Review by Cole Groth

Fear is frustrating. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the movie. It’s funny because one of the top comments on the YouTube trailer states the opposite, but I can see how it’s easy to think that the plot wasn’t spoiled when there isn’t a plot to begin with. Directed by Deon Taylor, this horror/thriller struggles through a lame first two acts before shifting to an overstimulating gorefest in the last thirty minutes that resembles more of a supercut of other lousy horror films than a film of its own.

Written by Deon Taylor and John Ferry, the premise follows a group of friends who gather at an old and remote hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic for a celebration. After a clichéd night by a fire where each person details their greatest fears, the group learns that a sinister secret is coming for them all. Ugh. It’s so derivative that it sounds like an AI generated the entire script. A creepy old white lady makes everybody uncomfortable, there’s some witchcraft at the hotel, and each group member slowly loses their mind.

Beyond the frustrating premise, the dialogue adds nothing to the dull experience. None of the actors elevate their roles beyond nameless faces that the audience won’t miss when their character inevitably dies.

​Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor’s character’s backstory demonstrates the general problems of Fear. His greatest fear stems from a night when police brutalized him. Like each other subplot, this is thrown in there for the shock factor and isn’t developed beyond a jumping-off point for a potential kill later on. Like the other characters, his background could’ve been generated from a focus group of things that people might fear rather than a thought-out story from a talented writer.

What this film lacks in substance, decent writing, pacing, or any other hallmarks of good storytelling, it makes up for in horrific presentation. There aren’t many scares for the first 45 minutes or so, but the last 40 cranks it up in a series of elaborate kill scenes that, while entirely unnecessary, will please horror fans who crave gore. Casual viewers will start yawning by the time they’re on the fifth kill scene in a row because of the repetitiveness of it all.

While I won’t spoil the contents of the ending, I’ll point out that one of the final mistakes, demonstrative of the film’s laziness, is the last title slide. Instead of stating the movie’s title, it takes a twist and says, “DON’T FEAR.” It took me a few minutes to figure out why Deon Taylor would end his film with something that isn’t the title. This was the previous title of the movie, so is this a simple editing error? It’s an awfully big mistake to screw up on the last shot, but it’s easy to conclude that, like the rest of the film, this was a rushed decision without any purpose.

All together, Fear might prove to be an appropriately frightening experience for those who enjoy bizarre amalgamations of gore, slimy monsters, and jumpscares, but anybody looking for more than a surface-level thriller will be disappointed. There’s little substance to be found in this film because the script tries to have so much of it. The complex messaging will have audiences trying to figure out what’s going on, which is a huge mistake because this film is better enjoyed without paying any attention to the plot. Director Deon Taylor has exclusively produced bargain-bin material films throughout his career, and Fear might be the bargain-biniest of them all.
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Fear releases in theaters everywhere on January 27th.

Rating: 1/5

Review by Cole Groth

Florian Zeller’s directorial debut, The Father, stands out as one of the greatest modern dramas, winning two Academy Awards, including one for his adaptation of the stage play he wrote of the same name, Zeller crafted a story perfectly that used Anthony Hopkins’s strengths to show the emotional trauma aging has on generations of people. His total command over the screen was remarkable, leading to Sony Pictures Classics greenlighting a second film from his trilogy of stage plays, titled The Son. Unlike its predecessor, Zeller is tackling childhood depression and self-harm, an issue far too familiar for current generations. Sparks of The Father shine through Hugh Jackman’s brilliant performance, but this experience is far too frustrating to feel as heartbreaking as the original.
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The film’s premise is simple. Like before, Zeller takes a few characters and locks them in a few locations, forcing them to confront their emotional traumas and shortcomings over the 123-minute runtime. We follow Peter (Jackman), a wealthy and hard-working man who hasn’t cared for his son, Nicholas (Zen McGrath), after his divorce from his wife (Laura Dern). Living with his girlfriend (Vanessa Kirby), Peter has his life uprooted after Nicholas moves back in with him, feeling that his relationship with his mom has gotten far too strained. Nicholas is also dealing with severe depression and has resorted to self-harm to stop the pain.

​The problem with Zeller tackling these issues is that it feels like a tired repetition of an issue that plagues younger generations. Depression has become a much more nuanced issue over the past few decades, and his approach is somewhat archaic. Peter is far too self-absorbed to deal with his son’s severe problems in any meaningful way, which will have many viewers wanting to pull their hair out as he gives lame advice on how to deal with it. Perhaps Zeller intended to make a statement about how parents need to educate themselves on mental health issues, but it seems he doesn’t understand how to deal with them, either.

Though the script isn’t very good, it’s not a total loss. Hugh Jackman gives it his all as Peter, with plenty of emotional scenes adding to his already stacked career of excellent performances. Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby do a great job, too, but they don’t have enough agency to feel anything more than underwritten side characters. Anthony Hopkins appears in a single scene and kills it as a nasty father who has no regrets about his poor parenting decisions. The focus of most critics is Zen McGrath’s performance. As a newcomer to the industry, it feels somewhat unfair to him that he has to stand up to Zeller’s melodramatic script. He’s unfortunately not suited yet to feel more than a stilted outlier in a sea of great acting. This could be a promising start for a career, however. He might have elevated this film to something much better if he had returned to this role after a few other performances.

Technically, the production is not too different from The Father. Each set looks realistic, the cinematography is nice, and the score, from an always-incredible Hans Zimmer, does a good job of pushing the drama. Cinematographer Ben Smithard manages to capture each emotion with raw intensity. I can’t help but think that this would’ve worked better if the locations were restricted to a single set like the previous film. Zeller works best when directing a play, and he seems somewhat lost when incorporating a half-dozen locations into his story.

I had hoped that The Son would capture the harrowing intensity of The Father, but instead of shedding tears, I wanted to sit on my phone during the last few scenes. The first two acts are pretty generic, but the third is terrible. Zeller’s trilogy concludes with a film titled The Mother, and if Sony Classics decides to pursue a filmed conclusion to this duology, I hope it’ll be more of The Father rather than The Son.

The Son releases in select theaters on January 20th.

Rating: 2/5

Review by Cole Groth

Lizzie Gottlieb’s latest documentary, Turn Every Page - The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, details her father, legendary literature editor Robert Gottlieb, and his decades-long relationship with the Pulitzer Prize-winning political author Robert Caro. I might not be in the target audience as an 18-year-old college student, but there’s something so fascinating about a relatively niche documentary that celebrates knowledge creation. In the 112-minute runtime, Gottlieb creates a riveting tale of the somewhat fading art of literature.

Turn Every Page is thematically split into two separate documentaries. The first part shows Caro’s incredible effort in each of his novels. We follow him as he spends countless hours at a local library and museum, finding information about Lyndon B. Johnson for the latest installment in a currently four-volume biography that he’s been working on for decades. His painstaking work shows the work that goes into making a great piece of literature. The second part has Lizzie following her father as he describes his relationship with Caro. Robert is a fascinating man whose obsession with detail leads to long, nerdy sections about the importance of the semicolon or how a single paragraph could be as important as a single period. It’s a lot of fun to follow these two men who are deeply engaged in their work.

While not focusing on their literature, we’re taught various lessons from the people whom Caro’s works have inspired. It’s fascinating to learn that a few hundred fraudulent votes gave Lyndon B. Johnson the win in his senate primary election in 1948 in a rural county in Texas. The history of New York City’s infrastructure is a fascinating piece of history. Lizzie proves herself a well-seasoned documentarian by weaving so much information together to create a satisfying film. Technically, Turn Every Page is very well done. The pacing is strong, with the runtime not feeling a moment too long or too short. The cinematography is excellent, the sound is good, and it’s an all-around professional production. Since these elements have no notable flaws, we can focus on the film’s core: Lizzie’s father and Robert Caro. Anybody with interest in writing would be wise to listen to the words of these incredibly insightful men. There’s hardly a dull moment in the charmingly elaborate explanations of minute literary details.

As a young film fanatic, I love finding films that take me out of my comfort zone and teach me something new. It’s sad that literature isn’t as popular as it used to be. Still, if this generation of writers can be anything like the duo portrayed in Lizzie Gottlieb’s fantastic documentary, it’ll continue as an excellent art form for generations to come. This is a must-watch for film fans and literature enthusiasts everywhere.

Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb releases in select theaters on December 30.

Rating: 4/5

Review by Cole Groth

Contrary to popular opinion, Hollywood is still an incredibly original industry pumping out dozens of completely original films each year. Take 2022’s Mindcage, for example. It’s a brilliant story about a serial killer who helps an in-over-her-head police officer find another police officer. If this premise reminds you of Jonathan Demme’s Academy Award-winning 1991 psychological horror The Silence of the Lambs, that’s because it’s a complete knockoff. Without any passion for filmmaking, Mindcage is a bastardization of an excellent film with no real merit.

The story follows Mary (Melissa Roxburgh), a police officer with a slightly complicated backstory. She’s never as heroic nor emotionally involved as Jodie Foster’s Clarice and feels somewhat robotic as she tries to solve a series of brutal murders. Each murder is paired with a short torture scene, which is uncomfortable to watch, but horror enthusiasts won’t bat an eye. No victim is interesting enough to make the audience care about them, and Mary’s detective partner Jake (Martin Lawrence), seems to care even less. To get help solving the case, Jake and Mary consult the Artist, an incarcerated serial killer who’s always two steps ahead of the detectives. He offers his service to Mary at a price and slowly unravels her as the two detectives try to solve the murder.

As a new film critic, I find it hard to criticize smaller productions like this because there’s usually a lot of misguided passion involved. That would surprise me if anybody truly cared about making this a good movie. I’m not entirely sure whom this production is directed toward. Fans of Martin Lawrence and Melissa Roxburgh know them from comedic films and dramatic television, respectively. Neither actor has performed in a serious movie, and it’s clear. Roxburgh tries as hard as she can, but Manifest does not prepare her for the daunting task of film acting. John Malkovich is here as the villain, and it’s clear that, at this point, he’ll take any role that offers him money. Malkovich is an extraordinarily talented actor, and it’s a shame to see him waste his skills on a production like this.

Mindcage rarely tries to be an original film. The script, written by Reggie Keyohara III from a story by director Mauro Borrelli is absolute garbage. At best, the dialogue is generic, and at worst, it feels like you’re watching a parody horror film that’d play in a comedic TV series. When Borrelli offers a rare twist from Demme’s film, it’s entertaining. It might’ve been a decent watch if he wrote an original script and the ~90-minute runtime was the same. However, since each beat is a copy of some other film, this has to be held to a higher standard. On a technical level, nothing stands out. The cinematography isn’t notably terrible, but audiences seldom find an exciting shot for anything besides the gore. The score from Leo Z sounds unfinished and rushed. There’s not enough music, and that’s an important misfire in a mystery/thriller like this.

There’s something so sinister about a lousy film that steals from a much better film. I can’t fathom that Mauro Borrelli is passionate about this project because people aren’t passionate about knock-offs. Lionsgate will seemingly finance anything, and it’s disappointing to see the studio fund projects like this. Mindcage is never scary enough to appeal to horror fans, and general audiences would be wise to spend their money on something with care put behind it. The Black List, a survey of the most-liked feature-length screenplays from film executives, released its annual list on Monday. This list contains some of the most brilliant and original writing from passionate writers. Next time Hollywood producers want to greenlight a project like this, I hope they’ll look at this list instead and select one of their scripts. They’ll make a dud at worst, but at least they won’t have made Mindcage.

Mindcage releases in theaters and VOD on December 16th.

Rating: 1/5

Review by Cole Groth

The opening shot of Four Samosas immediately reveals what we can expect from the goofy, slightly forgettable comedy/heist film from second-time director Ravi Kapoor. His cinematic choice to opt for a 4:3 aspect ratio and his somewhat uniquely entertaining direction looks distinctly like a Wes Anderson film. The heavy Bollywood influences and a good sense of specificity to South Asian culture aren’t often found in American indie films. These elements make for an entirely original yet far-from-perfect release.

The premise of this film is immediately promising. An aspiring rapper Vinny, played by a hilarious Venk Potula, gathers a ragtag crew of social rejects to steal diamonds from his ex-girlfriend’s (Sonal Shah) family. He hopes that if he can bankrupt her family, he can get them to cancel a wedding between her ex and her new, very douchey fiancée (Karan Soni). The goofy cast makes for a few laughs, but the script isn’t nearly ambitious enough to keep the comedy flowing. While the first half is a series of relatively unconnected scenes, the second half comes together in a strangely entertaining heist sequence.

The sheer ridiculousness of the heist is one of the most exciting parts of the movie. Each character cross-dresses as a senior citizen and dons a horrible accent while attempting to rob the grocery store her dad owns of an ample supply of diamonds. Since the crew’s quirkiness and stupidity are the most entertaining part of the film, it might be easy for audiences to overlook the weak motivations of any of the characters involved. Vinny has almost no chemistry with his ex, so his goal of breaking up her wedding seems pointless.

Ravi Kapoor’s direction is highly stylized. The shot composition and camera movement are a lot of fun and show that he has much promise as a director, but he’d be better off not writing his scripts in the future. While the dialogue is pretty funny, the characters are all one-dimensional, and their world feels empty. Setting the film in Little India is a good choice, but it feels like it doesn’t take place in America. It would’ve been much better to juxtapose the Indian culture with characters from other cultures. Since only one group of people is focused on, the story is compromised in scale.

Although the film’s scale isn’t that great, what Kapoor gives us is still fun enough to be a commendable job. It leans too much into Wes Anderson-ian quirkiness but manages to be very charming by the end. Four Samosas is clearly a passion project from the crew behind it. It’s rough around the edges, but that’s a good comparison to the rest of the film. Each ridiculous character is unrefined yet very entertaining. If you’re a Bollywood fan or want to support solid indie filmmaking, you should check this out. Otherwise, it might be a bit unmemorable to most audiences.

Four Samosas releases in theaters and on-demand on December 2nd.

Rating: 3/5

Review by Cole Groth

“Directed by Steven Spielberg” automatically elevates any film’s prestige. It’s a statement that anyone who enjoys movies will recognize and hold to a high standard. How does one of the greatest directors create a film about his life? The Fabelmans is the answer. Spielberg’s latest is the (literal) story of a lifetime. It’s a film that celebrates the art of movie-making and will move audiences of all kinds when it releases.

The opening introduces us to the Fabelmans, a beautifully dysfunctional family loosely based on Spielberg’s childhood. A young Samuel “Sammy” Fabelman (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord) is taken to see his first-ever movie, which ignites a spark in his life that, unbeknownst to him, he will follow forever. Burt (Paul Dano) is his strict yet endearing father, and Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is his artistic and emotional mother. After receiving a train model for Hanukkah and subsequently crashing it, he gets a camera and records the crash with it. An older Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) finds happiness in making short films with his family, including sisters Reggie (Julia Butters), Natalie (Keeley Karsten), and Lisa (Sophia Kopera).
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The Fabelmans are perfectly written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner as a family unit to replicate many people’s experiences with their families. Each argument and emotional moment shared between the family feels realistic, which makes the audience feel more involved in the story that follows. Standing at an extraordinary 151 minutes long, we’re given ample time to learn how every character works. This long runtime allows for great scenes, such as when Boris (Judd Hirsch), Sammy’s great uncle, arrives for a night and explains how Sammy will have to balance his life as an artist and a family member. The script’s most potent moments lie in the relationship between Sammy and Mitzi. This mother-son duo has to continually reconcile their differences as they grow through life, just like typical families do. It’s hard not to get emotional at least once throughout this because of how relatable it can be. Whether you’re somebody who’s yearned to be a filmmaker, a person with a strained familial relationship, or if you’ve always dreamed of something bigger than yourself, you’ll find something that resonates with you.

Spielberg’s story is not quite as grand of a scale as the trailers would have you believe, with the family drama being one of the most dominating elements of the movie. Fortunately, the drama is incredible. Once Sammy moves to a new high school, he has to confront the effect of his Jewishness on how the world views him. Many of his classmates are grossly antisemitic, a theme that proves to be remarkably prescient. In contrast to the religious drama, as far as Spielberg’s movies go, this is one of his funniest films yet. After getting beat up one day, Sammy meets Monica (Chloe East), his love interest with whom he has his first kiss in an unbelievably funny scene. Since the film occasionally gets depressing, Spielberg and Kushner smartly work in little quips to keep the tone feeling fresh.

The performances from many of the cast members are standouts and will undoubtedly fall onto the radar of voters for this year’s Oscars. Michelle Williams is a clear frontrunner for Best Actress, which makes sense after her breathless performance as Mitzi. Her tenderness shines through each scene, and she is one of the most complex characters in Spielberg’s filmography. Gabriel LaBelle is perfect as Sammy. He’s a caring presence who effortlessly portrays the complexities of growing up and what it’s like to have a passion. Paul Dano is incredible as a stern, tough-loving father who represents the core values of an older America. Seth Rogen gives his most outstanding performance yet as Bennie, a family friend who’s more complicated than he appears. Julia Butters is excellent as Sammy’s little sister, and I hope to see her in more stuff soon. The rest of the cast is directed to deliver their best performances thanks to the excellent script and director.

Technically, The Fabelmans is excellent. Janusz Kamiński’s cinematography emphasizes the magic of movie-making and moves us through multiple modes of film to achieve the emotional goals of Spielberg’s story. While the runtime is just over two and a half hours, it’s hard to notice that it’s that long. However, there are moments where the pacing is slightly off as if there was just one more cut that needed to be made to make this perfect. John Williams’s score is impressive, but it’s simply not in enough of the film to be thoroughly impactful. These minor issues don’t distract from the experience as a whole but keep the movie from being perfect.
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2022 has been a great year for film, and while The Fabelmans might not be the definitive best of the year, it’s hard to argue that this is anything less than a masterpiece. It’s a primarily personal movie that works on every level. It’s an emotionally moving and technically stellar work of art that could have been director than none other than one of the greatest directors ever. Make no doubt about Steven Spielberg: he’s still able to make an enormously entertaining epic about anything. You can look forward to this receiving many nominations at this year’s Oscars, and it undeniably deserves most of them.

The Fabelmans releases exclusively in theaters on November 23rd.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review by Cole Groth

Disney’s been in a rut recently. Fans are increasingly tired of the MCU’s chaotic story, and their animated films aren’t as consistently praised as they were half a decade ago. After the disastrous Lightyear bombed at the box office, they’re looking to revitalize their fan base with Don Hall and Qui Nguyen’s Strange World. Unfortunately, Strange World is the worst animated film from Disney since Cars 3, and it’s not even close. A satisfactory musical score and a fun premise aren’t enough to save this from being a sanitized, poorly-paced, unbearable kids’ movie with terrible dialogue and flawed characters.

Strange World follows Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), the son of a legendary macho explorer, Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid). After getting separated in his early twenties, Searcher became a farmer and settled down. While taking care of his family, the Clades get swept up on a journey into the fantastical world of Avalonia. As the Clades and fellow crew members learn, this world is strange. Nothing is as it seems as Searcher and his son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White), have to save civilization from an unknown entity. This summary might be enough to drag people to see the film, but its good fortunes go about that far. Legendary composer Henry Jackman can't even save the adventure sequences from being utterly dull with some great music.

Is it too much to ask for a kids’ movie to have a good script? Qui Nguyen clearly doesn’t care, because this one sucks. With some of the worst dialogue in recent memory and horrible character development, Nguyen fundamentally misunderstands how families work. The Clades are a bizarre mismatch of personalities; none interact like ordinary people. Every character, without fail, is incredibly annoying. The dialogue between each character is cringe-worthy and cliché. Searcher is a weak man whose escapades grow increasingly pathetic. Jaeger is the most interesting, but the script constantly undermines him for being too macho compared to everybody else. Ethan is obnoxious, and Disney uses him being gay purely for brownie points which seems entirely inauthentic. Meridian Clade (Gabrielle Union), Ethan’s mother, is a generic leading woman with little sense of agency. The other crew members that join the expedition have nothing going on and only serve as unfunny comedic relief or generic characters to progress the story along. The best entity in the film is a dialogue-free blob named Splat who provides some genuinely funny comedic relief and cute moments. Still, for some reason, Nguyen decided that there needed to be a dog, too, which seems to provide the same cuteness as Splat.

Somewhat surprisingly, the animation is bland, too. It’s very colorful, which might lead audiences to believe that the animation is unique, but it’s anything but. Everything looks so sanitized and uninspired. Instead of going for a unique style, Disney has opted to make a movie that looks identical to Lightyear, which was also one of the uglier Pixar movies. If this was released in 2015, it could be an impressive feat of animation, but in 2022, audiences expect something truly magical. It’s hard to look at Strange World and think that this is the future of animation because, at best, it’s okay. Children might be entertained, but Disney used to create movies that the whole family could enjoy. Anybody over ten will have seen something much better in their lifetimes, which is a testament to how lackluster this is as a whole. Beyond the exciting environments, the character design is ugly and unoriginal. Most characters don’t match their voices, and the movements are exaggerated and annoying when they move their mouths.

Strange World has received almost no marketing, and with the review embargo releasing only two days before the film releases to the public, one thing is clear: Disney knows it has a dud on its hands because this movie is an amalgamation of the worst characteristics of animation. It’s a corporate-generated, ugly, boring movie that should embarrass producer Roy Conli. With an estimated $120 million budget, this film is currently tracking to make less than $100 million during its run. Strange World will be an enormous bomb for Disney, and it deserves nothing less than to crash and burn. I usually advocate for films succeeding at the box office, but if Disney is willing to put so little effort into their movies, why should they be rewarded simply for their title? Do not even wait for this film to release on Disney+; it would be a more prudent use of your time to watch almost any other movie on the platform instead. Like the world that the Clades wanted to explore, society will forget about this movie within a few weeks of its release.

Strange World releases exclusively in theaters on November 23rd.

Rating: 1/5

Review by Cole Groth

Legacy sequels are all the rage this year, and the Spider-Man: No Way Home-ification of the Blue’s Clues franchise is one of the most interesting film ideas of the year. Blue’s Big City Adventure takes the rebooted franchise to Blue’s most extensive journey yet: New York City. While it’s a wildly uneven experience for kids and adults, it’s hard not to enjoy the cheesy nostalgia of seeing some favorite childhood characters return. With a quick pace and plenty of fun songs, this is just as fun as the show was, although it doesn’t feel enough like an expansion to be a full-fledged film adaptation.

Blue’s Big City Adventure opens up like a standard episode of Blue’s Clues & You!, with Josh (Josh Dela Cruz) and his ragtag crew of Blue, Mailbox, Mr. Salt, and Mrs. Pepper, among others. Josh is awaiting a letter for an audition with Rainbow Puppy (Brianna Bryan) to get onto a Broadway play. His antics at the beginning are identical to a standard episode, except we’re treated to an entertaining musical number. The grand scale of Josh and Blue’s adventure isn’t the only difference this time; it’s also a musical! Thankfully, Josh Dela Cruz is a great singer, and each song is educational and fun.

Fortunately, Josh receives his invitation, which sends him off to the Big Apple. Unfortunately, he’s forgotten his Handy Dandy Notebook; oh no! Josh is lost without his notebook, so it’s up to the audience to find clues that Blue leaves around the city and get Josh to his audition. While on the way, we find Steve, Blue’s Clues’s first host. It’s lovely to see him again, and while the target audience of younger kids may not recognize him, he’s a sight for sore eyes for young adults like myself. Steve (Steve Burns) is just as warm of a presence as he was over twenty years ago, and the way he interacts with the audience is lovely. We reunite with Joe (Donovan Patton), Blue’s Clues’s second host. They always keep a neutral eye when interacting with the audience. They never look down on the children watching this, and minor details like this make the show and this movie great for children. Throughout the film, we cut between Josh’s adventure, Steve and Joe’s adventure, and the auditions that Rainbow Puppy and another judge (BD Wong) are holding. These auditions are a fun interlude between the action but sometimes become repetitive.

It’s a shame that this wasn’t more accessible to the older audience. There’s too much juxtaposition between the childish segments with Josh and the more mature story that Steve and Joe follow. When following Josh, the special effects are jarring and look like they need work. While it’s similar to the show, there’s not much of a reason to advertise this as a movie when it isn’t trying to look cinematic. On the other hand, Steve and Joe’s segments are expertly shot and much easier to follow for adults. The noir aesthetic that director Matt Stawski applies is complex and original but ultimately creates an empty feeling because it’s immediately disregarded when we return to Josh. This criticism isn’t to say that it doesn’t work as a kid’s film because, in that vein, it works rather well. It’s simply disappointing that there couldn’t have been a more even blend of entertainment for adults and kids. This rough mix results in a largely uneven viewing experience that isn’t quite rewarding as it could’ve been.

Many comparisons can be made to 2021’s Clifford the Big Red Dog, which took the kids’ show and brought it to the big screen. Unlike that film, however, there’s not much of an effort to make this feel like a cinematic experience. The special effects are incredibly weak, and there’s too much reliance on green screen, which takes away from the viewing experience. The franchise initially pulled in over $1 Billion in merchandise sales, so why can’t this look more professional?

While it’s easy to complain about the weak special effects and a predictable story, there’s no way to hate this movie. It maintains a lot of the heart of both the original and new series and moves quickly, keeping children entertained the whole time. Blue’s Big City Adventure is a fun trip down memory lane jam-packed with cheesy yet endearing songs. Josh, Steve, Joe, and Blue are a great squad. This movie might not stand the test of time as well as the original series did, but it’s a fine adaptation for its intended audience.

Blue’s Big City Adventure releases exclusively on Paramount+ on November 18th.

Rating: 3/5

Review by Cole Groth

2022 has been an incredible year for horror films. Nope, X, Barbarian, and Scream all stand out for their unique takes on the genre, and while the year moves to a close, it’s clear that the best might be saved for last. With a unique premise, great special effects, a terrifying story, and an excellent cast, The Friendship Game is one of the best scary movies of the last year. At a very brief 87 minutes, this film is an excellent example of Lovecraftian horror that's just accessible as other major films in the somewhat overcrowded genre.
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The Friendship Game tells the story of four friends, Zooza (Peyton List), Courtney (Kelcey Mawema), Rob (Brendan Meyer), and Cotton (Kaitlyn Santa Juana). When the closest pair out of the four, Zooza and Cotton, purchase a strange object from a garage scale that promises to “test their friendships,” their worlds change forever. After the four perform a ritual with the object, they go out for a night of partying. This night is the film’s core since we visit different people’s perspectives throughout to unravel what happened during the party slowly. At first, we learn that Cotton has a less-than-pleasant night, and she goes missing shortly after. The final three friends are tested throughout the wild 80 minutes that follow, with disastrous consequences.

The series of events throughout the film blur the line between reality and insanity. It’s intentionally hard to follow, which causes a great deal of confusion at times, but ultimately adds to a thrilling adventure through time and space. Since each character is explored one at a time, we learn a lot about their motivations and backgrounds, making the group of friends feel remarkably realistic. One of the core scenes that is revisited frequently is a raging party. The dynamics of the friend group at the party work very well, and it’s nice to see a bunch of drunk teenagers actually behave as a drunken teenager would. The balance between emotional development and horror is kept consistent through this narrative structure, too. While this initially seems like a standard horror film, we’re quickly shown that this isn’t true. The being behind the horror remains mostly ambiguous, an intelligent choice from director Scooter Corkle. It starts as a series of unsettling events, but this leads into a wild third act with plenty of gore to make horror fans of types happy.

The excellent casting of the main four makes this film work so well. Since the cast is so tiny, each performance must stand out. While everybody does a good job, Peyton List shines brighter than everybody else. She does an incredible job at making Zooza feel like more than just a movie character. List’s complicated portrayal cements the rest of the group as a relatable group of people. Kaitlyn Santa Juana’s performance as Cotton is also great. She’s more emotional than Zooza, and some of the trauma that she faces would not have felt real if her performance wasn’t so excellent. Kelcey Mawema and Brendan Meyer aren’t given as much development, but their characters are also great. Not to be missed is Dylan Schombing as a creepy kid hacker. Typically, a role like his would be torturous, but he adds depth to the character that’s appreciated.

In addition to the excellent acting, the cinematography and special effects are notably superb. RLJE Films, the studio behind this, has distributed films like Mandy and Color Out of Space, which makes sense after seeing the zany nightmare sequences. It’s a colorful blend of aesthetically pleasing camera angles and terrifying shots. The excellent cinematography is enhanced through both the digital and the practical effects. When this film gets gory, it does a great job. It gets gross at the end and a whole lot of fun.

Damien Ober’s phenomenal script explores modern teenage friendships frighteningly well. Being in the same age group as the character in this film, it’s highly unusual to see a group of teenagers that aren’t spouting cringe-worthy and out-of-date dialogue. After participating in the ritual, the friendship of the three friends becomes increasingly tense, with each sequence building on the fear that everybody has of losing their friends. Each person had to whisper their darkest desire, and they seemingly came true at the expense of their sanity. The premise is fun and explored to its fullest.

The Friendship Game is both a tender societal commentary on our generation and a wild adventure of a horror film. It’s a messy ride sometimes, but it’s still an incredible time offering many scares. Independent horror films that are this polished are so rare, and anyone who considers themself a fan of this genre should check this one out. It’s a time-twisting, mind-bending, and frightening experience that’s exceptionally easy to watch because of its short runtime. Hopefully, this is the start of a much bigger career for everybody involved because they deserve it after making this. Horror films in 2022 started strong, and if we’re fortunate enough to have a few more films like The Friendship Game, this year will end even stronger.​

The Friendship Game releases in theaters and on-demand starting November 11th.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review by Cole Groth

Dear Zoe tells the story of a young woman who grapples with her unfortunate reality after the death of her half-sister. Despite a serious attempt from director Gren Wells, this film is a continuous failure of a social issue drama. Starring a less-than-stellar Sadie Sink, Dear Zoe tackles mental health issues with the nuance of a Fifty Shades of Grey movie and a similar level of discomfort from a bizarre amount of eroticism. Unfortunately, a film like this with a great premise gets so bogged down in poor production choices because this otherwise could’ve been a powerful and relevant tale.

From the get-go, the problems of this film are apparent. On 9/11, Tess DeNunzio (Sink) isn’t focused on the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center; she’s viewing the attack on a TV at the hospital where her family has rushed off after her little sister was struck and killed by a car. The gravity of her situation feels less emotional for the viewer because the look of the film is so distracting. Every shot has flat lighting, and Sink has been plastered with makeup that seems so unprofessional that it is almost laughable. Tess’s voiceover is so overbearing and sappy that it feels like an angsty teenager wrote it. Well, I suppose that’s the exact perspective we’re supposed to get, but there’s a chasm between realism and this script. While in middle school, I co-wrote, directed, and edited a film about a girl writing to her recently deceased best friend. Since the entire short film was narrated through a letter written by the leading girl, it sounded very similar to the narration given by Tess. The difference between these two films is that two hormonal 13-year-olds wrote one, and professional writers wrote the other with experience in Hollywood.

Sadie Sink has shown incredible promise as an actress in Stranger Things and the Fear Street trilogy, and it seems like she’s most comfortable with acting in period pieces. As is tradition, this outing for her takes us back to 2001 for no real reason. 2000s nostalgia is going to be pretty big soon, and it’s unclear why Wells doesn’t lean into this. This film is centered on 9/11, but… why? Nothing looks like it took place in 2001; The closest indicator is that Tess wants to name a dog she’s trying to sell after the late Colin Powell. It’s endlessly confusing and only adds to my belief that this is one of the weakest scripts of Sink’s career. She’s demonstrated her range previously, which makes her bafflingly bad scenes stand out more than they would for a less talented actress. The rest of the cast is either forgettable enough to escape criticism or similarly weak.

It’s hard to stress just how bad this script was. Marc Lhormer and Melissa Martin’s horrific screenplay jumps around from unconnected family issues to finding love to dealing with grief at an erratic pace; 94 minutes is not enough to explore any of these things, and it’s easy to tell that this was based on a book, which was probably loads better because it had time to develop Tess’s character thoroughly. By the end, there are a lot of unresolved plots, one of them being Tess’s mom (Elly Gladstone) flirting with Tess’s romantic interest. Moments like these are bizarre and uncomfortable, none of which are as painful as the heavily erotic moments between Tess and her later love interest (Kweku Collins).

While trying to find solace in her grief, Tess befriends her bad boy Jimmy Freeze neighbor. Tess is a 16-year-old, which makes her relationship with Jimmy, who’s in his early twenties, all the creepier. Each scene of their budding romance is progressively more uncomfortable to watch, and it all feels unnatural. By the end, Sink and Collins have enough chemistry to bridge the disquieting nature of their relationship, but it’s just a poor decision from everybody involved. Her relationship with her family isn't much better. For some reason, her mom and stepdad aren't focused on at all, and her dad takes the spotlight far too much. None of her interactions are very natural, and once again, it's not in a realistic way. It's just bad.

There’s something that feels so wasted in Dear Zoe. Perhaps it’s the talent of a brilliant up-and-coming actress in Sadie Sink; it could be the lack of actual relevance within the period it takes place; the horrific lighting and cinematography don’t help either. Most of all, the potentially powerful story of how a young woman deals with grief is squandered. Tess DeNunzio’s story was meant for literature because a film doesn’t do it justice, or at least, a movie of this sheer incompetence couldn’t have done it justice. What an unfortunate misfire.

Dear Zoe premieres on VOD starting November 4.

Rating: 1.5/5