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The Housemaid

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The Housemaid Starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Indiana Elle Directed by Paul Feig We all wear masks that disguise who we really are, and that's no different for the wealthy and elite. They live in lavish mansions, drive fancy cars, and wear the best designer dresses, and from the outside looking in it seems they have it all - but once the facade drops, you realize that things aren't always what they seem to be. Conversely, people who are desperate to pull themselves out of the depths they find themselves in will oftentimes consent to living in negative spaces as opposed to going back to where they came from, having to don their own mask of happiness while underneath they're emotionally crushed. Thus is the story of "The Housemaid," a movie that teetered on the edge of melodrama but offered exemplary performances and a pulled back story that never allowed itself to become ripe for parody. Millie Calloway (Sydney Sweeney) is desperately loo...
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Avatar: Fire and Ash

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Avatar: Fire and Ash Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin Directed by James Cameron I'm not one for roller coasters, but I get the appeal. Embarking on a fast-paced, dizzying ride for a few minutes is something that would be enjoyable to thrill-seekers of the like, but once its done there's not a lot to remember about it. The "Avatar" movies are the film equivalent: all spectacle, no substance. Yet that spectacle is rather...spectacular. The first movie revolutionized filmmaking and remains the highest grossing movie of all time, and the long-gestating sequel added to the narrative and is the third highest grossing movie of all time. Now, James Cameron returns to the well with "Avatar: Fire and Ash," and basically it's "The Way of Water" only with...well...fire. Not long after Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his new clan defended the water nation of the Metkayina - and losing his son in the process - the family is ...
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Marty Supreme

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Marty Supreme Starring Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary Directed by Josh Safdie In the MCU, Loki is Thor's brother, a trickster god, who is the franchise's best anti-hero. At times he's a villain, others a hero, but through it all he does what he does because he's "burdened with glorious purpose" that gives him an inflated sense of ego. What if this "glorious purpose" could be personified in a normal human being? You get a film like "Marty Supreme," a seemingly biopic about one man's quest to be the best table tennis player in the world - and a man who is burdened with his own sense of glorious purpose. In 1952 New York, Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) works at a shoe store but plays table tennis on the side, wanting to escape the humdrum boring normalcy and become someone bigger than he is. He steals $700 and flies to the British Open, where he meets retired actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow). ...
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Jay Kelly

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Jay Kelly Starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup Directed by Noah Baumbach Pretty much everyone wishes they could be rich and famous, because it seems that they are living the life - money, popularity, love, luxurious houses and cars, celebrities have it all - or at least that's what we think through our rose colored glasses. We don't see the sacrifices they make for their art, the lives that are left unlived, the paths not taken. "Jay Kelly" is a movie that sheds light on an actor's fading glory, and the mistakes he's made along the way, concerned that it's far too late to fix it. Jay Kelly (George Clooney) is a famous actor that's lost contact with his older daughter, but hopes to spend the summer with his younger daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) before she goes to college. After completing his latest movie, however, he learns Daisy is going to Northern Italy with friends before school, and he realizes the life he's missed ...
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Five Nights at Freddy's 2

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 Starring Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Matthew Lillard Directed by Emma Tammi In 2023, "Five Nights at Freddy's" surpassed even the highest expectations and became Blumhouse's most profitable movie to date, despite the fact that the game it's based off of is as dusty and unused as Freddy Fazbear's restaurant itself. The PG-13 rating brought in the fans young and old, and for those who never played the game (or, in my case, lightly played til I got bored) it piqued our interest to see how Jim Henson's Creature Shop could bring the animatronic Chuck-E-Cheese wannabe characters to life. The result was a movie that didn't make a lot of sense, that underutilized what people came to see, and lackluster scares and gore to please the younger audience. Yet, despite this, they printed money so of course a sequel was greenlit and finally came out this year. While the story is more compact, the animatronics take a more...
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Fackham Hall

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Fackham Hall Starring Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Radcliffe, Damian Lewis, Katherine Waterston Directed by Jim O'Hanlon For a while it seemed the spoof genre was dead with duds like "Epic Movie," "Date Movie," "Dance Movie," and the like that littered the 2000s landscape. Classics like "Airplane!" and "Spaceballs" were considered old relics of a bygone era, and it seemed nothing would re-vitalize the subgenre. Then Liam Neeson remade the classic "Naked Gun" movie and, against all odds, brought new life back to the subgenre, offering a surprisingly hilarious outing every part as equal as the original trilogy. Now "Fackham Hall" hopes to capitalize on this new wave of spoof movies, and while it wasn't as epically funny as the new "Naked Gun," it has its own charms and humor that made for a delightful viewing experience and demands second watch to catch all the jokes missed because you were laughing at othe...
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Rental Family

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Rental Family Starring Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman Directed by Hikari Sentimental movies toe the line between becoming something exploitative and forcing your tear ducts to flow, and offering a tender, raw, emotional film that'll have you naturally feeling some sort of way. When I saw the trailer for "Rental Family" I knew this would be one of those movies - would it force me to cry, or would it occur naturally? Fortunately, with Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser at the helm and acclaimed Japanese director Hikari, "Rental Family" was a tour-de-force film, small in scope but large in heart, showing the world a unique perspective into a country's strange practices that seem manipulative, but ultimately becomes cathartic.  Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser) is a washed-up actor living in Japan and doing commercials and small films, but struggles to find work. Needing money, he takes a job given to him by Shinji (Takehiro Hira...
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