Come to Daddy

‘Come to Daddy’ is a 2019 horror/thriller starring Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), Stephen McHattie (Watchmen), Madeleine Sami (The Breaker Upperers), Martin Donovan (Big Little Lies), and Michael Smiley (Luther). Elijah Wood’s character receives a letter from his estranged father who walked out of his life when he was five years old. He takes this as a chance to reconnect with him by going to visit him. Problem is, his dad isn’t what he expected.

I really like Elijah Wood, and Daniel Radcliffe, but it’s not because of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ series or the Harry Potter movies. It’s because of all the random insane rolls both take on ever since the movies listed above. I love it, and ‘Come to Daddy’ is no different for Elijah Woods. This movie starts out slow but once you get to the half way point the movie takes off hard. It has one of the bloodiest and most unique on screen kills I’ve seen, and that’s up there with Terrifier’s sawing the naked upside down woman in half. If you love these random Radcliffe and Wood roles like I do, and want to see Wood go ham on some people, then ‘Come to Daddy’ is for you. I give it a 7.5/10.

Population 436

‘Population 436’ is a 2006 mystery/horror starring Jeremy Sisto (Clueless), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Charlotte Sullivan (Rookie Blue), and Frank Adamson (Dolores Claiborne). A census taker (Sisto) is sent to the small town of Rockwell Falls, whos population has remained at 436 for the past century. He quickly learns the small town is hiding something sinister.

This has a real Stephen King-esque feel, think ‘Salem’s Lot’ and ‘Children of the Corn’ mixed with ‘The Wicker Man’. It’s not a real well known movie and appears to be on the low budget side, but for being a B horror movie it’s pretty solid. The story line is good, and so is the acting. Even though Stephen King didn’t have anything to do with this film, if you’re a fan of his style, you’ll enjoy this movie. You can find this hidden gem on Amazon Prime. I give it a 7/10.

The Night Clerk

‘The Night Clerk’ is a 2020 thriller starring Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One), Ana De Armas (Knock Knock), John Leguizamo (To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar), Helen Hunt (Girls Just Want to Have Fun), and Jonathon Schaech (That Thing you Do!) ‘The Night Clerk’ is about a young man (Sheridan) who works at a hotel as the night clerk. He suffers from Asperger’s syndrome and has several hidden cameras in the rooms in order for him to study and mimic people which helps him with his social awkwardness. He ends up witnessing a murder on one of his live feeds.

‘The Night Clerk’ has a great cast, Tye Sheridan really nails his role as a man with Asperger’s Syndrome, and the story is there. However, after that, that’s it. It falls flat, and I mean it falls hard. This story has so much potential, but nothing happens. Sheridan witnesses the murder in the beginning of the film, and that’s it, that’s the most action the movie has. It’s a disappointment with the caliber cast and story line. I would pass this one up, but if you do want to watch it, you can find it on Netflix. It falls into what I’ve said before, if it’s not a Netflix original it’s probably not worth watching on Netflix. I give it a 5/10.

Honey Boy

‘Honey Boy’ was written by Shia Labeouf while in rehab as part of his therapy. ‘Honey Boy’ covers part of Labeouf’s childhood and his relationship with his father. Other than starring Labeouf ‘Honey Boy’ stars Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place), Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased), FKA Twigs, and Byron Bowers (The Chi).

While writing my review on ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ I stated my love for Labeouf as an actor, and how after going crazy it was great to see him making movies again. After watching ‘Honey Boy’ it’s understandable why Labeouf had a mental breakdown, he had a messed up childhood, and that’s putting it lightly. Labeouf plays his father in ‘Honey Boy’ and Jupe plays a young Labeouf. Labeouf knocks the role out of the park as well as Jupe, I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of Jupe, especially as he gets older and transitions from child actor into adult actor. ‘Honey Boy’ also has subtle hints to Labeouf’s career like ‘Even Stevens’ and ‘Transformers’. ‘Honey Boy’ is a powerful but sad movie, I give it an 8.5/10.

Becky

‘Becky’ is a 2020 horror/thriller by Redbox Productions, which I didn’t know Redbox put out their own films until I rented this one. ‘Becky’ stars Kevin James (King of Queens), Lulu Wilson (Annabelle: Creation), Joel McHale (Tiger King Special), Robert Maillet (Sherlock Holmes), and Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale). ‘Becky’ is about a teen girl and her father who go to their cabin in the woods with his new fiancé and her son. Becky is mad at her father since her mother has only passed away a year ago, she hides out in her treehouse out of spite and anger. While hiding out a group of white supremacists break out of prison and hide out at her father’s cabin. It’s up to Becky to save herself, and her family.

‘Becky’ is an interesting movie, it deserves to have its place in ‘Bloody Disgusting’. You see a guy chop off his own eye through its optical nerve with a butcher knife on a cutting board. If that doesn’t deserve its place in ‘Bloody Disgusting’, I don’t know what does. Also Kevin James is an interesting casting choice. He’s known for his goofy comedies, ‘King of Queens’, ‘Paul Blart Mall Cop’, ‘Here Comes the Boom’, etc… This movie is not a comedy by any means, Kevin James plays the main Neo Nazi leader, it’s equivalent to casting Will Ferrell, David Spade, or Adam Sandler in this role. I give Kevin James this though, he plays the part very well. If bloody horror movies aren’t your thing, give this one a pass, but I think it’s shocking in a good way. I give it a 7/10.

My Spy

My Spy is a 2020 family comedy/ romantic comedy starring the man himself Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) and co staring Kristen Schaal (Bob’s Burgers). This is one I have been wanting to see all year since I first saw it previewed, unfortunately with the shutdown this movie didn’t make it to theaters and my plans of seeing it were put on hold. Good news though, you can now stream it on Amazon Prime.

Along side Bautista and Schaal, ‘My Spy’ also stars Parisa Fitz-Henley (Fantasy Island), Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Chloe Coleman (Big Little Lies), Nicola Correia-Damude (Shadowhunters), and Greg Bryk (Shoot ‘Em Up). ‘My Spy’ follows CIA agents JJ (Bautista) and Bobbi (Schaal). While they are undercover they are found out by 9 year old Sophie (Coleman). In order to keep Sophie quiet JJ becomes her friend and trains her on how to become a spy.

Anything with Bautista is going to be good, the guy is hilarious, and ‘My Spy’ is no exception. It wasn’t as funny as some of past movies like ‘Stuber’, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, but it still has it’s funny parts. Overall it’s a feel good movie that the entire family will enjoy. I give it a 8.5/10.

The Hunt

‘The Hunt’ is a 2020 horror/thriller by Blumhouse Productions. ‘The Hunt’ features a pretty good cast with Betty Gilpin (GLOW. Stuber), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Ike Barinholtz (Blockers), Wayne Duvall (O Brother, Where Art though?), Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl), and Emma Roberts (American Horror Story).

‘The Hunt’ is considered 2020’s most controversial film, in fact so controversial where several theaters decided to pull it. To me it seemed as if it’s been done four other times with ‘The Purge’, the rich hunting the poor, nothing new, so why is ‘The Hunt’ so controversial? Maybe because as a society in general we are more easily offended. After watching it, that’s not exactly the case. It’s not just the rich hunting the poor but liberal elites hunting down twelve deplorable republicans. This is why it’s so controversial because of the political aspect. They really hit the political correctness of the lefts and the rights as being rednecks. I even got a little offended, with as much divide that is in our society right now, why cause more with a movie?

Keeping in mind it’s just a movie though, and looking past the political part, its a solid film. It starts out with a bang right off the bat, and keeps up the pace all the way through. I also love Betty Gilpin, she’s a great actress, and she’s starting to get into bigger and bigger roles. I would like to see more of her, she is possibly the next big thing. Considering everything I give ‘The Hunt’ a 7/10.

The King of Staten Island

‘The King of Staten Island’ is a 2020 comedy/drama starring Pete Davidson, which it’s semi based off his life. It also stars Bel Powley (Wildling), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny), Maude Apatow (Knocked Up), Bill Burr (F is for Family), and Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs).

I’ll start of by saying Pete Davidson is a controversial guy, you either love him or hate him. I personally love him, he seems like such a down to earth guy, and I find his don’t give a crap humor hilarious. I first found out about Pete Davidson when Barstool Sports started making fun of him for having “Butthole eyes”, which Davidson addressed in his Netflix comedy special, it didn’t even phase him. Along side Davidson, ‘The King of Staten Island’ stars comedic powerhouse Bill Burr. Burr is on the raunchy side of comedy but is another hilarious comic, so naturally I figured this movie would be hilarious. It’s a bit on the long side it’s almost two and a half hours, and it’s different that what I was expecting. It’s not very funny, it has a few funny moments, but it is more on the drama side. Tomei, Davidson, and Burr really nail there roles, especially Davidson, you can’t help but love him and just want to give the guy a hug after this movie. It’s a must see this summer, I give it a 8/10.

The Show

‘The Show’ is a 2017 thriller/drama directed by and starring Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad). It’s about a new show called “This is Your Death” where contestants go on the show and kill themselves, the audience and viewers raise money for the recently deceased’s family. The “better” the suicide the more money that is raised. “This is Your Death” quickly reaches number one in the world as contestants try to out do each other in their suicides for a big cash prize. Other than Giancarlo Esposito, ‘The Show’ stars Josh Duhamel (Transformers), Famke Janssen (X-Men), Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break), and Caitlin FitzGerald (It’s Complicated).

‘The Show’ is a very heavy movie, it’s not for the weak of heart or stomach. With that said, it’s a great film. Giancarlo Esposito nails it on the head with showing how society is more addicted to shock and awe over the value of life. I give ‘The Show’ an 9/10.

The Lodge

‘The Lodge’ is a 2019 horror/ thriller starring Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road), Alicia Silverstone (Clueless), Jaeden Martell (IT), Richard Armitage (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), and Lia McHugh (Totem). Two kids are stuck in a cabin with their future mother in law for a couple of days once their father is forced to leave for the city due to work. The kids are bitter over their mothers own death, and blame their future mother in law. Now being snowed in and stuck with her, they’re unsure they will survive.

‘The Lodge’ starts off with a bang, literally. After that however it is a drag for a solid 50 minutes where nothing happens, to the point where I almost fell asleep during it. After that though the movie takes off and is non stop, it has you on the edge of your seat filled with WTF moments. In that aspect it’s a great horror movie, if it wasn’t for the solid 50 minute lag I would score it higher, but I have to give it a 6.5/10.