Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster is one of the better produced films docs in recent years. Shudder has been on a roll with docs and this one is the best. It is faster paced, has a digestible length and has talking heads that aren't being pompous on the subject but celebrating it!
The fifth Scream film might be my favorite since the original. I love the entire series so it is hard to rank em but it is less flawed than 2 & 3. Sometimes the meta horror rules can be a bit long in tooth but here it is meta referencing how meta it is. There is alot to love about the discussion of "elevated horror" such as Hereditary and toxic fans such as Star Wars but at the core this is just a fun slasher and as usual the dialogue & characters are almost as good as the kills. Like usual it is quite hard to discuss Scream without spoilers but it is familiar territory all while adding some new twists. I love Radio Silence and am happy they got to direct this. If they come back for the sixth or they wind up sticking to original material i will be pleased, i just want more Scream films from directors i trust!
The Last Thing Mary Saw certainly has some nightmarish imagery and a haunting atmosphere but it is quite dull. The acting is actually good especially for a supernatural Shudder film, especially from Rory Culkin but it feels like it wants to be a Netflix series as opposed to a feature film.
Archive 81 is great, it feels like a faster paced Mike Flanagan series. The fact James Wan was attached is what made me want to check it out, and it involving VHS gave me extra incentive. Mamoudou Athie plays a guy restoring some tapes from 94 when he discovers a connection to himself, a cult and different dimensions. It gets pretty weird the more the story progresses and feels like a more focused Richard Kelly film at times. It looks great and has great acting and characters but it feels like a story that honestly could have been told as a film instead of a series. The wraps up most of the plot while not answering all the questions, and sets up a possible season 2 perfectly.
Woodlands is a well assembled and intelligent documentary. It dives into folk horror and the lore of the various tales. Everything is great in it, my only complaint is it is not very interesting. For three hours i wish it had some more engaging talking heads. It seems like faux intellectuals that assume everything needs context, depth and commentary. Horror can just be horror, film can just be film.
George Clooney might have done his best work with The Tender Bar. We get two eras of a coming of age story, the 70s with a debut performance of Daniel Ranieri, 80s with the always great Tye Sheridan, all while narrated by Ron Livingston. Ben Affleck does his best acting in years here and you truly feel the love he has for his nephew(played by the aforementioned actors). A great soundtrack and supporting cast or likable misfits carries this quick paced Amazon film. I only wish it was getting more award buzz.
The Tragedy of Macbeth was the last film of 2021 that I NEEDED to see. I love the Coen Bros, and even though this is just Joel, i still needed it. Had he not directed i wouldn't have cared, Shakespeare has never been my thing. The film is gorgeous, one of his(their) best looking films, and it is also one of their(his) weirdest. That is the good....the bad....i was bored beyond belief and nearly fell asleep. The dialogue alone lost me but besides that the plot was just all over the place. Hopefully when the Brothers reunite that it is a true return to form.
*EDIT* I had Pig on the list but i added the Tender Bar
Last Night in Soho
The Suicide Squad
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Spider Man No Way Home
Halloween Kills
Candyman
Cruella
Licorice Pizza
The French Dispatch
Nobody
Snyder Cut
The Harder They Fall
Black Widow
Slumber Party Massacre
Boss Level
Free Guy
Wrong Turn
Seance
Don't Look Up
Willys Wonderland
Vicious Fun
Green Knight
The Guilty
Resident Evil
Quiet Place 2
Mortal Kombat
The Matrix Resurrections
Godzilla vs Kong
Batman Soul of the Dragon
Army of the Dead/Army of Thieves
Boy Behind the Door/Djinn
Vacation Friends
Werewolves Within
Maligant
The Tender Bar
Fear Street Part 1/Fear Street Part 2/Fear Street Part 3
Annette
Silent Night
Jakob's Wife
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Psycho Goreman
Superhost
F9
Fried Barry
Escape Room 2
Bad Trip
No Time to Die
No Sudden Move
Boys From County Hell
Amusement Park
Ted Lasso
Cobra Kai
Chucky
Resident Alien
Mare of Easttown
Brand New Cherry Flavor
The Simpsons
Heels
Hawkeye
Falcon & the Winter Soldier
Lucifer
Loki
F Is For Family
It's Always Sunny
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Ilja Dragunov vs Walter: Takeover 35: NXT UK Title
Kay Lee Ray vs Meiko Sotmura: NXT UK Womens Title(March)
Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole: Takeover Stand & Deliver
Roman Reigns vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan: Universal Title: Wrestlemania
Finn Balor vs Pete Dunne: St Vengeance Day: NXT Title
Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews vs Eddie Dennis and Primate: NXT UK(Feb)
Shane Taylor vs Kenny King: ROH Final Battle: Fight Without Honor
Karrion Kross vs Finn Balor: NXT Tile: Stand & Deliver
Santos Escobar vs Jordan Devlin: Cruiserweight Title: Stand & Deliver
Bianca Belair vs Sasha Banks: Womens Title: Wrestlemania
Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson: AEW Dynamite
Hangman Page vs Bryan Danielson: Winter is Coming: AEW Title
Jonathan Gresham vs Brody King: ROH Honor For All
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal; Final Battle: ROH Title
Tyler Bate vs A-Kid: NXT UK Heritage Cup(May)
Jordan Devlin vs Trent Seven: NXT UK: Cruiserweight Title
Josh Woods vs Jonathan Gresham: ROH Death Before Dishonor: Pure Title
Lucha Bros vs Young Bucks: All Out: AEW Tag Titles
CM Punk vs Darby Allin: All Out
Deonna Purrazzo vs Mellina: NWA Empowerrr: NWA Womens Title
Karrion Kross vs Kyle O'Reily vs Adam Cole vs Pete Dunne vs Johnny Gargano: NXT Takeover In Your House: NXT Title
Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole: Takeover 35: 2 Out of 3 Falls
CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston: AEW Full Gear
Bryan Danielson vs Miro: Full Gear
Jonathan Gresham vs Rhett Titus: ROH Glory By Honor: Pure Title
Ilija Dragunov vs Sam Gradwell: NXT UK(March)
Jonathan Gresham vs Dak Drapper: ROH Anniversary Show: Pure Title
Ilja Dragunov vs A Kid: NXT UK Title(October)
Briscoes vs OGK: Final Battle: ROH Tag Titles
Vincent vs Matt Taven: Glory by Honor: Cage Match
Neil Blomkamp is an odd director for me. I was underwhelmed by District 9 but i rewatched on DVD but it also left me feeling underwhelmed. Elysium got alot of hate but i enjoyed it, i rewatched it years later and it held up. Chappie was alright but rewatching it was a chore. Demonic is the least Blomkamp film he has made, it looks lower budget, lacks his style, has a totally different tone and honestly feels like a Shudder film. I love low budget but this felt cheap, i get changing your style & tone but this felt like a film from a hack, and love Blomkamp or not he is far from it, i love Shudder but i have seen films on there that are trash that feel on this level. It is not unwatchable but i feel i will forget about it in a few days.
Clerks 3
Halloween Ends
The Batman
Nope(Jordan Peele)
Evil Dead Rise
Scream 5
DCEU Offerings: The Flash/Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom/Black Adam
MCU Offerings: Thor: Love & Thunder/Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness/Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Into the Spiderverse 2
Jurassic World Dominion
Mission Impossible 7
Hellraiser
Knives Out 2
Prey(Predator)
Everything Everywhere All At Once(From the Daniels, the directors of Swiss Army Man)
Death on the Nile(Sequel to Murder on the Orient Express)
Samaritan(Julius Avery, the director of Overlord)
Dual(Riley Stearns, the director of Art of Self Defense)
The Black Phone(Scott Derrickson)
Crimes of the Future(David Cronenberg's return to horror)
Shane Taylor vs Kenny King: Fight With Out Honor: Final Battle
Hangman Page vs Bryan Danielson: AEW Title: Winter is Coming
Jonathan Gresham vs Jay Lethal: ROH Title: Final Battle
Briscoes vs The Kingdom: ROH Tag titles: Final Battle
Team 2.0 vs Team Black & Gold: War Games
Josh Woods vs Brian Johnson: Pure Title: Final Battle
Violence Unlimited vs the Foundation: Final Battle
The Righteous vs STP: ROH Six Man Titles: Final Battle
PJ Black, Flip Gordon, The Bouncers, Cheeseburger vs LSG, Sledge, Max the Impaler, Flamita, Will Ferrara: Final Battle
Moustache Mountain vs Pretty Deadly: NXT UK Tag Titles
Dragunov vs Rampage Brown: NXT UK Title
Meiko Satomura vs Xia Brookside: NXT UK Womens Title
Dragon Lee vs Rey Horus: Final Battle
Gresham vs Dragon Lee: Road to Final Battle
Creed Bros vs Jacket Time 205 Live
The Trip went under my radar, i was reading up on 2022 films and saw Tommy Wirkola had a new film, i have really only enjoyed Dead Snow 2 but figured i would check out the Trip. It is pretty stylish for a Netflix movie but much like most Wirkola films it drags quite a bit. I wish this, and most of his work was as badass and bonkers as Dead Snow 2 was. The plot for this sounded insane but the final product felt tame.
