https://collider.com Stay up to date with new movie news, watch the latest movie trailers & get trusted reviews of upcoming movies & more from the team at Collider. Sat, 09 Dec 2023 20:00:40 GMT en-US hourly 60 Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who's third and final 60th anniversary special, "The Giggle."

]]> Sat, 09 Dec 2023 20:00:40 GMT https://collider.com/doctor-who-the-giggle-review/ The best thing about the Diary of a Wimpy Kid animated movies is that they manage to capture elements of the franchise that were simply ignored or watered down in the live-action franchise. Of course, it helps that novel series creator Jeff Kinney pens the screenplay and produces these entries, which he does again in Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever.

]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 23:52:37 GMT https://collider.com/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-christmas-cabin-fever-movie-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 21:16:18 GMT https://collider.com/the-boy-and-the-heron-review/ While 2023 has seen some interesting documentaries that pack unexpected punches as they do everything from transcend true crime to show us what really causes shark attacks, nothing can compare to longtime director Frederick Wiseman’s latest masterwork, Menus-Plaisirs - Les Troisgros. To put it in food terms, as that is what his 44th documentary itself is about, most everything else feels like it is merely an appetizer for what is the main course.

]]> Fri, 08 Dec 2023 21:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/menus-plaisirs-les-troisgros-movie-review/ While Hamilton might not have been the first professionally shot Broadway show to be released to the masses when it hit Disney+ during the pandemic, the Lin-Manuel Miranda movie did make the case for creating more accessibility for theatrical productions. With studios observing the success of the film on streaming, the engrossing piece of theatre reminded that there is a way to package some of the best Broadway shows for a wider audience, whether it be on the small or big screen. Now, one of Broadway’s best is being brought to the masses with the pro-shot stage production of award-winning singer, songwriter, and actress Sara Bareilles’ show, Waitress: The Musical. Set to premiere December 7 in theaters for a five-night limited engagement, the film manages to capture the charm of Bareilles’ spectacular Tony-nominated phenomenon for an impressive big-screen experience celebrating the best of the season through its heartwarming themes and some enchantingly rich music.

]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 23:42:26 GMT https://collider.com/waitress-the-musical-movie-review/ In a world where the romantic comedy is all but considered dead, anyone attempting to stake their claim on the last bit of available land inevitably tries to outdo what came before, proving that injecting the genre with something new is exactly what it needs to survive alongside Marvel blockbusters and festival darlings. Inevitably, that “something new” is almost always hit or miss. The latter is the case with Sundance Now’s new series The Lovers, starring Johnny Flynn and Roisin Gallagher as a pair of people who come together despite what many might deem irreconcilable differences.

]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 22:26:32 GMT https://collider.com/the-lovers-series-review/ When Concrete Utopia, the latest from South Korean director Um Tae-hwa, was one of the films to show at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, it was a work I put as one of my most anticipated of the entire event. Where many others on that list proved to be just okay despite commanding performances, this one that the director co-wrote with Lee Shin-ji feels like it was more than worthy to have gotten that spot looking back on it all these months later. With great production design, compelling performances all around, and a sufficiently layered script, it asks more soaring questions about humanity's capacity for violence when pushed to the brink just as it builds its broken world from the ground up.

]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 21:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/concrete-utopia-movie-review/ This review contains minor spoilers for My Life with the Walter Boys.

]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:15:22 GMT https://collider.com/my-life-with-the-walter-boys-netflix-review/ When you have a cast of characters that have been known and loved for over 80 years — the first Archie Comics issue was released in 1942 — and have never since been out of print or out of the public consciousness, the challenge in making a new adaptation is how to make it stick out. In Netflix's The Archies, director Zoya Akhtar rises to the challenge in spectacular fashion, uprooting the gang from small-town USA and planting them in India in the 1960s for an upbeat Bollywood comedy that remains true to the spirit of the Archie Comics and breathes fresh life into the characters.

]]> Thu, 07 Dec 2023 08:01:22 GMT https://collider.com/the-archies-netflix-review/ There is something that will always be special about a good new genre film to watch at Christmas to break up the many works of disposable holiday fluff that can dominate the season. Nothing against those films, but they can far too easily fall into a familiar pattern that feels like just a rote assembly of scenes we’ve already seen many times before rather than something truly unique. Sure, there is always the action classic Die Hard to fall back on, but that conversation about whether it is truly a Christmas movie has long been put to bed at this point. There is then a hunger for something new and, for those looking for something more horrifying, a bit more on the bloody side to go with their holiday meal. This desire is largely fulfilled in writer-director Jenn Wexler’s Shudder horror The Sacrifice Game as it manages to send up tropes of the genre before putting a twist on them when it counts.

]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 21:00:20 GMT https://collider.com/the-sacrifice-game-review/ The Christmas season is finally here, and Merry Little Batman knows that better than anyone. A movie which inserts Damian Wayne (Yoneas Kibreab) into his own version of Home Alone, it delights with its ability to mix comedy with the dangers presented by the villains of Gotham City. The voice performances from the film enhance the experience joyfully, injecting energy into a wholesome story about a boy wanting to make his father proud. But when the father in question is Batman, things are more complicated than the challenges a normal child would have to face.

]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 17:00:20 GMT https://collider.com/merry-little-batman-review/ After eight seasons of the hit series Monk, Tony Shalhoub revisits his beloved role once again in Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie. Although the actor slips into the eponymous character all too well, his anticipated return to investigating crimes feels bittersweet with the additional layer of goofiness in the film. Despite the overly comical approach, nostalgia is deployed effectively in this Peacock project as the chemistry-filled OG cast shares the screen once again (including Melora Hardin as Monk's late wife Trudy) in a last attempt at fan service.

]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2023 16:00:21 GMT https://collider.com/mr-monks-last-case-a-monk-movie-review/ A great documentary can be many things. It can illuminate an aspect of a well-worn subject in a new way or pack an unexpected punch even within the confines of a familiar story. At the same time, many others can feel like an incomplete profile in how they attempt to capitalize on the infamy of a subject without adding much of anything new. Nowhere is this more present than in the seemingly never-ending amount of true crime documentaries that dive into all the devastating and sordid details of their subjects with an eye for sensationalism rather than tact. In the worst cases where the subject is put under an inadequate microscope, you end up feeling like you need to read about what was missing from the documentary that was supposedly made to shine a light on the darkness.

]]> Tue, 05 Dec 2023 21:00:24 GMT https://collider.com/great-photo-lovely-life-review/ Wonka sounds like it should be a joke—the type of origin story for an iconic movie character that could easily have received a fake trailer on Saturday Night Live. Certainly, we don’t need to know where the famous chocolatier/child endangerment supporter found his love for chocolate, where he met the Oompa Loompas, or how he began his first business. But what we do need more of in the world are the films of Paul King. Who better to introduce the world to young Wonka than the man who turned Paddington 2 into a statement on prison reform? If there is anyone who could find the joy and magic in Wonka’s story, it’s King, and for the most part, he brings the wonder and warmth that he brought to the Paddington series of movies—even if it’s a bit more rough around the edges than that adorable series.

]]> Mon, 04 Dec 2023 22:37:49 GMT https://collider.com/wonka-movie-review/ If audiences love nothing else, it’s heist stories. The intricate puzzle of getting in and getting out without being seen — or more importantly, caught. They make up some of the greatest films of our time, and yet there still seems to be no shortage of them, with each new filmmaker trying their hand at coming up with a slightly different safe for their characters to crack. The same is the case with Hulu’s latest offering Culprits, a blood-soaked series full of twists and turns that’ll keep you guessing until the last minute.

]]> Mon, 04 Dec 2023 21:45:53 GMT https://collider.com/culprits-series-review/ From the very first frame of Yorgos Lanthimos’ tremendous Poor Things, everything feels off. The sky is a cloudy blue that seems unnatural, Jerskin Fendrix’s haunting score creeps its way down your spine, and we watch as a woman jumps to her death, almost a speck in a massive body of water. But for those familiar with the work of Lanthimos, from his comically disturbing Dogtooth to the more straightforward 18th-century horrors of his last film, The Favourite, this almost feels like the culmination of everything he has ever made. In his past films, we’ve watched the unnatural, wild worlds hidden within our own, but with Poor Things, the world is whatever Lanthimos wants it to be.

]]> Mon, 04 Dec 2023 17:43:25 GMT https://collider.com/poor-things-review/ For four seasons of Mr. Robot, creator Sam Esmail followed Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), a hacker who can disrupt society, whether by erasing debt or potentially blowing up a nuclear power plant. Throughout the series, we saw both the power that an individual could have, but also how helpless we truly are in a world outside of our control. In Esmail’s second feature film, Leave the World Behind, based on the Rumaan Alam book of the same name, Esmail confronts that helplessness and the feeling that no one is in control on a much larger scale, throwing us into a world falling rapidly apart and with seemingly no hope for resuscitation.

]]> Mon, 04 Dec 2023 15:49:38 GMT https://collider.com/leave-the-world-behind-movie-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

]]> Sat, 02 Dec 2023 21:30:20 GMT https://collider.com/indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny-review/ This article contains spoilers for Doctor Who's second 60th anniversary special, "Wild Blue Yonder."

]]> Sat, 02 Dec 2023 21:11:37 GMT https://collider.com/doctor-who-wild-blue-yonder-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

]]> Sat, 02 Dec 2023 21:00:18 GMT https://collider.com/may-december-review/ Cary Grant was one of the finest actors of his generation, with a legacy that extends well beyond his 44-year career. He is often remembered for his endearing charm, flirtatious habits, and natural comedic flair, but he is rarely the subject of scrutiny for his revolving door of wives or the “fit[s] of anger” that ultimately led to his divorce from Dyan Cannon. History often affords beloved men the benefit of rose-colored glasses, through which their difficult personalities are minimized to prop up their talents. Archie—ITV Studios’ ambitious four-part biopic series—tries to unravel the best and worst aspects of Cary Grant, with a certain degree of success. For a first attempt at tackling the aggressively private life of one of the most beloved actors of the 20th century, it’s quite impressive.

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2023 22:00:29 GMT https://collider.com/archie-series-review/ 2023 has already been a banner year for concert films. This year has brought Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour to theaters, which broke box-office records, while A24 rereleased Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense—probably the greatest concert film of all time. What links these two experiences is an immersion, a decision to treat the person in the theater like a concertgoer who was there on the night of the performance. In both of these films, we rarely see the audience because we are the audience. But in Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, Queen Bey wants us to know that being at one of her concerts is a communal experience.

]]> Fri, 01 Dec 2023 16:00:48 GMT https://collider.com/renaissance-beyonce-film-review/ Actions speak louder than words, they say, and that's especially true when it comes to Brian Godluck (Joel Kinnaman), the protagonist of the new John Woo action movie Silent Night. Previously a happy-go-lucky family man, Godluck's life was turned into trauma-ridden chaos after the gangster Playa (Harold Torres) inadvertently killed his young son on Christmas Day. In the immediate aftermath of this horrific event, Godluck was shot in the neck and lost the ability to use his vocal cords. No longer able to speak and distressed over the loss of his child, Godluck harbors a deeper hankering for grisly revenge against the gangsters responsible for all this sorrow.

]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2023 21:01:59 GMT https://collider.com/silent-night-movie-review/ It is nice to have Eddie Murphy back making movies consistently again. There aren't many comics left making movies, especially not on the big screen. Kevin Hart is still around, Adam Sandler is churning out movies for Netflix, and Will Ferrell will headline the occasional comedy. However, those like Seth Rogen seem to have shifted away from making comedies and tend to work more on the producing side of things. Since the success and acclaim of Dolemite is My Name, Murphy has made himself comfortable leading comedies again for streamers like Netflix and Prime Video.

]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:58:36 GMT https://collider.com/candy-cane-lane-review/ Eileen, the first film from William Oldroyd since 2016’s Lady Macbeth made Florence Pugh a star, is more defined by what it isn't than what it is. Like his previous film, Eileen is an exercise in restraint, as this story, based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s book of the same name and with a screenplay written by Moshfegh and Luke Goebel, zigs where you expect it to zag, always defying the audience's expectations. What begins as an almost Carol-esque story of forbidden love in the 1960s, swerves into something far more unforeseen. Eileen knows where you think it’s heading, and decides to deviate from the presumptions.

]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2023 14:45:14 GMT https://collider.com/eileen-review-anne-hathaway/ Take the sex, drugs, vulgarity, and the Las Vegas setting of The Hangover, the satirical nature of Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, the ironic patriotism of Team America: World Police, the violence of Die Hard, and the general concept of 24. Now throw all of those into a margarita machine. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be blended together perfectly. Pour it into your favorite novelty cup, maybe that embarrassing souvenir glass you got from Vegas. Now, you have the new Netflix series Obliterated.

]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:02:20 GMT https://collider.com/obliterated-netflix-review/ From Big to 13 Going on 30, movie audiences have long been smitten with the “Freaky Friday” flip that finds characters swapping bodies through some form of magic. While it’s never known how or why it happens, the benign subtrope of the body-snatcher theme offers a mystical blend of escapism and comedy through fish-out-of-water scenarios sprinkled with a bit of drama. Such is the case for Netflix’s latest festive family comedy, Family Switch, starring Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon as an incredibly stressed-out family in the days leading up to Christmas. Releasing on the streamer this Thursday just in time for the holiday season, the McG-directed feature is undoubtedly entertaining with a stocking full of laughs that the whole family will love. But it’s also predictable without offering anything new to the genre and falls back on thematic conventions too often.

]]> Thu, 30 Nov 2023 04:11:15 GMT https://collider.com/family-switch-netflix-review/ One of the best elements of Slow Horses is its unpredictability. You may think you know where the Apple TV+ series is going when, suddenly, curveballs are thrown at you, and you end each season wondering how the heck the story ended up where it did. It’s no different with Season 3. The new batch of episodes elevates the show’s concept, subverts what we think we know about the characters, and also manages to be fun as hell in the process.

]]> Wed, 29 Nov 2023 16:26:25 GMT https://collider.com/slow-horses-season-3-review/ Though not the only movie monster out there, there is perhaps no more iconic figure than Godzilla. Whether you’ve seen merely one of his many movies or all of them, the towering figure has long cast a shadow over the trajectory of cinema itself. A monster of epic scale with atomic breath that he unleashes on the world, he has had the longest reign of any being put to screen. His latest, Godzilla Minus One, sees director Takashi Yamazaki taking the King of the Monsters back to his roots and offering him the chance to smash his way to new heights. Though always a destructive force, this film is the one that sees him being unleashed in new ways. Nothing and no one is safe from his destructive force as he becomes his own all-consuming being in one of the most thrilling takes on the character in recent memory.

]]> Mon, 27 Nov 2023 21:00:13 GMT https://collider.com/godzilla-minus-one-review/ Childhood is a weird time. Hormones are kicking in, rebellious natures are developing, and you are figuring out who you are as a person with every new experience. Billy Luther's Frybread Face and Me immerses us in this time as it follows the young Benny (Keir Tallman) who is sent to his Grandma Lorraine's (Sarah H. Natani) house for the summer in 1990. Living on a sheep ranch, Benny gets in touch with his Native American heritage. Specifically, he gets a look into the life of his Navajo/Diné family members. There he meets his kind and loving grandma, his free-spirited aunt Lucy (Kahara Hodges), his complicated uncle Marvin (Martin Sensmeir), and, most importantly, his cousin Dawn (Charley Hogan), also known as Frybread Face to the family.

]]> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 21:30:15 GMT https://collider.com/frybread-face-and-me-movie-review/ When it comes to animation, 2023 has been a year of quite high highs and rather low lows. There have been bold works that experiment with form and style in vibrant ways just as there have been sweet yet largely shallow experiences that feel like they’re only scratching the surface of their potential. Nestled right in the middle of this is Deep Sea, a stunning animated feature with plenty of spark that still feels like it is often treading water. After opening in China back in January and playing the festival circuit, the latest from writer-director Xiaopeng Tian (Monkey King: Hero Is Back) is now getting a limited theatrical release in the U.S. where it feels like one of those films that could, unfortunately, be far too easily slept on.

]]> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 21:00:13 GMT https://collider.com/deep-sea-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 London Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:30:19 GMT https://collider.com/maestro-review/ Few filmmakers have had the rapid, impressive rise to success that Christopher Nolan has had over the last 25 years. Out the gate, Nolan has been ambitious, making twisty, unique films like his debut Following and his breakthrough Memento despite extremely small budgets. Within a decade of making his first film, he would revitalize action movies, origin stories, and superhero films with both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight—still widely considered the greatest superhero film of all time. In his first dozen films, Nolan has taken us deep inside the mind (Inception), to the darkest reaches of space (Interstellar), and explored war in a way we’ve never seen before (Dunkirk). While his experiments haven’t always been entirely successful, like with his last film, 2020’s Tenet, it’s hard not to admire Nolan’s attempts to push the boundaries of what film and storytelling can do on such a large scale.

]]> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:00:15 GMT https://collider.com/oppenheimer-movie-review/ Hulu’s newest historical drama, The Artful Dodger, delivers a wholly delightful and unexpected twist on the life of a familiar literary character. With its stellar cast, sumptuous costumes, plucky score, and surprising story, the series is easily one of the best—and most refreshing—to debut on the streamer this year. Rather than adapting yet another Charles Dickens classic, as they recently did with Great Expectations, The Artful Dodger reimagines the continued adventures of the eponymous Dodger as a young adult. Now known by the name Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), the former petty thief has carved out a new life for himself as a respected surgeon in the British Colony of Australia, but his days of respectability might just come to an end when a familiar face arrives with the latest batch of convicts from England.

]]> Thu, 23 Nov 2023 08:00:18 GMT https://collider.com/the-artful-dodger-series-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 London Film Festival.

]]> Wed, 22 Nov 2023 23:36:49 GMT https://collider.com/saltburn-review/ Before the climactic 1957 Mille Miglia race near the end of Michael Mann’s Ferrari, the company’s racing team each leaves letters to their loved ones in case they don’t make it through the finish line. Earlier on in the film, Adam Driver’s Enzo Ferrari tells these same racers that they should be willing to die to win for the Ferrari brand, and as a former racer himself, the company’s owner calls racing a “terrible joy.” Throughout Ferrari, Mann and the script by the late Troy Kennedy Martin (1969’s The Italian Job), frequently equate racing to war—which makes sense considering Italy and its people are still reckoning with the pains of World War II. The Ferrari family is still grieving the losses of their past, the choices that were made, and the understanding that they’ll never be the same again. By making Ferrari less of a sports film and more of an introspective look at the car creator, Mann has ended up making a fantastic war film, and his best work since 2004’s Collateral.

]]> Wed, 22 Nov 2023 21:18:46 GMT https://collider.com/ferrari-movie-review/ Considering that 1997’s Good Burger was a film based on a one-note sketch from a show that was essentially Saturday Night Live for kids, starring a character whose primary character trait is being confused, it’s shocking how enjoyable Good Burger is, and the longevity this almost thirty-year-old film has had. Born from Nickelodeon’s All That series, Good Burger starred Kel Mitchell as the always befuddled Ed and his friend/coworker Dexter, played by Kenan Thompson. In the years since Good Burger, these two have gone their separate ways, with Kenan becoming the longest-running cast member on SNL, and Kel remaining a mainstay of Nickelodeon programming.

]]> Wed, 22 Nov 2023 16:59:03 GMT https://collider.com/good-burger-2-review/ Given the potential that animated movies have to spawn a slate of products that appeal to children, it’s not surprising that a lot of them go out of their way to introduce characters that are bound to become toys. In this regard, Netflix’s new animated movie Leo already stands out for not trying to throw random characters on the screen with no clear purpose. But the merits of the movie are not limited to that.

]]> Tue, 21 Nov 2023 21:38:43 GMT https://collider.com/leo-movie-review/ The longest-running sci-fi television series in history, Doctor Who, is set to celebrate its 60th anniversary this weekend with the first of three specials. The specials bring back several fan favorites: David Tennant's fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate's beloved companion Donna Noble, along with writer and showrunner Russell T. Davies to helm it. Davies will go on to usher in Ncuti Gatwa as the fifteenth Doctor, who'll lead this year's Christmas special next month. But first, the Doctor must address some unfinished business with his best friend.

]]> Tue, 21 Nov 2023 15:20:27 GMT https://collider.com/doctor-who-the-star-beast-review/ This year, Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and in doing so, the company has given its audience plenty of reminders of how magical they’ve made this past century, from changing its logo to plenty of merchandise. Last month, Disney released Once Upon a Studio, a delightful celebration of the studio’s animated projects over the years, which captured the wonder and heart of these films and featured hundreds of characters from their exhaustive library—all within a nine-minute short. For the 62nd film from Disney Animation, Wish also attempts to celebrate the milestone in its own way, liberally referencing the beloved films of the past, while giving us a new story for the Disney canon. Unfortunately, Wish ends up feeling like a shell of past Disney successes, and one of the least magical films to come from Walt Disney Animation Studios in years.

]]> Mon, 20 Nov 2023 15:18:29 GMT https://collider.com/wish-movie-review/ Squid Game: The Challenge, Netflix’s reality show based on their own hit series Squid Game, was never going to be a good idea. Of course, such a shameless and opportunistic attempt to capitalize on the incisive creativity of creator Hwang Dong-hyuk was not all that surprising considering the streamer never even paid him fairly despite the value he created for them. So why wouldn’t they cannibalize the satire about capitalism by taking its imagery, musical cues, sets, and costumes while spitting in the face of all the themes he had been exploring? Respect for his vision and what he was getting at goes about as far as the money they could make. When this reality series was first announced, it already felt doomed to be a stain in comparison to an otherwise great show. What couldn’t have been predicted is that Squid Game: The Challenge is more callous and cruel than even its many skeptics imagined.

]]> Mon, 20 Nov 2023 08:01:17 GMT https://collider.com/squid-game-the-challenge-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Sat, 18 Nov 2023 00:09:16 GMT https://collider.com/next-goal-wins-taika-waititi-review/ One of the unfortunate things that can come with watching movies all the time is the feeling that you may have seen all there is to see. Even as the pieces may be rearranged differently, a sense of familiarity with narrative patterns and tropes can start to weigh on you heavily. No matter how big and loud it may play the hits, this can grow painfully tiresome all too quickly. Thankfully, there are emotional epics of small moments that can sneak up on and prove to be one-of-a-kind when you least expect them to. It just requires keeping an open mind to seeking them out and you’ll discover spectacular works you might otherwise have missed.

]]> Fri, 17 Nov 2023 21:00:18 GMT https://collider.com/fallen-leaves-review/ One of the biggest criticisms of films made by Saturday Night Live alumni is that they can often feel like a series of sketches or an amalgamation of ideas that don't justify a full feature. This isn’t always necessarily a bad thing—films like Anchorman and The Blues Brothers are barely held together by a plot—but sometimes, this can lead to films like The Love Guru or The Master of Disguise. Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, the first film from the comedy group of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy, falls into this same problem, often seeming like deleted concepts stitched together into a “story,” but thankfully, it’s a form that mostly works here—even though the result doesn’t have the quality of the group’s SNL videos or online sketches.

]]> Fri, 17 Nov 2023 14:00:18 GMT https://collider.com/please-dont-destroy-foggy-mountain-review/ It may seem hard to fathom it now, but Bryan Lee O'Malley first created the Scott Pilgrim comic book series almost 20 years ago. Telling the story of the titular Pilgrim as he attempts to navigate love in his early twenties, we meet the awkward guy as he discovers the girl of his dreams in Ramona Flowers. To be with her, Scott must defeat her seven evil exes as they challenge him to one-on-one duels for Ramona’s heart.

]]> Fri, 17 Nov 2023 08:02:18 GMT https://collider.com/scott-pilgrim-takes-off-review/ It's almost hard to comprehend that the end of Peter Morgan's The Crown is in sight. There was a time when the Netflix drama series was guaranteed to make a splash during awards season when discussions were being held in the media about whether the show needed a disclaimer of fiction included, and when presences like John Lithgow's and Gillian Anderson's created strong debate over who was giving the best Prime Minister performance. Now, as the series winds down toward its conclusion — with Part 1 slated to drop this week before Part 2 follows in December — it's never been clearer that The Crown has shifted further and further away from what once made it a standout in its early seasons.

]]> Thu, 16 Nov 2023 08:13:18 GMT https://collider.com/the-crown-season-6-part-1-review/ There is a horror movie for just about every major holiday. I don’t need to reel off the endless examples for Halloween. There's April Fool’s Day, My Bloody Valentine, Silent Night, Deadly Night… the list goes on. However, Thanksgiving has gone mostly untouched by horror cinema. There are a multitude of reasons to explain this. Thanksgiving is specific to North America and a movie based on it may not attract international audiences. People associate Thanksgiving more with autumnal leaves, happy family gatherings, and delicious food; why ruin it with some blood and guts? (But couldn’t you say that about any holiday?)

]]> Wed, 15 Nov 2023 14:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/thanksgiving-movie-review/ If you are looking for the year of Lily Gladstone to continue after she was already one of the best parts of the recent Killers of the Flower Moon and to hold you over her until her upcoming film Fancy Dance finally comes out, then you’ll want to saddle up with the animated Western Quantum Cowboys. Alongside Kiowa Gordon of the stellar series Dark Winds, she gives yet another great performance in the most delightfully absurd work in her filmography to date.

]]> Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:21:37 GMT https://collider.com/quantum-cowboys-review/ Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most frequently portrayed historical figures in the history of film. He has been represented on film for almost as long as the medium has been around, appearing in everything from Abel Gance’s 1927 epic Napoleon to 2015’s Minions. At this point, it’s hard to imagine there’s much more to cinematically explore about the infamous French leader and emperor. Yet Ridley Scott has never found a historical story he couldn’t put a compelling twist on, whether in the trifecta of stories in 2021’s vastly underrated The Last Duel, his exploration of the Roman Empire in 2000’s Best Picture winner, Gladiator, or the claustrophobic terror of 2001’s Black Hawk Down.

]]> Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:34 GMT https://collider.com/napoleon-movie-review/ There is no way to write about the thriller Your Lucky Day without paying respect to the late, great Angus Cloud. Not only was he one of the best parts of the series Euphoria, but he felt like he was just getting started in terms of what he could do as an actor. Each and every single moment he got on screen felt like he was surprising you with something new just as he remained a consistent grounding force. There was a presence he had just as there was a vulnerability. He was one of those performers who could draw you into a scene merely from the way he inhabited the little moments and lines of dialogue with a simple passion that felt like it was limitless in where it could go. This was tragically cut short when Cloud passed away this past July at the age of only 25. It remains a loss that is still completely and utterly shattering all these months later as one of his final projects now gets its wide release.

]]> Mon, 13 Nov 2023 21:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/your-lucky-day-review/ Beacon 23, the new MGM+ series starring Lena Headey and Stephan James, is not the first work this year to trap its talented leading actors in an otherwise empty sci-fi mystery. However, it is one of the more potentially interesting projects, even as it isn’t quite successful in what it sets out to do. Specifically, there is a photo of a man at a lighthouse that feels like a particularly apt metaphor for what is happening in the series. The figure is small and seems like he may be about to be swallowed up by the waves that surround him. Like the characters in this series, he may be fighting a losing battle against narrative waters that will soon sweep him and any memory we could have of him away. Even as it presents a striking image, there is an emptiness at its core.

]]> Sun, 12 Nov 2023 21:00:17 GMT https://collider.com/beacon-23-review/ BlackBerry is back, but this time in prestige TV form! One of the most pleasant surprises in the landscape of 2023 cinema, BlackBerry stood out with shocking ease from the pack of features chronicling real-world companies (see also: Tetris, Air). Telling the story of the creation of the BlackBerry mobile phone in the late 1990s, this motion picture began with a ramshackle but meticulous inventor Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) desperately needing cash to keep his team's "PocketLink" project afloat. Enter Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), a brash businessman whose abrasive personality helps get this device off the ground but also ensures that the BlackBerry empire can never endure long-term.

]]> Sun, 12 Nov 2023 21:00:17 GMT https://collider.com/blackberry-the-limited-series-review/ In an era of remakes and spinoffs, coming up with a new interpretation of a story that is well-known and beloved can be tricky. This task is mostly fulfilled in It's a Wonderful Knife, an adaptation of the celebrated Frank Chapra classic with an add-on dosage of blood and screams. Directed by Tyler MacIntyre (Tragedy Girls), this Christmas slasher is centered on Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop), a photography enthusiast whose life is forever altered after she takes down Angel Falls' masked serial killer. As the people around her either move on or completely resent her, the following Christmas season has Winnie wishing that she was never born. As a result, she lands in an alternate universe where she can witness what her town would've looked like without her efforts to protect the community from the murderer on the loose.

]]> Sat, 11 Nov 2023 00:49:49 GMT https://collider.com/its-a-wonderful-knife-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 London Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 10 Nov 2023 17:00:25 GMT https://collider.com/the-killer-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 10 Nov 2023 01:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/the-holdovers-review/ Even though most people would agree that comedy is extremely hard to pull off, not enough discussion is given to how a myriad of details has to come off just right for a scene or gag to work. While many great comedies often put an expansive cast on-screen to escalate jokes, the Australian series Colin from Accounts goes in another direction, focusing its attention on just two characters most of the time – and it totally works.

]]> Thu, 09 Nov 2023 22:41:56 GMT https://collider.com/colin-from-accounts-review/ Of all the growing number of smart sci-fi shows to be found on Apple TV+, from Foundation to Silo and, yes, even Invasion, none are quite like For All Mankind. It's not a dystopian series about the end of the world, nor a sweeping epic in any conventional sense; instead, it's about a future where space exploration has gone beyond anything we could imagine. It's the type of storytelling where any limitations are cast off at nearly every turn but still remains grounded in the lives of its characters, pushing them into a future where nothing is holding the series back from going further and further into the vast reaches of the galaxy.

]]> Thu, 09 Nov 2023 21:01:18 GMT https://collider.com/for-all-mankind-season-4-review/ “I think there’s a natural goodness built into human beings,” says Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a contestant in the 10th annual Hunger Games competition. “You know when you’ve stepped across the line into evil, and it’s your life’s challenge to try and stay on the right side of that line.” In The Hunger Games franchise and its previous four movies, who was on each side of that line was fairly well-defined—naturally, with a few characters standing right in the middle. Despite four films, starting with 2012’s The Hunger Games, this series hasn’t really had the time to explore the gray between good and bad, as it was fairly clear that the people running the yearly event where two dozen kids fight to the death were bad, and the kids struggling to stay alive were on the good side. But with The Hunger Game: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes exploring The Hunger Games 64 years before Katniss Everdeen ever made her mark on Panem, this series can investigate those who made the games what they are now and inspect the moments that led to crossing over that line, in what might be the best film in The Hunger Games series so far.

]]> Thu, 09 Nov 2023 19:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/the-hunger-games-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-review/ A particular joke has been making the rounds recently about whether a show like Fargo, a now rather expansive extension of the basically perfect 1996 film, can still be considered a limited series as it enters its fifth season. At this point, the answer is probably no, even as one can call it an anthology to get around such questions given that each new installment basically starts fresh. However, not every season has itself felt refreshing, even with a new cast of characters.

]]> Thu, 09 Nov 2023 16:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/fargo-season-5-review/ In recent years, as the MCU has grown with a never-ending stream of movies and Disney+ shows, this universe has grown incredibly dense—much like the comics they’re based on. Especially on paper, it sounds like the latest MCU film, The Marvels, almost has too much to remember for the uninitiated—and even for those who have followed this world since 2008. Consider that given its three leads, The Marvels implies that viewers must have watched 2021’s WandaVision and 2022’s Ms. Marvel series, as well as remember the details of Captain Marvel from pre-snap 2019. It’s a lot, even for fans, to keep straight. But with The Marvels, director Nia DaCosta (who also co-wrote the film with Loki writer Elissa Karasik and WandaVision writer Megan McDonnell), shows that an MCU film can exist with characters that are packed with backstory and still be a hell of a lot of fun.

]]> Wed, 08 Nov 2023 17:00:19 GMT https://collider.com/the-marvels-review/ Foe, the beautifully shot yet scattered lo-fi sci-fi mystery thriller starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, is not a good movie. However, it is an interesting one. In terms of how it attempts to adapt Iain Reed’s novel of the same name, there are moments where it is withholding in a way that is hard to square with the knowledge of what is coming. At the same time, it calls attention to certain details so obviously that it feels like it is fighting against itself. On the one hand is an attempt at creating a subtle deconstruction of a marriage that asks questions about what it means to be with someone in a world neither of you could have expected. On the other is a film that is clumsy at exploring this and nervous about not spelling everything out. For those who haven’t read the book, it may play better not knowing how this story can be done well. For those who have, any investment to be had in some of the film's briefly interesting alterations will likely give way to frustration at the rest of it.

]]> Tue, 07 Nov 2023 21:00:23 GMT https://collider.com/foe-movie-review/ The last year has been surprisingly strong for DreamWorks Animation. Last year, the studio brought Aaron Blabey’s books to life with The Bad Guys, and reinvigorated a long-dormant franchise with the fantastic Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, while this year, we’ve already seen the rare original project from the studio with Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Especially with The Bad Guys and The Last Wish, we’ve recently seen DreamWorks attempting to push animation with more dynamic-looking films that don’t necessarily conform to a more generic look that computer animation can often fall into. While their latest film, Trolls Band Together, might be fairly standard in what we have come to expect from this franchise, at the very least, this third film in the Trolls franchise does attempt to do some interesting things with its style.

]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2023 19:03:25 GMT https://collider.com/trolls-band-together-review/ With the persevering reign of prestige television, TV audiences are spoiled for choice when it comes to quality TV shows. However, that also means that underrated gems are flying under the radar more than ever. A notable example of this is Rap Sh!t, which had a dynamic first season made stronger by its charming cast, stellar writing, catchy music, and overall relatability. While most of us will never know what it's like to be budding rappers on the come-up, we do understand the familiarity of the pursuit of success, reconnecting with an old friend, or even making decisions we’re not exactly proud of. Among the many things Rap Sh!t has going for it, its biggest strength is the sense of authenticity in the overall plot and story – a trait which makes it such a shame Season 1 didn’t get the attention it deserves, but one we’re grateful was carried into Season 2.

]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2023 17:42:32 GMT https://collider.com/rap-shit-season-2-review/ The most wonderful time of the year is right around the corner. Halls are being decked, lists are being checked twice, and the North Pole is once again descending into colorful, magical chaos with Season 2 of The Santa Clauses, the continuation of the wildly popular The Santa Clause film series (which is single-handedly responsible for me struggling to spell "Santa Claus" properly as a child, but that's a story for another day). Season 2 continues Santa Claus/Scott Calvin's (Tim Allen) search to find a successor for when he eventually retires, with a few expected and unexpected complications thrown into the mix.

]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2023 17:14:38 GMT https://collider.com/the-santa-clauses-season-2-review/ Murder mysteries are a conceit that will ironically never die. The whodunit remains eternally compelling because it doesn't just send us on a journey to try and decipher the murderer's identity and motive; it invites us to try and piece together the clues ourselves, to see if we can figure it out before the reveal happens. Pair that with the fact that TV viewers have been ardently waiting for the next big project from longtime creative partners Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, and you've got a series that's already been inviting anticipation.

]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2023 17:00:16 GMT https://collider.com/a-murder-at-the-end-of-the-world-review/ For the last decade, few people have made their audiences as uncomfortable as Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie. With Nathan for You—one of the best comedies of the 2010s—and last year’s The Rehearsal, Fielder has blurred the lines between reality and fiction with hilarious shows that are awkward, always surprising, and frequently moving. Meanwhile, with his brother Josh Safdie, Benny has become a master of intensity and building tension with films like Heaven Knows What, Good Time, and the suffocating Uncut Gems. Separately, this pair has made some of the most exciting entertainment in recent years. But in their first project together, The Curse, this meeting of minds creates one of the strangest and darkly hysterical shows this year that manages to be a perfect blend of their sensibilities.

]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2023 08:01:29 GMT https://collider.com/the-curse-tv-show-review/ There are so many moments in Divinity, the new film from writer-director Eddie Alcazar executive-produced by Steven Soderbergh, that feel like you’re getting taken into a sci-fi horror fever dream. This is very much a compliment as it is an experience that thrives based on its fearsome flourishes that are as oddly riveting as they are wonderfully ridiculous. Like other good recent science fiction that pushes boundaries, it operates on a wavelength all its own and is never interested in holding your hand too much. First premiering back at the Sundance Film Festival and now getting a wider release, it is one worth putting on your radar even as it magnificently goes all over the map into the cosmos the longer you get lost in it.

]]> Fri, 03 Nov 2023 20:00:17 GMT https://collider.com/divinity-movie-review/ There are some roles that seem inextricable from the actors who have played them — as if, once that person has stepped into the shoes of that particular character, it would be difficult to picture anyone else achieving the same impact. That sentiment is the best way of capturing the feeling of watching Paramount+'s Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which hails from creator Chad Feehan. While other big names have brought the legendary figure to life in both film and television alike, likely none have been given the space to dig into the titular character the way that David Oyelowo is — and the result is a performance that proves impossible to look away from.

]]> Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:01:23 GMT https://collider.com/lawmen-bass-reeves-review/ These days, great romantic comedies are few and far between. Unless it's one of the few that we get going straight to streaming or the occasional awards-fare outing, we barely ever get any theatrically released movies in this subgenre anymore. So, what better than to have Meg Ryan, the queen of romantic comedies, come back from her eight-year hiatus and fill every major creative role to bring these movies back? Well, that's exactly what she did with What Happens Later. Now, the lead-up to this hasn't quite been the noisiest rollout ever, and it doesn't have the level of prestige that maybe a Nora Ephron project might bear, but if you're looking for an old-fashioned Ryan outing, then it's hard to imagine that you could ask for anything safer than What Happens Later.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 23:18:19 GMT https://collider.com/what-happens-later-review/ Whether it’s film or television, audiences have been consistently drawn to the charm (and frequent hilarity) of unlikely duos coming together. Add into the mix the complexities family brings to that pairing and you have one of the funniest movies of the year with Oscar-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu’s Quiz Lady, starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, as mismatched siblings in need of money to quickly pay off their mother’s gambling debts and retrieve their dog. Playing to the beat of ‘90s buddy comedies through witty dialogue and sharp slapstick humor, it manages to balance the laughs with strong, relationship drama for a spirited film about sisterhood rarely celebrated on the big screen.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 23:00:16 GMT https://collider.com/quiz-lady-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 22:01:15 GMT https://collider.com/fingernails-movie-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 London Film Festival.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 21:00:16 GMT https://collider.com/priscilla-review/ The Love Island Games have finally begun, and this new formula is coming in for the kill. The new spinoff from the Love Island franchise brings former competitors from all over the world together to fight for love and more importantly, money. The competition setup is reminiscent of the setup in RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars: winning challenges give competitors immunity and keep them safe. Winning challenges also means having the power to eliminate competitors, which immediately heightens the drama factor for the contestants and viewers alike.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:15:16 GMT https://collider.com/love-island-games-review/ Though there will likely always be a debate about whose movies are better between Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, when it comes to the Netflix documentaries made about them, there is a clear winner in Sly. Where the Schwarzenegger documentary proved to be an incomplete profile that mostly felt like it was trying to sell you something, this one from director Thom Zimny manages to largely avoid falling into the trappings of the celebrity documentary. Is there a sense it is playing it a bit safe and Stallone is often driving the direction it all takes? Absolutely. At the same time, what it is that he is interested in and cares about as a filmmaker gets drawn out to rather unexpectedly complex results.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:00:16 GMT https://collider.com/sly-movie-review/ Near the beginning of Neil Burger’s The Marsh King’s Daughter, the often well-acted through wearisome psychological thriller starring Daisy Ridley, we observe her character going about the mundanity of an office job. For just these brief moments, it almost feels like we are catching a glimpse of the more restrained excellence of her yet-to-be-released film Sometimes I Think About Dying which premiered back at Sundance. Though they can hardly be called thrilling, there is something to just letting Ridley inhabit a scene that is quiet and built around the little details. It is as if we are being taken into a world through the small moments that will soon become shattered. It is proof that Ridley has not just the talent but the presence to guide us through even the most choppy of stories. Just give her room to work with a focused narrative and you might have something at least serviceable.

]]> Thu, 02 Nov 2023 16:01:15 GMT https://collider.com/the-marsh-kings-daughter-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

]]> Wed, 01 Nov 2023 20:04:41 GMT https://collider.com/all-dirt-roads-taste-of-salt-review/ The debut season of Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, an adaptation of one of the many novels in the series of the same name by Michael Connelly, gave us our first look at a show that was already struggling to make a case for its own existence. There was a praiseworthy central performance from Manuel Garcia-Rulfo stepping into the shoes left by Matthew McConaughey (who previously inhabited the character in a film that worked just fine as a confined story). However, Netflix's adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer struggled to find a narrative rhythm in what was soon revealed to be a whimper of a story, making it hard to see what could steer it in a better direction when it had already drifted so far from a compelling course. Still, there was a small sliver of potential for a second season to reinvent itself and build beyond its halting start. After all, the recent Perry Mason also proved that a new season of a legal drama with a new case could provide a fresh chance to surpass the first. While there are some improvements to this first part of The Lincoln Lawyer’s second season and some occasionally interesting wrinkles, this six-episode chunk still finds itself dogged by many of the same problems from before.

]]> Tue, 31 Oct 2023 22:00:15 GMT https://collider.com/the-lincoln-lawyer-season-2-part-1-review/ Early on in Hidden Strike, an action-comedy whose humor comes less from the jokes than the bizarre nature of every element of its presentation, we get one of the most strange character introductions put to screen in some time. After a more straight-faced one for Jackie Chan’s Luo Feng, we then shift to a scene elsewhere that sets the tone for what is in store. It is there where we see John Cena’s Chris Van Horne standing by a car for a deal with a group of armed characters in the middle of the desert. Did I say desert? What I should have said was one of the most cartoonish CGI approximations of one where it doesn’t feel like the characters are even in the same room, let alone actually talking to each other. If only this had been more integral to the otherwise standard film. Perhaps it would have been more bonkers as opposed to persistently boring. Instead, it is the worst thing an action film can possibly be: forgettable.

]]> Tue, 31 Oct 2023 21:00:16 GMT https://collider.com/hidden-strike-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Tue, 31 Oct 2023 20:00:02 GMT https://collider.com/all-the-light-we-cannot-see-netflix-review/ At the end of the first season of Invincible, the animated Prime Video series based on the Robert Kirkman comics, the world of the idealistic young Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) was completely torn to pieces by his murderous father Nolan AKA Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) who very nearly killed him as well. The only reason he did not was seemingly out of the small sliver of connection he still felt to his son who, lying bloody and broken before him, managed to utter the tragic line, “You, dad, I’d still have you” when asked why he was still fighting. Confronted with this, the abusive yet cowardly superhero patriarch proceeded to flee the planet and leave his family behind to sort through the damage he left in his wake.

]]> Mon, 30 Oct 2023 14:01:21 GMT https://collider.com/invincible-season-2-part-1-review/ While it's not entirely accurate to suggest that period dramas have ever gone out of style, one could probably argue that there's been more of a resurgence in recent years — especially on the small screen. Some of this results from the fact that many works by literature's greatest minds are now in the public domain, leaving them ripe for the picking in terms of modern adaptation. Authors like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen are earning new interpretations of their stories all the time, with Great Expectations developed into a series just this year, while Sanditon became one of PBS Masterpiece's most popular shows during its three seasons, even though it was based on a manuscript that Austen never finished writing. That concept of creating a longer adaptation from an incomplete novel, however, is one that's shared in Apple TV+'s The Buccaneers, which hails from writer Katherine Jakeways and director Susanna White. It's not the first adaptation to tackle Edith Wharton's unfinished narrative; that honor goes to the BBC, where an attempt was initially made back in 1995 with a miniseries starring Carla Gugino and Mira Sorvino, among others. But it does try to breathe new life into the story, although those viewers who enter in expecting Apple TV+'s answer to Bridgerton will find a more melancholy American cousin by comparison.

]]> Mon, 30 Oct 2023 12:00:21 GMT https://collider.com/the-buccaneers-2023-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 27 Oct 2023 20:01:22 GMT https://collider.com/when-evil-lurks-review/ When I was 18 years old, I landed my very first job at a construction company, often known as a place where homophobia is normalized. I was fully aware of it from the get-go, which is why I was extremely careful of how I walked, talked, and gestured. I listened to homophobic slurs throughout my whole time there, but I felt “safe” because I acted straight. One day, however, I heard one of my superiors describing a heated argument he'd heard from his neighbors, a same-sex couple. He was baffled by the notion that these two men had been arguing as if they were capable of having feelings for each other. I didn’t speak up, didn’t let him know how dehumanizing that was, partly because he was my superior and he could create a hard time for me at work if he'd wanted to, but mostly because speaking up would be equivalent to outing myself, and I knew there was no coming back from that. For those who have been through similar experiences, the Showtime series Fellow Travelers will hit uncomfortably close to home, reminding us that the echoes of institutionalized homophobia can still be heard to this very day. Unfortunately, that's the only thing the series does well.

]]> Fri, 27 Oct 2023 20:01:21 GMT https://collider.com/fellow-travelers-review/ Freelance begins with disappointment. In a montage awkwardly told in first-person, John Cena’s Mason Pettits laments that he knows exactly what he’s been put on this world to do, and yet, he hasn’t been able to do it. After becoming a lawyer and hating it, Mason quit to become a special forces operative, where he soon went on a mission to assassinate President Juan Venegas (Juan Pablo Raba) of Paldonia that left him injured and with half of his team dead. Now, Mason is trapped in the “nightmarish” existence he feared: he’s a lawyer, living a suburban life with his wife (an almost nonexistent Alice Eve), and his loving daughter. It doesn’t take long into Freelance for us to realize that we begin to feel like Mason, as we know this absolutely isn’t the type of garbage John Cena should be doing.

]]> Fri, 27 Oct 2023 01:06:54 GMT https://collider.com/freelance-movie-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Thu, 26 Oct 2023 21:00:20 GMT https://collider.com/pain-hustlers-movie-review/ An out-of-body experience is made raunchy and gruesome in Joe Lynch's latest cinematic effort, Suitable Flesh. The film is loosely inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's The Thing at The Doorstep, and it focuses on a psychiatrist gone mad after a young patient walks into her life with a personality disorder that leads to fatal consequences. With Heather Graham as the psychiatrist at hand and Judah Lewis as the troubled patient, this project proves to be an ode to Stuart Gordon (primarily due to its screenplay by Gordon's frequent collaborator Dennis Paoli) and a fresh outlook on erotic horror with the reversal of the gender roles in Lovecraft's short.

]]> Thu, 26 Oct 2023 20:30:21 GMT https://collider.com/suitable-flesh-review/ Of all the elements that a video game adaptation like Five Nights at Freddy’s would decide to focus on, it is baffling why it insists so much on hammering home the lore of this world. While there is a vast timeline spanning both the games and novels to draw from, this is only worth exploring if the central conceit of the story being told is actually scary enough to get invested in. Yet over the course of its nearly two hours, there is next to nothing that manages to execute on this. Not only does this misfire of a film lack any sense of earned dread, it is comprehensively dull with only brief bursts of silliness. Everything just feels like a hollow skeleton that is as creaky as the ones that hold up its murderous animatronic mascots. Even when there are hints that it might be starting to get somewhere, it falls back into so incessantly explaining itself and its backstory that it feels more like homework than horror.

]]> Thu, 26 Oct 2023 07:01:25 GMT https://collider.com/five-nights-at-freddys-movie-review/ In the wake of the Downton Abbey world coming to a close after six seasons (and two subsequent feature films!), anticipation swirled around Julian Fellowes' next potential period drama project. While The Gilded Age has been a long-gestating idea for the screenwriter and director, first announced back in 2012 during Downton's initial TV run, it wasn't until last year that the show finally made its debut on HBO, delivering on not just the time-honored clash of inherited versus acquired wealth but its absolutely packed cast of stars. From Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon as the old-money van Rhijn sisters to Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector as the new-money Russell power couple, it was clear that the social war playing out on-screen would be a who's who of famous faces, including those who have made a name for themselves on Broadway, like Denée Benton, Kelli O'Hara, and Audra McDonald, or one of our modern-day reigning horror queens Taissa Farmiga.

]]> Tue, 24 Oct 2023 16:00:28 GMT https://collider.com/the-gilded-age-season-2-review/ You can tell in every minute of Blue Eye Samurai that husband and wife duo Michael Green and Amber Noizumi have a vast knowledge of and passion for samurai films. The confidence and excitement radiate on screen throughout the first season's eight episodes. Blue Eye Samurai has echoes of Toshiya Fujita's jidaigeki film Lady Snowblood, Akira Kurosawa's revered masterpiece Seven Samurai, and more recent additions to the genre like Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins.

]]> Mon, 23 Oct 2023 15:30:21 GMT https://collider.com/blue-eye-samurai-review/ When reviewing the perilous yet promising first part of the final season of Fear the Walking Dead, it was a different world for The Walking Dead. Neither The Walking Dead: Dead City or The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon had been released, leaving this as the primary spin-off at the front of mind. This was ultimately to its benefit as there was nothing to compare it to. Now that there are, it is starting to lose a bit of its charm. This is especially due to Daryl’s dedicated series, which is set to get the even longer mouthful of a title with The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol in its second season next year, as it finally felt like this ongoing zombie saga was honing in more on character and freeing itself up from all its past baggage. Still, at least Fear the Walking Dead had Lennie James as Morgan to provide a compelling presence that we could remain investing in. It sure would completely deflate the season if he suddenly were to disappear and not come back. Oh yeah, that’s exactly what happened.

]]> Sun, 22 Oct 2023 20:00:21 GMT https://collider.com/fear-the-walking-dead-season-8-part-2-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 SXSW Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 22:30:57 GMT https://collider.com/if-you-were-the-last-movie-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 21:54:46 GMT https://collider.com/nyad-movie-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 21:47:03 GMT https://collider.com/butchers-crossing-review-nicolas-cage/ Horror has, in many ways, taken up the mantle of the B-movies code of creativity, using often itty-bitty budgets to create atmospheric, expressive visions of terror and the grotesque side of humanity’s desires. Directors like Wes Craven and John Carpenter emblemized this kind of thinking in the 1980s and early '90s, but the scene exploded with the advent of digital filmmaking in the 00s and, soon enough, the market was flooded with…well, mostly junk. The ease of production didn’t necessarily mean that those who envisioned and made these films had the scrappy problem-solving abilities that Walter Hill had, or even had the heightened sense of composition that made Carpenter a legend. It just meant that anyone who had a fondness for cheap scares and cheaper effects in the same vein as Sean S. Cunningham could now make something similar with a production budget well under a million. The same went for most genres of filmmaking that were given brand-new vistas with digital becoming the new norm.

]]> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 19:15:18 GMT https://collider.com/best-horror-movies-2010s/ Bill Burr is one of the most talented and funniest comedians working today. He's the kind of guy who never plays it safe and speaks his mind, but also isn't afraid to be self-deprecating. He may be an acquired taste for some, just look at the response to his hilarious SNL monologue back in 2020, but the man has some serious skill when it comes to stand-up comedy. Hell, even his transition into acting has been much better than other stand-up comedians, having given strong performances in projects like The King of Staten Island, The Front Runner, Breaking Bad, and The Mandalorian.

]]> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 01:00:20 GMT https://collider.com/old-dads-movie-review/ When you sit down to watch a movie, the hope is always that it will resonate in some way, particularly when it's a movie about a group to which you belong, and historically a group forgotten or excluded from most mainstream North American narratives. It's rare for me to watch a movie and hear names that sound like mine, speaking a language I don't hear often enough, or to hear music I recognize, see food I can only dream of making as well as my grandmother does, or witness a family and community dynamic so like the one I know in my own life. Such was the case for me with Maryam Keshavarz's fantastically moving The Persian Version, which to all outward appearances looked to be a family comedy-drama, but instead wound up scraping me emotionally raw in a way I was not entirely prepared for.

]]> Thu, 19 Oct 2023 21:29:20 GMT https://collider.com/the-persian-version-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

]]> Thu, 19 Oct 2023 20:15:28 GMT https://collider.com/onyx-the-fortuitous-and-the-talisman-of-souls-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

]]> Thu, 19 Oct 2023 20:00:21 GMT https://collider.com/dicks-the-musical-review/ This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

]]> Wed, 18 Oct 2023 20:36:05 GMT https://collider.com/killers-of-the-flower-moon-review/ The first season of Upload felt like it arrived at just the right time. Michael Schur's afterlife comedy The Good Place had just come to an end and everybody was looking for something to watch in its place. Upload offered the right mix of cynicism, comedy, and satire. Season 2 arrived two whole years after the first, with an abbreviated run of episodes, yet it still garnered enough of an audience to get Prime Video to renew the series for a third season. Thank the digital afterlife for that, because Season 3 of Greg Daniels' hit series may just be the best yet.

]]> Wed, 18 Oct 2023 16:01:30 GMT https://collider.com/upload-season-3-review/