Hi friends! January is not as busy a movie month in comparison to other times of the year but I have a few films to update you on.

WOLF MAN

https://youtube.com/shorts/aOpAkeJeW8U?feature=share

Director Leigh Whannell is in the midst of a fascinating project where he gives modern interpretations to the classic Universal Monster characters. In 2020 he gave us Invisible Man and this year we have Wolf Man. I don’t know what most will think but for this critic he’s 2 for 2 in this new franchise. I had a really fun time watching Wolf Man.

In the film Christopher Abbott plays a sweet Dad Blake to a young girl named Ginger in a struggling marriage with Charlotte played by Julia Garner. When his Dad is declared dead they go to see the property and end up having quite the night.

This version of the story is a simple one. It may be too simple for some but I think it expertly developed atmosphere and mood making each scare more compelling than the next. I was squirming like crazy in my seat because it’s never completely sure how far gone Blake has gone to the wolf and if he can be saved. There is always a sense of uncertainty of whether he should be helped or abandoned.

In many ways Wolf Man felt like a pandemic movie with most of the action happening in or around one house and that sense of isolation added to the tension. It’s also only one night so there isn’t a lot of time wasted with exposition or backstory. The film is also beautifully shot with very effective night time cinematography.

Smile Worthy

QUEER

Director Luca Guadagnino is one of those filmmakers I always want to like more than I do. He has such unique style to his movies that I can see why he’s appealing to so many but often times he loses me in the storytelling aspects and it feels like more style over substance. Such is the case with Queer. It’s a well-meaning but plodding story of how hard it is to have a meaningful relationship.

Daniel Craig is good as a man named Lee who in the 1950s falls for a young student named Allerton (Drew Starkey). The problem with this film is Lee and Allerton’s relationship feels completely vapid and full of talking about deeper meanings without the chemistry and emotion we need for those words to land. It ends up leaving the viewer feeling underwhelmed and bored.

In addition, the more creative directing choices feel more pretentious than authentic and the story meanders into the repetition of addiction and self-loathing that isn’t as insightful as Guadagnino wants it to be. I didn’t love his movie Challengers as much as many others but I certainly found it much more entertaining than Queer. I’d watch that one instead.

Frown Worthy

BETTER MAN

https://youtube.com/shorts/7Ry6dFGjMvQ?feature=share

When I was in high school I used to keep up with popular music pretty well. However, in recent years I have lost interest in most new music (outside of showtunes.) Suffice it to say I had no idea going into Better Man who Robbie Williams was or what any of his songs are. Nevertheless I still really enjoyed it and found it was better than the gimmick it could have been.

The gimmick in question is having Williams portrayed as a CG monkey for the entire film. There’s not much reason given for this choice and nobody else in the cast is a also a monkey. Like I said, this is a gimmick and yet it oddly worked. Monkey Robbie is quite endearing and it made me root for him early in the story. When there is a more cliched element of the story it feels more interesting because he is a monkey. It’s wild but true!

Michael Gracey has proven himself to be a wiz at musicals after this and The Greatest Showman (which I really enjoyed.) He really knows how to stage crowd-pleasing spectacle musical sequences well. It may seem crazy but you just might find yourself tearing up at the monkey Robbie Williams movie after all! I did!

Smile Worthy

THELMA: THE UNICORN

I’ve been catching up on some of the animated films to do this year-end wrap up pod with my friend Mat (see here) and the next 3 are all in that group, starting with Thelma: The Unicorn on Netflix. This by-the-numbers animated film follows a unicorn named Thelma who wants to be a famous singer.

For the first 30 minutes of this film I was enjoying it. It was sweet and the music is decent. Unfortunately it isn’t content to give us a short but instead drags it out for another hour with a bland evil manager/I want to be famous dynamic. It’s not unwatchable but still bad

Frown Worthy

THE TIGER’S APPRENTICE

In a lot of ways The Tiger’s Apprentice is a bummer because there are strong moments in the action. I can see if they had a stronger script the animation could have really worked but as is it feels episodic and unremarkable. Evidently they were hoping to do a spinoff series of this but there’s nothing special enough in the film to justify that kind of focus. Like I said, some of the animation is decent in the action but that’s about it.

Frown Worthy

SAVING BIKINI BOTTOM: THE SANDY CHEEKS MOVIE

Every franchise has its duds and at least in the feature film department Spongebob Squarepants certainly does. This Sandy Cheeks movie is terrible. It really is unwatchable. Especially as it gets to the 3rd act with what they are doing to Wanda Sykes character Sue Nahmee. The humor doesn’t work and it all feels repetitive and dull.I really disliked this one!

Frown Worthy

So there you have it. What have you been watching? I would love to hear.

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.

Happy New Year! I hope you are all doing well. I have been busy as ever before wrapping up 2024 movies and getting ready for new 2025 films. In particular I have begun planning for Sundance which will be here before I know it (the festival planning is bizarre this year with only 2 venues in Salt Lake!) Make sure you check out my Most Anticipated video for 2025 movies:

I have caught up on a few 2024 releases since I did my mammoth post last week.

Here we go:

And Mrs

I have been working my way through all the romances of 2024 and I stumbled upon this little indie from the UK, and I ended up really enjoying it. It tells an unconventional story of a woman (Aisling Bea) who after losing her fiancé decides to marry him anyway. This is obviously bittersweet, but I found it quite endearing with an excellent supporting cast. Billie Lourd shines as her pregnant best friend and Colin Hanks, Elizabeth McGovern and Harriet Walter all give entertaining performances.

And Mrs is also an R rated romantic comedy so it won’t be for everyone but I found it the right balance of emotion and laughs with a fresh perspective.

Smile Worthy

Chosen Family-

Everyone knows I am always rooting for a romantic comedy as I love the genre. Unfortunately they don’t always work out. Such is the case with Heather Graham’s directorial debut Chosen Family. She stars with Julia Stiles and John Brotherton (who I have actually interviewed here) and they actually have decent chemistry. The problem is the script doesn’t give them much to do. It focuses mostly on his extremely bratty daughter and their attempts to placate or get around her outbursts. We also have an array of supporting characters played by Thomas Lennon, Michael Gross and more.

The movie feels like it wants to be a Hallmark movie but then is too sexy and edgy for the sweet genre. It doesn’t know what it wants to be so it ends up being dull and uninteresting. It’s too bad because I do think these 2 leads have a good rom-com in them and I’d encourage Graham to try again.

Frown Worthy

Elton John: Never Too Late-

While there are definitely facets to like about this music documentary on Elton John it’s also frustrating with the amount the film skips over in favor of just telling John’s story from a pride perspective. While his journey in his sexuality and addiction is important it’s kind of crazy to get a documentary on the man on Disney Plus that doesn’t mention The Lion King even once. Does that seem crazy to anyone else?

I feel like I learned more about John from watching the narrative Rocketman film than this documentary and that shouldn’t be the case. Still if you want to hear him sing and see his very cute family than this is fine. I was just hoping for more.

Frown Worthy

Music by John Williams

The better music-themed documentary on Disney Plus is Music by John Williams. It profiles the incredible career of John Williams starting out in his teen years with his parents making him take piano lessons and how he went from jazz musician to composing scores. I had no idea he was nearly 40 before doing Jaws. I guess that makes sense given he is 92 now but still it was interesting to learn about his pre-Jaws work as I was only really familiar with Fiddler on the Roof.

The documentary covers all his popular projects and franchises and includes interviews from Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Chris Columbus and more. It is much more comprehensive than the Elton John doc and I loved hearing about his inspiration for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and more. This is definitely a must watch for any movie fan.

Smile Worthy

 Babygirl-

Babygirl is a movie with a lot of erotic scenes that aren’t actually very sexy. There is no emotional connection between our couple so it feels clinical and not romantic hurting my investment in the story. I get it wasn’t trying to be a traditional romance but there needs to be some reason for me to be invested in this couple other than watching 2 attractive people have kinky strange relations.

It is very well filmed and the actors do what they can but it felt repetitive and boring when it is supposed to be sexy and intriguing. Antonio Banderas does what he can in an underwritten role (who ever thought he would be the fuddy-duddy husband in a movie like this!) but I was ready for it to be over pretty quickly. I certainly will never think of a glass of milk the same way again.

Frown Worthy

So there you have it. What have you been watching? I would love to hear.

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.