SMILE 2 (2024)
written by: Parker Finn
produced by: Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Parker Finn & Robert Salerno
directed by: Parker Finn
rated: R (for strong bloody violent content, grisly images, language throughout and drug use)
runtime: 127 min.
U.S. release date: October 18, 2024
“Smile 2” is one of those sequels in which the viewer would benefit from seeing the first movie. That is if you’re into intense frights. One could still find entertainment from this first follow-up to 2022’s “Smile,” a horror flick from writer/director Parker Finn which went on to become the third highest-grossing film that year (impressive, considering it was originally going to be relegated to streaming land), but this is an instance in which having familiarity will offer up some satisfying dividends. Finn returns with the same crew to continue this terrifying tale, once again revolving around a young woman trying to make sense of her increasing madness while gradually expanding his world-building. Read more…
THE APPRENTICE (2024) review
written by: Gabriel Sherman
produced by: Ali Abbasi, Daniel Bekerman, Julianne Forde, Jacob Jarek, Louis Tisné, Ruth Treacy
directed by: Ali Abbasi
rated: R (for sexual content, some graphic nudity, language, sexual assault, and drug use)
runtime: 122 min.
U.S. release date: October 11, 2024
“Listen, here, I don’t need your money. You pay me back with your friendship, quid pro quo, you be a friend to me, I be a friend to you, okay? That’s the pact.”
There are many movies that come out each year where I can’t help but wonder who exactly the target audience is for that particular film. It’s often things like “Dark Shadows” or “Welcome to Marwen,” where no substantial cross-section of the population is guaranteed to enjoy the movie. Director Ali Abbasi’s new film “The Apprentice” seems to suffer from this same problem, as any film covering any portion of the life of Donald Trump is sure to have folks lining up on both sides. Read more…
MEGALOPOLIS (2024) review
written by: Francis Ford Coppola
produced by: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos, Barry Hirsch, and Michael Bederman
directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
rated: R (for sexual content, nudity, drug use, language and some violence)
runtime: 138 min.
U.S. release date: September 27, 2024
“What do you think about my boner?”
The benefit of the doubt is a powerful thing for an audience to give over to a filmmaker, but if one filmmaker has earned such status, it’s Francis Ford Coppola. The (literal) godfather of New Hollywood’s film brats of the 1970s, Coppola mentored and paved the way for some of the biggest filmmakers of the last quarter of the 20th century. When he works on an epic canvas—which he really hasn’t done since 1992’s “Dracula”—attention must be paid amongst the cine-literate. Read more…
MONSTER SUMMER (2024) review
written by: Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz
produced by: Mark Fasano, James Henrie, John Blanford & Dan McDonough
directed by: David Henrie
rated: PG-13 (for some violence and terror)
runtime: 97 min.
U.S. release date: October 4, 2024
There aren’t that many Halloween season releases suitable for adolescents, so “Monster Summer” is coming out at just the right time. The movie conjures that Amblin feeling of yesteryear, offering a coming-of-age adventure from director David Henrie (“This is the Year”) set in a time when bikes were the mode of transportation for juveniles. The story from screenwriters Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz weaves an air of mystery and spookiness throughout while attempting a “Stranger Things” vibe despite being set a decade later than that hit show. Read more…
HAUNTED HEART (2024) review
written by: Rylend Grant and Fernando Trueba
produced by: Fenia Cossovitsa, Dago García, Cristina Huete, and Fernando Trueba
directed by: Fernando Trueba
rated: not rated
runtime: 128 min.
U.S. release date: September 27, 2024 (theater/VOD)
The trailer for “Haunted Heart” makes the film out to be the kind of neo-noir thriller released in the early 90s. Its Greek island setting also makes the film one of those “destination projects” where all involved decided it would be an excellent excuse to visit the idyllic location. There’s nothing wrong with that approach. It’s a great idea. However, like any film, its success comes down to the screenplay. The story here, directed by Fernando Trueba (winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar back in 1992 for his comedy “Belle Époque”), who co-wrote with Rylend Grant, has an intriguing and inviting set-up that unfortunately falters into formulaic patterns with odd behavior patterns, and dialogue that mostly seems unnatural and unintentionally silly. Read more…
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024) review
written by: Alfred Gough and Miles Millar
produced by: Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper &
Tim Burton
directed by: Tim Burton
rated: PG-13 (for violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material and brief drug use)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: September 6, 2024
American filmmaker Tim Burton made his live-action directing debut back in 1985 with “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and delivered “Beetlejuice” in 1988 and “Batman” in the summer of 1989. That’s an impressive trio of movies, all stamped with his specific sense of style, boldness, and humor. Burton had only helmed one sequel to those movies (1992’s “Batman Returns”), until now with the much-discussed and long-awaited “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”. Granted, it’s not a movie that ever screamed for a sequel, but for whatever reasons, the titular character portrayed by Michael Keaton became quite popular, as did the comical macabre tone established, so here we finally are. Read more…
AfrAId (2024) review
written by: Chris Weitz
produced by: Jason Blum, Chris Weitz and Andrew Miano
directed by: Chris Weitz
rated: PG-13 (for sexual material, some strong violence, some strong language, and thematic material)
runtime: 84 min.
U.S. release date: August 30, 2024
Here’s a techno-thriller about the horrors of life with AI. Yes, that’s why the title is awkwardly spelled out: “AfrAId”, and that’s about as clever or original as this movie gets. Oh, wait, the antagonist is named AIA (pronounced eye-ugh), to drive home what’s being attempted here. The working title from writer/director Chris Weitz (“About a Boy,” “The Golden Compass,” and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”) was “They Listen”, which wasn’t any better. That seems more like the sarcastic title of a self-help book for parents with unruly teens. I would be curious to know if the screenplay differed from the final cut before Blumhouse Productions and Sony Pictures backed Weitz’s production company, Depth of Field. Read more…
ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024) review
‘written by: Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues
produced by: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss & Walter Hill
directed by: Fede Álvarez
rated: R (for bloody violent content and language)
runtime: 119 min.
U.S. release date: August 16, 2024
20th Century Studios, no longer Fox after being acquired by The Mouse, can now be compared to Weyland-Yutani, the real antagonist of the “Alien” universe. Just as that fictional evil mega-corporation has utilized every available resource to procure a living specimen of the slobbery xenomorph-with-acid-for-blood, so too has the studio gone out of its way to keep the alien alive and profitable. There have been sequels, prequels, and crossovers, and now we have “Alien: Romulus,” which can be considered an interquel. The main goal here is to lure a new generation of viewers (as evidenced by the marketing) into proximity to the “perfect organism.” Still, those well-versed in face-hugging will be experiencing something familiar. Whether or not that’s a welcome concept depends on the viewer. Read more…
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (2024) review
written by: Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells & Shawn Levy
produced by: Kevin Feige, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy & Lauren Shuler Donner
directed by: Shawn Levy
rated: R (for strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references)
runtime: 128 min.
U.S. release date: July 26, 2024
It’s a strange and different year for the folks over at Disney/Marvel Studios in that only one feature is being released in theaters. In prior years, a movie would drop just about every quarter. There are various reasons that’s not happening this year, and “Deadpool & Wolverine” acknowledges them in the absurdly meta manner we’ve come to expect from Deadpool movies. Perhaps the best reason is to give viewers some breathing room and build up anticipation for one sole MCU feature. It’s also a year in which “X-Men ’97”, the sequel series to the animated series from the 90s, became a massive hit for Disney+. This makes it an excellent time to give fans a live-action Wolverine that finally appears in his classic yellow-and-blue superhero suit. Indeed, it would seem that the timing is just right for a movie that serves as both a sequel and a random one-off – or, as it’s called in the comics world, a one-shot. Read more…
TRAP (2024) review
written by: M. Night Shyamalan
produced by: Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock, and M. Night Shyamalan
directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
rated: PG-13 (for some violent content and brief strong language)
runtime: 105 min.
U.S. release date: August 2, 2024
You must admit that M. Night Shyamalan knows how to lift up his family, specifically his daughters. After producing his daughter’s directorial debut, “The Watchers”, earlier this summer, he gave his other daughter a surprisingly prominent role in his latest directing endeavor, “Trap”. Way to go, Dad! Sadly, neither of these debatable thrillers live up to the exhaustive marketing that promised taut storytelling, intense thrills, and, perhaps a traditional Shyamalan twist. There’s certainly a valid curiosity in the “Silence of the Lambs meets a Taylor Swift concert” concept, which is how M. Night pitched the project to Warner Bros. Pictures. If only he had kept the action within the stadium because it would have entered unexpectedly ridiculous levels of absurdity once it exited the building. Read more…
