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.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is a requel (remake/sequel) of the horror movie “The Chainsaw Massacre.” This one stars Sarah Yarkin (Happy Death Day 2U), Elsie Fisher (Castle Rock), Mark Burnham (Lowlife), Olwen Fouere (Zone 414), and Moe Dunford (Vikings).

A group of hipsters buy what they believe is an abandoned town to auction off the buildings and have their own utopia. It happens to not be totally abandoned and they unknowingly unleash the evil that is Leatherface. Now it’s a fight for survival as he goes on a killing spree.

I saw a review saying that someone saw the new “Halloween”, and they tried to do the same thing but with Leatherface. I don’t think you can sum it up any better. Just like Michael, Leatherface is now an old man, easily in his 70s and is seemingly unkillable. Just like Laurie Strode in Halloween an old woman from his past is the only one that can stop him. Not to mention both go on a gruesome murdering spree. I liked it though, Leatherface is my favorite of the original baddies (Michael, Jason, Freddy Krueger, and Ghostface). So, I was excited they came out with a new one. A cool little fact too, the chainsaw used in this one is the same that’s used in the original. If you’re a fan of horror, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies it’s worth watching. Sure, it’s cheesy in parts, but what slasher flick isn’t? I give it a 7/10.

Jackass Forever

“Jackass Forever” is the newest installment in the Jackass movie series. They bring back the old crew with Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, Dave England, and Preston Lacy. While adding some younger faces which included Rachel Wolfson, Machine Gun Kelly, Eric Andre, Zach Holmes, and Sean McInerney.

“Jackass” first premiered in 2000 and ran until 2007, and the first movie came out 2003. So nearly 20 years since the first movie, and 10 from the last one. The guys are back at it again, this time as I mentioned with some younger additions. I personally love “Jackass” I started watching them when I was thirteen and watched them all through high school. I Knew all the members and their stunts, so I was pretty pumped when they decided to come out with a new one. All the movies start with a big stunt introducing everyone, this one is no different, just a little cruder. This one starts with Chris Pontius’s dick dressed up as Godzilla terrorizing a village. It doesn’t slow down with the crudeness, plenty of dicks in this one. Which I could do without, but it is Jackass so no surprise there. Outside that it’s pretty good, they pay a homage to a lot of their early stunts by redoing them. They even have a touching tribute to Ryan Dunn, which was awesome to see. Don’t expect to see the originals in the majority of the stunts, except for Danger Ehren, which is no surprise. They’ve always been meaner to him. They are getting older which makes sense, but it was a little sad to see them not quite as involved. Overall if you’re a fan of Jackass it’s a must see. I give it a 7/10.

Happiest Season

“Happiest Season” is a 2020 Christmas Rom/Com starring Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Mackenzie Davis (Black Mirror), Mary Steenburgen (Step Brothers), Victor Garber (Titanic), Alison Brie (GLOW), Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek), and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation).

Abby (Stewart) isn’t a fan of Christmas but decides to try to get into the Christmas spirit by going to her girlfriend’s (Davis) family for the holiday. Abby plans on asking her girlfriend to marry her while spending the holiday with her family, but she soon finds out her girlfriend hasn’t come out and her family and friends don’t know about Abby.

It’s about Christmas time, so time to fit in one more Christmas movie review of one you may or may not have seen. It’s a Hulu exclusive, and as you can see it’s star studded. I love Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza, and Alison Brie, all are great and funny in their own ways. This is not your typical Rom/Com it’s a LGBTQ one, and it delivers on how some are confident in who they are, while some are still struggling to find themselves. It has a good blend of dry humor mixed in with heartfelt moments. Overall it’s worth checking out, I give it a 7/10.

Incident in a Ghostland

“Incident in a Ghostland” is a 2018 horror/drama starring Crystal Reed (Gotham), Mylene Farmer (A Good Year), Anastasia Phillips (Bomb Girls), Emilia Jones (Locke and Key), and Taylor Hickson (Deadpool).

A famous writer returns to her childhood home years later, when she was a kid a pair of murderers break into their home.

This is a very dark film, it’s clever, but fair warning it’s basically two young girls being dressed up as dolls and being played with and tortured by a giant simple minded man, and a cross dresser. So yes, pretty heavy stuff, but overall it’s a good movie. the acting is good, and it keeps you watching. It’s just pretty dark. I give it a 7/10.

Halloween Kills

“Halloween Kills” is the sequel to the 2018 horror movie “Halloween”. This one brings back Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween 1978), Judy Greer (Jurassic World), and Andi Matichak (Orange is the New Black). It adds Will Patton (Yellowstone), Dylan Arnold (You), and Anthony Michael Hall (The Goldbergs).

This one picks off right where “Halloween” left off, Michael Myers burning in Laurie Strode’s basement. The fire crews come to put out the fire, and evil is unleashed when he is spared. He goes on a city wide killing spree, while the town tries to rally together to finally kill evil once and for all.

Like all of the Halloween movies, there’s not a lot of quality too it. It’s entertaining though, a silent killer walks around just stabbing and slamming heads to murder people. This one does a great job of picking up where the 2018 one left off, and has several nods to the other films in the franchise. My personal favorite Easter egg, is the nod to “Halloween Three Season of the Witch” by having some kids where the Shamrock masks. This one always tends to get overlooked, since it doesn’t have anything to do with Michael Myers but it’s my personal favorite. This one is a little long running, close to two hours, but my biggest issue is with Michael Myers himself. According to the movies he started killing in the 60’s and it’s now 2018. So being generous he’s in his mid 70’s but he’s being shot, stabbed, caught on fire, beaten, etc.. but it doesn’t even phase him. What’s next he’s going to be going after people with his walker? It sets itself up for another one but, come on guys it’s time to let evil die. So overall it’s entertaining and it flows well with the series, I give it a 7/10, but it’s time to let Michael Myers ride off into the sunset.

Venom (2018)

‘Venom’ is a 2018 Marvel superhero movie starring Tom Hardy (Lawless), Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), and Jenny Slate (Bob’s Burgers). A disgraced reporter (Hardy) is taken over by an alien parasite known as Venom. Venom decides he likes earth and now him and the reporter must stop an alien invasion before earth is doomed.

So the Venom movie ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ is out in theaters, so I had to go back and watch this one before seeing the new one this weekend. The cool thing about the Venom movie is, he is the first villain to have their own solo movie in the MCU. Venom is arguably the biggest bad ass out of all the villain’s in Marvel, whose ever body he takes over not only do they posses Venom’s powers, but also still posses their own. So you can have a venomized Spiderman, Dr. Strange, etc. So Venom is a pretty cool character.

Tom Hardy is a great actor, and does a good job playing the guy teamed up with Venom. Like all Marvel movies this one does a great job of having a good mix of comedy and action. I was hoping for a little more though, it wasn’t quite as badass as I was expecting being the first solo villain movie. It’s still worth the watch. I give it a 7/10.

The Many Saints of Newark

‘The Many Saints of Newark’ is a 2021 crime/drama origin story of Tony Soprano. It stars Alessandro Nivola (American Hustle), Leslie Odom Jr. ( Hamilton), Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel), Corey Stoll (Ant-Man), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Michela De Rossi (Boys Cry), and Michael Gandolfini (Cherry).

This story takes place in the late 60’s through the 70s when Tony Soprano is a kid and teenager. He looks up to his uncle Dickie Moltisanti, a prominent figure in the Dimeo crime family. Dickie struggles with his personal life while a race war is going on, and a new player emerges to push back against the mob.

‘The Sopranos’ is one of the most beloved, and watched shows of all time, they racked in numerous awards and are still popular to this day. I have to say this, I’ve never seen one episode of ‘The Sopranos’. If I have my review would probably be different, and I could tell you how well it is tied in. So my review is as it’s based off a mafia movie. It has a run time of two hours, and it feels it. I felt pretty stiff getting up. There’s not a whole lot of action in this, there are several killings, but it’s spread across two hours. It’s more about the daily lives of Dickie Moltisanti and Harold Mcbrayer. Tony Soprano is in it maybe ten percent of the film, if that. So it was a lot different than I thought it would be. A cool little fact though, the kid who plays Tony Soprano in this, his father played Tony Soprano in ‘The Sopranos’. So that’s really cool he’s playing his dad’s famous character. Anyway, it’s pretty good though, it’s very ‘Godfather’, and Goodfellas-esque. So overall it’s a good watch especially if your a fan of the classic style mob movies. Again I may have appreciated it more, or possible less if I have seen ‘The Sopranos’, but I haven’t so you have to take that into consideration with my score. I give it a 7/10, but it does make me want to watch ‘The Sopranos’ now.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard

‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard’ is the 2021 Action/Comedy sequel to the 2017 film ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’. Of course this one brings back Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), and Salma Hayek (From Dusk Till Dawn) while adding Antonio Banderas (The Mask of Zoro), and Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption).

Assassin Darius Kincaid (Jackson), once again teams up with Bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds), but this time it’s Darius’s wife (Hayek) that enlists Bryce’s help in order to Save Kincaid. She ends up getting abducted so they’re forced to work together once again.

This isn’t Reynolds biggest movie out right now, all eyes are on his movie ‘Free Guy’, which I still have yet to see, but I want to. I was really looking forward to this one, the first one is great. This one is filled with plenty of fire power, explosions, and cursing (which is expected in a movie with Jackson, and Reynolds). One thing I thought it was lacking was the comedy, I figured it would be a lot funnier than it was. I was a little disappointed to be honest, maybe I set the bar to high, but it wasn’t funny. It’s entertaining overall, but it was lacking something. I give it a 7/10.

Candyman (2021)

‘Candyman’ is the sequel/remake of the 90’s classic horror film ‘Candyman’. This one stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Black Mirror), Teyonah Parris (The Photograph), and Michael Hargrove (The Express)

An Artist who is trying to find inspiration for his upcoming show finds out about the legend of Candyman. He investigates further and unknowingly unleashes Candyman.

So first off It’s a Jordan Peele movie so you know there’s going to be racial undertones. Look at his other two horror films, ‘Get Out’, and ‘Us’. Tony Todd (the original candyman) makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film saying something along the lines of you think the ones I kill are innocent but they’re not. The only ones killed in the film are white people. Just some food for thought.

So it’s not really a remake but kind of is, it follows along the lines of the first one, with someone investigating the legend of Candyman and unwittingly brings him back. This one however, also references the first one and does a great job tying this story in. Honestly it’s better than the first, more action. Abdul-Mateen II does a great job of playing the Candyman role. They also bring Tony Todd in for a scene, you can’t have Candyman without Tony Todd. Candyman tends to get overlooked when you look at the big horror villains Michael Myers, Jason, Leather Face, and Freddy Krueger. Candyman deserves his spot among them, and Jordan Peele did a great job reviving this horror franchise. I look forward to more movies to come. I give it a 7/10.