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Review by Steve Barton II  Does the term “creepypasta” mean anything to you? It’s a popular term for original horror stories that are posted online and spread around across multiple online communities. The concept became popularized with icons like Slender Man, then birthed several others like Jeff the Killer and many more. While many writers post their stories in subreddits and other online forums, Soren Narnia took a different approach. Soren created his own podcast called Knifepoint Horror, where he would write, produce and often narrate the show himself, even adding music and sound effects to build ambience. One of the stories Soren produced back in 2019, titled The Lockbox, has been adapted into a film under the same name with director Daniel Stamm. Lockbox follows Ellen (Carla Gugino) as she retreats to a small town in the wake of her mother’s passing and brings in her troubled cousin, Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci) to live with her. As their unstable dynamic begins to shift, Ellen uncovers more about Winthrop and will stop at nothing to protect him from this haunting entity. Lockbox doesn’t have the most original plot due to it being a possession/supernatural horror story, but it’s familiar territory for director Daniel Stamm. With Stamm’s previous projects being The Last Exorcism and Prey for the Devil, he knows how to create the tension necessary for this type of project and has the skills to nail the effects. The unnatural way the possessions occur is a visual that won’t leave your mind for many hours after viewing it. Lockbox isn’t absent of any blood or violence, it’s far from being the most disturbing aspect of the scares. When Ellen is being tortured with disturbing images of Winthrop, her neighbor, Vanha (Katherine Isabelle) and her dead mother, the framing of the shots has the audience trapped with Ellen and feeling uncomfortable.  While Lockbox does well in the scare department, the rest of the film is a bit of a bore. Carla Gugino has been a leading lady in horror projects before with Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House, but she doesn’t bring the same intensity here. Her character Ellen is in a very tough and difficult spot when we start the film, but we’re told that more than we see it. Carla almost plays it as if she’s shut off her emotions in order to deal with the pain, but she immediately has sympathy for her estranged cousin and is deeply invested in helping him. Winthrop himself played by Lou Taylor Pucci is the major standout in this cast playing a deeply disturbed man whose silence says far more than his words. Unlike his iconic performance in 2013’s Evil Dead remake, Lou relays the character’s trauma through his eyes and his delivery of his few lines. Katherine Isabelle’s role as the kooky neighbor is a fun cameo from an icon of the horror genre. Her witchy performance is easily the most memorable and compelling performance of the bunch and horror fans will enjoy seeing the familiar face.
In the end, Lockbox has some great horror elements, but it lacks an original story. Soren Narnia was certainly inspired by past possession and ghost movies that came before theirs, but they may have borrowed too much. Soren would’ve benefited from possibly making the story darker and having Ellen start in a much bleaker state. Carla is capable of such greater performances bringing emotion and power, but she’s practically sleepwalking through Lockbox. Fans of the niche subgenre of possession horror films may find themselves amused with Lockbox and its ability to build tension and scares, but this may not make a blip on the radar of most mainstream horror aficionados. Lockbox will be in theaters starting July 3rd! Rating: 2.5/5
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Review by Adam Donato  It’s crazy curious how the Minions in particular have evolved in the public eye. They were just these cute, little side characters in the first movie and took the world by storm. Despicable Me 2 cemented them as popular culture staples. This popularity allowed the Minions to spin off into their own franchise to which audiences started to feel the over exposure. Despicable Me 3 regressed at the domestic box office, but improved in the worldwide box office. The pandemic would lead to the biggest time gap between entries in the franchise as it took five years for another movie to come out. Minions: Rise of Gru is the domestic highest grossing movie of the franchise as it became this gigantic in-joke where young audiences were ironically dressing up for screenings, which led to lucrative box office success. Despicable Me 4 found similar success and now we are getting another Minions movie with Minions & Monsters. The Minions are a defining part of popular culture and even the biggest critics of the franchise have resigned to the franchise’s lasting success. The purpose of the Minions is to serve the most evil boss they can find. After covering their origin in the first movie and the beginning of their relationship with Gru in the second movie, where left is there to go with these characters? Minions & Monsters is a prequel to the sequel to the spinoff. The best idea this movie has is to be a love letter to cinema. In this movie, the Minions get involved in the movie making business as three best friend Minions go on a mission to make their own monster movie. The movie is littered with references to cinema history as the Minions shenanigan their way through some of the most important classics of all time. Honestly brilliant direction because families will already eat up a Minions movie so all that’s left is to satiate the critics who usually give these movies middling ratings. What do cinephiles love more than the movies?  The core relationship in the film is between the Minions James, Henry and Ed. James dreams of being a storyteller and when he’s introduced to the medium of cinema, he feels like he’s found his true calling. His two friends support him along the way as they conjure a ruthless monster for their movie, played by Trey Parker. This is his second role in the franchise as he previously voiced the villainous Balthazar Bratt in Despicable Me 3. He’s one of the defining voice actors of this century and he’s a joy to listen to in this movie. He has a distinct voice and he’ll have you in stitches with just the way he says “movie”. The relationship between these four characters is something that holds the movie back just a bit as the trio dynamic isn’t different enough compared to previous Minion trio and their bond isn’t really as strong. That being said, nobody is going to the Minions movies for impactful character arcs. Once the actual plot of making the monster movie kicks in, the movie does lose its speed a bit and the Minions limelight is kind of stolen by some of the human side characters.
There’s a curious collection of voice actors for the human side characters that are jammed into this story. Jesse Eisenberg shows up midway through the movie as one of the new potential evil bosses for the Minions who are not sold on the filmmaking venture. He’s a robot that keeps heralding some apocalyptic invasion. This mission of his gets derailed when he experiences love at first sight with a woman’s rights protestor, voiced by Zoey Deutch. This feels like a departure from the plot, but it’s an interesting curveball. Jeff Bridges voices a couple of burly movie studio executives, which one sounds more like him than the other. Christoph Waltz and Allison Janney round out the human supporting cast, but the standout is a small role for legendary filmmaker George Lucas. He has such an infamous personality and it’s funny to see him in the world of cinema for the first time in years. Minions & Monsters is a fun cartoon that throws back the audience to the early days of movie making. The Minions get into plenty of shenanigans and some wacky sequences ensue. It’s a colorful movie with a fun and light soundtrack. Arguably the second best movie in the entire franchise. It cannot be understated how undeniably charming this movie’s reverence for cinema is. It’s a good time at the movies and that’s what the summer is all about. Minions & Monsters stomps its way into theaters July 1st! Rating: 3/5 Review by Steve Barton II  It’s an honorable feat to release five films theatrically in a series and gross over $500 million worldwide. It’s even crazier when you see it’s one of the least traditional film series of all time, Jackass. Jackass has roots deep into both the skateboarding and punk rock cultures of the 1990s. The group mostly formed from collaborating on Big Brother Magazine and they eventually formed the Jackass crew. What began with a short lived MTV show morphed into five feature films, multiple spin-off shows/movies and multiple home video releases of extra footage cut from the theatrical releases. In total, the franchise has run for over 25 years, but Jackass: Best and Last is (allegedly) the final film they will ever make. Jackass: Best and Last serves as the send-off for this legendary crew where they reflect on past experiences good and bad, while also pulling off a few more crazy stunts that remind you why you love this series so much. To start, if you're coming into this film and it’s your first exposure to Jackass as a concept, you’ll get it, but it won’t be nearly as rewarding. Jackass: Best and Last was made as a love letter to both themselves and the loyal fans. The original Jackass guys are all well into their middle-aged years with kids at home, so that makes them at least 70+ in stunt man years! These men put their lives on the line so many times over the years for our entertainment, so the idea that they owed their audience a proper send-off is a silly one. The insane nature and scale of the stunts over the 20+ year run earned the respect of the massive audience years ago and they didn’t have to prove anything to us. This film is more of a redemption for Johnny Knoxville after that devastating injury he suffered at the horns of the bull during his magic trick in Jackass Forever.  The way Jackass has grown and pivoted with trends and technology has kept the series feeling fresh. With the basic premise of Jackass staying the same over the years, it’s smart that they had the forethought to keep up with the times. A large part of that should be credited to the incredibly talented Spike Jonze and his creativity. While Spike still creates Oscar winning movies like Her, he finds time in his schedule to go back to lend his talent to his buddies and let loose. In Best and Last, Spike shot both the beginning and end sequences and used slow-motion and several practical effect techniques to create a memorable finale. The way they are able to both honor their legendary past cart stunt while updating it to still be fresh and fun speaks to how much thought and care they put into crafting this silly series.
The major issue with Jackass: Best and Last is the lack of new material in this finale film. While it may not be that exact balance, the footage seemed to be about 50% new stunts with either the old dogs or the younger generation and then the other half was a “best of” clip show with short intros from the cast. It does make sense that they would want to celebrate their legacy and highlight the big moments over the years, but most fans are probably hoping for more original stunts. The previously unreleased stunts are a welcome addition and having more commentary over that footage with a modern outlook would’ve been very interesting. The crafting of Jackass: Best and Last almost plays more like one of their “.5” home released movies rather than a big theatrical film. In conclusion, Jackass: Best and Last is a decent send-off for the legendary stunt men, but it could’ve been something special. It’s understandable that Johnny and the guys may still be too beat up to put themselves through a whole new feature length set of stunts, but don’t do it if that’s the case. Jackass Forever was a perfect send-off for the crew and they could’ve fully pivoted to the new generation if they wanted to continue making movies. The new stunts like the escape room from hell, penis shock collar and Steve-O’s robotic medical exam were hilarious, but there should’ve been more bits like these! If you’re a lifelong Jackass fan, Jackass: Best and Last will still satisfy your need to see friendship and absurdity on the big screen in a group of strangers laughing. Jackass: Best and Last is in theaters starting June 26th! Rating: 3.5/5 Review by Adam Donato  John Cena has transferred his wrestling career into a successful movie career. The last few years he has been reduced to streaming comedies. Little Brother is the latest entry in that subgenre for Cena. He plays a hustling real estate agent who is trying to keep with his more successful biological brother, but when Cena’s forgotten little brother that he volunteered to hang out with for charity comes back into his life, everything gets thrown for a loop. His forgotten little brother is played by comedic icon, Eric Andre. From the director of Ingrid Goes West comes a brand new outrageous R rated comedy. Can this outing for Cena and company make an impression on streaming? The plot of Little Brother is very formulaic for this kind of comedy. A relatable good guy is trying to succeed in his normal life until he’s tied down at the hip by some wacky character. The formula suffices here, but rather than the emotional pull coming from the relationship between our two leads, the more impactful aspect is how important big brother relationships are. Cena is widely known for his great charity work, so making a movie about how powerful volunteering your time to under privileged youth can truly be. Obviously, this movie exaggerates it for comedic effect, but the overall theme rings true. Nothing to inspire waterworks from audiences, but certainly enough to make this a feel good movie.  The duo of Cena and Andre is a curious one. Andre slips right into the wild card role as most of his career is known for his obnoxious brand of humor. Cena is serviceable as a straight man, but he has such a distinct look and personality that would suit the wild card role better like he did in Ricky Stanicky. It’s a very physical comedic performance for both of our leads. The two have fine chemistry together, but their best moments happen when either one of them is solo. Their relationship resolution is nothing that will pull on heart strings, but as if they were really going for that. They’re both just focused on being as funny as can be and about half the time, they are.
Little Brother plugs in Cena and Andre to a standard comedic format and receives moderate return. Usually, it’s typical for streaming reviews to lament the lack of a theatrical release, but Little Brother has an appropriate home on Netflix. Good enough to be a salvageable late night throw on movie, but nothing to go out of your way for. Cena’s next projects include Coyote vs. ACME, which was supposed to be a tax write off, and Matchbox the Movie, which is for Apple TV+. Meanwhile, you can catch Andre in the upcoming Street Fighter movie. So Little Brother is right in line with what both of them got going on these days. Little Brother is on Netflix. Rating: 3/5 Review by Steve Barton II  Have you ever had that awkward realization of your own mortality while consuming media? When you see a kid you grew up watching on television take on their first “adult” role, it can cause a whiplash to your soul. It may have happened for you back in the 90s when Showgirls hit the big screen (or more likely VHS) and you saw Jessie Spano bare more than her passion for dance! From the mid-2000s on, Bailee Madison was a name you’d see constantly as a guest star on kids shows or as a cute, innocent kid in a horror movie. In the case of 40 Dates and 40 Nights, Bailee Madison breaks out of her kids/teen media past and shows that she’s now a romantic comedy leading lady! 40 Dates and 40 Nights follows Leah (Madison) as a young woman in her late twenties and is struggling to find her perfect romantic partner and pay her rent. Leah’s Aunt Gigi (the legendary Annie Potts) challenges Leah to go on 40 dates in 40 nights to make a real effort to find true love. If she completes the challenge, Gigi will cover rent for a year. The adage “you have to kiss a bunch of frogs to find your prince” comes to mind when you read the synopsis. While it may not be the most original premise, the characters we meet during 40 Dates and 40 Nights make it worthwhile. We start the movie in the midst of Leah dealing with the familiar scenario of the morning after hooking up with a hot douchebag. Unlike Bailee’s past work on Disney or Hallmark, this film doesn’t sanitize the characters and their dialogue and they speak like real people about plan b pills and sex. Young women at a similar age or stage in life will relate to Leah heavily seeing her yearn for love and a better life, but she’s not perfect. While the “movie magic” still plays its hand in 40 Dates and 40 Nights, this theory of finding yourself by meeting others and broadening your mind is one that certainly makes sense.  While the cast isn’t large or full of A-list stars, 40 Dates and 40 Nights gathered the perfect group. Bailee is certainly a star in the making and proves that she can be a leading lady here with her comedic timing and on-screen chemistry with all of her dates. Bailee is definitely the most famous of the former child actors in this cast, but she’s not the only one. Former Disney Channel star Sterling Knight has a cameo role as one of Leah’s dates and steals the scene, but Joel Courtney is our leading man. His character feels quite similar to his previous work in The Kissing Booth series and that’s not necessarily a compliment. Joel is a charming guy and seems nice, but he also gives off major incel vibes in both movies when things don’t go his way. The legendary Annie Potts rounds out the cast as Aunt Gigi and she’s perfect as the almost “fairy godmother” role helping Leah and guide her through her love journey.
40 Dates and 40 Nights is a fun, young adult rom-com, but nothing that hasn’t been done before. The major attraction here is Bailee Madison and anyone curious to see how her transition to adulthood has changed her acting. The dialogue is refreshingly authentic and the comedy is funny and relatable, especially to single people trying to find their person. The editing of the date montages was the strongest technical feature, but it stays true to the classic rom-com look with bright colors and warm lighting. If a cute rom-com that’s light and unserious, 40 Dates and 40 Nights should be on your watchlist. 40 Dates and 40 Nights is in theaters on June 26th and then on VOD starting June 30th! Rating: 3/5 |