Tag: DRAMA

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (2021)

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Written & Directed By: Mikey Alfred

Cinematography: Ayinde Anderson 

Editor: Alex Tsagamilis 

Cast: Ryder McLaughlin, Nico Hiraga, Aramis Hudson, Vince Vaughn, Miranda Cosgrove, Angus Cloud, Gillian Jacobs, Blake Anderson 

A kid must decide between choosing the future his father wants and following his dream of becoming a pro skater.

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This film unfortunately feels sort of like a b-movie version of the film MID 90S or a more independent version of it, as it feels similar but being not quite as sharp. as there are no major names in the cast, except for Vince Vaughn playing the main characters, strong willed, father, and he makes his presence felt And gives the strongest performance. 

The majority of the film is plotless. It’s more of a becoming of age comedy drama, where we watch our main character who wants to be a pro skater through the ins and outs of a few weeks into his life and the various situations he finds himself in. 

As in most coming-of-age films, he finds a romance and faces alienation or the breaking up of friendships as they mature and change and head off in a different directions, though there’s a little actual plotter story a bunch of stuff happens that help to define the characters 

Though the characters being kind of unlikable, juvenile and bland, which one is sure is the main point of the film. As we all are at that time but here it doesn’t come off as fun or poignant. It comes off more as annoying more like someone looking back at that age, and trying to be hip with the current generation as it feels a little Just out of date for some reason. So that there feels like no one in particular to root for or even look forward to. 

What the film does have is a good soundtrack and greats and photography that make you sit through the film and study the shots and notice how well film they are really your patience will be tested with this film and how much you actually get into either the characters or your wonder to see what’s gonna happen next 

As the film isn’t quite as polished or confident as mid 90s and has a more open ambiguous ending, that seems a bit more downtrodden and then positive, but hold out hope strives for a DIY attitude and tone.

As it seeks to be authentic, it just constantly seems a bit off brand and a little more manufactured rather than telling it’s truth or being autobiographical or someone’s passion project

Watching it it just feels way too familiar even in different clothing and locations. You’re going to have that I’ve seen this before, but maybe it works for a new generation and will speak to them. 

The film is worth watching if you don’t have too many expectations or expect that much from me it’s perfectly fine entertainment. Give the film a chance, though you can’t say you weren’t warned beforehand 

Grade: C 

LILI (1953)

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Directed By: Charles Walters

Written By: Helen Deutsch

Based on the story “THE MAN WHO HATED PEOPLE” By: Paul Gallico 

Cinematography: Robert Planck 

Editor: Ferris Webster 

Cast: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jean Pierre Aumont, Kurt Kaszner, Amanda Blake, Alex Gerry, Ralph Dumke

An orphaned young woman becomes part of a puppet act and forms a relationship with the anti-social puppeteer.

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This film will automatically not be for everyone and honestly some might be repulsive, especially the sensibilities of most in modern times. Though for those wanting to get lost in a fantasy of old school filmmaking in its own world. A fairy tale of sorts. We can look at it as different times and what was acceptable at the time. Which doesn’t make it right or wrong. 

The Film is very light and more noteworthy for its design under modern eyes. 

Either way, it’s a very strange film of its time that offers magical realism with an innocence. Yet approaches adult matters at times. Which can be very dark when it comes to the material

It’s a musical that truly only has two musical sequences. It’s a strange family film that might make adults more uncomfortable, though children might love it. As it comes across as a real world fairy tale

The film is a bit creepy. As usually anything with puppets can be for some. Especially as the puppeteer uses them to distract her and seduce her. It’s where he shows his more sensitive side. Though her believing they are real continuously shows how young she is. 

At heart,  it’s a film about a man gaslighting and underage girl who’s innocence is shown demeanor, and a baby face 

Made Romantic as the puppeteer of the carnival she joins seems to try to save her first from suicide, but also seems to slowly seduce her to teach and save her from her naïveté. Though this is partially in retaliation. As she falls in love so easily with a decent flirty and romantic man. Who earlier saved her from being attacked and taken advantage of. 

Though the romantic rival, The Puppeteer is a man scarred by the war and the world becomes More and more bitter. As she seems to not see him at least not the real him only pieces of  him that are rough and angry. Though he acts like his feelings are obvious for her. Which only shows that they are not a match if anything due to maturity. That the film Tries to act like she has gained by the end. Making the romance possible.

This is a romantic fantasy truly, but watching it under modern eyes makes it more dastardly if looking at it more critically and under a microscope. 

As it is the basis of the stage musical CARNIVAL and won the Oscar for Best Music in 1953. 

FRANKENSTEIN (2025)

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Written & Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Based on the novel “FRANKENSTEIN OR THE MODERN PROMETHEUS” ByMary Shelly 

Cinematography: Dan Laustsen 

Editor: Evan Schiff 

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, Charles Dance, David Bradley, Ralph Ineson, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lauren Collins, Sofia Galasso 

Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

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Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein arrives with the kind of anticipation usually reserved for cinematic pilgrimages. It’s a long-gestating passion project by a filmmaker whose devotion to monsters borders on religious. And yes, it’s gorgeous. Ravishing. Sculpted with the kind of gothic precision that makes you want to pause the frame and hang it in a museum (which, ironically, is part of the problem).

Because for all its visual majesty, the film feels less like a living, beating story and more like a beautifully lit museum chamber piece sacred, admired, but curiously still. Almost like a Wes Anderson film

Watching Frankenstein at home, even on the biggest TV you can justify without shame, is like trying to view a cathedral through your peephole. You get the idea, but not the impact. As The film Is A Gorgeous Experience That Never Quite Comes Alive

Del Toro stages the movie like a theatrical spectacle; wide, grand, operatic. It demands an audience seated in the dark, collectively hopefully

holding their breath. On a smaller screen the whole thing compresses, and so does its emotional force. It becomes one more thing you’re “watching while also texting,” its larger-than-life gestures suddenly feeling muted. Which might be why this film doesn’t reach me. As much as it would in a theater more secluded and direct. 

It’s a reminder of an uncomfortable truth: not every film needs the big screen, but this one absolutely does. Shrink it, and the soul shrinks with it.

A friend once described last year’s NOSFERSTU remake as “a museum piece”—impeccable, reverent, exquisitely lit, styled, designed and emotionally distant. It comes off more as a presentation than a movie. Del Toro’s Frankenstein often slips into that same territory.

The sets are Immaculate. The creature design is inventive. The mood? Pretentiously Overwhelming in the best way.

And yet… it rarely moves you. The emotions are presented but not felt. They are laid before the viewer with academic seriousness, like annotations on a text everyone already knows by heart. Maybe that’s the curse of remaking a story we’ve collectively known since childhood: the beats land, but they don’t surprise.

It becomes less a story and more an opportunity to witness someone else’s interpretation of a myth you’ve heard too many times.

Del Toro is too talented to ever make something bad, but here he feels like a director in his Tim-Burton-phase: Instead of breaking new ground, he’s lovingly recreating  the things that inspired him growing up. Unlike Burton, del Toro doesn’t defang his monsters or turn them into punchlines. He actually adores them too much for that, but the result is still a filmmaker circling familiar territory rather than charting new routes. 

And yes, the del Toro signature remains: a gothic romance at the center, a creature yearning for connection, a broken heart inside a larger-than-life body. It’s easy to see what drew him to the material. It’s also easy to wish he’d returned to an original idea instead.

Christoph Waltz—shockingly—goes big. He’s operatic, but also the kind of actor who benefits from stern directorial supervision. Left unchecked, he can become his own genre. Here, he hovers just on the edge of self-parody, charismatic but distracting. 

The rest of the cast plays it with earnestness and restraint, letting del Toro’s production design do most of the heavy emotional lifting. Sometimes too much.

So… Is It Good? Absolutely. Is it essential?

Not quite. As Frankenstein is an achievement, a vision, a painterly triumph. But it’s also one more retelling of a story that has been told so many times it now arrives pre-interpreted. Beautiful, yes undeniably. But also strangely hollow, like an echo of itself.

It’s a noteworthy film, worth admiring, worth seeing on the biggest screen you can find.

But it’s not a new favorite. More a reminder of what del Toro can do… and what we wish he’d dare to do next.

Grade: B 

CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT (2024)

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Directed by: Tyler Taormina

Written By: Tyler Taormina and Eric Berger

Story Editor/Editor: Kevin Anton

Cinematography: Carson Lund

Cast: Matilda Fleming, Maria Dizzia, Ben Shenkman, Francesca Scorsese, Elsie Fisher, Michael Cera, Gregg Turkington, Tony Savino, Steven Alleva, Grege Morris, Sawyer Spielberg

On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own.

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this film is the epitome of an ensemble film as there are no real stars. Every character plays their role essentially in each other stories, and there is no real complete story as everything is told more and snippets and scenes, but never quite from beginning to end in a complete way. 

As the film is largely plotless, but plays out over a families holiday traditions, and party as they all get together where many individual things happen some smaller some greater but nothing really happens except for this celebration.

it seems like the filmmaker wanted some more evoke, the emotions of the holiday or any holiday gathering with your family where the story is told purely at this celebration where you get updates about their lives away from one another, always wanting to showcase the best and you get a sense of the family history and their relationships with one another, but nothing is ever clearly defined 

The drama that happens as well as the comedy is more lived in and isn’t as random as everyone knows each other and because they know each other and their habits nothing is quite shocking to one another. 

The film works and its own artistry that might be frustrating to some members of the audience as it takes its time telling the story it wants to, but again the story is never told in a complete way it’s more told segments that seem like they go nowhere endless that more evoke moods as there is an inherent sadness throughout as they adults are realizing they’re getting older and how much they have in the past but also the ones who raise them are slowly deteriorating and they want to take care of them. It might be too much for them to take on

And that would also celebrates the happiness of seeing long lost family members who you grew up with who now other than these types of get together rarely ever see as those family members you never really want to see, but are forced to and have to play nice with 

The tons of cuisine and food that you can board yourself on and share with family 

As well as issues that certain family members have with one another that everyone seems to know about, but either or not acknowledged or not talked about, but clearly seen and felt 

there is a section of the film where it more focuses on the younger characters the teenagers and their wild night out though even though there’s more adventure and the film seems to have a little more energy and spirit to match the characters. It also is more told in segments whereas anytime the film comes close to anything happening, especially any kind of action or excitement it seems like it cuts to something else or another character and then we see the aftermath of the action.

As even the biggest names in the cast, who is also a producer, Michael cera barely has any lines and isn’t in much of the movie nor anal part of it, but is appearance does add a certain prestige into the film

this is a film that might be challenging for some and truly you’re either going to get into its wavelength or not.

Though as an audience member one cannot say they were totally down with everything about the film. I applaud it for its artistic choices and the mood and can identify with the material as the film presents highs and Lows joys and defeats, but isn’t meant to leave the audience depressed, but also isn’t the typical holiday movie where it’s all smiles and happiness for the audience, though the film does end with a lot of smiles for the characters.

Grade: B-

SILENT NIGHT (2021)

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Written & Directed By: Camille Griffin

Cinematography: Sam Renton 

Editor: Pia Di Ciaula and Martin Walsh 

Cast: Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Roman Griffin Davis, Sope Dirisu, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, Annabelle Wallis, Lily-Rose Depp, Rufus Jones, Davida McKenzie

Nell, Simon, and their 3 sons are ready to welcome friends and family for what promises to be a perfect Christmas gathering. Perfect except for one thing: everyone is going to die.

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This is a film. You should know as a little about before you watch it and let yourself be surprised by it that way it can be rewarding for you.

This is a dark comedy with a surprise ending that you don’t necessarily see coming, especially with this material. Which can be subtle but does leave a sting.

As a perfectly mixes, the joy and melancholy of the holidays. As a time of joy camaraderie, but also a time of darkness, especially if not feeling that particular joy and still feel a certain loneliness or emptiness

The film starts off at typical if not cynical, though eventually you find out the downside or tragedy of what brings all the characters together. Even though there are at the beginning.

We get to see the characters go through the emotions as it dawns on them what is coming and have to face their own mortality and their past. The film surprisingly has them talking about each other, but never becoming vicious or revealing secrets that would normally tear them apart, which would direct the film into a more territory. it to be point and somewhat realistic.

The drama of it all gets to you in the audience that has its fair share of humor that comes more naturally as some secrets are revealed.

What is that? The film isn’t reliant on one thing it’s the mixture of elements that works. The same way with the cast it’s an ensemble no real stars, though wish some of the cast members or other characters had more to do than what they are given here mainly Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

This is a film, where the melancholy hangs in the air no matter how light some scenes or the atmosphere might be.

When the heart is introduced, it gets dark and all the more real thou it is a release of the underlying tension that the film has been building up.

Soon as you see  Roman Griffin Davis in this film, you should know it’s a tragedy or whoever is playing his mother won’t survive. So far his career highlights have been this and JOJO RABBITT. so usually a quirky dark comedy. Though he is also the film’s director’s son 

Ultimately, the film has a climate change message and is very subtle with its theme and provocations. Especially when it comes to science and the government also the establish class and youth culture.. 

I’m surprised this film is more popular as it is a gem 

Grade: B

EDDINGTON (2025)

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Written & Directed By: Ari Aster

Cinematography: Darius Khondji

Editor: Lucian Johnston 

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Pedro Pascal, Deidre O’Connell, Michael Ward, Cameron Mann, Clifton Collins Jr., Luke Grimes, William Belleau, Amelie Hoeferle 

In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.

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This film Is A Modern Western Fever Dream America Desperately Needs to Talk About

Eddington is one of those films that walks into the cultural conversation like it owns the place. It’s loud, strange, earnest, paranoid, poetic—and you immediately know you’ll be arguing about it for months. It’s a genuine conversation starter, which is why I will gently advise: go in knowing as little as possible.

That said… one has have to talk about it, and talking about it requires spoilers. So consider this your warning, your permission slip, and your parachute.

This is a film that is hard to describe or even evaluate on one review. There are so Many things going o. Where even the littlest action, decision or even detail means more by the ends 

This is a movie that is, by design, divisive. A cinematic Rorschach test. Some viewers will love it. Some will hate it. Some will think they “get” it. Some will swear others don’t “get” it. And others still will simply sit there wondering why the film dared to poke at politics, identity, and American mythmaking with a stick this sharp and this reckless.

But that’s also the point: Eddington isn’t here to soothe you. As it’s a midwest tapestry stitched with paranoia.

Set in a small Midwestern town, the film plays like a modern western that swaps out the black-hatted outlaw for pandemic panic, online conspiracy, fractured identity politics, and the creeping realization that the “outside world” has already invaded long before anyone notices.

The first half feels deceptively simple. small tensions, personal feuds, social anxietie, but those threads keep tightening, knotting, and snapping until the town erupts, not because of a single villain, but because absolutely everyone is too wrapped up in their own drama to actually talk to each other.

It’s a portrait of America where communication has been replaced with suspicion. Where rivalries escalate past all reason. Where every person is starring in their own private conspiracy thriller. Even as the real threats crawl right through the cracks.

By the end, the film begins to resemble a Donald-Trump-era conspiracy fantasy… but with absolutely none of the idol worship or flattery. It’s the nightmare version: the idea that paranoia itself becomes prophecy. That fear becomes religion. That enemies, real or imagined materialize because characters are too busy reenacting their own ideological theater to notice the world burning around them.

The satire bites hard, aiming squarely at both political sides. The left -idealistic, moralizing, eager to be on “the right side of history” treats the town’s homeless man like an inconvenience. The right – fearful, defensive, easily provoked, treats him like a problem to eliminate. And everyone, absolutely everyone, is a hypocrite.

Young “progressive” locals demand justice yet lecture the Black deputy on what he should feel, while he’s simply trying to do his job and survive in a town that barely allows upward mobility. Romantic tensions reveal that personal motives are often far murkier than the ideologies people hide behind. Friendships fracture. Morals bend depending on who’s watching. It makes you wonder if the characters truly feel this or if it’s just performative social justice because that is the trend and what’s popular. Also giving them a sense of rebellion that youth seems to always desire against the aged or old ways. 

By the end the deputy has his own scars and learns the lessons his ancestors had to deal with and learn. Yet still go on day to day in pain. Never being able to forget the injustices. 

The virus infiltrates. Fear infiltrates. Antifa is said to infiltrate. But really, it’s paranoia doing all the infiltrating.

Yes, this is very much an Ari Aster film, though it’s looser, less mannered, and more sprawling than Midsommar or Beau Is Afraid. It’s a messy beauty, intentionally so. The visuals are gorgeous but less overtly stylized; the tone more erratic, more chaotic, more human. It’s a modern western of moral collapse 

If Beau Is Afraid punished its lead for everything, Eddington punishes its lead for exactly one thing: believing revenge is righteousness.

And his downward spiral, though tragic, is compelling in a mythic, moral-fable way.

The third act is where Aster lights the fuse and lets the whole film detonate.

Chaos reigns. Consequences catch up. Characters pay the ultimate price. not for their politics, but for their blindness.

Eddington refuses to pick a side because it’s too busy examining how people weaponize sides in the first place. It understands that humans are more complicated than the slogans they carry or the propaganda they share. Ideology becomes performance. Performance becomes identity. Identity becomes a trap.

And through all this, the film insists that sometimes the greatest horror story is simply a group of people refusing to truly see one another.

So that the film is about flawed people, not slogans 

Is the film perfect? No. Is it Ari Aster’s best? No 

But Is it vital? Absolutely. It’s ambitious, jagged, clunky in spots, occasionally too big for its own frame, but it’s also alive—full of ideas, full of danger, full of that rare cinematic bravery that demands viewers think rather than simply consume.

The major supporting actors. Some of the film’s biggest names. Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Pedro Pascal all appear briefly but meaningfully, flashing like caution signs in the town’s slow-motion meltdown. Their presence reinforces how everyone is part of the problem, part of the confusion, part of the noise.

Joaquin Phoenix’s acting here is more internal than external and it’s his show the ringleader to reign in. Even if by the end he is one of the acts rather then being in control. Especially the way he wants or hopes he is. 

I could try to link the various theories and interpretations that this film presents but that is for the viewer to discover for themselves and read into,  no I’m not writing that to say that I don’t

Have any or see any. I think half the interest and entertainment isn’t Always what is happening on the screen but how you or an audience reacts to it. 

I can see why some might dislike the film

Though most admit they don’t like the film but It’s 

Not a bad film as it does make you think. As it tries to be a satire that is less comedic and more political exposing the chaos of the pandemic playing out all the theories, fears and politics in a small town and making it come across as a modern western due to it’s Location and strange mix of morals and anti-hero To show that we are all flawed in some way

As when the lead does what he thinks is right out of revenge but leads to his own and others downfall that ends up with him being heroic and paying the ultimate price 

The films shows flaws I. Both sides as it is more interested in showing characters and how they can be lead astray but also victims of circumstance and survival at times 

Who are we to hate because things don’t

go the way they are supposed to or are expected to. People are people not slogans and propaganda that they might brandish or share and at the heart of all these movements the leaders are open to oversight and more interested in the message and less the followers or even supposed victims 

This is not a pass/fail film. It’s a what did this make you feel? film. A what did you see that I missed?film.

The entertainment isn’t just the plot. it’s the audience reaction, the interpretations, the debates in the parking lot afterward.

Eddington is a human horror story disguised as a political satire disguised as a western disguised as a pandemic drama.

It’s a film about how easily we fracture under pressure, how quickly we fall into narrative traps, and how dangerous it is when no one is listening.

Not my favorite Aster film… but maybe the one most urgently worth discussing.

Grade: B+

THE ACTOR (2025)

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Directed By: Duke Johnson 

Written By: Duke Johnson and Stephen Cooney 

Based on. The novel “MEMORY” by: Donald E. Westlake 

Cinematography: Joe Passarelli 

Editor: Garret Elkins

Cast: Andre Holland, Gemma Chan, Toby Jones, Tracy Ullman, Joe Cole, May Calamawy, Tanya Reynolds, Youssef Kerkour 

When New York actor Paul Cole is beaten and left for dead in 1950s Ohio, he loses his memory and finds himself stranded in a mysterious small town where he struggles to get back home and reclaim what he’s lost.

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This is a strange film as it is beautifully film, offering surreal, imagery, mystery, nostalgic throwbacks in a bit of artificiality that the film leans into when it comes to fading memories, or one memory leading to another and connected 

What a strange about this tail is that it plays a bit like film noir it seems to want to head that way, so it plays more like a romance, as well as a psychological character drama that fully tries to illustrate the lead characters, fractured, memories, and emotional state due to this condition 

Though ultimately the problem with the film is that it doesn’t really go too many places it explores the situation, but you never know where exactly it’s headed and it still doesn’t really offer any answers and what it does. They’re not really that big revelations so you wonder what are we supposed to do with this And even though the film doesn’t outright explain anything we’re able to get answers through small little clues

Obviously, the film deals with identity, and whether this is truly the person’s identity stripped away, and who he was before was always an act. This is more the emotional vulnerable him or is he in fact, truly a different person.

Just as we are left a question what’s real as the film is obviously filmed more on sites than actual locations and can easily walk over to the vaccine or memory, but it makes it not only a movie but also makes it feel more staged, but also loose in itself as there is obviously a design to it all, but you never know where it’s gonna go so more like an outfit from the runway, though in the parameters of an outfit that someone could wear daily, but still with that wild streak. As the sets work to show that each time he moves on, he is in a new scene or a new set for him in his life. 

If anything, the film plays more like a dramatic romance that is dreamlike and fits in with movies such as MOOD INDIGO, and THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP where it’s more about the creative forces,  presentation and artistry on display. As the films and the filmmaker seemed to get lost in their imagination and while it all looks good by the end, it doesn’t come too much

Though it all looks pretty and it does entertain it’s very light on material, even though there is plenty of depth. Though sometimes that creativity seems like it is more there to either distract or make up for the lack of action.

Though this film is admirable, if you give it a chance for its beauty and what it attempts to do not to mention where it takes you to and leaves you for you more interpret as it is sweet and old-fashioned now using more modern storytelling techniques. Not to mention the bravery of the filmmakers to make this film and live in the moments.

Another aspect that keeps the film feel more like a stage plays is that some of the noticeable and notable actors play at least three different roles throughout. Usually minor but meaningful ones. That come In each phase or territory that he travels to. 

Andre Holland in the lead is excellent as usual, truly showing his leading man presence, looks and vulberability. Gemma chan as the female lead is so precious though one wishes she was given more to do and play with. Even as with that decision she plays more of a sweetheart who the audience falls in love with, as she is truly innocent throughout.

Hopefully this will be a film that is discovered and studied by Audiences In the future and not just an undiscovered gem. That while shiny isn’t as heavy as it should be. 

by the end, you just wish that it had more to say and something you can grab a hold of so that it could truly match its beauty

Grade: B-

SMART MONEY (1931)

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Directed By: Albert Green

Written By: Kubec Glasmon, John Bright, Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson 

Cinematography: Robert Kwirle

Editor: Jack Killifer 

Cast: Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Evalyn Knapp, Ralf Harolde, Noel Francis, Margaret Livingston, Maurice Black, Billy House 

Nick Venizelos, an immigrant Greek barber, has an uncommon affinity for poker and other sorts of wagering and a group of his friends bankroll him in a big game, where his weakness for pretty blondes is taken advantage of by sleazy operator Sleepy Sam who cleans him out in a rigged game. Nick accepts help from his buddy Jack as they turn the tables on the grifters, but triumph soon changes to tragedy.

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Recently have been watching many 1930’s films. Which is where one came across this one.

Though Watched this with extra enthusiasm because it starred two of my favorite classic actors On the big screen together  for one of the few times In Their careers. James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. Though Cagney has the smaller supporting role. 

They both seem to have their big screen personas and attitudes but not as graphically or as much here yet 

Thought the film would be more of a comedy and not quite so serious.

This film made me really feel something, especially for the main character. He stayed identifiable throughout

The film is defitnely older and of it’s time period as it’s treatment of women and black characters are definitely old fashioned and in bad taste. As it is a pre-code film that is a representation of its times and politics.

 The film might not be the best considering the talent involved. Though it does tell its story swiftly and engagingly as it gets to the point.

Grade: B- 

ROUNDING (2022)

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Directed By: Alex Thompson 

Written By: Alex Thompson and Christopher Thompson

Cinematography: Nate Hurtsellers 

Editor: Michael S. Smith 

Cast: Namir Smallwood, Sidney Flanigan, Michael Potts, Rebecca Spence, Charin Alvarez, Nedirah Best, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, David Cromer 

A driven young medical resident transfers to a rural hospital for a fresh start. There, the demons of his past start to catch up to him when he becomes consumed by the case of a young asthma patient.

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This is what I’m thankful for the SHUDDER channel. As even though it’s more devoted to all kinds of horror films, maybe a little sci-fi they are also a channel that seems to welcome foreign films and many different genre of movie that might have a supernatural or horror element to them which ends up with the channel housing a lot of Indie films that might not have necessarily gotten released on other streaming channels. It might leave some of the channels fans who want strictly hard a bit disappointed, but it might also open them up to different films, they never would’ve given a chance to. Like this one

This is a film that again is better off unless you know about it as it’s stronger the more of a mystery it is. 

As it is more of a psychological thriller or psychological drama. About a medical student who after an accident has a breakdown and decides to try to get back on his feet by transferring to a more remote program. Where stress rears its ugly head, especially when it comes to a young woman’s case.

That he decides to investigate and the deeper he seems to get the more disturbed his behavior becomes the more resistance. He comes against where it does become a situation. Where is he the only one seeing this or is it all in his head or is he just getting two clips as the film goes along? We see him slowly unravel where even we aren’t sure if he is a reliable protagonist.

This is a film that has twist and turns, but is not entirely reliant on them to tell the story they just naturally come about and only add to the cold clinical exterior of the film. They eventually becomes devastating.

Namir smallwood really holds his own and truly dazzles as the lead in this film. He give the film gravity and fen be scary when he needs to be.

This is one of those films that is more lower budget and seems like a small story but ends up having a massive impact on the viewer. It does have its fair sheriff scares, but more than anything. It’s uncomfortable and unsettling more than anything else. So special mention must be made of what it manages to achieve with seemingly so little. It truly stays captivating and even a bit gross 

Grade: B-

THE LAST SHOWGIRL (2024)

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Directed By: Gia Coppola 

Written By: Kate Gersten 

Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw 

Editor: Blair McClendon And Cam McLaughlin 

Cast: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billie Lourd, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Dave Bautista, Jason Schwartzman, Linda Montana 

A seasoned showgirl must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.

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This from falters, but it’s not entirely its fault, as the film was heavily hyped to be a comeback vehicle but then when it was released, it was a whimper, though the way it was talked about by the few who didn’t see it you expected so much more and better than it had this kind of hype about it and then, when you watch the film, Kenmore has a light touch but you were already expecting to see so much more now you can’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Which is why it’s usually best to go in with no expectations and hopefully most of you will go into this film with not too many expectations then maybe you can get into it but for me it felt like a lost cause almost.

This film could easily be compared to a star in trying to say some thing about her career in popularity, where the main character is a former show girl who has always lived that kind of lifestyle gotten by on her luxe, and try to support herself and her daughter throughout the years and now that she’s older kind of being pushed out as the show that she stars in is being canceled and can’t seem to get a job In any other shows, though she has experience, she doesn’t have the formal so-called education for the jobs, and also due to her age.

It’s a film that’s sad man tries to give the character dignity even though throughout, she seems to be a pushover who seems to only want to stand up to the wrong people the people who actually care about her, but are making her answer for her flaws and mistakes. Unfortunately they’re asking while the world seems to be against her.

The film has a guerrilla style camera work, and it does have a story deep down in there, but it just doesn’t feel like a very strong as the film try to be more of a slice of life that’s not going to please everyone and more revolves around Pamela Anderson’s character than us really getting to know too many of the other characters.

As even the younger stripper, she works with her costars in the show kind of looked at her to be a mama hen even though her own daughter feels like she neglected her when she was growing up even though Anderson’s character was trying to do the best that she could add time is, it might’ve been selfish, but it was some thing that she loved where she had to choose between her to loves, and she gave one more attention than the other.

There’s nothing bad about the film, but I believe your interest in the film will be as how much do you really care about her character or any of the characters and while I applied it for a showing a film about a woman dealing with feeding beauty and it seems like aging makes you feel you’re made to feel useless

Especially with the supporting role played surprisingly by Jamie Lee Curtis in a way to tan overly made up cocktail waitress who used to be a dancer, but had to go to waitressing and still misses the days of dancing, but also seems to have other personal problems of living, a fast lifestyle even though she can give good life advice, and somehow is worse off than Pamela Anderson’s character though like her characters make up, she might be a bit much, but what is needed a contemporary for Pamela Anderson’s character to truly talk to you and deal with.

One wishes they could’ve gotten into the characters more, as it seems to deal with surface level, but it never really makes you wanna go deeper than the surface of what is shown even though the main point of the film is to go underneath that to see the person and not the beauty or the Luxury or the faded glory but it feels like something that could’ve been told and still manage to have a little bit more to it.

As one remembers her at the peak of her popularity with a bombshell, she was one of the bombshells to reference over the years that has truly asked her to act, even if the character is familiar

This film was talked about as a possible. Oscar consideration. Slow down, would have fooled the industry just because she shows herself with no make up written for her in mind. 

As it even struggles to keep the audiences interest at 89 minutes as there’s just not enough, this feels like a film that would’ve done gangbusters in the 1990s independency but here it just feels like fluff and sort of a gift to Pamela Anderson for making it in Hollywood after all these years as it’s the first time I’ve seen with her that really and challenges are even though it feels also custom-made for

Grade: C