Month: August 2023

Past Lives

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Spanning over twenty years, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are childhood friends who lost touch when Nora’s family immigrated from South Korea to Canada. He eventually finds her on social media, though their reunion is short lived. Fast forward through time yet again and Hae Sung finally makes his way to New York City, where Nora is working as a playwright and married to her American husband Arthur (John Magaro). One week together is all it takes for them to be reminded of those feelings they’d long since buried.

Ever since its premiere at Sundance earlier this year, Past Lives has been getting all sorts of buzz. With talk of Celine Song absolutely acing her directorial debut and the phenomenal performances of our leads, I knew this was a title I had to add to my list.

This movie absolutely ruined me. It was so simple yet it spoke volumes. Experiencing Nora and Hae Sung’s relationship as it evolved was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I’m sure we’ve all had that one friend who moved away when we were younger. How we thought about them when they were gone and what could have been if they were still around. And while this film is helmed as a love story, it is also so much more than that.

While the actors do what they need to do, they do it so perfectly, conveying each emotion and sense of longing for what could have been. The chemistry between them is palpable and while you want them to be together, you also know that it’s impossible. I have to also give a special mention to Arthur. The way in which his character was written was superb. Instead of being jealous of his wife’s connection with another man, he’s there for her and lets her cry on his shoulder. My heart swelled with the way in which he dealt with the entire situation.

Past Lives is about the people we meet throughout our time on this earth. The people who leave an impact, no matter how long they may stay for. Embodying the themes of lost love, closure and found purpose, I was sat in tears during that final scene. This film is not to be missed!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Blue Beetle

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In a universe that is not quite the DCEU nor the DCU, Jamie Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) has just returned fromuniversity to discover the turmoil his family have found themselves in. Wanting to do whatever he can to help, he starts looking for work, but when an ancient scarab chooses him to be its new host, the life Jamie knew will never be the same again.

Full disclosure: superhero movies are beginning to become somewhat of a chore for me to watch. They’re starting to become so similar to one another and the standard hasn’t been as high as it used to be. My expectations for Blue Beetle were so low, I didn’t even know what it was about. Luckily I had a very pleasant experience watching it.

Though it took some time to find its footing, this film was the epitome of an origin story. I enjoyed the introduction of Jamie, how he was the first of his family to graduate from school and how everything he does is for them to have a better life. The plot developed a bit slower than I would have liked, but I understand the reasoning behind it. The switch happened rather quickly and once it did, it was full steam ahead.

At the core of story is the Reyes family. Each were integral to the plot and had their chance to shine. I absolutely loved Jamie’s sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) and Nana (Adriana Barraza). I was constantly laughing during their scenes. I wasn’t too fond of George Lopez’s uncle Rudy as I found him to be over the top. I also wasn’t a fan of Susan Sarandon’s Victoria Ford. She just wasn’t villainous enough! I have to say that Jamie’s chemistry with Jenny (Bruna Marquezine) was endearing. I liked the whole cute and innocent vibe I got from them.

The CGI was much better than it has been and that thrown in with all the family morals was enough to have me completely enthralled with Blue Beetle. This is a sign that DC does have promising projects; some just need to be fleshed out more.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

Heart Of Stone

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In Netflix’s latest attempt at jump starting an action franchise, Heart of Stone follows Rachel (Gal Gadot), an intelligence operative, who is racing to stop a hacker from stealing her agency’s most valuable and powerful weapon. With global chase sequences, hijinks and some twists and turns, it’ll be her most trying mission yet.

There is so much that went wrong here that it would be impossible to list it all down. I’m starting to think that once I’ve seen one of these films, I’ve seen them all. They are generic and predictable and not in a good way. This time around we had a bunch of action movie tropes thrown into one. As a result it didn’t make much sense and proved to be very confusing. I still don’t really understand what the plot was!

I will say that a few of the fight sequences were entertaining at least. The first one comes to mind, right at the beginning of the film, and sets the tone going forward. I also thought the scene in Lisbon was exciting as it had a lot going on.

With Gadot leading the pack, it could have really gone either of two ways. I personally like her as an actress, but I do not think she was given great material here. Thanks to a wooden and cliched script, her delivery was often off. Jamie Dornan, who I usually love, was kind of annoying and while I’d initially been so looking forward to seeing Matthias Schweighhöfer in something new, I wasn’t sold. Even with the likes of Sophie Okonedo as ringleader Nomad and Alia Bhatt as the hacker herself in her first ever Hollywood role, it all just fell short.

I don’t know what Netflix has been doing lately, but it isn’t putting out good movies. Heart of Stone was such a disappointment, I don’t even know why I bothered. Sometimes it’s not enough to watch something just for the actors who star in it. I’ll have to remember that going forward.

Rating: ♥️.5

Haunted Mansion

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I went to Disneyland Paris last year for Halloween and refused to go on the Haunted Mansion ride. The whole thing just gave me the creeps. When I heard that the 2003 film was getting a reboot, I felt like I’d be able to qualm my fears and, of course, to see what all the fuss was about.

Single mom Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) moves into a house that she’s pretty sure is haunted with her son Travis (Chase Dillon). She decides to hire a tour guide (LaKeith Stanfield), a psychic (Tiffany Haddish), a priest (Owen Wilson) and a historian (Danny DeVito), in hopes of exorcising the house before its too late.

While the film may feel a bit all over the place and is on the longer side, it did what it set out to do. The atmosphere of the house and the many ghosts that inhabit it had me jumping left, right and centre. The mystery was also interesting enough to keep me engaged more or less the whole way through even if it took awhile to get there.

With an ensemble cast as big as it was, some characters didn’t get as much focus as they should have. As brilliant as Stanfield was brilliant as our protagonist Ben and how outlandish and hilarious Haddish as Harriet, I wanted to learn more about the others too. We may have touched on Kent, Bruce and Gabbie, but not as much as they should have been. I also would have liked for Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis) to have more screen time. At least we know we can always count on an unrecognizable Jared Leto to ham up a performance.

This updated version of Haunted Mansion has been getting a lot of flack and I don’t really understand why. It’s the perfect adventure flick the whole family can enjoy with some small jump scares and a lot of heartfelt moments. Has it convinced me to finally check out the ride? Yes, I think it may have…

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Red, White & Royal Blue

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Based on the bestselling novel by Casey McQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue follows the story of Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the First Son of the President of the United States and his rivalry with Prince of England Henry (Nicholas Galitzine). When an encounter goes wrong, the two are forced to reconcile for the good of their nations. But as they spend more time together, a friendship develops and soon, so does something more.

I never read the book so I cannot say for certain how closely they stuck to the source material. I appreciated that I was able to enjoy it from an outsider perspective and ended up really having a good time with it!

What makes the film work so well is the casting of Alex and Henry. Zakhar Perez brings a charm and charisma to Alex’s character. The confidence he exuded was magnetic and made him really easy to root for. Galitzine gave everything you’d expect for that of a prince. He embodied the strong and silent type who was afraid of being true to himself. Together the two had an electrifying chemistry.

The rest of the cast were fine too, when they had their moments to shine. Uma Thurman as the President was an interesting choice and while I could have done without the accent, it was fun to have such a big name attached to the project. Stephen Fry, additionally, as Henry’s grandfather was a welcome addition. My favorite side character, however, was Sarah Shahi’s Zahra who managed to steal the spotlight every time she was on screen. I’m still cackling over her I will Brexit your head from your body line.

While the plot was in no way realistic, that didn’t deter me from having an absolute blast. Seeing Alex and Henry’s lives collide from the US to England and beyond, mixed with drama and heart, I’m already looking forward to revisiting this film again whenever I want a pick me up. Also, I would not be opposed whatsoever to a sequel!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

Joy Ride

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Audrey (Ashley Park) has always prided herself on being perfect. Growing up with adoptive parents, she never really felt like she belonged. When a business trip to China presents itself for Audrey to make partner at her law firm, she enlists her best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) to come along for the ride. But the trip doesn’t turn out quite in the way Audrey expected and with Lolo’s cousin DeadEye (Sabrina Wu) and Kat (Stephanie Hsu), Audrey’s college friend turned soap star thrown into the mix, it will surely be an experience they will never forget.

The comedy in this was so over the top and the jokes so incredibly raunchy that I’m surprised I still enjoyed. It may not usually be my cup of tea, but the delivery given by the four girls was just so on point that I couldn’t not appreciate it. The K-Pop airport scene, specifically, is still replaying in my mind because of how outrageous it was.

Park, Cola, Wu and Hsu were magnetic every time they shared a scene together. Their chemistry worked so well and it seemed like they really had been friends for ages. Each brought something special to their character and thus the friend group as a whole, but the standouts for me were definitely Hsu and Park. Hard to believe that Hsu was just up for an Oscar nomination earlier this year while on the other hand, it was so nice to see Park leading the pack for once.

On the surface, this film seems like it’s going to be a straight forward enough. As it progresses, however, themes of found family and discovering who you are is at its core. I did not expect the adoption storyline to hit me so much in my feels though I guess it was to be expected considering I too was adopted. I related to Audrey so much it was scary.

Joy Ride was one of the most surprising films I have seen in a long time. It wasn’t afraid to go hard when it needed to, while also being real in other instances. I loved it way more than I thought I would!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️