Month: August 2026

One Night Only

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Sometime in the near distant future, a mandate is passed that prevents single people from having pre-marital sex. The rules are allowed to be broken one night a year. For Owen (Callum Turner) and Allie (Monica Barbaro), this is a night that they’d much rather avoid. This year, Owen’s long term girlfriend Malika (Maya Hawke) says she wants to explore other options while Allie is looking for true love. When the two strangers meet, sparks fly, but a series of missteps and side quests complicate their evening.

Director Will Gluck, who was behind the films Anyone But You and Friends With Benefits, is back with One Night Only. This one has been getting a lot of flack from the critics and I cannot for the life of me understand why. I loved everything about this film! As long as you lean into the crazy, it totally and completely works. I was sold from the get go and I found it to be a breath of fresh air.

This was my first time seeing both Turner and Barbaro star is something light-hearted and they completely smashed it. Their comedic timing was perfect; they had me cracking up during their various antics and I couldn’t wait to see how each of their evenings were going to pan out. Together they were electric and I thought it was smart to not have them immediately drawn to one another. It kept the audience on their toes because even though we know how it’s going to end, it wasn’t as predictable as it otherwise could have been.

There were so many cameos scattered throughout that it was hard to keep track. Every time somebody I knew popped up on screen, I squealed in delight because I really did not expect some of them to be there. For those who weren’t so much of a surprise, I enjoyed seeing Maya Hawke in something new. It was also a delight to have Molly Ringwald star as Linda, Owen’s very sexually liberated mother.

While the premise may be a bit far fetched, it is actually one we have seen before although much less violent and a lot more horny. The situations we see these characters get into are laugh out loud hilarious and not at all realistic, but they don’t have to be. I appreciated the way in which this film was very self-assured. The parodies were spot on, but they held an important message. Not only that, it was very sex positive which is not something we see too often.

Overall, One Night Only was a total blast. It sucked me in front the beginning and didn’t let go until the credits rolled. Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro served as charming leads and the comedy landed. Don’t listen to the haters – give this film a chance!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

The Last Sunrise

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Oriah “Ry” Pera (Maia Reficco) was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis as a child. She takes medication to help with the seizures, but has noticed how numb it makes her feel in her day to day life. Now she is traveling alongside her mother Isolde (Eva Longoria) to Mallorca for a business trip and all she wants is some sort of normalcy. Enter Julian Garcia (Fernando Lindez). Julian is a local who works for his family’s fishing company. He’s everything that Ry is not and when sparks fly, the summer will end up changing her life forever.

Based on the novel by Anna Todd, I am actually surprised that I never got around to reading this before it’s release. After all, she was the mastermind behind the After series. Still I wasn’t expecting much going into it because it sounded like everything we’ve seen before with these young adult book to film adaptions. I put it on thinking it would serve as decent background noise while I was dealing with a migraine and cramps, but it ended up making me feel all the feels!

This is a romance and at the centre of the film is the relationship between Ry and Julian. Whilst they initially butt heads, they develop a genuine friendship and that turns into something more. Reficco and Lindez had a fiery chemistry with one another. From the very first moment they met on that nude beach to Ry singing No Scrubs to him at the bar and him showing her what he does at his job, I fell for them more and more. Some of their scenes really gave me butterflies and I hadn’t felt that since Tessa and Hardin.

I do wish there had been more development between Ry and Isolde. For mother and daughter, they seemed very surface level which may have been the point, but I would have still appreciated something more there. They could have decided to show us more of Isolde’s past in Mallorca and what brought her back to the island in a flashback. I did love the friendship between Ry and Amara (Chloe Sweetlove). It may have started off rushed, but it managed to steady and you could tell the two girls really cared for one another.

Another central part of the film focuses on Ry’s health. I’m not too familiar with epilepsy and all that goes along with it, but I do think they depicted the topic well. I read that Todd took experiences from her personal life and put them into the story so I appreciated the delicacy in which it was handled. I want to give Reficco props for her portrayal during those particular scenes. I think she performed them like a champ.

Prime have done it again! They have been on a roll with page to screen adaptions and this one is no exception. The Last Sunrise wasn’t perfect, but it more than set out with it’s intention of making me feel all weepy and quite frankly that is exactly what I was after.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

Coyote vs. Acme

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Coyote vs. Acme almost didn’t see the light of day. The film, which was due for a summer 2023 release date, was shelved by Warner Brothers. Instead of putting the money into marketing and distributing the final product, they thought claiming it as a tax loss would be the better option. After much backlash, the filmmakers were allowed to shop it to other distributors. Now, three years later, fans are seeing the final product the way it was always meant to be seen.

Fans of the Looney Tunes are aware of Mr. Coyote and his never-ending pursuit of the Road Runner. Acme Corporation are behind the products that Wil E. Coyote has used throughout the years and each time they have failed him. Fed up of always losing, he hires human attorney Kevin Avery (Will Forte) who has been down on his own luck as of late. Avery needs a win. Known for settling most cases, once he discovers that his former boss and classmate Buddy Crane (John Cena) is representing Acme, Avery knows that this is his chance to step up to bring a voice to the underdog.

The premise is actually quite unique. Taking place in a world where cartoons and humans live in harmony, it is reminiscent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Space Jam. I liked how there was no introduction as to why this was, it just was the case from the get go. Although we have seen this before, I still didn’t really know what to expect going into it. Luckily for me, the interactions between the toons and the cast were seamless.

While this is very much Wil E. Coyote’s film, other fan favorite toons are featured too. Seeing the likes of Tweety, Daffy, Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn on the big screen again felt like I’d been transported back in time to my childhood. These are characters I grew up with and being reunited with them was like coming home. The toons were obviously a huge part of this, but I can’t forget to mention the human cast too. Forte definitely had the awkward guy schtick down to a T and while that worked for the role, I grew tired of it quickly. Lana Condor starred as Paige, Kevin’s niece. The sunshine to Forte’s grumpy, they balanced each other well. Cena was having a blast as the antagonist lawyer while Tone Bell, Martha Kelly and Luis Guzman who portrayed Sal Maltese, Dottie Jones and Judge Troppogrosso, made the most of their smaller roles.

I’m glad that Coyote vs Acme was given the release it deserved. Blending animation and live action, the story touches on some important themes such as greed, capitalism and persistence. Members of the whole family will find something to enjoy about it making a fun outing.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Camp Rock 3

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Sixteen years ago, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam premiered on the Disney Channel. A third film was in the works, but was ultimately scrapped due to what was going on with Demi Lovato at the time. Now, we return for another summer of singing, song writing, instrument playing and dancing fun. When Connect 3 (Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas) lose the opening act of their upcoming reunion tour, they go back to the place where it all began to discover the next big thing. A new crop of teens with a dream will do whatever it takes to be chosen.

I liked the first two Camp Rock films, but I wasn’t obsessed with them like I was with High School Musical. I basically just jumped on the bandwagon because I needed something to fill that void. They were entertaining and they catapulted Lovato and the Jonas Brothers to fame. As legacy sequels are currently all the rage, it was no surprise that this would be getting their own version of that. While I didn’t find it necessary whatsoever, it wasn’t as awful as I was expecting it to be. In fact, I enjoyed the nostalgia trip.

At the helm is Sage (Liamani Seguara) who attends the camp with her brother Desi (Hudson Stone). They befriend Callie (Brooklynn Pitts), Rosie (Lumi Pollack), Cliff (Casey Trotter) and Fletch (Malachi Barton). Though they appear different on paper, they actually have a ton in common and form a bond unlike any other. The acting chops could have been better, but most of them made up for it in their musical talents. The stand outs for me were Segura and Pollack who had lovely singing voices. I do wish we had had more backstory on some of the other characters to flesh them out and give them even more personality.

It was nice to have the Jonas Brothers back on screen together, especially in the way that made them household names. Their characters of Jason, Nate and Shane are definite parodies of themselves and they know it; the way they played into it this time around was appreciated. Other returning cast members included Maria Canals-Barrera as Connie, Mitchie’s mom, who is now running the camp and Mitchie (Demi Lovato) herself in a small cameo. Sherry Cola was along for the ride too, as Lark, Connect 3’s manager. She was a great addition to round out the cast.

Where the film lacked was in it’s story. It was basically a carbon copy of the first complete with covers of the same songs fans have grown to know and love. Whether or not these versions were better, I will leave up to you to decide. There were some original tunes, but none of them were particularly memorable. I also thought that things were wrapped up too quickly and neatly. The beef between Sage and Desi? Squashed almost immediately. Fletch’s deep, dark past? Brushed over with no repercussions. It just didn’t seem realistic.

Overall, despite Camp Rock 3 being the sequel nobody asked for, there were some amusing aspects to it. While I appreciated getting to know some new talent, I was more in it for the throwbacks to the earlier films and thought that that is where they excelled.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

The End of Oak Street

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Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg Platt (Ewan McGregor) are on the brink of divorce. Though they have tried to keep it together for their children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), they know that they aren’t fooling anyone. But when a cosmic event takes place and shifts their suburban neighborhood into a world where dinosaurs still exist, they are forced to put aside their differences to do what they can to survive.

The End of Oak Street seemed to come out of nowhere. I hadn’t heard much about it until closer to its release date. The fact that most of the storyline was kept under wraps made it even better as it enhanced the viewing experience. I went into it expecting one thing and ended up getting so much more than I bargained for. It’s probably one of my favorite cinema experiences of the summer!

With Hathaway and McGregor at the helm, it wasn’t a surprise that they would deliver solid performances. While McGregor seemed to be more of a side character to Hathaway’s kick ass mom, the two worked well off each other. I simply can’t get over how dynamic Hathaway is as an actress. This is her fourth feature film of the year and each one has been so different, yet just as impressive as the last. Stella and Convery did a good job as the kids; there was a genuine chemistry between all four of them that really made it seem like they were a real family.

The main event was, of course, the dinosaurs. The way in which they were introduced was well done. Slowly at first, where the audience doesn’t see them in their full form straight away. Instead we are teased by little things here and there before we finally witness how threatening they truly are. The special effects used for these creatures were spot on and there were some positively terrifying moments that had me jumping in my seat. It was absolutely thrilling.

Overall, The End of Oak Street is exactly what you would want from a summer blockbuster. While it never fully explains how this neighborhood is transported back in time, it doesn’t need to. It leans into the crazy all the way that it seems believable enough to happen. The whole experience was a blast and it’s a film that I would definitely revisit in the future.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

The Devil’s Mouth

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Thailand is the perfect location for a holiday. With it’s idyllic beaches, exotic animals and striking caves, it has so much to offer. For Sara (Kathryn Newton) and her friends Max (Lana Condor), James (Nico Hiraga), Greg (Gavin Casalegno) and Adrienne (Tommi Rose), they can’t wait to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: visiting The Devil’s Mouth. Due to a storm, the cave has flooded. When Max suggests they take the hardest path to get through it and the others agree, they start to realize that they are not alone down there.

The shark genre has been around for decades and it’s probably safe to say that we’ve seen all variations possible. Although this one started off seemingly in a similar way, it did ramp up and managed to hold my attention all the way through. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to and didn’t think it was as bad as everyone has been saying.

A big reason why I wanted to check this one out was because of the cast. It’s pretty much every up and coming actor of our generation starring in one film together. Newton, who has been on a slew of scream queen roles lately, once again smashes it as the lead character. Sara may start off by allowing her friends to step all over her, but once they are in the caves, the tables are turned and she’s the only one can get them to safety. Condor had the part of the spoiled and whiny best friend down to a T; she was grating on my nerves, but that was the point. While Hiraga, Casalegno and Rose were more side characters, I did think they balanced out the group well.

Where the film lacked was in its script. Filled with cringey dialogue and silly one liners that dampened the severity of the situation, sometimes it was hard to look past. I’m not sure if they went this way to poke fun at themselves or to parody this particular horror genre, but it was an interesting choice. Luckily this was made up for in the thrills of the shark sequences that just got more intense as they went on.

So many times did I find myself clutching at my chest and gasping over what was unfolding in front of me. The fact that the majority of the runtime took place in the water added to that perilous feeling. Underwater shots also make me uneasy and this film had that in spades. There was a sense of foreboding right from the beginning and just when I thought it was all going to be okay, something would happen that completely changed my perspective.

If you’re in the mood for something that will keep you on your toes, I recommend checking out The Devil’s Mouth. It doesn’t take itself seriously by any means, but thanks to one very hungry shark, it does enough to keep its audience entertained.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️