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  • Best of Fest: Sundance 2024 Wrap-up

    Another festival has come and gone, and while I'm not sure there were any surprise breakthroughs to the quality of Past Lives, it was still a pretty solid festival. Here are around ten of my favorites (I had to fudge the numbers a bit to get all the best ones in) that I saw this year. So keep an eye out as these films start coming out in the near future. 10. THE OUTRUN Saoirse Ronan's magnificent performance is one of the biggest draws of The Outrun. Always reliable in any project she's in, she once again brings her A-game here and turns in some of the best work of her career, playing a woman who just cannot give up alcohol no matter how hard she tries. It's a harrowing, difficult film but incredibly powerful by the end. More thoughts on The Outrun HERE 9. TIE: THELMA Thelma is such a charming crowd-pleaser, I haven't met a single person who didn't like it. It's a worthy addition to the action-comedy genre as Thelma tries desperately to emulate Tom Cruise every step of the way to bring phone scammers to justice. June Squibb is absolutely wonderful here and it's just such a fun movie for everyone to enjoy. More thoughts on Thelma HERE 9. TIE: DÌDI Dìdi is such a wonderful coming-of-age dramedy from the perspective of a teenage Taiwanese-American boy in 2008. It's a perfect slice-of-life time capsule for Millennials to see the era of their adolescence perfectly captured in film. But it's what the story builds to that makes it stay with me, particularly the bond between Chris and his mother in their final scene together. As hard and awkward as it is growing up, it's our family ties that stay with us long after our school days are over. More thoughts on Dìdi HERE 8. IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE It's What's Inside is one of the most creative and entertaining films I was able to see this year at Sundance. It is very uniquely told and it constantly keeps you guessing throughout. While I had hoped it would veer more squarely into horror instead of being horror-adjacent, I still had a great time with this. Netflix bought this so hopefully it makes a splash when it hits the platform, unlike other festival acquisitions that they've unceremoniously dumped with little fanfare. It certainly has the potential to be a huge hit. More thoughts on It's What's Inside HERE 7. YOUR MONSTER There's nothing out there quite like Your Monster, an almost modern-day Beauty and the Beast retelling with a horror rom-com twist. Thoroughly entertaining with humor, romance, and just enough touches of horror to be completely its own creation. And best of all it tackles female empowerment and the need to not just bottle up our feelings. This was probably one of the biggest crowd-pleasers I saw from gauging how into the movie our audience was. More thoughts on Your Monster HERE 6. WINNER Maybe it's because I had really low expectations for this and that I hadn't seen the other film tackling this subject Reality, but I found myself really enjoying Winner when I got the chance to see it. It might be a bit breezy for its subject matter, but I was thoroughly entertained as well as enlightened. Its wonderful cast led by the talented Emilia Jones really elevates it too and I couldn't help but be pulled into her family dynamics and her moral dilemma. More thoughts on Winner HERE 5. SUNCOAST I know I know, I'm so predictable always going after coming-of-age films, but this one in particular had a different weight to it as its characters are constantly reconciling grief and their impending loss. Suncoast feels reliably made, with wonderful acting veterans (Laura Linney and Woody Harrelson) playing against an up-and-coming talent (Nico Parker). Yes, I absolutely cried while watching this. It actually hits Hulu soon so check it out if you can handle all the feels. More thoughts on Suncoast HERE 4. A REAL PAIN This movie has really stayed with me since I saw it last week. I really love the examination of the relationships we don’t choose but are placed in. The type of people who you would never gravitate towards if not for the circumstances that placed you together. We are connected to these bonds by blood, even when it would be so much easier to abandon them--yet often they are the relationships that teach us the most and we hold the most dear. The film does a great job of showing the pain under the surface that we all feel but may try to conceal. With fantastic performances by Culkin and Eisenberg, this movie is not to be missed when it comes out. More thoughts on A Real Pain HERE 3. EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS Exhibiting Forgiveness is such a quietly powerful film featuring some of the strongest performances I saw from any film during the festival. So much is explored here and somehow it all feels so real and authentic, never manufactured or artificial. How does one contemplate reconciliation when wounds are so deep? The film dives into these questions in such a profound way that it really makes a profound impression. More thoughts on Exhibiting Forgiveness HERE 2. MY OLD ASS I was totally surprised to have this movie resonate with me as much as it did, but I really loved seeing these two versions of the same character with their different perspectives on life, and how they want each other to live it. Life can be full of both potential and regret, but our experiences make us who we are and the only way we learn is by actually living through them. More thoughts on My Old Ass HERE 1. HIT MAN It feels like a cheat to have this as my number one since it wasn’t really a Sundance debut...but it was my favorite movie I saw throughout Sundance and an instant classic. Richard Linklater and Glen Powell are a great director-actor pairing who I hope continue to collaborate for years to come. Glenn really gets the chance to shine here, and he and Adria Arjona are so electric together. Can’t wait to watch it again! More thoughts on Hit Man HERE

  • Sundance Day 9 Recap

    Alright, we're FINALLY at the end now of the festival itself, as well as my recaps for movies I saw during my time at Sundance this year! My next post will be a round-up of my top favorites from the fest. I saw a lot of varying quality this year, but luckily I got to end the festival with two really good ones with Suncoast and Hit Man, two films that are sure to make my top ten. SUNCOAST Doris (Nico Parker) desperately wants an average stress-free teenage existence, but life has given her quite the opposite. Doris's life seems to be in a constant state of upheaval as her brother Max is continually fighting a losing battle with brain cancer at the Suncoast Hospice. Doris has been resigned to his death for years and feels as though she's already mentally moved on since Max can't even speak or see at this point and doctors have assured her and her mother that there is no chance of recovery. She can't understand why her mother (Laura Linney) cannot move on like she has and instead choose to focus her energy on her child who still is alive. With her mother spending so much time at the hospice, Doris seizes the opportunity of having limited parental supervision to invite the popular kids to her house and have parties. With them, she can have the life she hopelessly yearns for and just enjoy her youth. But back, at the hospice she's warned by a new friend (Woody Harrelson) that she's not quite as prepared for her brother's loss as she pretends to be and that she needs to find a way to make peace before he departs. Suncoast is a coming-of-age tale that feels familiar but in the best type of way. It's conventionally told with superb performances, both from its young star and its veteran supporting actors. The teenage shenanigans feel typical, but the fact that this carefree life she wants constantly clashes with her caretaking role gives the events so much more weight. Doris wants to be a normal kid, but she is thrust into an experience that will never give her that luxury. No matter how much she wants normalcy, she can't be just like her friends and only just have fun because her circumstances force her to be more grown-up than she is. Her wants are at odds with her reality and only cause a constant wedge between her and her mother who cannot stop caring for her son until he's gone. This dissonance is central to Suncoast and is what makes her coming-of-age story feel so unique and poignant. Suncoast hits all the right beats while never feeling cliche, and it knows just how to get the audience's waterworks going to bring it all home. RATING: 8/10 HIT MAN Nerdy Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a professor by day and moonlights in his spare time as a tech guy helping to catch attempted murderers. Usually, an undercover cop poses as a hitman to present potential clients with the opportunity of offing their desired target, while Gary and his team record the conversations as evidence to arrest. Gary's life takes a turn when he's asked to fill in and play the hitman role, and he finds that he has an unexpected new talent. Gary takes on the role indefinitely and begins tailoring his role to his new clients. But he's taken aback when he meets the beautiful Madison (Adria Arjona) asking him to kill her husband. The two have an instant chemistry, and even though it's complicated, want to see each other some more leaving Gary to juggle multiple identities and ethical quandaries. Hit Man is incredibly entertaining and extremely funny. Glen Powell is an absolute star here playing multiple roles with ease and pitch-perfect comic timing. He's so charismatic here and his chemistry with Arjona is off the charts. She too is excellent here though she's not given quite as much to do. The ending is a bit tidy but it doesn't detract from any of the fun had before. Hit Man is without a doubt one of the highlights of this year's festival and easily Richard Linklater's best work since Boyhood. RATING: 9/10

  • Sundance Day 8 Recap

    Sundance is finally over, but I have just a few movie recaps left in me before my festival coverage comes to an end...until next year. Saturday I got to see two movies at completely opposite spectrums of the festival: the midnight section and the kids section. Here are my thoughts on 10 Lives and In A Violent Nature. 10 LIVES When kitten Beckett is taken in by a research scientist named Rose, he thinks he's got it made. His life is unexpectedly cut short, but he's given another chance in kitty heaven at another nine lives, but there's a catch. Each time he comes back, he comes back as another animal, with the new life designed with the purpose of Beckett learning a new lesson. Each life is intended as a stepping stone to help him learn how to be more selfless. Meanwhile, he also discovers from his various perspectives that Rose's boss may be out to sabotage her longtime work with nefarious purposes of his own. 10 Lives is a sweet if somewhat forgettable animated tale. It features one of the most adorable segments of an animated kitten ever...until he grows up and becomes more of an obnoxious fat cat. The best bits are the time in kitty heaven and waiting to see what animal he becomes next, but with nine after a while it feels a bit superfluous. The b plot line (pun intended since it's all about bees,) is a bit silly and never feels all that important. Plus, as a cat owner, I have to say it is kind of a bit ridiculous how quickly Rose gives up looking for Beckett once he's missing. I had a fine time with it, though I will add that it did struggle a little bit at times to hold my almost four-year-old's attention. RATING: 6.5/10 IN A VIOLENT NATURE After hearing an urban legend about a necklace in the woods with a mysterious past, a group of friends take it and unknowingly awaken an unstoppable killing machine. Before they know it, they are stalked mercilessly and hunted down one by one, with no hope of survival, by a giant man wearing an old stolen mask. The conceit of In A Violent Nature is that it's a slasher flick told almost entirely from the killer's point of view. That sounds like a great idea in theory until you see it in execution. Part of that is due to the type of slasher villain we're following. The killer in Nature most resembles Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise, so we're not really following some mastermind here, but rather just a lumbering killing giant. As such, much of the runtime is spent simply witnessing this monster trekking through the forest like a bear looking for its next meal. There's no cleverness, no premeditation. No sadistically staging bodies for others to stumble upon in horror. He's a villain with no thought at all and the results are very free from any kind of suspense. While I can appreciate that it's certainly a gorefest and an all-around love letter and homage to slasher films, the result is too boring to justify its existence. RATING: 5/10

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  • PODCASTS | movies-and-mayhem

    PODCAST APPEARANCES BACONSALE ​ ​ ​ ​ JOY SANDWICH ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIRST TIME WATCHERS ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ PLAIN CAST ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ IN SESSION FILM ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Featured Review Barbie Review Oppenheimer Review Elemental Review The Flash Review Tag Cloud Most Anticipated Movie List Movie Review Quick Take Sundance Top 10

  • TOP 10 | movies-and-mayhem

    MY TOP 10 Favorite Films What are my ALL TIME favorite films, you wonder? Look no further than this. 1. (500) Days of Summer 2. The Empire Strikes Back 3. Back to the Future 4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off 5. Psycho 6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 7. Inception 8. It's a Wonderful Life 9. Jurassic Park 10. Signs Featured Review Barbie Review Oppenheimer Review Elemental Review Tag Cloud Most Anticipated Movie List Movie Review Quick Take Sundance Top 10

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