Tag: MovieBlog

Rental Family

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Directed by Hikari, Rental Family follows the story of Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser), a struggling actor who has been living in Japan for the past seven years. When he is presented with an opportunity to work for a rental family agency where he would play whatever role necessary for strangers, he is unsure but reluctantly goes for it. But when one of his roles involves acting as a father to a little girl named Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), the lines between performance and reality start to blur.

I had no idea what to expect going into this film. While it looked cute from the trailer, but that was about it. The concept was also unlike anything I had ever heard of before. I’m so glad I went with my gut on this one because I got so much more than I ever could have expected.

As predicted, Fraser is excellent as the lead. He brings a vulnerability and charm that was lovely to watch. He’s hesitant about taking on this opportunity, but the connections he makes not only with those that he is hired to work for, but those of his colleagues at the agency itself ultimately win out in the end. I have loved everything this man has been doing since he came back onto our screens with The Whale and I can’t wait to see what he tackles next.

The film would be incomplete without the strong supporting cast. Takehiro Hira stars as Shinji Tada, the creator of the rental agency. Mari Yamamoto portrays Aiko Nakajima and Kimura Bun is Kota Nakano, two of the other actors. The bond that forms between these three and Phillip is the true definition of found family. Gorman was obviously a scene stealer for me – I loved her scenes with Fraser – and I also enjoyed the storyline with Akira Emoto as Kikuo Hasegawa, a retired actor who believes Phillip is writing an article about him, but who really just needs a companion.

What I didn’t know going into this was that these rental family agencies really do exist. I thought that this was so interesting to learn and I’m sure that the film only scratched the surface. The beautiful scenery and landscapes were a dream; if I didn’t want to visit Japan before, I certainly do now. It really just served as the perfect backdrop to this story.

Rental Family is about human connections and how we need that now more than ever. The various people that the audience meets throughout are all special in their own way. They’ll have you laughing, crying and feeling every emotion in between. It stayed true to itself and will certainly leave a lasting impression.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

People We Meet on Vacation

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Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth) could not be more different. Poppy is outgoing, kills every plant she’s ever owned and can’t stay in one place for too long. Alex is reserved, would rather be stuck in a book and enjoys staying home. When the two meet by chance, they somehow become best friends. They decide that no matter how far apart they are, they will meet up once a year and go on vacation together.

The first of author Emily Henry’s books to be given the silver screen adaption treatment, Netflix had big shoes to fill. It’s the second of her six novels and I remember reading it as if it was yesterday – I was tucked up in a cottage in Canada with my husband during the summer of 2021. The weather was not on our side, but we made the most of it by watching movies, grilling under the covered deck and of course, reading. I was so excited when I heard that this was being made into a film. I’m pleased to report that they did it justice.

Every now and then, when you’re reading the source material, you sometimes have an idea in your mind of who you would like to be casted as the characters. I actually had no ideas prior to the film, but Bader and Blyth were Poppy and Alex. They exuded every single quality down to a tee. As the story was told mainly in Poppy’s perspective, Bader had a chance to really shine on screen and she did. I was already a fan from her time on My Lady Jane, but she’s proven now that she is a true leading lady. Blyth, of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes fame, was not featured as often, but he did make it count whenever he was. Together, their chemistry was so cute, easy and very believable.

One of the aspects I was most looking forward to seeing come to life was, of course, the depiction of each vacation. From camping in Canada, to getting drunk in New Orleans, to a derailed Norwegian plan and finally to the ill fated trip to Tuscany that changed everything, it was so fun to embark on these adventures with Poppy and Alex. I absolutely loved the club scene in New Orleans when Alex woos Poppy with his dance moves, but I think my favorite was Norway (or what should have been Norway).

Another way in which the film excelled was in its comedy. It was genuinely funny. I was laughing out loud on multiple occasions. I don’t remember the book having the same affect, but I’m not complaining. Some of the supporting cast members such as Jameela Jamil, Molly Shannon, Alan Ruck and Lukas Gage helped in this regard. The script was tight, some of the scenes condensed to make them flow better and although they did make some changes from the book, it wasn’t without reasoning.

Overall, People We Meet on Vacation is one of the better romcoms I have seen in awhile. Films of this genre have lately been disregarded; people don’t think they are realistic enough and don’t believe they should be taken seriously. This one was handled with the proper respect and care that was needed to drive home its message. I was left with the biggest smile on my face and my husband even became totally invested too. Now I can’t wait to see more of Emily Henry’s books receive the same treatment.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️.5

Hamnet

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Based upon the book by Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet follows the story of Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and William (Paul Mescal) Shakespeare. It’s the 16th century and Agnes is a healer by trade. William is a tutor and aspiring playwright. They meet, fall in love and have three children. But when their son Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) dies unexpectedly, they are struck with a grief unlike any other. Now more than ever they must stick together to get through this devastation.

Despite not reading the source material, I was still very excited to see this come to screen. As a result, I can’t say if this is a faithful adoption. I am, however, a big Shakespeare fan and I feel like that had to count for something. While I knew more or less the plot and how these events paved the way for Shakespeare to write one of the greatest tragedies of all time, I had no idea exactly what I was in for.

This is without a doubt Buckley’s film. Her portrayal of Agnes was raw and heartbreaking. The way in which she completely gave herself over to this role was a spectacle to behold. Every word, breath, scream and expression was perfectly executed and if she doesn’t get the Oscar then I don’t know what to think anymore. Mescal delivered a performance of masculinity and vulnerability. He showed a range that I did not know he was capable of and I applaud him for it. I was also very impressed with the actors who starred as the Shakespeares’ children. Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet himself each did a brilliant job. Little Jacobi Jupe captured my heart, tore it out of my chest and then proceeded to stop all over it.

I’ll admit I was a bit nervous going into this. I had a feeling that it would be a bit on the slower side. Although that is true, it did not deter my enjoyment. In fact, there was simply no other way that it could have been. There were no special effects, no gimmicks. Everything is done deliberately and with purpose. To be able to witness to these characters and to watch their story unfold on its own terms was an honor. In addition, the cinematography was stunning and the score helped tie it all together.

At its core, Hamnet is a story about humanity. The way in which it explores grief, love and memory is done expertly. The film more than exceeded my expectations and left me in tears. I don’t think I have ever felt so devastated and yet totally rewarded after watching a film before, but that is exactly what happened. I highly recommend checking it out.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Marty Supreme

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It’s 1952 and Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) would love nothing more than to play table tennis professionally. Working a dead end job in a shoe shop and with no support from his mother Rebecca (Fran Drescher), he decides he will do whatever it takes to make his dreams a reality – even if that means going to hell and back in the process.

Written and directed by Josh Safdie, this is a story unlike any other. If you are expecting a generic, run of the mill sports biopic, you would be very mistaken. That is what I thought I was going to get and instead it was so much more.

Chalamet has proved time and time again that he is a formidable actor, but he really knocked it out of the park with his portrayal of Marty. This character is so conceited, rude and downright awful. As the audience, you know you probably shouldn’t be rooting for him, but you can’t help yourself because he’s just so damn charming about it all. I truly believe that he could win the Oscar for this and I wouldn’t be mad about it.

The rest of the cast do an exceptional job too. Gwyneth Paltrow is back on our screen after a hiatus. She stars as Kay Stone, an former actress, who is looking to get back into the spotlight. Her husband, Milton Rockwell, played by Kevin O’Leary (yes that Kevin O’Leary) is a business tycoon who Marty wants to impress. Odessa A’zion played Rachel Mizler, is a childhood friend and sometimes more than that, of Marty. I’ve seen her in a couple of other projects before, but never on this level and I was quite impressed.

Where the film excels is in its heart pounding, adrenaline pumping story telling. It sucks you in quickly and keeps ramping up until the final moments. The situations that Marty finds himself in are crazy to say the least and at times I felt like I had to suspend a bit of belief. It became too much at times and I definitely think they could have shaved off about half an hour and still been able to cover all the necessary points.

Overall, Marty Supreme is a film that deserves to be on the big screen. Filled with award winning performances, brilliant cinematography, A+ soundtrack choices and relentless energy, I’m glad that I didn’t miss this one. It truly demands to be seen.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️.5

2025 Wrap Up

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The year started off with many highs. Not only in my personal life, but also here on the blog. I had a super fun time staying up for the Academy Awards back in March (watching Anora sweep it all was brilliant) and many great films came out this year.

While 2025 may not have ended on a note that I was hoping for, I knew I could always count on the magic of cinema to get me through.

Here are my top five best and worst films. I can’t wait to see what 2026 will have in store!

Best:

  1. Wicked: For Good
  2. I Swear
  3. Frankenstein
  4. The Penguin Lessons
  5. F1: The Movie

Worst:

  1. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
  2. The Electric State
  3. Maintenance Required
  4. Captain America: Brave New World
  5. Snow White

The Housemaid

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Based on the global phenomenon by Freida McFadden, The Housemaid follows Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney), a troubled young woman who is granted a fresh start as a maid for Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew (Brandon Sklenar) Winchester. Swapping living in her car for a room in the family mansion, Millie hopes things are finally turning around. But as the days pass, Millie discovers that the Winchesters have secrets far more sinister than she ever could have imagined.

As a huge fan of the 2022 book of the same title, I was very excited when they announced that it would be getting the big screen treatment. You know how sometimes when you’re reading something, you can really visualize it as a film or show? That is exactly what happened here. I could not wait to see how it would all unfold and I have to say that it is one of the more faithful adaptions I’ve seen in a long time.

While I may have been unsure of the casting choices at first, I was pleasantly surprised with the main trio. Sweeney, Seyfried and Sklenar were perfect as Millie, Nina and Andrew. Sure some of the descriptions differed from the book to the screen, but I didn’t really mind it as I got further into the story. Seyfried, in particular, was the standout. The way in which she would just switch from one second to another was genius. She was everything I could have hoped Nina would be and more.

With every page to screen adaption there are bound to be some changes. In the books, Enzo (Michele Morrone) is a much more prominent character. I’m not sure why they decided to cut down his scenes as I would have liked to see that play out. Additionally, a lot of the ending was altered. I actually felt like these changes made sense; the final act in a thriller is usually all or nothing. The stakes are high and the audience needs to feel the adrenaline running through their bodies. I was left on the edge of my seat throughout these sequences and I liked how even though I had read the book, there were still a couple of surprises left for me.

Overall, The Housemaid was a ton of fun! The performances were well done, the plot engaging and it kept me on the edge of my seat. With how successful this has been already, I hope that they decide to adapt the second and third books as well.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

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It’s been three years since the last Knives Out instalment dropped on Netflix. Now Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) and director and writer Rian Johnson are back for another mystery. Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is a young priest who is reassigned to a remote parish in upstate New York. There, he must work together with Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) who is equal parts charming as he is threatening. When someone dies under puzzling circumstances, Benoit Blanc finds himself on the scene.

The original Knives Out is one of my favorite films of all time. I’ve seen it a handful of times and always recommend it to people when they are looking for something to watch. Glass Onion, its predecessor which came out in 2022, was slightly more wacky, but still highly entertaining. To say that Wake Up Dead Man was one of my most anticipated films of the year is an understatement. I could not wait to see what Blanc would be up to this time. While I did enjoy the film, I have to say that I was a little bit disappointed with it too.

One of the major draws of this franchise is its stacked cast. Craig is back for his third outing and he’s just as iconic as usual. My only qualm was that he didn’t come in until the fortieth minute mark! I definitely think he could have been introduced much earlier on. This is hands down O’Connor’s shining moment and boy does he take it. With a perfect mix of innocence and determination to clear his name as being suspect, he truly delivered. Glenn Close portrayed Martha Delacroix, a devoted servant to the church. She was fabulous yet slightly unhinged in her role and I found myself looking forward to whenever she would be on screen.

Unfortunately there were so many other characters who we just didn’t get the chance to know very well. Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church and Mila Kunis were all well casted. Because they didn’t have much backstory, they were just kind of there instead of seeming like real people. In the previous films we got to know who everyone was and each seemed suspicious. This time around some of the talent was wasted.

While I did appreciate the locked room element of the story, I’ll admit to getting lost in the religious themes. This, combined with the slower pace, and the fact that some of the scenes were just so drawn out made it hard for me to stay invested. Also, unlike in the previous films, there was no exciting reveal and it just kind of fell flat.

Overall, Wake Up Dead Man is my least favorite of the Knives Out trilogy. The cast were great, but I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing. Perhaps my expectations were simply too high, I don’t know. I appreciate Johnson wanting to do something different, but I was missing the thrill that the first two brought to me.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

My Secret Santa

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Taylor Jacobson (Alexandra Breckenridge) is a single mom who is doing whatever she can to provide for her daughter Zoey (Madison MacIsaac). When Zoey is accepted into the ski program at the local resort, Taylor disguises herself as Santa so she can pay for the lessons. Matthew Layne (Ryan Eggold) is the resort owner’s son. He has never cared about anything except partying and women so when he’s forced to clean up his act, he steps up as manager. Sparks fly between Taylor and Matthew but he doesn’t know about her Santa gig.

Here we are with yet another generic Netflix Christmas film and I’m not complaining one bit. This was probably the one I was most excited for because I’ve been a fan of Breckenridge since Virgin River premiered. Once again there wasn’t anything to write home about, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.

Mike Rohl, who also directed The Princess Switch, did a good job here. The story is very reminiscent of Mrs. Doubtfire and that isn’t a bad thing. Taylor’s brother Eric (William Vaughn) and her brother in law Kenny (Adam Beauchesne) lend their expertise and create the necessary prostestics so she can become Santa. The parallels are evident, but the similarities didn’t bother me.

The cast delivered mostly solid performances. Breckenridge brought a warmth and sincerity to the role. She felt like a real person dealing with real life struggles and this makes you root for her. Her scenes as Santa aka Hugh Mann were also hilarious. Eggold seemed a bit more one dimensional, but at least the two of them had cute chemistry. Tia Mowry starred as Natasha, the resort assistant who feels slighted that Matthew has taken the role she has coveted and Diana Maria Riva portrayed Doralee, Taylor’s landlady who develops a crush on Hugh which of course causes all sorts of chaos.

Overall, My Secret Santa is one of those films where you know exactly what’s going to happen in the first ten minutes, but you don’t even care. It’s still a fun time. The story was engaging, the characters interesting and it had me feeling festive. This may actually be a holiday film I will revisit!

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Oh. What. Fun.

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Every year at Christmas, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) goes out of her way to make it a special time for her family. Her husband Nick (Denis Leary) is clueless and spends most of his time in his garage. Claire’s eldest daughter Channing (Felicity Jones) thinks she’s better than everyone because she’s writing novels now while Channing’s husband Doug (Jason Schwartzman) is never taken seriously. Middle daughter Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) shows up with a new girlfriend each Christmas and youngest son Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just been dumped. When her family actually forget about her, Claire packs a bag and sets off to find her own happiness.

The cast is absolutely stacked and that is a good enough reason to check this film out. In addition to the names mentioned above, there’s also Eva Longoria who stars as TV host and Claire’s hero Zazzy Tims, Danielle Brooks who portrays Morgan, a delivery driver who Claire meets shortly after she leaves her home and Maude Apatow is Mae-bell, the girl who breaks Sammy’s heart. Unfortunately many of these characters are kind of awful. They are mean, selfish and as a result do not have very many redeemable qualities. That made it hard to root for any of them. At times even I was yelling for Claire to just speak up and give her family a piece of her mind.

While the film was trying to stand out from others in its genre, it became evident that ideas had been borrowed from other, more well known titles. I saw snippets of Home Alone, The Family Stone and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It wasn’t obvious or in your face at least, but it would have been nice for some more originality.

I did appreciate the message they were trying to get across. The fact that mothers (and fathers or really anybody else who finds themselves in a similar situation) give it their all over the holidays can be under appreciated. At the beginning, I really felt for Claire because her family clearly didn’t even seem to really know her. Over time, however, I felt like this stance was being repeated a bit too much and that took away its importance.

Overall, while I did like Oh. What. Fun for the most part, though it didn’t quite hit the mark. Part comedy, part drama, it was as if the film didn’t know what it wanted to be. It could have made more of an impact if it had leaned a bit more into the drama side of it, but the problem was solved rather quickly.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Eternity

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In the afterlife, everyone has one week to decide where and with who they want to spend eternity. When Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) passes away, she is faced with an impossible choice. Will she pick Larry (Miles Teller), the man she spent most of her life with, or Luke (Callum Turner), her first love, who died at war and has waited for her ever since?

Directed by David Freyne, this is an offbeat, quirky romantic comedy that sparked my interest from the get go. Not only was the concept unique, I couldn’t fathom what the outcome would be. This was definitely one of the most charming films I have seen this year.

Olsen dazzles as the lead. Her performance has it all – comedy, emotion and everything in between. Joan’s dilemma is impossible and from her mannerisms to her facial expressions she encapsulated it so well. While Teller and Turner are excellent choices for her two husbands, they don’t quite match up to Olsen. They still delivered strong performances. Da’Vine Joy Randolph stars as Anna and John Early stars as Ryan, two Afterlife Coordinators who look after Larry and Joan respectively. They were so incredibly funny, but Randolph in particular stole the show for me. She nailed the jokes every single time.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen a film about what happens after we leave this earth. This one was just so inventive. From the Junction where you arrive to all the various locations such as Paris Land, Beach World and Men Free World, they didn’t leave anything out. To think that this is a version of the afterlife that could maybe exist is pretty cool.

“All we are is a collection of memories,” Anna says and this could not ring more true. Underneath the glitz and glimmer of paradise and purgatory, here each person is allowed to revisit the version of themselves when they felt the most happy. But as the story progresses, we learn that it’s so much more than that. Life is messy and full of ups and downs. It’s those people who help us grow into who we were always meant to be that has the most impact.

Overall, Eternity is clever, emotional and relatable. It had that old school romcom vibe that we never see anymore. The acting was superb and the fantasy aspect of it all truly worked. Above all else, this one will stick with you. I recommend checking it out.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️