Kickass

Avatar: The Way of Water | 2022 | 3h 12m | PG-13

James Cameron is back with a sequel to Avatar made with remarkable passion and dedication, with astonishing underwater scenes that elevate the experience...

Full quick review on letterboxd

Directed by: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Barbarian | 2022 | 1h42m | R

A double-booked Airbnb by two strangers is the stage for an unpredictable, scary and fun ride that must be seen as blind as possible, without spoilers or trailers...

Full quick review on letterboxd

Directed by: Zach Cregger

Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Matthew Patrick Davis, Richard Brake, Kurt Braunohler, Jaymes Butler

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris | 2022 | 1h55 | PG

Based on the novel by Paul Gallico and directed by Anthony Fabian, "Mrs. Harris goes to Paris" tells the story of Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), a war widow, housewife and cleaning lady in London during the 1950s...

Full quick review on letterboxd

Directed by: Anthony Fabian

Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Lambert Wilson, Jason Isaacs, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Pearl | 2022 | 1h43m | R

Ti West's prequel to "X"... Mia Goth delivers one of the best performances I've seen this year, she is weird, hilarious and brutal as Pearl...

Full quick review on letterboxd

Directed by: Ti West

Starring: Mia Goth, Tandi Wright, David Corenswet, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Matthew Sunderland, Alistair Sewell

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama

The Survivor | 2021 | 2h09m | R

This film tells the story of Harry Haft, a Polish Jew survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camps, who fought with other prisoners to entertain German soldiers, so he could survive another hour and another day.

The movie follows him in various moments of his life, one of which was the fight with the legendary Rocky Marciano in order to find the love of his life, she too a prisoner of the camps.

Ben Foster carries this Barry Levinson film, with an award-winning performance, a well done characterization and an extraordinary dedication to the story, having not only visited the concentration camps and testimonies of survivors, but he also lost about 62 pounds so that he could deliver a performance that was true to the source material, and not having to rely on body CGI.

The film is accompanied with a great score by Hans Zimmer.

This is a film about survival, hope and how such intense and horrendous events can live inside us and influence our lives, as we try to carry on with those demons inside.

Directed by: Barry Levinson

Starring: Ben Foster, Billy Magnussen, Vicky Krieps, Peter Sarsgaard, Saro Emirze, Danny DeVito, John Leguizamo, Dar Zuzovsky

Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport

Halloween Ends | 2022 | 1h51m | R

I can't believe this is what David Gordon Green had envisioned for the end of a Halloween trilogy. I don't know what happened or who he had to please, the studio or some executive producer, but this is not a deserved ending.

The story of this film could have been interesting, but not for a Halloween movie, much less for the closing of a trilogy that deserved to be epic, after all the build up that was created in the previous films. Instead we had a movie where Michael Myers makes a long cameo.

This movie should never been 4 years after Halloween Kills, but rather with a shorter timeline compared to the previous one, so as not to lose momentum, which after the death of Laurie's daughter, seemed to be in a path for a great showdown.

Some thoughts about this movie...

A finale to a Halloween saga with Michael Myers but where the killer is another guy, it's a disrespect to the original and the fans. As well as the introduction of new elements to the narrative, which appear without any framing with the previous films (It's Star Wars all over again...). If Michael's power comes from the deaths he inflicts, why the hell was he hiding in the sewer for 4 years?

Michael Myers VS Corey:

The scene of Michael Myers fighting Corey in the sewer was a spit in the face of fans, after the character of Michael that had been crafted in Halloween 2018 and Kills, Corey would never have gotten out of there alive.

Deaths in the movie:

All the deaths in this movie feel like they had to be justified, there had to be someone who had done or said bad things to another for there to be a reason to get stabbed in the gut. In part I even understand because Michael is not the one carrying out the killings, but Michael Myers is pure evil, he killed his sister just because, there doesn't have to be a reason behind every killing.

The death of the radio DJ:

While not bad, that tongue snip is completely out of context for a Halloween movie, a failed attempt to do something different, Michael had never done that. (and it wasn't him, but it doesn't match the tone)

Laurie Strode VS Michael Myers:

We spend an hour and a half dealing with a movie that looks like an alternative universe to what had been created up until Halloween Kills, and then the final confrontation turned out to be an unsatisfying kitchen fight. And it looks like they tried to weaken Michael Myers so that Laurie could kill him. In a 2 hour movie, there should have been at least 2 confrontations between the two and the last one should have been memorable.

Final thoughts:

I think that the beginning of the credits with the lettering of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, a film that I like, is David Gordon Green preparing us for what we are going to watch and saying "So, now that I got your attention, and you want to continue watching Halloween movies and Michael Myers killing people... here is something completely different that I want to show you and I will sprinkle it in the the end with Michael and Laurie final fight, because that's what you want".

I admit that they made a bold film, but this was not what we signed up for as a final chapter.

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton

Genre: Horror, Thriller

The Invitation | 2022 | 1h45m | PG-13

A PG-13 Get Out with a "gothic conspiracy".

The movie has a good way of entering the story, but the plot becomes very predictable, the horror elements and jump scares are very light, and it gets a bit boring with all the forced romance.

Nathalie Emmanuel is the best part of the movie, her character was very likable and her performance stands out from the rest of the cast, I hope to see her in more important roles.

If you want to squeeze the most out of this, go in blind and don't watch the trailer, it will spoil everything.

Directed by: Jessica M. Thompson

Starring: Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Sean Pertwee, Hugh Skinner, Carol Ann Crawford, Alana Boden, Stephanie Corneliussen

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Jeepers Creepers: Reborn | 2022 | 1h28m | R

Despite all the controversy, the first Jeepers Creepers movie is a horror gem that the other movies couldn't live up to.

Jeepers Creepers: Reborn is the worst of them all.

The original Creeper is obsessed with his preys and something or some part that he likes in them, he feeds of their fear.

This Creeper feels like a serial killer in a costume, that doesn't really kills that many people and apparently has a thing for babies. We see him too many times, in daylight and in shots that try to make him seem cool, instead of dark and frightening.

The movie feels like a cheap slasher and is painful to watch.

"Jeepers Creepers, where'd you get those peepers?" Jeepers Creepers, please take my eyes...

Directed by: Timo Vuorensola

Starring: Sydney Craven, Imran Adams, Jarreau Benjamin, Peter Brooke, Ocean Navarro, Timo Vuorensola, Gary Graham, Dee Wallace

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller