What started as a tense little story of a family trying to survive in a world of aliens with an intense desire to maul everything that makes the slightest sound eventually did what most successful films do: It became a big ‘ol series.
Despite this, the second film did not lose its intimate and personal nature, and the prequel/, A Quiet Place: Day One, follows suit, much to its benefit.
REVIEW
Hit Man skirts by on lovability, not much else
Hit Man is a romance that isn’t really romantic, a comedy that isn’t really that funny, and a crime story that doesn’t delve too deeply into the law and the punishments of those who break it. But despite its nebulous genre I actually enjoyed Hit Man for the most part, mostly thanks to some incredible acting and the chemistry of the two leads.
Review: The Acolyte
There are some plot holes that I take umbrage with, and it remains to be seen if the show will be faithful to the canon established before it, but the basic bones of The Acolyte look promising so far, especially the bits about family and sisterhood.
Unfrosted ends up stale
I’m not writing this today to wax nostalgic about my college experience; I am writing to tell you that Unfrosted, the extremely embellished and exaggerated story of how Pop-Tarts came to be, is similar to its namesake in that it is chocked full of artificial ingredients that are bad for you, but unlike the delicious breakfast pastry I took absolutely no joy in consuming it.
Apocalyptic epic starts slow, finishes strong
Once I finally got to watch it, I was initially thrown for a bit of a loop–the latest film in George Miller’s post-apocalyptic Aussie saga is considerably slower in a few segments than its predecessor. But once I got past that initial speed bump, what I discovered was a beautifully insane film that, while not a classic like Fury Road, is still a whole lot of fun for action film fans.
Newest Apes film earns its Kingdom
I was happy to learn that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes–awkward titles are just inherent to the series–wasn’t just another reboot. The Serkis trilogy was always going to be a tough act to follow and, despite the odds, they pulled it off. Kingdom is great.
More thrills than education
You don’t need to do much to impress me when it comes to documentaries. As long as they report the facts and feature subjects that are at least vaguely interesting, I can usually stomach them, music and editing aside.
“Now I can’t wait for the world to end” -Fallout
As existentially horrifying as the idea of nuclear war is, I will say that at least it has inspired some creative fiction over the years.
For a good example look no further than Fallout, the hugely popular video game series where the roaches are humongous, the mutated monsters are plentiful and the Geiger counters enthusiastically sing their clicky song of death.
Disney+ revives a classic Marvel cartoon in X-Men ’97
Kids WB was always my jam but if I had ever deviated from my strict schedule and flipped over to Fox Kids I would have no doubt fallen in love with X-Men, the massively popular animated adaptation of Marvel’s classic band of merry mutants.
The show was such a hit that Disney decided to continue it 27 years later with X-Men ‘97, an enjoyable cheese-fest with cool action, beautiful animation and an intergenerational appeal.
A contemporary ’80s tough guy movie
Like a lot of millennials, I was first introduced to a lot of ’80’s movies via Family Guy. From that context, I gathered that the film Road House involved Patrick Swayze in mom jeans and violence, but other than that, I couldn’t tell you anything else.
I can tell you a bit about the 2024 re-imagining with Jake Gyllenhaal, though.
It’s fine.