy Sofia Boutella as an actor in general, between The Mummy and Rebel Moon among others she's just not very good, but here her and Bautista have absolutely zero chemistry and I don't believe their romance at all. In fact, I find Bautista to generally be a pretty charismatic actor but here I didn't like him at all. The most fun I had were the brief few moments of action which had their moments of gore and brutality, but I don't think it was nearly enough to make the movie as fun as it needed to be. If they went more Bullet Train with it, I think it could've been a blast, but unfortunately, it was just pretty boring.
#13- Jailbreak: Love on the Run
[Watched on Netflix]
I'm not a true crime guy and I typically don't seek out true crime material. Every so often I'll find a case or something that intrigues me and I did my time with Buzzfeed Unsolved, but these true crime docs that come out every other day never really appeal to me. That said, I remember seeing the news about this case and decided to check out the doc and for a genre I'm not a huge fan of, I was actually pretty taken in by this doc. The interviews were great and it covered a lot of information and intrigue about this beloved hard-working straight-laced prison guard turned runaway convict in a way that both humanized what she went through and also painted the situation for how crazy it was. I still don't love true crime, but of the few docs I've seen this year, this is the best one.
#12- Apollo 13: Survival
[Watched on Netflix]
Another decent enough documentary from September, I find the topic to be pretty interesting but I'll be honest, I'd rather just rewatch Apollo 13 than sit through this again. That movie was overall pretty accurate to the truth and is more entertaining than this doc is. That said, the info is solid and the way it was presented was gorgeous and well done, so it's not a total wash but not one I think I'd return to.
#11- Rebel Ridge
[Watched on Netflix]
I remember really enjoying the first half of this movie but as it went on it just kind of dragged. It's a decent enough action movie about corruption and poverty and all, but what it really felt like was the Prime show Reacher. For an experience it was alright but as I've gone on, I've all but forgotten the entire thing and so I can't write a ton about it nor rank it any higher than this. It was good enough, but not really great. Aaron Pierre was great here though and I'm always happy to see my childhood crush Annasophia Robb pop up here and there so it wasn't a total wash.
#17- The Front Room
[Watched in theaters]
Far and away the worst movie of the month, I was genuinely anticipating this movie when I first saw the trailer, I mean it was marketed as a religious horror with a seemingly possessed mother in-law and also had discussion about racism and interracial marriage and other topics that seemed like it could be interesting. Add onto that the directing team are Robert Eggers' brothers, one of which helped write The Lighthouse (one of my favorite films of all time) and this movie just seemed tailor-made to be enjoyable for me, but alas, it was absolute poop from a butt... Literally.
This movie is some weird scat fetish art because all of the horror from it comes from Kathryn Hunter's character repeatedly soiling herself, the bed, the couch, and the house in general while screaming racist things at Brandy. The religious horror I was expecting is entirely absent beyond one singular scene that felt so out of place. Like, the movie advertises this character believes she is "possessed by the Holy Spirit" and has these jump cuts to religious iconography and everything but that isn't remotely what the movie is about. This isn't a supernatural horror or even a religious thriller, this is a weekend with your incontinent in-law and it's a brutal watch. Genuinely may be A24's worst horror movie and has a running at their worst movie overall. I see Robert got the talent in the Eggers family.
#16- Uglies
[Watched on Netflix]
I have a theory that this movie was sitting on a shelf alongside The Hunger Games and Divergent and all the others of the dystopian young adult movies of the early 2010s but somehow got bumped off and fell behind the shelf gathering dust and cobwebs until some intern found it while cleaning, brought it to their boss and their boss had them release it. Seriously, this movie is straight out of 2012's YA boom and it really doesn't have a place in our modern culture.
The movie is incredibly surface level and overly unsubtle to the point it's groan-inducing. While I have another very unsubtle movie waaaay higher on this list, it's because the lack of subtlety was the point there. This movie wanted to be so obvious about its message that a gorilla could understand what it's going for and that really hurt the experience. By the end it had me ready to scream at Joey King "yes, we get it, you're not actually ugly" with how unsubtle it is. If this came out in the glory days of the subgenre, I think it would've just kind of slid under the radar but because in our media landscape we just don't get this stuff anymore it ended up sticking out way more and got picked on (rightly so) more.
#15- Megalopolis
[Watched in theaters]
Coppola is a master and one of the all time greatest filmmakers of all time with movies like The Godfather parts one AND two, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker's Dracula all under his name, so when an artist like this decides to create a passion project and uses his own money to fund it and get it into theaters, I will be seated. Unfortunately, I don't think this is actually a movie, I think it's a drug induced fever dream that I was subjected to when some underpaid Regal concessions worker spiked my popcorn because there's absolutely no way Megalopolis actually exists.
This movie was genuinely bonkers with some insane performances from an insanely weird cast all of which I think were cast in different movies and directed entirely differently because there's absolutely zero way Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, and John Voight were all told what this movie was and got the same answer. Driver is playing it so insanely straight I think he still thinks he's in House of Gucci, Voight came right off of the insane right-wing copium with Reagan to do his best Baron Harkonnen, Aubrey Plaza was just April Ludgate playing the role of a weird journalist, and Shia LaBeouf I'm not convinced knew he was being filmed, I'd not be the least bit surprised if this is just how he acts and dresses in real life.
The idea of casting actors from a wide spectrum of political ideologies and casting actors who have been "cancelled" as well as darlings is kind of an interesting concept, but holy hell there is absolutely zero consistency here. The story is all over the place, the performances exist in different universes, the visuals are sometimes great and sometimes really bad, and the message is trying to say so many things at once that none of them get any time to shine. If this movie gets some sort of director's cut (the director funded and released it himself so it shouldn't) I'd be genuinely interested to see what the hell it does. While this is low on my list, I actually think I loved it in a weird way? It's not good, it shouldn't be seen, but there's something about this movie that has stuck with me like a leech. I don't know what that says about me or my taste, but it is what it is.
#14- The Killer's Game
[Watched in theaters]
I think this is objectively a better movie-going experience than Megalopolis as it doesn't, at any point, give off an extreme existential crisis, but I think I'd rather watch that one because this movie is soooo boring and predictable. There are elements here that work, especially with the Bullet Train-style assassins who all have a fun little gimmick off to get Bautista's character and the plot is kind of fun where he takes out the hit on himself and then finds out his diagnosis was wrong (it's in the trailer, not a spoiler) but beyond the very baseline "huh, that seems fun" it really isn't.
I don't buy Sofia Boutella as an actor in general, between The Mummy and Rebel Moon among others she's just not very good, but here her and Bautista have absolutely zero chemistry and I don't believe their romance at all. In fact, I find Bautista to generally be a pretty charismatic actor but here I didn't like him at all. The most fun I had were the brief few moments of action which had their moments of gore and brutality, but I don't think it was nearly enough to make the movie as fun as it needed to be. If they went more Bullet Train with it, I think it could've been a blast, but unfortunately, it was just pretty boring.
#13- Jailbreak: Love on the Run
[Watched on Netflix]
I'm not a true crime guy and I typically don't seek out true crime material. Every so often I'll find a case or something that intrigues me and I did my time with Buzzfeed Unsolved, but these true crime docs that come out every other day never really appeal to me. That said, I remember seeing the news about this case and decided to check out the doc and for a genre I'm not a huge fan of, I was actually pretty taken in by this doc. The interviews were great and it covered a lot of information and intrigue about this beloved hard-working straight-laced prison guard turned runaway convict in a way that both humanized what she went through and also painted the situation for how crazy it was. I still don't love true crime, but of the few docs I've seen this year, this is the best one.
#12- Apollo 13: Survival
[Watched on Netflix]
Another decent enough documentary from September, I find the topic to be pretty interesting but I'll be honest, I'd rather just rewatch Apollo 13 than sit through this again. That movie was overall pretty accurate to the truth and is more entertaining than this doc is. That said, the info is solid and the way it was presented was gorgeous and well done, so it's not a total wash but not one I think I'd return to.
#11- Rebel Ridge
[Watched on Netflix]
I remember really enjoying the first half of this movie but as it went on it just kind of dragged. It's a decent enough action movie about corruption and poverty and all, but what it really felt like was the Prime show Reacher. For an experience it was alright but as I've gone on, I've all but forgotten the entire thing and so I can't write a ton about it nor rank it any higher than this. It was good enough, but not really great. Aaron Pierre was great here though and I'm always happy to see my childhood crush Annasophia Robb pop up here and there so it wasn't a total wash.
#10- Never Let Go
[Watched in theaters]
I think this and Rebel Ridge and also my number nine can probably all switch between one another and I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year they're in a different order. Still, Never Let Go is a pretty derivative horror movie led by three absolutely stellar actors. The two kids were genuinely mind-blowing and Halle Berry was great as usual here as well. The premise was also pretty interesting with an evil creature in the woods and the family has to remain tied up, but we're unsure if it's all real or not. Unfortunately, the movie played its cards too early and I was able to predict every single twist and scene the movie threw at us with 100% accuracy.
Add onto the predictable nature, this movie really really relied on jump scares to the point it was just annoying. I'm not a jump scare person, I can handle a well done one but I just don't really like being startled and I find it a cheap way to try to scare someone. I'd much rather an atmospheric scare or some scary imagery than just a sudden boom and spike in the score with some mundane bird hitting a window or whatever (that specific trope is not in this movie but I digress). There are so many ridiculously cheap jump scares here that I rolled my eyes by the end of it. Hell, it literally STARTED on a jump scare before we even meet any of our characters. If a movie does that, you know it's a bit too lost in the sauce.
So yeah, a decent enough horror with some great performances, a predictable but still somewhat intriguing plot, and an incredible overreliance on cheap jump scares that dampened my enjoyment. I retain the opinion I think it's worth watching on streaming for free, but not worth a theater visit to see it.
#09- Wolfs
[Watched on Apple TV+]
Initially I was disappointed that this was going straight to streaming after being pulled from theaters but after watching it, I don't think we really missed all that much here. This felt like a pretty typical action comedy that would come out on a streamer and actually felt a lot like The Instigators which was an Apple original last month. The main enjoyment from this movie comes from the two actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney. I'm a big fan of both men and I think both of them have the charm and charisma to make this movie an enjoyable enough watch, especially in the opening third in the apartment. The Kid was also a pretty fun character who worked for what he was and brought an interesting enough vibe to the movie.
Where the movie struggles, for me, is that it's just not that fun. When you see a Brad Pitt George Clooney buddy crime action comedy, that sounds like an incredible recipe for success, but it ended up just being slightly above average and not entirely memorable. In fact, I've already forgotten a big chunk of the movie and only really truly remember a few bigger moments. It's not a terrible experience, the leads are charismatic and the action is fun, but it's nowhere near as good as I wanted/hoped it would be.
#08- LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy
[Watched on Disney+]
September was a pretty strong month for animation and LEGO Star Wars kicks it off. While I know this is technically a series, it's four interconnected episodes all released together without an actual episodic feel to it, so I'm counting them as a single movie as that's how I watched them.
I really enjoy the charm and fun that these LEGO Star Wars specials always have with fun little in-jokes for fans of the franchise and also LEGO fans, of which I am both. Getting to experience a bit of What If...? but Star Wars instead of Marvel was great, even if it was way less serious and more kiddy than I'd ideally want in a project like that. The showrunners clearly had a love for Star Wars and the fandom because they gave us stuff like Darth Jar Jar, a running joke that has been around forever. Plus we got stuff like Jedi Jabba the Hutt and evil bounty hunter C-3PO which are all fun little elements that remind me of the way I used to play with my LEGO figures and ships.
It's not anything crazy special, but the animation is good and the story is really pretty cute. Plus, it ends way darker than I expected a LEGO Star Wars special would and that's a pretty interesting concept. Overall, worth a watch if you're a fan or you have kids who are.
#07- Speak No Evil
[Watched in theaters]
I'm gonna say it: I don't love the 2022 version of this movie. Sacrilege, I know, but it's just one of those movies that sucks to watch. I totally appreciate it and get what it's going for and it 1000% is one of the most pit-in-the-stomach type experiences of nihilism and dejection I've ever had, but I really never ever need to rewatch it. When I heard it was getting an American remake, this is about exactly what I expected it would be and I didn't hate it.
James McAvoy absolutely kills this role, it feels like Split where he's just this terrifying and creepy dude who you just don't trust and the fact the two characters visiting just can't seem to get away is super uncomfortable. I think this movie did a great job at taking the first two acts from the 2022 film (the parts that I would rewatch) and tweaking them to be slightly better than they were in that movie while still being overall pretty enjoyable and creepy. At the end, I know that's where it lost a lot of people and I'm not going to say it's a BETTER ending than the original film, but it's definitely a more palatable and audience-friendly version that I'd rather watch.
I think both movies have their valid elements and I'm actually pretty happy to let both of them live and let live. I think the ending of the 2022 movie is better from a film fan pov, I think the ending of the 2024 movie is better from a film watcher pov. I think the acting in 2024 is better but I think the vibes of the 2022 movie are creepier. Overall, I think both are valid interpretations and both have their merits. I had fun here and it didn't send me into a mental health spiral like 2022 did, so I'll give it its flowers there. Minus points for the f***ing trailer though, I'm so glad I never have to see it again.
#06- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
[Watched in theaters]
I need to preface this with, at this point I really enjoyed all of these movies. Beetlejuice is one of my absolute favorite comedies of all time and probably slots in at #2 for horror comedies (behind Evil Dead 2) for me, so seeing a sequel finally was very exciting. I think there are certainly strong elements here, including Keaton's performance as Beetlejuice and Catherine O'Hara's performance as Delia Deetz especially, but there are also some really weak points.
I felt the movie was a bit all over the place with way too many plot lines for its own good, most of which could absolutely be cut without harming the movie at all. In fact, if this movie was about Jenna Ortega being tricked into giving her life to a ghost boy and Lydia and Delia having to go into the dead world and enlist the help of Beetlejuice to find her, I think that would've been a great plot. Having Beetlejuice's ex in the movie did absolutely nothing, while I love Willem DaFoe and I think in my version he could still be an antagonistic force, he wasn't useful here at all. Simply stripping this movie down a bit could've made it just so much better. It was still an absolute blast with many moments of enjoyment to be had (Beetlejuice singing Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx will be a contender for best needle drop at the Golden Tikis for me for sure). It's fun, but I wish it was just a bit more cohesive.
#05- Transformers One
[Watched in theaters]
I'm not a Transformers fan really. I like the 2007 movie enough and I had a few of the toys as a kid, but I didn't grow up on the cartoon and the rest of the Michael Bay movies alienated me as a child because they absolutely sucked, so I never really got into them. That said, this is definitely my favorite piece of Transformers media that I've ever seen. I remember when the trailer for this came out and it looked like absolute dookie, so the fact it turned out to not only be good, but actually pretty great, that's crazy. It's too bad it's not doing well at the box office at all, and it's too bad I can't recommend you see it over another animated film that came out last month.
Seeing the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron (and Bumblebee who was easily the worst part of this movie and I totally understand why they took away his voice box, if I had to deal with annoying Keegan Michael-Key I'd want him to communicate via music only too) was actually a lot of fun and kind of heartbreaking. This story of friendship starts off really strong and seeing that wedge be inserted between these two very homoerotic best friends was a really hard one to watch. Really, this is how Revenge of the Sith's final battle should've been with high emotions and both characters having valid reasons for what they're doing, even if one is definitely wrong.
I didn't expect to really enjoy a Transformers film in the year of our lord 2024, but I actually really did. Yeah, it has some childish humor from Bumblebee that was groan-inducing and yeah it's not the most deep or original story, but for a family movie about robots that turn into cars, it's actually a great piece on class solidarity and dismantling oppressive systems that strip us of our individuality and potential. Workers of Cybertron unite, you have nothing to lose but your Spark!
#04- Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
[Watched in theaters]
I went in not knowing much about Christopher Reeve beyond he had his accident and that he once played Superman. I've seen the first two Superman films and enjoy them, but it's never really been a staple of my life so I never really looked into the guy. I'm sure glad I got to see this doc because it was heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time with some absolutely tear-jerking moments. I don't want to give too much away because it was just a Fathom event so most people haven't gotten the chance to see it yet, but this is a must-watch documentary even if you're not a huge Christopher Reeve fan, I wasn't and I got a lot out of it. When it pops up on MAX, give it a watch.
#03- The Wild Robot
[watched in theaters]
Now it's time to look at the three movies that squeezed into my top ten (so far). The Wild Robot is, to me, an animated masterpiece. It's absolutely stunning in its visuals and it has a gorgeous and heartbreaking take on parenting and fitting in. While Ros and Brightbill's mother-daughter dynamic was adorable and heartwarming, I actually found Ros and Fink to be the most interesting relationship. I was expecting some big third act twist where Fink betrayed her but regrets it now or something, but we don't get any of that, he's just a really great character.
To me, this is a must watch and easily is my favorite animated film of the year so far and I doubt it'll be topped. Maybe that's me as an animal guy who loved the depiction of nature and natural behaviors here on top of the gorgeous story and visuals, but it really really hit me hard. Chris Sanders absolutely cooked here and so did DreamWorks. I wish they consistently did stuff like this and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish but for each of those we've had to get a Ruby Gillman or a Trolls World Tour which just sucks. Go see this movie and go see it now.
#02- My Old A**
[Watched in theaters]
I loved Didi, I really did, but this movie just tops it for me as the best coming-of-age movie of the year. I adored the entire thing from top to bottom from the performance from Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza to the romance that blossoms between two of the characters. The sci-fi element here is present but it isn't overdone and I think it works incredibly well even if it isn't exactly explained how it works.
The visuals here are also stunning from the lake to the cranberry bog, I want to just live here. The characters are all awesome and I love how while the main thing Plaza tells her younger self is to avoid Chad, she also manages to help her by spending more time with her family and seeing those moments where she's golfing with her brother or just sitting with her mom were really sweet moments that as an adult who has moved out and doesn't see my parents or sister all that often anymore, it makes me wish I could go back and tell my younger self to be better to them instead of angsty teen. This whole movie is super sweet and heartfelt and (like the last two movies) will have you tearing up near the end. Definitely a must watch.
#01- The Substance
[Watched in theaters]
Just a brilliant movie. If you want my thoughts, here they are.
=========================================
Alright, well with September over, we're into October and what a lineup we have here. I'm stoked for a bunch of stuff this month, including Terrifier 3, Saturday Night, The Apprentice, We Live in Time, Anora, Your Monster, Memoir of a Snail, and probably way more once we really get into it. We in the end game now and I'm so ready for it!
[Watched in theaters]
I think this and Rebel Ridge and also my number nine can probably all switch between one another and I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year they're in a different order. Still, Never Let Go is a pretty derivative horror movie led by three absolutely stellar actors. The two kids were genuinely mind-blowing and Halle Berry was great as usual here as well. The premise was also pretty interesting with an evil creature in the woods and the family has to remain tied up, but we're unsure if it's all real or not. Unfortunately, the movie played its cards too early and I was able to predict every single twist and scene the movie threw at us with 100% accuracy.
Add onto the predictable nature, this movie really really relied on jump scares to the point it was just annoying. I'm not a jump scare person, I can handle a well done one but I just don't really like being startled and I find it a cheap way to try to scare someone. I'd much rather an atmospheric scare or some scary imagery than just a sudden boom and spike in the score with some mundane bird hitting a window or whatever (that specific trope is not in this movie but I digress). There are so many ridiculously cheap jump scares here that I rolled my eyes by the end of it. Hell, it literally STARTED on a jump scare before we even meet any of our characters. If a movie does that, you know it's a bit too lost in the sauce.
So yeah, a decent enough horror with some great performances, a predictable but still somewhat intriguing plot, and an incredible overreliance on cheap jump scares that dampened my enjoyment. I retain the opinion I think it's worth watching on streaming for free, but not worth a theater visit to see it.
#09- Wolfs
[Watched on Apple TV+]
Initially I was disappointed that this was going straight to streaming after being pulled from theaters but after watching it, I don't think we really missed all that much here. This felt like a pretty typical action comedy that would come out on a streamer and actually felt a lot like The Instigators which was an Apple original last month. The main enjoyment from this movie comes from the two actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney. I'm a big fan of both men and I think both of them have the charm and charisma to make this movie an enjoyable enough watch, especially in the opening third in the apartment. The Kid was also a pretty fun character who worked for what he was and brought an interesting enough vibe to the movie.
Where the movie struggles, for me, is that it's just not that fun. When you see a Brad Pitt George Clooney buddy crime action comedy, that sounds like an incredible recipe for success, but it ended up just being slightly above average and not entirely memorable. In fact, I've already forgotten a big chunk of the movie and only really truly remember a few bigger moments. It's not a terrible experience, the leads are charismatic and the action is fun, but it's nowhere near as good as I wanted/hoped it would be.
#08- LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy
[Watched on Disney+]
September was a pretty strong month for animation and LEGO Star Wars kicks it off. While I know this is technically a series, it's four interconnected episodes all released together without an actual episodic feel to it, so I'm counting them as a single movie as that's how I watched them.
I really enjoy the charm and fun that these LEGO Star Wars specials always have with fun little in-jokes for fans of the franchise and also LEGO fans, of which I am both. Getting to experience a bit of What If...? but Star Wars instead of Marvel was great, even if it was way less serious and more kiddy than I'd ideally want in a project like that. The showrunners clearly had a love for Star Wars and the fandom because they gave us stuff like Darth Jar Jar, a running joke that has been around forever. Plus we got stuff like Jedi Jabba the Hutt and evil bounty hunter C-3PO which are all fun little elements that remind me of the way I used to play with my LEGO figures and ships.
It's not anything crazy special, but the animation is good and the story is really pretty cute. Plus, it ends way darker than I expected a LEGO Star Wars special would and that's a pretty interesting concept. Overall, worth a watch if you're a fan or you have kids who are.
#07- Speak No Evil
[Watched in theaters]
I'm gonna say it: I don't love the 2022 version of this movie. Sacrilege, I know, but it's just one of those movies that sucks to watch. I totally appreciate it and get what it's going for and it 1000% is one of the most pit-in-the-stomach type experiences of nihilism and dejection I've ever had, but I really never ever need to rewatch it. When I heard it was getting an American remake, this is about exactly what I expected it would be and I didn't hate it.
James McAvoy absolutely kills this role, it feels like Split where he's just this terrifying and creepy dude who you just don't trust and the fact the two characters visiting just can't seem to get away is super uncomfortable. I think this movie did a great job at taking the first two acts from the 2022 film (the parts that I would rewatch) and tweaking them to be slightly better than they were in that movie while still being overall pretty enjoyable and creepy. At the end, I know that's where it lost a lot of people and I'm not going to say it's a BETTER ending than the original film, but it's definitely a more palatable and audience-friendly version that I'd rather watch.
I think both movies have their valid elements and I'm actually pretty happy to let both of them live and let live. I think the ending of the 2022 movie is better from a film fan pov, I think the ending of the 2024 movie is better from a film watcher pov. I think the acting in 2024 is better but I think the vibes of the 2022 movie are creepier. Overall, I think both are valid interpretations and both have their merits. I had fun here and it didn't send me into a mental health spiral like 2022 did, so I'll give it its flowers there. Minus points for the f***ing trailer though, I'm so glad I never have to see it again.
#06- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
[Watched in theaters]
I need to preface this with, at this point I really enjoyed all of these movies. Beetlejuice is one of my absolute favorite comedies of all time and probably slots in at #2 for horror comedies (behind Evil Dead 2) for me, so seeing a sequel finally was very exciting. I think there are certainly strong elements here, including Keaton's performance as Beetlejuice and Catherine O'Hara's performance as Delia Deetz especially, but there are also some really weak points.
I felt the movie was a bit all over the place with way too many plot lines for its own good, most of which could absolutely be cut without harming the movie at all. In fact, if this movie was about Jenna Ortega being tricked into giving her life to a ghost boy and Lydia and Delia having to go into the dead world and enlist the help of Beetlejuice to find her, I think that would've been a great plot. Having Beetlejuice's ex in the movie did absolutely nothing, while I love Willem DaFoe and I think in my version he could still be an antagonistic force, he wasn't useful here at all. Simply stripping this movie down a bit could've made it just so much better. It was still an absolute blast with many moments of enjoyment to be had (Beetlejuice singing Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx will be a contender for best needle drop at the Golden Tikis for me for sure). It's fun, but I wish it was just a bit more cohesive.
#05- Transformers One
[Watched in theaters]
I'm not a Transformers fan really. I like the 2007 movie enough and I had a few of the toys as a kid, but I didn't grow up on the cartoon and the rest of the Michael Bay movies alienated me as a child because they absolutely sucked, so I never really got into them. That said, this is definitely my favorite piece of Transformers media that I've ever seen. I remember when the trailer for this came out and it looked like absolute dookie, so the fact it turned out to not only be good, but actually pretty great, that's crazy. It's too bad it's not doing well at the box office at all, and it's too bad I can't recommend you see it over another animated film that came out last month.
Seeing the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron (and Bumblebee who was easily the worst part of this movie and I totally understand why they took away his voice box, if I had to deal with annoying Keegan Michael-Key I'd want him to communicate via music only too) was actually a lot of fun and kind of heartbreaking. This story of friendship starts off really strong and seeing that wedge be inserted between these two very homoerotic best friends was a really hard one to watch. Really, this is how Revenge of the Sith's final battle should've been with high emotions and both characters having valid reasons for what they're doing, even if one is definitely wrong.
I didn't expect to really enjoy a Transformers film in the year of our lord 2024, but I actually really did. Yeah, it has some childish humor from Bumblebee that was groan-inducing and yeah it's not the most deep or original story, but for a family movie about robots that turn into cars, it's actually a great piece on class solidarity and dismantling oppressive systems that strip us of our individuality and potential. Workers of Cybertron unite, you have nothing to lose but your Spark!
#04- Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
[Watched in theaters]
I went in not knowing much about Christopher Reeve beyond he had his accident and that he once played Superman. I've seen the first two Superman films and enjoy them, but it's never really been a staple of my life so I never really looked into the guy. I'm sure glad I got to see this doc because it was heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time with some absolutely tear-jerking moments. I don't want to give too much away because it was just a Fathom event so most people haven't gotten the chance to see it yet, but this is a must-watch documentary even if you're not a huge Christopher Reeve fan, I wasn't and I got a lot out of it. When it pops up on MAX, give it a watch.
#03- The Wild Robot
[watched in theaters]
Now it's time to look at the three movies that squeezed into my top ten (so far). The Wild Robot is, to me, an animated masterpiece. It's absolutely stunning in its visuals and it has a gorgeous and heartbreaking take on parenting and fitting in. While Ros and Brightbill's mother-daughter dynamic was adorable and heartwarming, I actually found Ros and Fink to be the most interesting relationship. I was expecting some big third act twist where Fink betrayed her but regrets it now or something, but we don't get any of that, he's just a really great character.
To me, this is a must watch and easily is my favorite animated film of the year so far and I doubt it'll be topped. Maybe that's me as an animal guy who loved the depiction of nature and natural behaviors here on top of the gorgeous story and visuals, but it really really hit me hard. Chris Sanders absolutely cooked here and so did DreamWorks. I wish they consistently did stuff like this and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish but for each of those we've had to get a Ruby Gillman or a Trolls World Tour which just sucks. Go see this movie and go see it now.
#02- My Old A**
[Watched in theaters]
I loved Didi, I really did, but this movie just tops it for me as the best coming-of-age movie of the year. I adored the entire thing from top to bottom from the performance from Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza to the romance that blossoms between two of the characters. The sci-fi element here is present but it isn't overdone and I think it works incredibly well even if it isn't exactly explained how it works.
The visuals here are also stunning from the lake to the cranberry bog, I want to just live here. The characters are all awesome and I love how while the main thing Plaza tells her younger self is to avoid Chad, she also manages to help her by spending more time with her family and seeing those moments where she's golfing with her brother or just sitting with her mom were really sweet moments that as an adult who has moved out and doesn't see my parents or sister all that often anymore, it makes me wish I could go back and tell my younger self to be better to them instead of angsty teen. This whole movie is super sweet and heartfelt and (like the last two movies) will have you tearing up near the end. Definitely a must watch.
#01- The Substance
[Watched in theaters]
Just a brilliant movie. If you want my thoughts, here they are.
=========================================
Alright, well with September over, we're into October and what a lineup we have here. I'm stoked for a bunch of stuff this month, including Terrifier 3, Saturday Night, The Apprentice, We Live in Time, Anora, Your Monster, Memoir of a Snail, and probably way more once we really get into it. We in the end game now and I'm so ready for it!
It’s not a movie but my sister was visiting abs had never seen it, so over a few days we got through 2018’s The Haunting of Hill House, her for the first time, me for probably the third or fourth now. I mean no hyperbole when I say this is my single favorite piece of horror media of all time.
It’s a beautiful masterpiece of commentary and representation within the themes of horror, grief, loss, family, mental illness, death, belief, generational trauma, and love. Between the many (and I do mean many) brilliantly executed jumpscares (something I normally hate), the hidden ghosts throughout the scenes at Hill House, the gorgeous cinematography, brilliant performances, directing by my man Mike Flanagan, and themes, not to mention the score, this is just a brilliant masterpiece to me.
If you’ve not seen it, now that we’re in October I highly recommend giving it a watch. If you have, I highly recommend giving it a rewatch.
It’s a beautiful masterpiece of commentary and representation within the themes of horror, grief, loss, family, mental illness, death, belief, generational trauma, and love. Between the many (and I do mean many) brilliantly executed jumpscares (something I normally hate), the hidden ghosts throughout the scenes at Hill House, the gorgeous cinematography, brilliant performances, directing by my man Mike Flanagan, and themes, not to mention the score, this is just a brilliant masterpiece to me.
If you’ve not seen it, now that we’re in October I highly recommend giving it a watch. If you have, I highly recommend giving it a rewatch.
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Praying to the movie gods that my theater actually bothers to screen Anora next week and doesn't just front load all their available screens with (bleep)-ing Smile 2.
AceAstro
Well-Known Member
Piece by Piece is shockingly really good? I went to it half as a joke to see what they were cooking by having this be done through Lego but it worked really well? Like I don’t know if it would’ve be as well done in any other medium.
There’s some completely unreal funny moments that only work in Lego that would’ve sucked to lose as it helps add so much charm
There’s some completely unreal funny moments that only work in Lego that would’ve sucked to lose as it helps add so much charm
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Saturday Night reminds me a lot of my reaction to seeing The Founder when that was my #1 most anticipated movie of that year. It's a really solid, well cast movie with some truly stand out scenes and performances, but ultimately comes off pretty tame and safe compared to how the story could have been portrayed. Ultimately both films are probably going to go down in "classic" territory but I just can't see them going into my personal pantheon. With "The Founder" there's a bit too much light hearted celebratory tone surrounding the Ray Croc character, and with Saturday Night I just don't feel like the movie did a great job of communicating to the audience who most of these people are unless you're already familiar with the show. There's also some painful stretches of "that's definitely NOT how that went down" in the third act. Specifically the section where Lorne leaves 30 Rock reeks of needing to tie some "Hollywood" moments into the narrative.
Overall though, I definitely had a lot of fun with Saturday Night. While I certainly think the female cast members got short changed in the screen time which is a real shame, there's some really killer performances at work here. Cooper Hoffman was a big standout for me, as was of course Corey Michael Smith as Chevy Chase. The editing is probably the shining star of the film. I love how this movie felt so much like Birdman in the backstage fly on the wall chaos but with an almost exact opposite mindset when it came to the editing. Genuinely some of the best use of rapid fire quick cuts I've seen in a long time, and it goes a long way towards making the film compulsively watchable.
Overall I'd give Saturday Night a solid 7 or 7.5/10, but as my most anticipated of the year I'm definitely a bit let down that I'm not able to push it into 8 or 9 territory. I feel like one more really fully fleshed out female character might have done that, but alas...
Overall though, I definitely had a lot of fun with Saturday Night. While I certainly think the female cast members got short changed in the screen time which is a real shame, there's some really killer performances at work here. Cooper Hoffman was a big standout for me, as was of course Corey Michael Smith as Chevy Chase. The editing is probably the shining star of the film. I love how this movie felt so much like Birdman in the backstage fly on the wall chaos but with an almost exact opposite mindset when it came to the editing. Genuinely some of the best use of rapid fire quick cuts I've seen in a long time, and it goes a long way towards making the film compulsively watchable.
Overall I'd give Saturday Night a solid 7 or 7.5/10, but as my most anticipated of the year I'm definitely a bit let down that I'm not able to push it into 8 or 9 territory. I feel like one more really fully fleshed out female character might have done that, but alas...
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
Still waiting to see if my theater adds anything this week besides Smile 2, but why in the living hell is that God forsaken movie OVER two hours long??
My Regal isn’t getting Anora this weekend so I’m praying for you @TheOriginalTiki
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
I didn't get Anora, but I did get We Live in Time which is good enough for me haha. I just desperately wanted to see something other than Smile 2. I'd be more interested in Rumors if the Facebook ad campaign didn't have such "THIS IS THE MOVIE HOLLYWOOD DOESN'T WANT YOU TO SEE" Boomer energy. Let me know how that one is if you get around to it.
Watch Anora be another Sing Sing and get a metric ton of hype only to BARELY get a theatrical release
I actually had a really good time with Smile 2. I’m not a very big fan of the first film, it was just kind of whatever, and even though the plot is almost exactly the same, the characters and the jumpscares worked a lot more for me. Yeah it’s kind of generic and I predicted the ending before I even got into the theater, but yeah, I had a really surprisingly good time with this one
TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
I caved and saw Smile 2 and it was...
...
...
...
...absolutely fantastic Like legitimately up there with all time great sequels, especially for the horror genre. I loved the "social anxiety" element of this one. It really lets you get in the character's head instead of bluntly beating you over the head with "THE MONSTER IS TRAUMA" like the first movie felt like. The fact that they were able to make a freaking lipstick smudge viscerally terrifying was a legit "wow" moment for me. It's also the closest were going to get to a faithful live action Perfect Blue and I adore it for that.
Being THIS surprised by a movie rarely happens, but when it does it's absolutely one of the most cathartic feelings I can have as a film fan. Best horror movie of 2024 bar none.
...
...
...
...absolutely fantastic
Like legitimately up there with all time great sequels, especially for the horror genre. I loved the "social anxiety" element of this one. It really lets you get in the character's head instead of bluntly beating you over the head with "THE MONSTER IS TRAUMA" like the first movie felt like. The fact that they were able to make a freaking lipstick smudge viscerally terrifying was a legit "wow" moment for me. It's also the closest were going to get to a faithful live action Perfect Blue and I adore it for that. Being THIS surprised by a movie rarely happens, but when it does it's absolutely one of the most cathartic feelings I can have as a film fan. Best horror movie of 2024 bar none.