You People (2023) - Movie Review

I wasn’t even planning on watching this. I was originally going to check out Rebel Moon, but then I read up on how there was going to be a director’s cut, and given… well, everything to do with Zack Snyder and extended cuts, I want to both avoid the larger conversation as best I can while also giving him the best chance possible. So, as a result, that review is getting moved to early next year. And out of blind panic, and remembering that this film was a talking point earlier in the year, I basically went “fuck it” and picked this. Words cannot express how much I regret that decision.

The Night Clerk (2020) - Movie Review

This is something I’m likely going to get into more detail with a review I can already see approaching early next year, but just to get it out in the open: I don’t have an inherent problem with non-autistic people playing those on the spectrum. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Asa Butterfield, and Ben Affleck aren’t on the spectrum (far as I know, at least), and yet their respective depictions in Mary & Max, X+Y, and The Accountant still resonated with me.

Being able to depict something that close to my heart in a truly empathetic way means the world to me, regardless of the status of the actor doing it, and while I get the problem with the lack of IRL autistic representation in these movies (it’s been happening for so long, it’s become the norm to the detriment of working autistic actors), that on its own isn’t the issue. It just adds salt to the wound when the film’s understanding of the condition is already as fucked as it is in films like The Night Clerk.

Seven Stages To Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through The Gateway Chosen By The Holy Storsh (2020) - Movie Review

Well, here’s a welcome change: A film title that actually works. Yeah, it lands squarely in Alexander And The TL;DR territory, but for a movie all about cult mentality, it sure sounds like the name of a self-help book that would garner a small but creepily devoted fanbase. And yes, we’re doing a SpectreVision double feature today (well, technically, this is from Company X, but same producers, so let’s not split hairs here), and despite this being about such a dark topic, this isn’t a horror movie. Not in the conventional sense, at least; this is a lot closer to The Greasy Strangler in tone, and much like that feature, it’s difficult to put into word how truly batshit insane this entire thing is.

The Fanatic (2020) - Movie Review

Well, ain’t this a nice pick for April, otherwise known as Autism Acceptance Month? A film about an obsessed superfan that pretty much everyone who has seen and written about it has pinned down as being on the autism spectrum. And yeah, this technically came out last year, but it only made it over here fairly recently and, after the utter trainwreck of Gotti, I’ll admit that I’m aiming at low-hanging fruit with Travolta’s latest. I also definitely get the problems with Travolta passing like this, but quite frankly, that’s not even close to the worst of it.

Eighth Grade (2019) - Movie Review

Part of me hates movies like this. Sure, I’m not entirely adverse to coming-of-age stories, as I’ve covered some pretty damn good ones over the last few years like You’re Not Thinking Straight, The Edge Of Seventeen, Lady Bird and Love, Simon. However, the part of me that dislikes going out to see this category of cinema, and something that reaches somewhat of an apex with this film, is a very specific type of cringe. The kind that comes from seeing adolescents and teenagers struggling with their own awkwardness in a school setting, making one realise just how awkward they themselves were at that age. If that’s not the feeling you get from seeing films like this, I'm assuming you come from somewhere in Andromeda.

Bad Moms 2 (2017) - Movie Review

 

For as much derision as the practice gets, I don’t have any major issue with the whole sequel/franchise/cinematic universe thing in Hollywood. I find it interesting to see what films hold up to the original, and I’m always surprised to see films that manage to exceed what came before it like John Wick: Chapter 2 and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. Today’s film, however, is of a brand that does make me tilt my head. It was a little over a year ago that I looked the first Bad Moms, a film that I still think people didn’t give enough credit to for the kind of film it was. Having this little amount of time between instalments is usually the sign of a cash-in “let’s just repeat what we did before” sequel. Combine that with this being a Christmas film released in November, because doing it in December would’ve made too much sense, and this has a high probability of being less-than-adequate.

 

Still, given how impressed I was with the first film and seeing how some equally impressive cinematic follow-ups this year, I’m holding onto some hope that this might be decent. For once, I will not be pleased if I’m proven wrong.