Tag: JonahHauerKing

The Threesome

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

Connor Blake (Jonah Hauer-King) has had a crush on Olivia Capitano (Zoey Deutch) for ages. Aside from one night where they hooked up, she’s only ever seen him as a friend. When Jenny Brooks (Ruby Cruz) is stood up at the bar where Olivia works, the three strike up a conversation. One thing leads to another and the three engage in a night of passion. It all comes crashing down around Connor when he discovers that both girls are pregnant.

My initial reasoning for wanting to check the film out was its cast. I don’t understand why Deutch isn’t on my screen more because I have always liked her as an actress. Hauer-King has been popping up more and more lately and I can’t say that I’m mad about it. I was unfamiliar with Cruz, but she impressed me. I was just expecting a cute romcom of sorts and that wasn’t exactly what I ended up getting.

The relationship between these characters was the grounding force of the film. Their chemistry was palpable and I thought that the love triangle was fell thought out. I don’t blame those for thinking that the story would warrant more explicit material, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The threesome was just the launching pad of what was otherwise going to develop into something else.

Although this was pegged as a comedy, I don’t think that that is a very fair description. Sure there were some moments, particularly in the first act or two that had me giggling. As time went on, however, the tone shifted to something more dramatic. At the core, these people were thrown into an impossible dilemma that had me wondering how they were all going to get out of it. Understandably the characters changed as time went on, but I did not like the way in which Deutch’s character was taken; she was quite unlikable by the end. I also felt like the run time could have been cut short by about twenty minutes because it did drag a bit.

I had had high hopes from The Threesome, especially after hearing many positive things about it. While it did uniquely portray such a situation, I felt like it didn’t really know what it wanted to be at the end of the day. I also felt no satisfaction with the ending and as a result did not think it was very realistic.

Rating: ♥️♥️.5

I Know What You Did Last Summer

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Thirty years after the original, I Know What You Did Last Summer has been given the legacy sequel treatment. When a group of friends inadvertently cause a car accident, they make a pact that they will never discuss the events of that night. One year later they discover that someone knows what they did and this person is hellbent on revenge.

I only got around to seeing the first two films about a month ago. My first foray into this franchise was with the 2021 television series. When I heard that a sequel was being made and that it featured a bunch of actors that I like, I decided to finally do my homework. These films were right up my alley which I guess is no surprise considering the creator, Kevin Williamson, was also behind Scream.

This new version was a total blast. Right from the beginning we are brought into the lives of this new group of friends: Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), Danica (Madelyn Cline), Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), Teddy (Tyriq Withers) and Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon) and the night that changes their lives forever. Though the acting chops weren’t the best, I absolutely loved every moment that Cline was on screen. Danica had so many fabulous one liners that were delivered flawlessly. I also thought Wonders did a decent job as our leading lady.

With any legacy sequel there needs to be plenty of callbacks to the original. The major one here was the return of Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray Bronson. This was the series that catapulted them to stardom and seeing them back in these iconic roles was truly brilliant. My crush on Prinze Jr. was also reignited throughout the almost two hour runtime.

It was obvious pretty early on that the stakes were so much higher. There were so many jump scares and the kills themselves were way more gory and surprising. I can’t lie and say that I wasn’t closing my eyes during many of them. Where the film dwindles is in its final act when one of the twists comes so out of left field it will certainly leave viewers divided. I was completely shocked, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I do think it could have been explained better though.

Overall I Know What You Did Last Summer may not have been necessary, but I had a great time with it. I felt like it did a great job encapsulating that nineties feeling and went full force on the slasher front. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it didn’t have to be.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

The Little Mermaid

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We all know the story of The Little Mermaid. Created by Hans Christian Andersen and animated by Disney in 1989, this beloved classic has finally gotten the live action remake treatment. Over the years, I have come to tread lightly when it comes to these because I’ve been let down so many times (except for Aladdin which was brilliant). So while I was interested in seeing where they’d take one of my top five Disney flicks, I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised with the film. The visual effects were stunning – yes there was a lot of CGI, but I wasn’t bothered by it. The vibrant colours of life under the sea was beautiful. I was completely transported away into this world that I almost wanted to pack my bags and become a mermaid myself!

The best part of the film, was of course, Halle Bailey. This is her film. All the people who were skeptical can step aside because she was born to play Ariel. She made the role her own while also incorporating bits and pieces from her origin. The facial expressions, mannerisms and her VOICE. Her fucking voice was perfection! When she sang Part Of Your World I had chills engulf my whole body and I never wanted it to stop.

In addition to Bailey, we had Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric who was a total clone of his animated counterpart. I was one of those little girls who had a major crush on Eric and to see him come to life like this was a treat. I thought the rest of the casting choices fit as well: Javier Bardem as King Triton was powerful though underused, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder was cute and ever so diligent towards Ariel and Awkwafina was laugh out loud hilarious as Scuttle. Unfortunately I didn’t care much for Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula as I’m simply not a fan of the actress herself. The stand out for me, however, was David Diggs as Sebastian. Every single moment of his was pure gold.

While they tried to bring this story into the 21st century, I didn’t care for many of the updates. The only new song I really enjoyed was Scuttle’s (though I might be biased because it had Lin Manuel Miranda written all over it). The added scenes didn’t really do anything to enrich what we already knew and the run time was a little too long.

All that being said, The Little Mermaid was much better than I ever thought it was going to be. Seeing this story come to life was a major nostalgia trip for me in the best way possible. I do think this is a step in the right direction for Disney going forward and hope it sticks.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5