Malignant (2021) - Movie Review

This is going to be a tricky one to write about. Partly because a lot of the immediate impact comes from a plot twist that, if you pay close enough attention to what’s happening on-screen, is actually painfully obvious. But mostly, it’s because this is one of those special films like The Angry Birds Movie 2 where, at time of writing, I’m still trying to figure out whether this film is legitimately good or so-bad-it’s-good. As someone who has long since advocated for the latter as genuine entertainment, I’m not saying that as a detraction of the production itself. Just that trying to get things straight is quite the task, for something this unashamedly batshit.

Annabelle Comes Home (2019) - Movie Review

As much as The Conjuring has put its boot print on the face of modern horror cinema, its spin-offs have been… less than ideal, Annabelle in particular. The first Annabelle marks one of the most unintentionally funny ‘horror’ flicks I’ve seen, to the point where its infamous elevator scene still makes me giggle to this day. Given what I went into with Shazam! earlier in the year, I won’t revive that whole mess but, suffice it to say, Annabelle: Creation wasn’t all that good either. Even though I went to bat for The Nun when few others did, I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting much out of this one. Thankfully, I can report back that I finally, finally have an Annabelle movie I can get behind.

I, Tonya (2018) - Movie Review

 

The plot: In 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) became embroiled in a media frenzy surrounding an attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver). Intercut with “documentary footage” of Tonya, her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) and her mother LaVona (Allison Janney), the characters involved talk about what led up to that incident, from Tonya’s childhood to her achievements in figure skating, right down to just how much of that particular attack she was aware of at the time. It seems that, even for a story that has gone down into pop culture legend, there is still a lot left unsaid.

Gifted (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: After the death of her mother, seven-year-old Mary (Mckenna Grace) was left in the care of her uncle Frank (Chris Evans). When Mary’s school teacher Bonnie (Jenny Slate) discovers Mary’s talent for complex mathematics, it sparks a debate between Frank and Mary’s grandmother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) about whether the opportunities Frank is allowing her niece are fulfilling her potential. As the matter gets brought into court, Mary’s ultimate fate rests on who can make a better case for what is right for the child.