Nosferatu (2024)

“Nosferatu” is a 2024 horror remake of the 1922 classic film with the same name. This one stars Nicholas Hoult (Renfield), Bill Skarsgard (IT), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Lily-Rose Depp (Tusk), and Williem Dafoe (Spider-Man).

It’s 1838 in Germany, Thomas (Hoult) is an estate agent who is sent overseas by his boss to have a wealthy man by the name of Orlok (Skarsgard) sign a deed buying property back in Germany. Little does Thomas know that Orlok is not what or who he seems to be and is obsessed on making Thomas’s new bride (Lilly Rose-Depp) his own. Once this ancient evil is unleashed, there may be no stopping it.

I was a little skeptical about this one, solely because of the run time being a little over two hours. It’s very hard to make a good horror movie that long without it dragging. I heard good things about it, so I figured I would check it out. It’s a gothic period film that pays homage to the original. The acting is all top notch from top to bottom. Skarsgard knocks it out of the park, and he even changes his voice in it, adding another character to his impressive resume, along with Pennywise. He becomes unrecognizable. It’s not scary, it focuses on its cinematography and the telling of the story. It’s a great film from start to finish that doesn’t drag. I was thoroughly impressed. It’s a must see for any horror fan. I give it an 8/10

Nightmare Alley

Here we go, first review for 2022. Going to start it off right with “Nightmare Alley”. It’s a 2021 mystery from the mind of Guillermo Del Toro, it has a fantastic cast starring Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Cate Blanchett (The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring), Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man), Richard Jenkins (Burn After Reading), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), and Holt McCallany (Mindhunter).

This film takes place is the 1930’s and early 1940’s and follows the story of Stanton Carlisle (Cooper), a man with a troubled past who joins up with the circus as a laborer. He works his way up in the circus and learns the ins and outs of a mentalist, and soon becomes the hottest act around. He’s playing the best clubs, and hotels around, doing two shows a day. He ends up getting greedy and biting off more than he can chew when a rich and powerful man hires his services to have him contact his dead wife. Playing with fire, Stanton starts believing his own con.

I’m a big fan of Del Toro, I love his directing style. A dark gothic type feel that relies heavily on visuals. Same thing could be said about this film, you see his style throughout. It’s a slow burn, a 2.5 hour movie, but it keeps you glued to the screen the entire time. Everyone plays a great role, especially Cooper. As he gets consumed by greed and the darkness inside him continues to grow, it will keep you guessing what is going to happen. Cooper deserves an Oscar for this role, start your new year out right by seeing this one. I give it a 10/10.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021) is the newest installment in the Marvel Spider-Man series. This is easily the most hyped up Marvel movie since End Game and Infinity War, and is staying sold out everywhere. They bring out the big guns with this one starring Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), John Favreau (Iron Man), Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man), and Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man).

Like I said earlier, huge cast, and the biggest Spiderman to date. In case you didn’t know what it’s about, it picks up where the last one left off where everyone knows Spider-Man’s true identity. Peter Parker (Holland) turns to Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) to come up with a spell to make everyone forget his identity, Peter won’t quit talking and messes up Doctor Strange’s spell, which accidentally rips a tear into reality and opens up the multiverse. Meaning it opens up different realities bringing the majority of the Spider-Man villains from all the Spider-Man movies into this one. Also allowing the two other Spider-Man’s (Garfield, and Maguire) to enter this one and help. Can the three of them save this universe and send the villains back to their own realities?

This is huge for Spider-Man and MCU fans, this is the biggest same movie crossover to date, and is opening doors for the other superhero movies to follow suit. So, like any Marvel movie I review it’s not a question of is it good but how good is it? As I’ve already mentioned, it’s huge for Spider-Man fans. It’s a little different than what I was thinking, but it’s still great. I was expecting a little more mayham than what was delievered, but the Nostalgia factor alone is worth seeing it. The entire theater started clapping when Garfield and Maguire entered the movie. It was really cool to see all the villains together and their respected superhero, and like I said it opens the door for the rest of the MCU and the multiverse, so be on the lookout for that. *cough Doctor Strange cough*. Plus, the big fight scene was pretty epic. I give it a 10/10.

The Lighthouse

‘The Lighthouse’ is 2019 horror/drama that can be currently found in Redbox. ‘The Lighthouse’ follows the story of two lighthouse keepers who are on the job for four weeks while waiting for their relief as they slowly slip into insanity. ‘The Lighthouse’ has a very small cast, it’s only a two person cast made up of Willem Dafoe (The Boondock Saints), and Robert Pattinson (Twilight).

‘The Lighthouse’ was nominated for several awards and won several as well. It is also highly rated on IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. It’s filmed in black and white and the use of light and shadows give it an old school look. The movie itself is very odd, the acting from Dafoe and Pattinson is solid, and both men play their parts very well. However the movie is filled with random flash scenes, such as Pattinson having sex with a mermaid, and octopus tentacles. The two hour run time feels much longer, more like a three hour movie. It has you guessing what is going on through much of it. I feel if you like artsy type movies, this one will be up your alley. Even though the acting is good and it’s highly rated, for me it’s a pass. I give it a 4.5/10.