Approaching Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie as a newbie is an odd choice by me. However, the comedy duo have been in the pop culture limelight for decades, and have become synonymous with stoner comedies. Hell, they practically invented the sub-genre. I figured I’d knew enough to hang with these pals for their last outing. Except, Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie isn’t necessarily a “Cheech and Chong comedy”. Instead, it’s a documentary about the duo disguised as…
Star power carries On Swift Horses, which isn’t necessarily a negative criticism in this case. Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle have incredible chemistry with each other, and with the audience. Their charming, and often seductive, appeal has the powerful potential to attract a younger crowd towards period dramas without cheapening the quality of the film or lowering the expectations of the viewer. While light on plot and long in…
The Island Between Tides is an adaptation of Mary Rose, a play by Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. The movie is also a folk tale, a melancholic ghost story, a character driven mystery, and a slow-burning psychological thriller. It is not, however, very good. Single mother Lily (Riot Girls’ Paloma Kwiatkowski) doesn’t feel “normal”. As a young girl, she innocently wandered off and crossed onto an unfamiliar island, only to come back shortly after to…
What’s the literary equivalent to an earworm? Someone reads something so unique that it carves out a place in that person’s subconscious. I’m inquiring because I think that’s what happened with filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt, and what compelled her to make The Ugly Stepsister. This horror spin on the classic tale of Cinderella runs with the concept of people so desperate to find an ideal life with their yearning prince that they would mutilate themselves to fit the…
Dog Man, an animated family film that follows the adventures of a police officer who is half-man and half-dog, feels as though it was tailored by kids for kids – and I mean that in the most complimentary way. From the creation of the titular cop (voiced by director/writer Peter Hastings) to the geography of the city he protects to his clumsy feline rival Petey (voiced by Netflix’s Marmaduke and The King of Staten Island, Pete Davidson), everything…
Horror director Leigh Whannell took an ambitious swing with 2020’s The Invisible Man. The movie was a great thriller and an impressive modern reimagining of a classic movie villain. But, it was also a respectable way to give cathartic justice for victims of domestic abuse. Wolf Man, Whannel’s latest attempt to reinvent a traditional horror icon, is less coordinated but just as ambitious. Pairing parental separation and familial flaws with werewolf transformations gets a little, well,…
Michael Angarano’s coming-of-age road movie Sacramento is a tragicomedy of sorts, though it’s more easygoing than that sounds. Rickey (Angarno) and Glenn (Michael Cera of Superbad and Dream Scenario) are intermittent pals, though Glenn is always suspicious of Rickey’s freewheeling personality and motives. Glenn is not only reluctant, but also highly anxious in general. Often comforted by his wife Rosie (Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart) as she carries their first born, Rosie encourages her hubby to break…
St. Vincent co-stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts are briefly reunited in The Friend, a pandering would-be weeper from Bee Season filmmakers Scott McGeehee and David Siegel who are adapting Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name. While New York writer Iris (Watts) wrestles with her conflicted emotions over her mentor Walter (Murray) after he takes his own life, the writer takes on the additional challenge of caring for Walter’s elderly Great Dane, Apollo. Driving home how everyone…
Home Free is the feature-length directorial debut from trailblazing indie producer Avi Federgreen (Moon Point, Lifechanger, Things I Do For Money). The movie is a routine family drama that, frankly, comes as a surprise considering this is the type of movie formula that Federgreen must be hip to. However, maybe he’s wearing that producer cap of his and channeling what audiences want. Certainly, there’s an audience for Home Free. With premium cable outlet Hollywood Suite being one…
Surly lawyer Glenn “Joseph” Feldman is certain that a former business partner was profiting from a hidden stash of stolen Nazi gold. In fact, Joseph’s infamous conviction becomes detrimental to his career and personal life, and has brought on a defamation lawsuit against him by his old friend. His skeptical and inquisitive daughter, Alex, wants to help bring closure to this chapter with some tough love and some outsider expertise. Billie Mintz’s documentary looks slick…