Sommerleigh Pollonais

While I’ll admit things start off a bit bumpy, Agatha All Along never loses sight of its mission. It delivers on the magic and mystery of Agatha Harkness, expands on the world of Marvel with the promise of more to come (Young Avengers) while delivering a heartfelt message of the importance of forgiving oneself and facing past traumas, allowing yourself to heal and thus ultimately becoming the best and baddest witch of them all.

You ever play the game Memory? The one where you turn over cards and try to remember which card matches with which? Director and Writer Greg Jardin puts a delciously twisted spin on this and by midway you’l be completely enthralled as you try to keep the players straight. A wonderfully scripted tale of revenge, this darkly comedic thriller is engaging from beginning to end. Check that, there’s a bit of a lag in the middle but it doesn’t last too long and as the craziness of the game culminates in a twisted end reveal, you’ll be glad you gave this one a look.

Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should. It's a phrase I wish someone would've said out loud to Todd Phillips at some point during the making of this movie. After two plus hours of nothing but singing as we explored the psyche of Arthur aka The Joker, I had to mentally restrain myself from walking out on this "musical". Part of me wonders if this experimental film would've worked had the character not been a version of the iconic DC villain. Then again the jarring way the singing would just grind everything around it to a halt doesn't bode well either way. By the end of this movie I was totally on board with the finale, if just because it meant I no longer had to spend anytime with the depressing, dreary simp of a man and his world where nothing exciting ever happens unless it's in his head.

Shot on 35mm film, Strange Darling is a delight to behold with the cinematographer being none other than actor Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar, The Gift, Sneaky Pete). You’ll be pulled right back to the 60’s and 70’s of horror movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There’s one particular scene that made me think of Michael Myers hunting Laurie in the original Halloween movie, except this movie doesn’t shy away from some very realistic looking blood and gore. But while this movie looks great and is supported by a top-notch performance by Willa Fitzgerald, the story itself might just be the weakest link. Keep in mind I’m saying this as someone who has seen so many horror twists and turns, it’s become almost impossible for anything to catch me unawares. I figured out the “twist” pretty early on, which meant the rest of the movie wasn’t as suspenseful for me as it might be for others. The other actors sadly didn’t get much to do beyond show up and deliver a few lines, which I understand as the focus lies with The Lady and The Demon but which also meant I cared little for them. It’s a shame too as both Ed Begley Jr and freaking Barbara Hershey, star of one of my all-time favorite horror movies, The Entity (most of you youngsters probably know her from the Insidious franchise) have parts in this film. They’re on screen for all of five minutes which begs the question; why cast them in the first place? There’s also a scene with a female cop and a male cop at the end that is played for laughs but comes across a bit mean-spirited, or at the very least confuses the overall message of the story. I’m still not one hundred percent sure what that is though as the screenplay seemingly is meant to show women in an empowering light, but at the same time portrays them as manipulative and as is the case with the female cop too “woke” for their own good. Whatever the case, I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy Strange Darling. Ignoring the tonal inconsistencies, the movie looks great and Willa Fitzgerald’s performance is breathtaking to watch. If they ever thought of recasting Mia Goth in X trilogy, I know who my vote would be for. Score 7 out of 10

While it’s hard to call this a straight horror movie, this thriller definitely contains some gory set pieces designed to shock viewers. The conclusion here also leans more towards drama with an ending that’s more saddening than anything else. Still, it’s one of the more impressive movies I’ve seen set in this timeline. Don’t go into this expecting something akin to Prey and this Scottish tale of paranoia and survival set in a primitive world might just leave you as impressed as I was. Score 6.5 out of 10

Origin stories are always difficult to make interesting, doubly so when fans have seen numerous iterations of the same story (think Batman). But that excuse doesn’t work here because as I mentioned earlier, most people have NO IDEA who this character is! This meant director S.J. Clarkson and the three writers involved (three!) could’ve done anything they wanted with these characters and presented audiences with something fresh and fun. Instead, what we got was a ten-year old’s idea of a superhero story. Then again, a ten-year-old would’ve had more imagination. Worse than Morbius, worse than Venom 2 (I enjoyed the first one) hell, it’s even worse than Halle Berry’s Catwomanbecause at the very least that movie made me laugh for how awful it is. This just made me sad and more than a little angry because I spent money to see this first draft disguised as a finished movie. All I can say is I’m sorry I don’t have Madam Web’s ability to see into the future. I could’ve saved myself some money. Score 3 out of 10.

There’s a lot of care and thought put into this series which is why I’m still struggling to put my finger on why I’m not crazy about it. If you’ve seen Donald Glover’s other series like Atlanta and Swarm, you’ll know he never goes the direct route with his narrative choices. There’s always this weird atmosphere of “otherworldliness” that surrounds his shows and I can feel it here too. Conversations between the couple take center stage over the action set pieces that while well-choreographed, feel a bit like they belong to a different series and as solid as the chemistry is between the leads, I’ll go as far as to say Glover feels a bit miscast in the part as I never truly buy into him being a skilled fighter or ex-soldier or whatever he’s supposed to have been prior to becoming John Smith. I’m left with the feeling people will either love or complete dismiss this series as it chooses to use the spy elements as a backdrop for the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Smith. If you’r’e going into this expecting cool action and loads of spy tropes you will walk away disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I think the premise is an absolute banger and the changes made from the movie are smart ones. I just think the tone is off and the series as a whole might be a bit top heavy in terms of the drama outweighing the action and tension needed for a truly thrilling spy based series. Score 7 out of 10

With a script that plays out like it was written using ChatGPT, we have a family looking for a fresh start by moving into a new house. Dad's sick but gets better when he swims in the pool. The rest is generic horror at its best. I’m sure you can predict every scene without having seen a single frame of this movie. From the husband’s mysterious health improvement (he’s possessed. Mystery solved) to the kids knowing there’s something wrong but keeping secrets, to the wife *sigh* Googling the history of the residence to locate previous occupants. It’s all Amityville but without a shirtless Ryan Reynolds on screen keeping your attention. Speaking of a lack of charisma. Wyatt Russell is bland as hell. He’s Kurt Russel without the energy and charisma that made his dad an icon of the 80’s. Yes, I’ve seen him in other stuff too and my statement stands. His character is supposed to be a big part of the plot here and there were moments when I genuinely forgot about him! Say what you will about the Amityville remake, but Ryan Reynolds is genuinely chilling as the stepdad who slowly loses himself to evil of that house. I honestly felt like his family was in danger during the final act whereas Wyatt runs around with a grimace on his face and chases his daughter with all the energy of a zombie that needs to go to the bathroom and the lame CGI makeup effects doesn’t do him any favors either. I honestly don’t know what the deal is with Blumhouse productions. One minute they give us gold, the next we get uninspired nonsense like Night Swim. I would say they’re the Nic Cage of horror studios except no matter how bad the movie is Nicolas Cage never fails to delight me. This movie on the other hand isn’t even worth showing to that one friend who scares easily because you would have to watch it with them, and no one deserves to suffer that much boredom in their life.