Grind is a pleasantly nostalgic movie about skateboarding. The tricks are sick and story is pretty decent. If you grew up skating in the 90’s, you will probably understand more of it than I did. If you didn’t, you will still enjoy this fun underdog story. It is a story that has stood the test of time and will continue to do so.
The movie follows a group of friends from Chicago who dream of being pro skaters. During their summer before college, they follow the pro skating scene with the hope of being discovered. All they want is a chance to prove themselves, will they be able to make it?
I can tell that the film makers consulted a lot of skaters for this movie. A lot of skating scenes really highlight the sport. It truly feels like a love letter to skating. I love that this movie takes skate breaks. These breaks feel organic and it is really fun to see all the different places people can skate in. The acting and story are fantastic as well, but this movie does skating right! Go watch this movie if you want to get lost in some nostalgia. Or, go watch this movie anyways because it is a good movie.
Everything and Everywhere All At Once is my favorite movie of this year. I will even say that it is one of my favorite movies of all time. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun with a movie. If you haven’t seen it yet, buy your tickets now!
Everything and Everywhere All At Once is about a woman named Evelyn who feels stuck in her life. She feels as if she hasn’t accomplished anything with her life and everything seems to be going wrong. She is on the verge of losing her business, her relationship with her daughter is a bit hostile, and she might be getting a divorce. To make matters worse, she is dragged into a multidimensional battle against evil. Now she must overcome her demons and learn to be the hero the Universe needs her to be.
I love this movie. I love how they deal with the multiple dimensions in a way that is creative and not confusing. With these movies, they either get pretentious or hard to follow, but even if you dare to miss a minute of this movie, you won’t be lost. You don’t need to draw a maps or charts connecting the different multiverses and identities because this movie does a great job explaining everything. You can sit back and enjoy the spectacular ride this movie will take you on.
I love the characters in this movie. A lot of the magic for this movie comes from the fantastic performances from all the actors. The chemistry, how they switch between the different personalities, and the energy they bring to this movie is palpable infections. If you’ve never clapped at the end of a movie, you might for this one.
My favorite part of this movie has to be the costume design, specifically for the myriad of costumes for the villain. There are so many costume changes in this movie, and each one is better than the last. I impatiently waited for the universe just so I could see the new costume. Props to the costume department to making the movie look as fun as it felt.
There are so many costume changes in this movie and each one is more amazing than the last. I waited here is so much fun to be had with this movie that I fear I have not done it justice. It has a great message mixed in-between the multiple universes and it was a delight to experience every bit of it. Please go watch this in theaters if you haven’t done so, and thank me later.
Joe Dirt 2 is the sequel no one asked for. It isn’t a direct sequel but rather a painfully unfunny and lazy parody of iconic movies starring Joe Dirt. Someone who I assume was on a lot of drugs thought it would be a fantastic idea to remake iconic movies with a character who wasn’t very funny to begin with. I remember liking the first movie, but I was the target audience at the time. I refuse to watch the movie now because deep down I know that it hasn’t aged well. After seeing this disaster of a sequel, I will let it live in my heart as the experience it was and not soil it with the experience it actually is. The acting in this movie is terrible. It feels like people just showed up for their paycheck as no one tries remotely to be funny. This might be a symptom of this movie’s terrible script. There aren’t any funny jokes in this movie, just a series of unfunny skits loosely tied together by a framed narrative. This movie is a dream within two framed narratives where Joe learns that he was special the whole time. To illustrate what type of movie this is, there is a five-minute scene where people stand around and fart on Joe Dirt. The rest of the movie is no better as you have to sit through skits that go for way too long hoping the credits will roll to end your misery. You can find this movie free on YouTube, but don’t bother. It isn’t funny and it isn’t worth your time. This sequel is anything but beautiful.
The Bad Guys didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I wanted to like this movie because I like the art style. The opening sequence is fun, funny, and exciting. It is one of the best introductions to a heist movie I have seen. Unfortunately, this fun and interesting tone is missing from the rest of the movie. Instead, you get the Shrek remake no one asked for with a lot less charm.
The movie focuses on a group of animals that are vilified because of how they look. They form a crew and commit crimes because that is what is expected of them. They get caught and are given the chance to be the good guys for a change.
This isn’t a terrible movie. If you have to watch it with your kids, you won’t hate your life, but you will probably lose interest in it. If you are given a choice, Zootopia and Shrek are the better options. What hurts this movie is that it doesn’t do enough to set itself apart from other animated films. A lot of the plot has been done better in other movies. Don’t get me wrong, the voice acting is fine, and the art is interesting, but there isn’t anything special about it. I lost interest almost immediately.
This is a poorly executed movie that isn’t worth your time. If you watched this movie in theaters, I hope you received a refund. Firestarter is boring; there is nothing interesting about this movie. Firestarter is a poorly executed horror thriller without any suspense or urgency. The plot is predictable and lazy, and the acting isn’t good enough to make this movie work. I don’t know how it compares to the original, but the original can’t be worse than whatever this is.
There is a lot of build-up in this movie that leads nowhere, yet there isn’t enough worldbuilding to flesh out its universe. I can’t tell you how the powers work or what the difference between each is; all I know is that people will awkwardly stare at each other and special effects wash over everything. It would help if they explanation or guidance so I could care about what is going on, but instead, there is only incompetence.
There is no suspense in this movie. The villains in this movie are negligible at best. They are guided by generic motivations and only seem to appear when the writing hits a wall. When they do show up, they are blown away almost instantly. It is extremely anticlimactic. It would be nice if it felt like Charlie and her family were being pursued by a competent force. It would help make things interesting if the fights were fun. This movie does a great job at making super-powered fights boring. I don’t even want to get into how problematic Rainbird is, but I am deeply offended.
There are other movies that tackle this story more effectively, seek those out instead. This movie doesn’t deserve your time. But if you don’t believe me, you can watch it over on Peacock.
I had to gut this review because every draft before this was too long. I was beginning to nitpick every aspect of this movie out of frustration, but this movie doesn’t deserve it. The Competition isbad and you should avoid it.
The competition is supposed to be a quirky rom-com about an intelligent woman who views love and relationships scientifically. She creates an arbitrary formula that can predict when a someone will cheat in a relationship, but has never actually tested it. This formula is to the test when she falls in love with a man who was bribed to go out with her. Together they decide to test this formula by trying to trick five different people into cheating on their significant other. The outcome of this test will determine the outcome of their relationship. It is a lot dumber and annoying than you can imagine.
This writing is terrible, the acting is stiff and awkward, and the plot is pseudoscience garbage. I’m not sure what upsets me more, the lack of science from a movie that desperately tries to convince its audience otherwise, or the irredeemable main characters you are supposed to be rooting for.
The experiment they have is gross and unethical. This three million dollar idea wouldn’t produce a valid conclusion because the sample size is way too small and the test is heavily skewed to prove her hypothesis. The main character is insufferable. She is cocky and condescending without any real reason other than she’s good at making formulas. The formula behind this whole movie is one with arbitrary variables that she herself gages with a personal scale. This is the dumbest most frustrating movie I’ve seen in a while. It took me multiple breaks to get through this movie and it isn’t worth the trouble.
You can watch it for free on YouTube, but I wouldn’t bother.
Dirty Work is a movie about being petty. A man must raise $50000 to pay for life-saving surgery and uses his pettiness to earn it. He and his brother are hired to exact petty revenge. It is a silly movie with a great cast that has aged decently but not without its faults.
While I did enjoy the film, I understand that it isn’t for everyone. The pacing, the jokes, and the tone are an issue. If you offend easy, avoid this movie. While there are some genuinely funny bits in this movie, some of the jokes have not aged well or don’t land. That said, the cast is talented enough to make this movie work. I love the obnoxious and loud tone. I love the petty over-the-top revenge schemes. There is no plot, but there are enough funny moments to keep you entertained.
I recommend you through this movie on in the background while you work. The plot isn’t engaging enough for your full undivided attention. When the jokes don’t land, it starts to feel like a long movie. While I wouldn’t rush out to go see this, you won’t hate that you watched it. You can watch it free on YouTube. You can do a lot worse for free.
Guilty Party is a story about a disgraced journalist, Beth, who is desperately trying to regain her reputation. An opportunity arises when a woman who was wrongly convicted of murder writes Beth and asks for help to prove her innocence. Beth takes it upon herself to search for any proof that Toni didn’t murder her husband.
I really wanted to like this show. It had some interesting elements to it. I liked that the show uses Beath as someone who is too dated for the industry. I liked that while she was trying to write meaningful stories, she gets overlooked for stories about pop culture. The first couple of episodes make some interesting criticisms about modern journalism. It was really well done at first.
I also liked that Beth wasn’t perfect. She stumbles through the clues and is frightened easily. It feels like she is in way over her head but her desperation keeps her from quitting. Beth is a refreshing take on the detective genre because it felt like she could fail. Usually, in these types of shows, you have a godlike lead with easy access to all these connections and clues, but Beth has none of these. She is constantly having to struggle to find any evidence. This gave the show its tension and I loved it until it became self-serving.
Every episode in this series has a scene where someone comments on how hot Beth is for being old. It wouldn’t be a problem if the story didn’t stop to make this a point. As the series progresses, it gets lazy. Hardships are thrown at Beth for the sake of moving the plot forward. Her husband cheats on her to give her the excuse to sleep with a younger man. Worst of all, this show becomes a white savior narrative as she learns how special black people are. It is gross and I can’t recommend it.
I don’t hate that they use Kate Beckinsale as their lead. When the show isn’t about her and she is trying to solve the mystery, it’s great. Beth is a good character with clear motivations and flaws, but the show never capitalizes on it. This show could have worked, but people got lazy.
This is the second project I’ve seen her in where the show spends so much time talking about how hot she is. I wonder if that is a clause in her contract? I wish they would have focused on actually telling a story. If you don’t believe me, you can stream this on Paramount Plus.
I wish Hollywood would stop making these uninspired and lazy movies filled with stars. It is a shameless way to get people to see a film that they would not otherwise consider. While The Lost City isn’t a terrible movie, it is still a shameless cash grab at its core. The Lost City is the kind of movie that loses its charm after viewing it once.
I didn’t hate The Lost City, it is better than whatever Red Notice tried to be, but it isn’t good. Its star-studded cast cannot hide how lazy it is. All the jokes are either body humor, jokes relating to the actor, or dick jokes. It feels like a comedy sketch that goes on too long. While it did make me laugh a few times, I doubt that I will laugh as much the next time around.
I did like that they didn’t push the same traditional roles for the actors. I liked Channing Tatum’s awkwardness and Sandra Bullock’s confidence, but the characters weren’t push far enough. I hated Daniel Radcliffe’s character because he can play a better villain. I get that this is supposed to be a comedy, but a little more effort with the villain might have made me care more about the movie. This plot lacks substance, and as a result, I just sat there waiting for the next dick joke. The best way to describe this movie is disappointing.
I am glad I didn’t watch this in theaters because I would have hated spending money on this. You can stream it now on Paramount Plus.
All We Had is a neat little film you can watch for free on YouTube. It details the struggles of a mother and daughter dealing with their homelessness. The film focuses on their desperation as they search for a normal life. This movie deals with hard topics such as homelessness, transphobia, and substance and sexual abuse. This isn’t a gruesome movie, but I felt a trigger warning was appropriate. A lot of the dark elements of this movie are implied rather than performed.
Overall, I thought this movie was fine. Although it does little to stand out from all the other emotional movies of the genre, I enjoyed it. The acting was fantastic, and the story is fine. If you like emotional and inspiring movies about overcoming adversity, this is a solid choice. Even if you don’t like the genre, you can appreciate the performance.
You can watch this for free on YouTube. You can do a lot worse for free.
