1st Reviews

  The passage of life only sometimes goes according to plan. No one knows where the journey will take them or the obstacles they will face.   In  Memoir of a Snail,  Adam Elliot poignantly explores the hardships of life and how they can trap us into believing life isn’t worth living anymore. Many devastating moments in one’s life can shape one into the person they become. There could be unresolved trauma, but they still find some silver lining.  Elliot uses stop-motion animation to create portraits of one’s life. Grace Pudel  (Sarah Snook) relives the bittersweet moments of her life that deeply affect her. It’s a melancholy tale of love, loss, and rebirth. When we meet Grace, she’s reflecting on the loss of her dear friend Pinky (Jacki Weaver). The film begins with life-like objects cluttering the screen. Then Elliot transitions the images to the inside of Pinky’s mouth as she gives her final breath. The beauty of animation lies in the imagination and ...

  Emilia Pérez takes bold swings with its structure and themes, delivering an in-your-face musical that doesn’t feel anything like your typical musical. It also struggles with developing characters beyond thin cultural and gender stereotypes, resulting in an overall hollow, yet impressively audacious film.  The film strives to explore what it means to shed old identities—both externally and internally. However, the execution of this core theme is a bit uneven, particularly when it comes to the portrayal of certain communities and characters. On one hand, I love the idea of this story, as I’ve never seen anything quite like it. On the other, it’s very apparent that these characters were written by a man unfamiliar with Mexican culture or the Trans community. Obviously, I’m not an expert, but watching this movie, I couldn’t help but feel like everything was just a bit… off.  Where the writing and characters underwhelm, the musical numbers do anything but. They explode organ...

  This long-awaited sequel doesn’t have the same visual beauty and flare as its predecessor, but is still a solid action film that embraces the best aspects of the first film’s story. It’s quite an uphill battle to create a hero as strong as Maximus Meridius now that he and Russell Crowe are out of the picture… unless, of course, you cast Paul Mescal. Mescal brings a tenderness to his performance that shows through even when he ought to show strength and ferocity in the arena. Pedro Pascal is also fantastic and completely chews up the scenery, as do Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger as the spoiled and maniacal emperors. Denzel Washington gives so much life to the film, seemingly just by being his soulful, fun self. He brings a lot of humanity as he and Mescal enter a mentor-student dynamic. The film doesn’t work as well without Washington’s presence, whose character takes unexpected turns throughout the film. Gladiator II ‘s script works when focusing on its protagonist’s journey, as...

The theatre community has always felt like home. No matter where you’ve come from or how alienated you feel for being different, there has always been a place in the theatre community. As someone who has been part of the theatre community and found solace with a stage family for each production, there will always be one inspirational musical.  For me, it was  Wicked .  From the stunning production design to the beautiful costumes to the depth of these wonderful characters, the first show tunes I learned was the Broadway cast recording with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.  Wicked  has a special place in everyone’s heart because it could have been the first production they saw, or they loved  The Wizard of Oz  and wanted to see more. The musical is beloved because of its touching lyrics and the loving female friendship between Glinda and Elphaba.  Jon M. Chu announced in 2021 that he would direct the film adaptation of  Wicked . The casting...

  Cobra Kai has always balanced light-hearted comedy and high stake situations very well. Over the course of its 6 seasons, the stakes have constantly been raised. That will all conclude in a grand finale that the show has been building for years; a world tournament. In part 2 of a three part finale, The teams are set and everyone is ready for the start of The Sekai Tekai. A world tournament means we are going to get introduced to Dojo's from all over the world. Up until now, Miagi-Do and Cobra Kai have been too preoccupied with each other to even realize that there may be stronger fighters out there. One of the newest threats is a Dojo named The Iron Dragon. Led by Sensei Wolf (Lewis Tan) His two captains are Axel (Patrick Luwis) and Zara (Rayna Vallandingham) all three are threats to both the Sensei's and everyone competing in the tournament.  With so many talented fighters, you feel a sense of immediate improvement with the fight choreography a...

The Oz Cobb we were introduced to in The Batman was only the tip of the iceberg. HBO’s The Penguin gives the iconic villain the complex origin story he deserves, with an unrecognizable Colin Farrell leaving a monumental mark on the DCU.  Set just a week after the events of   The   Batman, The Penguin follows Oz as he ascends through Gotham’s criminal underbelly, navigating betrayals, power struggles, and personal demons. What’s most compelling about Oz is how unapologetically self-serving and manipulative he is, but also how tragically human the show makes him. While he’s undoubtedly a monster - selfish, greedy, and ruthless in every sense - the series crafts him in a way that almost forces you to sympathize with him.  The show does take a little time to hit its stride, occasionally getting bogged down by some lackluster subplots and clunky exposition. These are minor hiccups, though, and while the series could’ve benefited from being streamlined into 6 or 7 more foc...

  Heretic  doesn't play out with the typical levels of jump scares and macabre we're used to from horror films these days -- rather it's a battle of wits in which the characters contemplate belief, religion, and faith... oh, and an adult man is terrorizing two young women as they're held captive in his house, which becomes a maze of puzzles related to his disdain for their faith. Hugh Grant is rather terrifying as Mr. Reed here, but he's clearly having such a delightful time in the character's skin. He's as threatening as you can imagine a mysterious man in his 60s alone in a large house but also has plenty of outlandish and hilarious dialogue. Some viewers simply looking for an intellectual dark comedy could most definitely find satisfaction in watching  Heretic . You also genuinely care about our two protagonists. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East both bring cleverness to the film, a willingness to challenge their captor, and not break down and quit. Thatcher...