Leona Lewis

familiar froot

Reheated Replay's nachos <3

The Gorge **

Between this and Furiosa, someone lied to Anya Taylor-Joy many times about her believability as a badass action lead.

Some cool creature designs, but that’s about it. The action doesn’t work, the romance is laughable, and the “lore” (generously named) is sleep-inducing.

An easy skip.

Captain America: Brave New World **

I feel really bad for Anthony Mackie, and even more so for Danny Ramirez, who could've had a Todd Haynes masterpiece as a welcome recovery from this slop.

Beyond forgettable, other than Harrison Ford's wildly atonal performance. The spirit of Morbius lives on!

Companion ****

Between AfrAId and Subservience, I felt this genre was in a bit of a rut. But this movie proved there’s still lots of potential to be mined here.

A thoroughly entertaining movie, and a satisfying ride the entire way.

One of Them Days ****

Keke is so obviously a star that it's criminal she hasn't had like 20 of these movies already.

But it's SZA who really steals the show, with some line deliveries that made me question reality in the best way possible.

Great script, cast, soundtrack. Just 100% self-assured.

Brave The Dark **.5

It comes across like Christianity-core at first but slowly becomes an actually rather touching little thing, carried almost exclusively by the always reliable Jared Harris.

A jarring snd unique ending, though: a QR code. Never seen that before.

Nickel Boys ***

A fascinating experiment, but one that ironically makes everything way less intimate.

You lose a sense of the weight of the friendship, you lose a sense of the interior world of the characters. It’s a less ambitious version of “Here” with even more jarring use of archival footage.

A Different Man ****.5

You feel like you're still in a dream even after it's over. Totally absorbing and utterly confident in all its resplendent absurdity.

The cheesy, overpowering musical motif is so very 90's. The surreal atmosphere of this movie, like the music, gives Eyes Wide Shut vibes.

Better Man ****

A strange, loud, oddly disarming experience.

It's an unabashed mindfuck of a movie, but it fully commits to all its weirdness. Mass ape decapitation? Yes, please.

Then it just kind of becomes a traditional biopic in the finale. Still a fun ride though.

The Last Showgirl ****

Pamela Anderson is amazing, by turns hilarious and warm and mean and sad.

The short runtime makes it all the more crushing how the weight of decades of willful delusion just catches up to you before you can even envision a new and different reality...so you just sink in.

Mufasa **

Makes Avatar look like high art.

expose it

The Damned ***

Atmospheric and beautiful landscapes hide the ugly underbelly of self-preservation that comprises the central conflict of this spooky little story.

The jump scares got tiresome, and I still have no idea what the ending means, but I was pretty gripped (and now want to visit Iceland).

The Wasp ****.5

I could quickly tell it was adapted from a play.

This is not the most impressively directed or stylishly shot film (though there are some creative visual flourishes in the transitions between past and present).

But I didn't care because Naomie and Natalie were fucking A-MA-ZING.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 ***.5

Just the right amount of quippy and zippy to keep me relatively entertained.

But then Robotnik shows up and the movie suddenly becomes amazing.

Never watched the first two, and didn't feel I was missing much of anything plot-wise. But I might just for more Jim Carrey.

Nosferatu ****

The effortless shift from pitch-black dread to hilarious physical comedy is to be commended.

Performances were great all around (ATJ aside), and it was as much fun for the eyes as it was for the ears.

The Idol, it seems, was only indicative of Lily-Rose's talented bone structure.

Babygirl ****.5

Funnier but also sadder than I expected. The tonal whiplash puts you right in the back and forth that propels the film to its, erm, climax.

Nicole is spellbinding, doing more with the lower two-thirds of her face untouched by Botox than most actors can do with their entire body.

A Complete Unknown ***.5

The rare biopic that's not afraid to let you walk out the theater wondering if the subject is actually interesting or just a total asshole.

Even knowing nothing about Dylan, I appreciated the small but complete arc rather than trying the entire life story.

A great watch.

But what matters is that I think you are <3

Queer ****.5

The most fascinating depiction of the surreal interior messily and irreversibly exploding out into the universe since Poor Things.

Daniel Craig says nearly everything with his eyes, and the sets, colors, and Nine Inch Nails fill in the rest.

Luca's on an absolutely legendary streak.

Y2K *

(Spoiler warning, but who cares?)

This movie ends with Fred Durst singing a cover of "Faith" by George Michael to keep sentient killer computers from assimilating an auditorium of adults into the singularity.

And even that failed to elicit as much as a smirk from me.

A complete disaster.

Werewolves *.5

An astonishingly ugly epileptic's nightmare. How do you make werewolf transformation so central and then decide to eschew practical effects of any kind?

Extra star for an actually rather inventive kill involving a barbed-wire electric fence. Would've liked more of that.

Woman of the Hour *.5

An immensely dull, artless Lifetime Movie Network original.

Wicked ****.5

The last movie musical I liked was this odd gem called "Were The World Mine."

...from 2008.

It's just not a genre that agrees with me.

But this was thoroughly engrossing. Every time Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey were on screen, I completely surrendered to their charm. Loved~

Juror #2 ***

A tight, thought-provoking screenplay let down by some of the blandest direction I've seen in years.

Still, the "shot on iPhone" of it all (and being spoiled on the ending) didn't stop me from wanting to know the road to the sort of abrupt but inevitable conclusion.

Toni's accent! XD

Red Rooms ****

The horror of the mundane is that it's all around you. It's in the empty gaze of the stranger who imagines killing you just to feel something. Or maybe you're the stranger.

Consumption is corrosive. It makes every second of what follows a little less fresh. But...we still need more.

Gladiator II ****

A movie about the past and future, about remembrance and revolution.

It delivers on basically every front, from the sets to the score to everything sartorial.

Only negative is some rather injudicious use of flashback. It was plenty clear what was going on without it.

Denzel >>>

Venom: The Last Dance *.5

I clocked in my snore at an impressive 109 minutes.

Jaw surgery will be required.

Stan the altruist