The Eyes of Tammy Faye

 The Eyes of Tammy Faye is definitely an actors film. I was hoping it'd be like I, Tonya but instead it just felt like a bate for an oscar. Michael Showalter is a proven director, he does solid films, as is this, but he only has one GREAT film and that is the Big Sick. How does one go from the Big Sick to Lovebirds. I get shared actors but that goes from craftsmanship to director for hire Then to go from that to Tammy Faye? It is puzzling. Perhaps he knew Lovebirds was a misstep so he took this to get back on the right track but sadly it is not the film that should follow Big Sick. Give us raw emotion, characters, and storytelling. The acting is good it just is quite boring and uninspired. 

Match of November

Jonathan Gresham vs Brody King: Honor For All 

CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston: Full Gear 

Bryan Danielson vs Miro: Full Gear 

Mark Andrews vs Nathan Frasier: NXT UK 

 Bandido vs Alex Zayne: ROH World Title: 

Chucky

 Chucky is the Cobra Kai of horror. Both series are way better than they should be, have a great mix of humor and have an excellent cast of teens. There is more plot on this season than basically all the Child's Play films combined. I love that franchise but this series is as great as a slasher about a killer doll can be. There is alot to love for fans of the saga with plenty of characters returning and various call backs to the lore of not just the overall canon but the history of Charles Lee Ray. We even get iconic characters meeting for the first time. Throughout all of the chaos it is quite heartwarming at times too. This season wraps things up tightly all while setting up season 2 perfectly. 

Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City

 The Resident Evil games i have played in passing but was never a mark for. I always hated the controls but i loved the imagery. The original film i do enjoy but the sequels definitely kept going further down in quality. Welcome to Racoon City is far from a perfect film but tonally it feels so different than the Paul WS AndersonVerse. It feels more like survival horror, it feels lower key, and it feels more horror driven than action driven of the OG canon. Some of the dialogue feels like cut scene dialogue and i am sure i missed alot of game easter eggs but as a zombie film fan there was alot to love even if the games are not your thing. The music plays a big part in this as well, but it is not in your face with the 90sness. A stinger sets up a sequel and i am all for more set in this universe. 

The Card Counter

 Paul Schrader has always been more of a writer than a director. He directs solid films but his scripts for Martin Scorsese are masterpieces. The Card Counter however might be his best directing. What felt like a dull premise actually has quite the intriguing story with daring imagery and compelling characters accompanied by some fine acting. Scorsese produced this but honestly it feels like a project he would have done in the 70s or 80s. 

8 Bit Christmas

 I love Goon so i became a Michael Dowse fan, most of his post Goon films have been spotty though. I love 80s nostalgia but alot of them feel forced. Video game centric movies are a mixed bag. This here is a mixed bag of a movie that truly feels forced and adds to the spottiness of Dowse. The acting is not bad neither is the plot but it feels like a 90s kids movie but without insulting the intelligence by making it over kiddie, no instead here they insult us with cheap jokes and unrealistic situations. I wish it had been a bit more grounded and featured a bit more realistic 80sness. It has heart so that carries the film but it needed a soul. 

The Strings

You know the story about the writer that goes to the isolated spot to get the creative juices flowing during winter and then encounters ghosts? Well if so then go watch the Shining. If you want a boring, self indulgent, repetitive and ultimately meaningless and pointless film then watch the Strings. Shudder is usually a mixed bag but now they are doing a film that if it starred Greta Gerwig it would have been the hipster event of 2021. 

F is For Family Season 5

 F is For Family is one of the best animated series there is. After five seasons the show has wrapped up and the final episode had alot of coming of age tones. This is a series where almost every joke lands and it pulls no punches, i'm surprised no one tried to cancel this show! 

Cowboy Bebop

 I am not a big anime fan, i have seen a few here and there, some are awesome like Akira, others i have seen and enjoyed like Vampire Hunter D but i never really latched on to. Cowboy Bebop falls in to that category, i recently rewatched the pilot to give me a taste of what to expect for the Netflix version. It was enjoyable but just a random anime for me. The live action version is quite flawed, the plot, dialogue and action are all rather weak but the characters make it, especially John Cho and Daniella Pineda. I feel had i not had my booster shot and just wanted to lounge out that i would have turned it off after the pilot but luckily the characters kept me coming back. Each episode has something to enjoy until the go home episode, it is a prequel and tries to set up the main plot after 8 episodes, but then we get to the finale which was all over the place and tonally felt unlike the rest, not only that but it was just a bad episode, especially as a finale. It did nothing to make me want to watch the anime or to continue the series into a second season. 

Infinite

 Antoine Fuqua has delivered a a highly crafted great film this year in The Guilty, and he has now given us a lazy and cookie cutter film in Infinite. He has always bounced from well made stories like Training Day to popcorn fair like Olympus Has Fallen. This here feels like his most Jerry Bruckheimer esque, not quite Michael Bay but a bit more mid 2000s actiony with a sci fi touch. The acting is wooden and the action and sci fi ideas are left to be desired. It feels like a fly be night Netflix movie. I will still check out his next film since his latest, The Guilty, was great. 

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin

 Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin was a film i scoffed at when i first heard of it. The series wasn't at the strongest plus it was a quick production during covid for Paramount Plus. Luckily it felt fresh, it is barely a Paranormal Activity flick but it is still supernatural. It does have some of the signatures with minutes of silences to build tension. The theatrical films benefited from audiences where'd you hear & see people gasping and pointing so this one being more of a handy cam as opposed to security cams works in its favor. The final 5 minutes went batshit with carnage. Dumb and fun, found footage, not much more to ask for! 

Black Friday

 Black Friday, the new horror film not tomorrow, works as both a fun alien/zombie flick and a satire on consumerism. A rag tag group of toy store employees fight off a horde of shoppers infected by a zombie virus from outer space. It features likeable characters, punchable characters, great creature effects, some kaiju action and some humorous and truthful lines about how shitty retail and customers can be. 

Prisoners of Ghostland

 The renaissance of Nicholas Cage has been a great one. He has had some awesome titles and some forgettable titles, but Prisoners of Ghostland might be the oddest. Oddest in that it tries to be odd, but it feels like it was designed to be a Cage vehicle and that everything in the film was deliberately done to make it come off as bonkers, it feels artificial. I know it isn't but it is very post modern Cage, and if this is post modern Cage then i'd rather have Pig than this. 

Heels

It's crazy that we have had a few shows about wrestling the past few years. Glow was great, Young Rock was historically inaccurate but now we got Heels. Heels might be the best of the bunch, sure some stuff can be nitpicked from a booking stand point and a bit of the plot was be better suited  for the 80s but the show is compelling.  The cast is great and you buy in to not just their characters but their character's characters. The characters are deep, their hardships and betrayals pack a punch and the story, much like any great angle has a satisfying payoff.

The Night House

 David Bruckner does great work with anthology films, movies like The Signal, VHS, Southbound, are all solid. When he did a full on feature with The Ritual, i praised it but plenty found my view on it to be far off, they found the film to be dull & pretentious. I loved the vibe it had but it seemed i was in a minority. Now he has the Night House and i feel the way about this film as many did his last. I thought it'd be a lower budget Invisible Man, but it tries to be something different, it is truly ambitious but the pacing is way too slow and the plot never really grabbed me. I will still look forward to the next Bruckner film but this did nothing for me. I loved the idea just not the execution.  

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

 Ghostbusters: Afterlife is one of the most enjoyable films in years. I had a smile on my face pretty much the entire time this was on. To those saying it is a kids movie ruining your childhood, just stop. You have the originals to watch, nothing it ruined. To those saying it is Stranger Things, just stop, no one cares. Doing a tween/teen thing with this franchise is a smart way to book it. I know people once wanted the characters kids to be the new generation, but what would be the odds that all their hellspawns would want to pursue the same career? So doing it with Egon's grandkids is a safe bet. People that wanted a sequel to 2016's version, just go enjoy your 2016 version, and yes this film has female empowerment so nothing is tainted on that cause. The film has a sense of awe to it, it is Jason Reitman doing his father justice, it has a Spielbergian feel to it, it has that nice 80s's blue and vibrant aesthetic. The horror elements are great, the demons look awesome, the equipment is perfect. The comedy is great, jokes land, and there is a terrific balance with humor and serious moments. The characters  carry the film, if it wasn't Ghostbusters i would have loved to have just seen these characters grow, but instead we see them discover the unknown. The build up to the main plot might be better than  the main plot itself, seeing fresh eyes & faces find out about the happenings in New York, discovering technology, meeting each other and sharing awkward conversations. Then once the actual Busting starts there is alot to love. I know this wont be for everybody but this exceeded my expectations completely. I'm not going to act like it was perfect, there were forced moments of fan service but fan service can be good, and this delivered. Likable characters, a fun scifi/horror story, a quick pace, yep that is Ghostbusters. 

Pig

 Pig is not the film i expected it to be but i am glad it wasn't. To be honest i didn't know what to expect. Would it be John Wick but you swap a dog for a pig? Would it be Chef as told by Nicolas Refn? Instead it was a character study, coming of age, bleak peak at the backstabbing in fine dining. This is not unhinged Nicholas Cage, this is subtle Cage. 

The Djinn

 Justin Powell and David Charbonier have delivered two great horror films in one year. First was The Boy Behind the Door, a disturbing film about abduction, and now The Djinn, a  psychological film about trauma, guilt and running from your past. There are some freaky visuals and great tension, but much like their last feature the best part is the performance by a child actor, Ezra Dewey(also from Boy Behind the Door) delivers another great piece of acting. It is essentially a night of terror through his eyes and he carries it! 

Don't Breathe 2

 The original Don't Breathe was a welcome surprise. A fresh concept of robbers breaking into a house where a sociopath lives. He had no redeeming qualities....so let's turn him babyface in the sequel. Here we get him fathering a girl but then some methheads come to kidnap her. Who are we supposed to cheer? The methheads with their black market organs transplants or the man that sexually assaulted women? This was more of a curiosity watch but i'd be happy to see what he sees, nothing, compared to this. Okay maybe not, i don't want to be blind and the film is not that bad....i mean it is bad but it is not unwatchable. 

Old

 What the fuck? What the fuck, M Night? You redeemed yourself with Split but now we have Old. The introductions of characters doesn't do much to let us understand them. Once they arrive to the beach the plot "kicks in". Shit hits the fan fast, almost too fast, characters go insane, lose virginity, get pregnant, get stabbed, heal, more characters pop up, pass out, more characters die, some just disappear yet every character understands what is happening and we get alot of exposition.  This film is almost non stop exposition, with dumb dialogue, poor decisions and one of the worse scripts i can think of the past decade. Thomasin McKenzie was in the best film of the year, Last Night in Soho, and the worst of the year right here. 

Antlers

 Spring 2020, Antlers was a film i wanted to see, fall 2021 it is finally released. Scott Cooper usually makes good yet safe films. Ones you think are oscar contenders while watching yet quickly forget the next day. Antlers i definitely didn't think was an oscar contender nor did i think it was good. In fact i found it tedious and uncomfortable. Now some films like this being uncomfortable is a good thing, it makes you unnerved, here though it just makes you want to do anything else. I was bored and found the film to be quite ugly, both in terms of plot and how it was crafted. 

Red Notice

 Red Notice starts off as your basic action blockbuster but soon The Rock, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot start showing their charisma to carry the film, the jokes start flying, some hit, some miss. There are also plenty of hits in the fist fights....however the fights become tired.....as do the jokes. The charisma wears thin before they become caricature. The plot feels like a want to be Michael Bay or Fast & the Furious film, the "twists & turns" are eye rolling and the explanations are contrived.  Takes about 15 to get going and then 15 minutes to go bad. 

Night Teeth

 Night Teeth is getting alot of hate but it is a fun ass flick. It is a John Wick esque vampire tale in that it shows the underworld, clubs, police, etc that happen in the world of vampirism. It's stylish, neon lit, and has that LA vibe that'd play well with Brand New Cherry Flavor or Under the Silver Lake. It is definitely flawed but the cast and fast pace elevate beyond typical Netflix horror territory. 

Great White

 With Shudder doing a shark film i knew it would not be Jaws, i also knew it would be more serious than SyFy film, i expected something like The Shallows. I wasn't far off as the ending reminded me alot of that film. The characters are quite one dimensional, the plot is quite tired and there isn't much tension. The most feeling i had was wanting to punch one character, he was an antagonist but he had no depth and didn't come off like a villain but instead just a prick but not even one you're intrigued by. He made me want to be eaten by a great white. The film didn't drive me to that but it is definitely the weakest shark film in a while. 

Home Sweet Home Alone

 Good fuck all mighty, what the fuck was that? From Keenan Thompson's overacting to Elle Kemper's 90s acting style to Forced jokes, an awful remix, a thrown in cameo to make it a sequel, the most unlikable characters, unplausible moments, nothing here makes sense. This is a fine example of the awful post Lost in New York films, another shitty Disney Plus original, and wouldn't you know it another crap Christmas movie. 

Jungle Cruise

 Jungle Cruise seemed like it would be a by the numbers summer blockbuster but instead it wound up being a Mummy/Pirates of the Caribbean esque action/adventure film. The Rock is as charismatic as ever, delivering dad jokes, Emily Blunt just seems to be having fun as does Jack Whitehall, but Jesse Plemons is the one that seems most at ease. Here he trades in his usual stoic and heavy roles for a chance to ham it up(at times reminding me of Joel David Moore's take on Hitler in Chillerama)/ Some fun action set pieces make this feel like a throwback to pre 90s Disney flicks. It actually had me interested in the ride itself. 

The Guilty

I have not seen the original The Guilty, but after seeing the Antoine Fuqua version i now need to. I hear it is pretty close in terms of dialogue(just swapping for American lingo) but the first had alot of love and this remake rightfully does too. This is in real time, we follow Jake Gyllenhaal's character as a disgraced cop turned dispatcher as he goes through various calls until one completely emerges him. With the exception of some coworkers we mainly just see him, however we hear a great cast on the other lines. The voice cast is incredible, and they all do fantastic jobs building tension.  A gripping low production with an A list cast that takes you on a journey. These calls grow & break the mind and Gyllenhaal gives his best performance since probably Nightcrawler.

Army of Thieves

 Did we really need a prequel to Army of the Dead? No. Do we really need a sequel? No. Do we really need an animated series? No....but if the animated series and the sequel are as fun as the prequel then i am all for em. Army of Thieves is a heist film during a zombie apocalypse, but unlike AotD the virus is just in the US so the rest of the world is just watching. Where as the first is a zombie film this here just acknowledges their existence and the center of attention is the heist itself. Matthias Schweighofer reprises his role but also takes on director duties, at first i rolled my eyes at the thought of this but he nails his character, as does the rest of the heist team. It is self aware, funny and stylish. Was it rushed and unneeded? Yes. Fuck it though, it was fun. 

No One Gets Out Alive

 No One Gets Out Alive is another step up from both Hypnotic and There's Someone Inside Your House, but it still feels very Netflix. It is not quite a slow burn just boring, but the final act goes full of effects drive gorefest and totally makes up for it. It just needed a bit more development with both the plot and the characters. 

There's Someone Inside Your House

 There's Someone Inside Your House is a step up from Hypnotic in the Netflix game but at the same time it feels like a Netflix horror through & through. It has trendy topics, moronic characters, horror that feels uninspired and artificial. This type of masked slasher has been done better and better over the decades but here it feels very 90s. I know it was cool to mock Scream & H20 back then but they were sweet flicks, this here just feels like Netflix cashins. 

Hypnotic

 I gave all the Shudder horror films a chance, some are great others feel like screeners. The screener esque films always make me feel bad because i have a file full of screeners. Sometimes i think "this got on to Shudder but some one might have a gem but it is buried with the other screeners?". Well Shudder gets a pass because they are a horror service, Netflix however is not. I decided to check out some Netflix horror but now i mainly want to do so if i am a fan of the director or someone suggests it. Hypnotic feels less than a screener. This is pure amateur hour trying to look like a 90s thriller. Sure there is inspiration but the inspiration is not of good source. Hypnosis is odd, but i was hypnotized to go to sleep.     

The Harder They Fall

 The Harder They Fall has probably the snappiest dialogue in a western since The Hateful 8, it is probably the most stylish since Django Unchained....and on both accounts maybe even further back. The film is gorgeous, every shot is expertly crafted and stylish presented with an excellent soundtrack. The entire cast is great with both the heroes and villains being well developed. There is a high body count from the first scene on but it boils down to the final battle between the two factions. For a film over 2 hours, it feels like 90 minutes. The funny, bloody, and majestically epic scope make me wish i had seen this in theatre.  Jeymes Samuel knows his westerns and this here oozes inspiration from Quentin Tarantino, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone. In the post Grindhouse world we had plenty of faux films that felt synthetic, this here feels grindhouse but feels authentic which is the most important thing. 

No Time To Die

 Growing up James Bond represented outlandish plots and villains. It was pulpy and to many the Goldeneye video game was the standard for 007. As a teen i watched the entire franchise through VHS, Bond Picture Show on ABC and various Thanksgiving marathons on Spike TV. The pulpiness matched that of Batman but once Christopher Nolan unleashed Batman Begins we were ready for a serious & dark Bond. Enter Casino Royale and it changed the game in terms of how to present the character, the plot & that world. 5 films later Daniel Craig had is swan song and for me it is the best of his outings. It wrapped up ideas from the previous 4 and even hearkened back to some classic Bond tropes with the villains. Whatever happens next in this franchise will be hella interesting after this. Will they go back to being relatively stand alone projects? Will they be another series tied tightly together? Will they be serious or go back to the lighter roots? Whatever the case they will have big shoes to fill. 

Titane

 Well holy fuck, Titane starts off as a stylish and unique slasher in years. From the opening straight out of an R rated Fast & the Furious, to sexploitation to the innovative kill/bodily fluid, to fucking a car, the first 20 minutes sets the tone what to expect. I was not big on Raw(the movie not WWE, though i was not big on that either) but the first act is a step up in every way possible. Style, acting, storytelling, the overall premise. Pair this with Holy Motors or Enter The Void for a what the fuck triple bill.  It is it part slasher, part body horror but all a pure horror experience. This is edgy, this is captivating at times, it is what art house cinema horror should be. I wish i had seen this in theatres. The shock factor in the kills alone is worth it. However it begins to slow down in the second act, by time the third act starts to gain momentum it fails to catch up with all the money shots from the first 30 minutes. 

Horror Noire

 Horror Noire, the in name only adaptation of the documentary follows the doc's calling of black centric horror. This here is an anthology so it is a mixed bag. The first segment feels like Creepshow and the second feels like Masters of Horror. The third drags on and the fourth never gains momentum. The fifth segment has an eerie vibe but feels cheap, the final segment is the most anthology feeling of the lot. There are political messages, gore and plenty of talent, it just ultimately feels like an above average anthology. 

Dead & Beautiful

 Dead & Beautiful is an appropriate title as the film is dead & beautiful. It looks beautiful and has a beautiful cast but it i dead of investment and depth. I hated the characters, the plot bored me. It felt very generic. It is as if someone decided to make a Chinese horror film but cast Americans in it in case people were scared to watch with subtitles then said fuck it let's just have parties & death with no real subtext to sink your teeth into....and with that joke i'll see myself out. 

Free Guy

 Free Guy is one of the most fun flicks of the year. Great concept, excellent cast, fast paced action, this is endlessly enjoyable. There is alot to love for games, and it is open to people that aren't gamers as well. The plot never slows down and the entire cast seems to be having a fun time and that carries through to the viewer. An original film that won critics and audiences by just being what a film like this should be....fun. Plenty of great easter eggs as well, including a great cameo. 

Squid Game

 Squid Game is a trendy Netflix show that is actually worth the hype. I didn't find it as shocking as some said it was but the shock factor is definitely there.  It's not quite Battle Royale but this is a excellent show for fans of that film and comic. It also reminded me a bit of Elite Hunting from Hostel. We get 9 episodes with 6 games, plenty of deaths but more importantly in those episodes we get to know the characters, we see their depth and morality as well as their animal instincts. Some grow, some break show their true colors. There are subplots and every thread is pulled, this isn't gore for gores sake it is a tightly told great story. The finale has a climax, it has a payoff, and it ends in such a *redacted for spoiler sakes*. 

Eternals

 I don't know what the fuck i watched earlier. Eternals is either Marvel's most ambitious film or Marvel thinks all their marks will eat up anything and assume it is high art. This film is their most flawed in terms of characters and plot but it feels fresh and interesting in the structure. If this was out in the 80s and was a few million dollars cheaper it would fit in well with sci fi/fantasy of the time. It has some cheese and some cool imagery but damn it needs some trimming. Some characters pop up late, others disappear, it is as if Tommy Wiseau directed it, though it is not quite that bad(or that great?)Kumail Nanjiani and Barry Keoghan are the only two that seem to do any work with their characters, everyone else is quite wooden. At times i was bored, at others i said what the fuck(many times) but i respected this film for being different. 

Ted Lasso Season 2

 To explain how great Ted Lasso season 2 is all you have to do is look at character growth from season 1. These are well seasoned & developed characters with multiple layers and emotions. The viewer feels the emotions, we feel joy and we feel sadness. This show feels so damn real yet is so fucking joyous. It is wholesome as fuck while being brutally honest. It's like a Network TV show with a better budget, production value and adult content. Episode 9 might be one of the best episodes in television history, it felt like Richard Linklater's Slacker following a sadsack like Coach Beard showing the highs & lows of a night out. Every Emmy award was earned last season but this season cemented the greatness. And the ending of the finale sets up the third season to perfection with a new top heel.

Match of October

 Dragunov vs A Kid: NXT UK Title 

Jordan Devlin vs Joe Coffey: NXT UK 

Bryan Danielson vs Suzuki: AEW Rampage 

Bryan Danielson vs Bobby Fish: AEW Dynamite 

Noam Dar vs Tyle Bate: NXT UK Heritage Cup Title