The Official Review Thread of 2024

[anonymous1980]

INSIDE OUT 2
Cast: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Kensington Tallman, Ayo Edebiri, Adele Exarchopolous, Paul Walter Hauser, Diane Lane, Kyle McLachlan, June Squibb (voices).
Dir: Kelsey Mann.

The different emotions up on Riley's head: Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear and Disgust are joined by new emotions as she enters her teen years: Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui, causing more complicated hi-jinks. Is it better than the first film? No. But that's the only bad news. The good news is this is probably the best non-Toy Story PIXAR sequel which is, admittedly, not a bar too high to cover but there it is. It is actually an excellent continuation of the story and a great companion piece to the original. Amy Poehler is still great as Joy but Maya Hawke truly shines as Anxiety with some of the best animated voice work this year. While not quite one of PIXAR's masterpieces, it is still an excellent piece of animation that still produces laughs and also unexpectedly moving. It's best animated feature this year so far.

Oscar Prospects: Should get in Animated Feature. And no joke: Maya Hawke deserves consideration for Best Supporting Actress.

Grade: A-

[Sabin]

I enjoyed watching Furiousa but I'm not entirely sure the point of it. I'm still new to this franchise. I've only seen Fury Road but I'm firmly in the fan camp on that one. On paper, a prequel is not going to grow the franchise and judging by the box office it hasn't. I wasn't expecting a sprawling Dickensian coming-of-age tale spanning years where Anya Taylor Joy doesn't show up for over an hour. We get to see how Furiosa wound up in the clutches of Immortan Joe after her mother was killed by Dementus. This is the kind of treatment afforded to something like Gangs of New York and I'm a bit tired of seeing it given to pop fantasies. On the other hand we're generally so starved for imagination in the theaters that I was pretty awestruck by the spectacle of it. I liked how it re-contextualizes Fury Road but still maintains the mystery of the world. It lacks the momentum and set-pieces of Fury Road (only the War Rig centerpiece stands out) and it has the structure of a comic book more than a feature IMO but I was generally taken in by just how George Miller's camera moves about and in the emotions of the material.

Even now, I wish I had more to say about it. I enjoyed it but it's a weird film.

[anonymous1980]

HIT MAN
Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao.
Dir: Richard Linklater.

Based on a true story, a mild-mannered college professor works part-time for the police as an undercover hitman-for-hire. Things get a bit complicated when he falls for one of his "clients". I'll say it right off the bat: this is one of the best films of the year. Glen Powell gives what SHOULD be a star-making performance in this dark romantic-comedy that's as funny as it is suspenseful. He and his co-writer and director Richard Linklater crafts such an enjoyable piece of cinema which I'm definitely going to revisit repeatedly. It's a pity I saw this on Netflix because there are moments here which would have been more enjoyable to watch with an audience. But regardless of how you watch it, this is a great piece of work and one of Linklater's best.

Oscar Prospects: If it were up to me, it should have a chance in Picture, Director, Actor and Adapted Screenplay. Right now as it stands, Glen Powell will probably get the Golden Globe Actor in a Musical/Comedy nomination and if it's lucky, maybe a lone Adapted Screenplay nomination.

Grade: A-

[danfrank]

I wish I could tell you that Poolman (Chris Pine's writer/directorial debut) was just misunderstood at the festivals and has a lot to offer. There's a fair bit of heart in it but you won't see a more annoying movie this year. The idea of a delusional Los Angeles pool cleaner getting drawn into a mystery is a good one. That's about the only choice that works. Every single character is unrelatably quirky and the dialogue is an endless wave of clever in-jokes. On a plot level, almost nothing happens. On a story level, nobody changes in any way you can care about. Chris Pine's DB begins the movie as a emotionally immature do-gooder and stays that way throughout the entire movie. He's lousy company. From a top level, the only shot this movie had was if Chris Pine was a delusional do-gooder and everyone else was apathetic (that way he'd be funny because they'd be reacting to him) or the other way around. Oh, and the Chinatown references.

There's probably a good movie somewhere in here but they didn't find it, and I'm probably as sympathetic to auteurist headtrip films and quirkfests as is on this board.

There are some absolutely brutal reviews of this film. I appreciate your kindness while still, you know, pannning it.

[Sabin]

I wish I could tell you that Poolman (Chris Pine's writer/directorial debut) was just misunderstood at the festivals and has a lot to offer. There's a fair bit of heart in it but you won't see a more annoying movie this year. The idea of a delusional Los Angeles pool cleaner getting drawn into a mystery is a good one. That's about the only choice that works. Every single character is unrelatably quirky and the dialogue is an endless wave of clever in-jokes. On a plot level, almost nothing happens. On a story level, nobody changes in any way you can care about. Chris Pine's DB begins the movie as a emotionally immature do-gooder and stays that way throughout the entire movie. He's lousy company. From a top level, the only shot this movie had was if Chris Pine was a delusional do-gooder and everyone else was apathetic (that way he'd be funny because they'd be reacting to him) or the other way around. Oh, and the Chinatown references.

There's probably a good movie somewhere in here but they didn't find it, and I'm probably as sympathetic to auteurist headtrip films and quirkfests as is on this board.

[anonymous1980]

THELMA THE UNICORN
Cast: Brittany Howard, Will Forte, Jemaine Clement, Edi Patterson, Ally Dixon, Fred Armisen, Maliaka Mitchell, Shondrella Avery, Jon Heder (voices).
Dirs: Jared Hess, Lynn Wang.

A plain, brown pony from a farm has ambitions to become a singer. After getting accidentally covered with pink paint and sparkles, she gets mistaken for a real unicorn and becomes an overnight viral sensation. This animated feature from Netflix has a funny cast and premise with potential, a showbiz satire aimed at kids to teach them the downside of celebrity is a good idea, but it never really rises above being a "potential". The story's quite predictable and formulaic, the animation is fine but nothing special and the voice cast, despite doing their best, never really rises above the mediocre script. But the songs are okay and kids may like the film regardless. It's harmless but anyone above 12 can skip this.

Oscar Prospects: Animated Feature is possible but there will be better options later this year. Original Song is also possible.

Grade: C.

[anonymous1980]

FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA
Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne.
Dir: George Miller.

This is the prequel to the film Mad Max: Fury Road which reveals the back story of Furiosa, from her childhood kidnapping from the Green Place to her rise as Imperator of the warlord Immortan Joe. I consider Mad Max: Fury Road one of the best action films ever made, fully deserving of all its accolades and one of the best films of that year and this century. How does its prequel measure up? Well, it's not quite as great as its predecessor (few films are). But that's the worst thing I can say about it. This is still an exquisitely crafted and thrilling master work from a master filmmaker with some of the best action sequences I've ever seen. It is also compelling a character piece which both Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne both knock it out of the park. Chris Hemsworth steals the film as the main villain and he's lot of fun to watch. As of now, it's one of the best films of the year.

Oscar Prospects: I'm not sure if this can sneak in Picture and Director. Supporting Actor for Chris Hemsworth is possible. So are Cinematography, Film Editing, Costume Design, Sound, Score, Makeup & Hairstyling and Visual Effects.

Grade: A-

[anonymous1980]

MONKEY MAN
Cast: Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sikandar Kher, Sobhita Dulipala, Ashwini Kalsekar, Makarand Despande, Zakir Hussain.
Dir: Dev Patel.

After his mother is brutally murdered and his village burned down when he was a boy, a young man seeks to exact revenge on the various corrupt officials responsible. Yes, the elevator pitch for this film is pretty much John Wick in India. But that's just over-simplifying it a little bit. Dev Patel's directorial debut (and what a film to pick for one's directorial debut) has a lot of layers of commentary on Indian society and corruption in government and religion. But of course, it's still got a lot of the over-the-top kick-ass violent action scenes and fight scenes you would come to expect and it's all quite stylishly made. Patel has a future as a filmmaker, I must say. Overall, a very good action picture.

Oscar Prospects: If this had been a bigger hit and the Oscars still had two Sound categories, I would peg this as a contender for Sound Editing. But now, it'd be lucky to get shortlisted in Sound.

Grade: B+

[Sabin]

Indie roundup.

I found I Saw the TV Glow silly, irritating, powerful, and sometimes all three at once. I don't think that's a bad thing. It's the latest from Jane Schoenbrun who directed We're All Going to the World's Fair, a film that becomes more important the more I think about it, and they're drawn to films about people in the middle of nowhere for whom internet/media is their only connection to the world and to internet/media itself. Rare is the film explicitly *about* the internet. They make films explicitly about the internet, what it means, what it does to us, etc. I Saw the TV Glow is pre-internet, taking place in 1996 about Owen, a lonely black middle-schooler, who befriends Maddy, a trans high schooler, who introduces him to a late night, Buffy-ish television series called The Pink Opaque, which becomes their mutual obsession and serves as an activator of identity, a a source of confusion, and a grail of something lost. It's hard to get into what happens next because it's a pretty plotless thing. I think Schoenbrun is basically telling the story of one person who recognizes that they are trans and goes on the scary adventure that is life (Maddy) and another person who doesn't (Owen) and their life is tragic. I think it works better as an idea than a film sat through. There were moments where I could've honestly left. But taken as a whole, I'm going to recommend it because I found the depiction of it all and the ending so moving. Having rewatched Celine and Julie Go Boating, I wondered if there was a way to present this story more actively.

Hearing the SXSW raves for The Idea of You got my hopes up. There's really nothing that special about the film. The chemistry and connection between Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine is unconvincing and presents little by way of truth. If you have an itch that only this kind of thing can scratch, it's nice that it's free on Amazon.

Finally, I saw The Last Stop in Yuma County written and directed by Francis Galluppi. This film is of interest because he's tackling the next Evil Dead movie and he's probably a good choice. This is a confidently directed told one location-ish (emphasis on ish) suspense-thriller with a dark wink to it all. It's basically an elaborate, elongated shoot-out in a diner that screams first feature. I think it goes after a nihilism that it can't quite capture because it is so winking (also there is a hopeful ending in this film) but I could see Galluppi making a good "real" movie one day. I had fun with it.

One last thing...

The more I think about The Fall Guy, the more it gets on my nerves. It really wants to be a good time but I just didn't buy any of it. Even the stunts aren't that great.

NOTE: I mistakenly cited Maddy as trans. Brigette Lundy-Paine is not trans and I don't think their character is meant to be either. My mistake. I didn't mention it but Brigette Lundy-Paine gives an excellent performance.

[anonymous1980]

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy.
Dir: Wes Ball.

Set "many generations" after the last film, a young chimpanzee from a peaceful tribe of eagle training apes must team up with a talking human to rescue his clan from the clutches of a ruthless despotic ape in the titular kingdom. Did we need another one of these after the last one wrapped the prequel story so neatly? No, not really. This film doesn't really say anything new or anything the previous films haven't touched upon. It's pretty much more of the same. But it is still a very entertaining, extremely well-crafted adventure tale. Sometimes, that's all you need. Owen Teague is no Andy Serkis but he still acquits himself well. Kevin Durand is actually a pretty fantastic villain too. So overall, it's a solid popcorn flick, no more no less.

Oscar Prospects: Strong contender for Visual Effects.

Grade: B.

[anonymous1980]

THE IDEA OF YOU
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, Ella Rubin, Reid Scott, Annie Mumolo.
Dir: Michael Showalter.

A 40 year old single mom takes her daughter to Coachella and there she meets the 24 year old lead singer of a boy band. They begin a love affair. This romantic-comedy could be described as a reverse Notting Hill in a way but it's a bit more than that and has a lot of things going for it. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine both give very good performances and they have great on-screen romantic chemistry. It really carries the film and makes it entertaining. The film, however, is a tad overlong and there is a plot point somewhere along the way which I didn't completely buy into. But overall, this is a watchable, charming film. You could do a lot worse.

Oscar Prospects: Original Song is its best chance. There's a bunch of them but I think they'll submit the title song, "The Idea of You".

Grade: B.

[anonymous1980]

UNFROSTED
Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, Hugh Grant, Max Greenfield.
Dir: Jerry Seinfeld.

This is allegedly the true story of how Kellogg's Pop Tarts came to be. There has been recent spate of "product biopics" that have came out lately. When I first saw the trailer for this, I thought this was the parody film of that particular sub-genre. But it wasn't originally meant to be one because it was conceived before all those films came out. I think it would've been a better, funnier film if it had leaned into that. There's a lot of funny people here and there's a lot of potential to be a hilarious romp but alas, I laughed too few times for me to heartily recommend this film and for me to consider this a good comedy. The who's who of talented comedic actors were all wasted here. This could've been a lot better. You can see what they were going for but it didn't quite get there, unfortunately.

Oscar Prospects: None.

Grade: C.

[Sabin]

The Fall Guy reminds me a little of Free Guy. Different actor and director (although it's not hard to see them swapping) but a reasonably fun, fresh piece of summer entertainment. The big difference between them is watching Free Guy I realized the limitations of making a movie from that kind of scenario ("NPC realizes he's in a game!" Great, you still have an hour fifty to go) while I'm pretty sure a more convincing romantic comedy could be made from The Fall Guy. Maybe if I was more convinced why Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling (exes) were kept apart post-accident or if Gosling investigating Aaron Taylor-Johnson's disappearance was introduced in a more convincing way from the on-set. It feels sort of hollow, but it's mostly a pleasant experience full of lots of enjoyable meta-movie moments (which had a 50/50 cute to annoying ratio) and fun set-pieces. It's heart is in the right place. You can see the better movie in it but it's pleasures are sort of un-screw-up-able. My favorite moment came early on where Emily Blunt (the director) keeps reshooting a bit where Gosling gets hurled against a rock; in doing so, Blunt keeps telling him what's going on in the scene but she's clearly talking about their relationship. Gosling just brushes himself off and says "Thanks, that'll help me hit the rock better."

Gosling is fun. Emily Blunt is fine but she's more of an idea than a character. I don't think this is what she does best. I think this role needed someone with an accent to sell it, to turn it into more of a fantasy.

[anonymous1980]

THE FALL GUY
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu.
Dir: David Leitch.

Loosely based on the TV series, this is about a Hollywood stunt man who just recovered from an injury. He returns to work on a movie directed by his ex-girlfriend. Then the star of the film goes missing and he has to find him. This action-romantic-comedy is just pure old-fashioned entertainment and a love letter to stunt people (they even low-key joined the campaign to add an Oscar stunts category). And it mostly works. This is largely to the fun performances and genuine funny chemistry between stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The funniest stuff are with them. But there are lots of other fun stuff here too. There's some genuinely good action sequences and it's meta without being annoying about it. Yes, it's a tad too long but at least you're having fun through most of it.

Oscar Prospects: Maybe just Sound....although I can see Gosling and Blunt getting his and hers Golden Globe Musical/Comedy acting nominations out of this.

Grade: B+

[Sabin]

Zendaya weekend!

Denis Villeneuve's Dune franchise just isn't my thing for a few reasons. It has a lot of ideas but they're more spoken about in hushed tones than dramatized. I don't necessarily want it to be a series but I think a lot of its ideas would be more successful in a serialized format. There's not enough interesting and varied conflict between the characters. I find myself frustratingly outside this franchise. I recognize that this isn't some empty money grab. People have put insane amounts of time, money, and talent into bringing this book to life as people have been clamoring for years. And I just don't care. Gorgeous movie but I felt like I was slowly being embalmed.