Gone in the Night (2022)

“Gone in the Night” is a 2022 Mystery/Thriller starring Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns), John Gallagher Jr. (Peppermint), Owen Teague (IT), and Brianne Tju (High School).

A couple (Ryder, Gallagher Jr.) take a trip to a cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere for a relaxing getaway from the city, only to find out another couple has already booked the cabin and are staying there. Instead of driving hours back to the city, they stay with the couple who already booked the cabin for the night. When the woman wakes up the next morning, she finds out her boyfriend ran off with this mysterious woman who was already staying at the cabin, she now wants to find out why.

There’s not a lot of love for this movie, IMDb has it rated as a 4.9. I think that’s low. It does a good job pulling you in. It opens up with Ryder and Gallagher Jr driving to the cabin in the night. First thing I noticed is Ryder is old enough to be his mom, which bugged me at first, but they addressed it, so that’s okay. When they get to the cabin a mysterious couple is already there, and they greeted them wearing green raincoats, even though it’s not raining. So, off the bat, you’re already thinking wtf is going on. They have it set up from the start. Where I think the hate is, the plot seems simplistic, and it has some slow spots. Without the spoilers, it’s not a simple case of the boyfriend running off with another woman, there’s something darker and more complex going on. I think it’s worth watching, and you can currently catch it on Hulu. I give it a 7/10.

HollyBlood

“HollyBlood” is a 2022 Netflix original Spanish comedy/horror starring Oscar Casas (The Orphanage), Isa Montalban (Just One Time), Jordi Sanchez (L’un per l’altre), Carlos Suarez (Money Heist), and Piero Mendez (Calvin Klein: Spring/Summer 2018).

A shy boy tries to impress and win over a girl at his school by pretending to be a vampire. All is well and working until a real vampire shows up.

I’m typically not a fan of foreign movies due to the subs and dubs not matching up and the dubs not matching up with the mouth movement. This one matches up, and it’s not far off from the lip movement so it’s not bad. It’s a silly, dumb, lighthearted movie, it’s pretty much a spoof on vampire romance movies. There’s not much depth, but it’s funny especially Jordi Sanchez who plays the dad. Overall, it’s a fun watch. I give it a 7/10.

Day Shift

“Day Shift” is 2022 Netflix original Action/Comedy starring Jamie Foxx (The Soloist), Dave Franco (Unfinished Business), Meagan Good (The Intruder), Karla Souza (How to Get Away with Murder), Steve Howey (Shameless), and Snoop Dogg.

A down on his luck L.A. vampire hunter (Foxx) has a week to come up with some fast cash to pay for his daughters braces and tuition. When he kills and defangs an older vampire, he unknowingly causes a chain of events that results in a much more powerful vampire coming after him. Not only that but he is stuck with a union worker (Franco) assigned to watch his every move.

This movie is star studded. Jamie Foxx is a brilliant actor and Dave Franco is one of the funniest guys in Hollywood. So, them teaming up together to hunt vampires, you know it’s going to be good. Plus, you get to see the Dogg father himself hunt vampires, where else are you going to see that? “Day Shift” has the perfect blend of action and comedy to make it a great watch. Don’t get me wrong it is plenty violent with them killing and defanging vampires, but with the comedic relief it makes it a pretty lighthearted action film that will appeal to most. I give it a 7/10.

Nope

“Nope” is Jordan Peele’s third and most recent horror. This 2022 horror stars Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Keke Palmer (Hustlers), Brandon Perea (The OA), Michael Wincott (What Just Happened), and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead).

A brother and sister who are taking care of their late dad’s ranch witness something unexplainable. Now they’re determined to bring proof of the impossible.

Jordan Peele is a horror genius and may go down as the greatest horror director of all time. “Get Out” is mind blowing, did he set the bar so high on that one that the rest seem to lack in comparison? Maybe, maybe not. So “Nope” definitely has some pros and cons, it isn’t like his other two films. Let’s get into the cons first. One it’s slower than his other two. It’s over two hours long, and honestly not a lot of creepy things going on here. It doesn’t drag but it doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat either. Two and this is a big one, the alien. The alien looks bad, really bad, it looks like a weather balloon. One thing about Jordan Peele though is everything in his movies have a meaning, every little detail, even ones you don’t notice. He is notorious for Easter eggs in his movies. So maybe, the alien looked like that on purpose for some reason, but I thought it just looked terrible.

Let’s look at the pros. One the writing is brilliant, like I stated before it’s not like his others. This is his “Jaws”. Instead of hunting a great white in the ocean, they’re hunting a much bigger, and deadlier predator in the skies. Kudos to Peele for branching out. Two the acting is fantastic, I love Kaluuya, he’s great in everything he does. So, with all this factored in I don’t think it’s as good as his other two, he doesn’t have the creepiness factor, but it’s still a good story and movie. I give it a 7/10.

Spiderhead

“Spiderhead” is a 2022 Netflix original thriller starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Miles Teller (War Dogs), Jurnee Smollett (Birds of Prey), and Mark Paguio (The Twelve).

Instead of going to prison several convicts are participating in a study on a secluded island that involves them taking drugs that’s able to control their emotions such as love, fear, and paranoia. One of the prisoners (Teller) believes something much sinister is going on, and he intends to find out what.

It’s a unique story and has a solid ending. My issues with it are I don’t think they do quite enough with it, it seems to be lacking a bit. Also, the majority of the twists are pretty predictable, I predicted pretty much all of them. Doesn’t mean they’re bad twists, I just saw them coming. The big thing that saves this moving is the acting. It stars the god of thunder himself Chris Hemsworth. I Love Hemsworth, he has the big goofy guy role nailed down, but he’s also a versatile actor. He plays the creepy part very well in this one, not to mention the acting from Teller and Smollett are also pretty solid. I still think it’s worth checking out though, I give it a 7/10.

1 BR

“1 BR” is a 2020 thriller/drama starring Nicole Brydon Bloom (The Affair), Giles Matthey (Ford V Ferrari), Taylor Nichols (Criminal Minds), Celeste Sully (Dukkha), and Namoi Grossman (American Horror Story).

Sarah (Bloom) is a young girl who moves out to L.A. trying to make it by making costumes. She finds a one-bedroom apartment that seems perfect, with a real sense of community. She quickly discovers her neighbors aren’t all that they seem, and something much sinister lies beneath.

Nicole Brydon Bloom plays a good lead, and I like the story, it’s very unique. There are a few moments that make you say WTF, that also mixes in some gore. Overall, it’s a psychological thriller, and it sets up for a great ending that you probably don’t see coming. I give it a 7/10.

The Princess

“The Princess” is a 2022 Hulu exclusive action movie starring Joey King (The Act), Veronica Ngo (The Old Guard), Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger), and Olga Kurylenko (Seven Psychopaths).

The kingdom needs an heir to the throne, so the king arranges for his daughter to get married. When the princess won’t marry her arranged husband, he sneaks into the kingdom and takes it by force. The princess is locked away in the high tower, she must fight her way down and take back the kingdom.

It is action packed and blood soaked from start to finish. It’s a John Wick style movie but with a female lead where multitudes of people come after her and she essentially kills them all while making her way down the levels of the castle. Joey King is a great actress and overall, it’s a pretty solid movie. It’s not quite as good as John Wick, but it’s still good plus, it’s a pretty original concept. Sure, it has its cheesy parts, and unbelievable parts, but what type of movie like this doesn’t? Overall, it’s worth the watch, I give it a 7/10.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

This is the newest MCU movie and is the second standalone Doctor Strange movie, it stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Vision), Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange), Xochitl Gomez (The Baby-Sitters Club), and Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers).

A girl who has the ability to travel through the multiverse winds up in Doctor Strange’s universe. She is on the run from someone trying to hunt her down and steal her powers, Doctor Strange must now put his life on the line to protect the girl. The enemy is closer than what he realizes.

This one picks up right after “Spider-Man: No Way Home” where he just gone done dabbling in the multiverse. No way home opened up a lot of doors by dabbling in the multiverse, and Doctor Strange takes the ball and runs with it here. One thing I love about the MCU movies is how they’re all connected and post endgame/infinity war, it always reference’s it and Thanos, I always get a kick out of it. I knew Wanda aka The Scarlet Witch was in it, it also teased to be star packed, including to be rumored were Blade, Ghost Hunter, Deadpool, Wolverine and others. Which we don’t get any of these. We do get a brief cameo from Professor Xavier, and John Krasinski as Mister Fantastic, so that was a cool little easter egg but that’s all we got. There’s no shortage of action, it’s just Wanda going at it against Doctor Strange and Wong. So it’s different than what I was thinking. It’s still a solid movie though. I give it a 7/10.

Morbius

“Morbius” is a 2022 Superhero movie, it’s Marvel’s newest movie, and it follows “Venoms” footsteps as the next anti-hero movie. It stars Jared Leto (Suicide Squad), Matt Smith (Last Night in Soho), Adria Arjona (Emerald City), Tyrese Gibson (Baby Boy), and Al Madrigal (The Way Back).

Dr. Michael Morbius is one of the world’s leading doctors and scientists, he has won a Noble Peace Prize for saving countless lives with his invention of synthetic blood. However, his lifelong goal is to cure his rare blood disease, and his pursuits are funded by his lifelong friend who also suffers from the same rare disease. He finally discovers a cure, but at what cost?

If you look at my other Marvel movie reviews, I talk about how there isn’t a bad Marvel movie, and I think that still holds true with “Morbius”, so the real question is how does it stack up against other Marvel Movies? Marvel is the cream of the crop when it comes to superhero movies. Well, It’s the bottom of the barrel with “Morbius” when it comes to Marvel Movies, which doesn’t mean it’s bad. It has some pacing issues, it’s a lot slower than other Marvel films. It has some scenes here and there where it picks up pace but then it slows down again. Jared Leto who plays the lead role isn’t even the best actor in this, Matt Smith is the saving grace of the film. He plays the “bad” vampire, and honestly, he looks cooler and play a better vampire than Leto. Leto’s character is just flat. There are a few plot holes that bug me too, like after Leto secretly cures himself, and he’s no longer frail and on crutches, he can now walk and he’s buff, but no one questions it. Also, when he’s highly wanted but he’s eating in a restaurant midday in no disguise. Overall, it’s a good movie and worth watching, but stacked up to its fellow Marvel movies it’s towards the bottom. I give it a 7/10.

OldBoy (2013)

Oldboy is a 2013 remake of a 2003 movie with the same name, I haven’t seen the original but from my understanding this one changed a few things. Spike Lee directs this thriller/mystery and brings a huge cast starring Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame), Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody).

A man is kidnapped and confined to a single room for twenty years. When he is finally freed after twenty years, he is hellbent on finding his captors and making them pay.

I haven’t heard of OldBoy or didn’t know the star-studded cast that was in it. I just keep seeing it on my suggested movies, and it eventually wore me down, so I gave it a shot. It’s a very weird concept, and it’s dark and twisted on so many levels. The twist is going to have you picking your jaw off the floor, now if that’s a good or bad thing, that’s for you to decide. Josh Brolin is the main guy in this, he’s a fantastic actor, he has a wide range. His most famous role is Thanos, but for this, I think it was an odd choice. He just didn’t sell it for me. Overall, it’s not a movie for the faint of heart, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. For shock value alone I think it’s worth the watch, it’s not one you’ll forget. I give it a 7/10. It’s definitely an interesting movie, you can catch it on Netflix.