A compelling mystery that’s only slightly held back by its gimmick.
Skinamarink – REVIEW
A homemade horror film that captures the frightening dread of childhood, but struggles to remain engaging throughout its slow and abstract story.
M3gan – REVIEW
A horror film who’s self-awareness leads to to some humorous moments, yet lacks substantial terror to make impactful scares.
The BEST and WORST Movies of 2022
The ranking of EVERY 2022 release I saw this year!
Avatar: The Way of Water – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A thriller blockbuster that builds upon the prior film’s weaknesses to create an engaging thrill ride of likable characters and out of this world visuals.
Violent Night – REVIEW AND COCKTAIL
A bloody holiday brawl that’s big on action, though flat on story or interesting ideas.
Glass Onion – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A witty, razor sharp murder mystery that produces a worthy successor to one of 2019’s best films.
The Menu – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A darkly delicious bite of satire, seasoned with solid performances and searing wit.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A heartfelt sequel that manage to carry its emotional weight in an effective, exciting way.
Black Adam – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
While it often delivers on action, it’s not enough to bolster the film’s flat characters, poor writing, and unoriginal approach to the genre.
Halloween Ends – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
An unsatisfying end to an underwhelming trilogy, lacking scares, coherency and purpose in closing out the story of two of horror’s most iconic names.
Hellraiser (2022) – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
An update to a classic horror film that gives it a polished, competent modern sheen, but loses some of the gnarliness that made the series a standout.
Blonde – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
An excessive and tiring “biopic:, showcasing the worst moments in Marilyn Monroe’s life with no greater point than cheap shock value.
Don’t Worry Darling – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A psychological thriller whose hollow interior is at least decorated by a engaging lead performance and intriguing visuals.
Pearl – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A impactful horror prequel that delivers on a terrific lead performance and plenty of disturbing imagery.
Barbarian – REVIEW
A twistedly dark and funny horror film that proves that hotels are making a comeback over AirBNB’s.
Jaws – NEW COCKTAIL
Revisiting a classic film and building upon a past cocktail to create the boozy and tropical Blood in the Water!
Three Thousand Years of Longing – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A fantastical reflection on the importance of stories that leads with a strong beginning that unfortunately stalls out by the third act.
Prey – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A horror franchise prequel that actually succeeds in crafting compelling characters and solid action while remaining true to the source.
Bodies Bodies Bodies – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
An often hilarious black comedy that satirizes Gen Z, but struggles to bring memorable scares or interesting spins on the murder mystery genre.
Bullet Train – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A fast paced and fun action comedy whose unbalanced humor and action can leave you enthralled one minute and suffering from a headache the next.
The Black Phone – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A chilling thriller that lacks in scares and airtight logic, but makes up for it will gritty atmosphere and a formidable lead cast.
Nope – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A thrilling and tense flashback to sci-fi blockbusters with expert directing, haunting cinematography, and a fun cast of characters.
Thor: Love and Thunder – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A disappointing misstep for the Thor franchise that stumbles to match the humor and heart of its predecessor.
Elvis – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A musical biopic with a fairly by-the-numbers story, elevated (and often hindered) by it’s frantic, energetic editing and visual style.
Jurassic World Dominion – REVIEW & COCKTAIL
A sterile and uninspired finale to a franchise that might be better off going extinct.
Top Gun: Maverick – REVIEW
An exhilarating legacy sequel that manages to capture the charm of 80s action flicks while modernizing it and adding much needed depth to new and old beloved characters.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie – REVIEW
A light and fun continuation of the hit animated sitcom that unfortunately doesn’t take full advantage of its feature length.
Men – REVIEW
A topical horror story filled with tension and body horror, but is held back by its surface level approach to its themes.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – REVIEW
A clunky if not stylish addition to the MCU’s ever growing multiverse.
The Northman – REVIEW
A brutal, albeit straightforward, Viking revenge tale complete with beautiful visuals and enthralling performances.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once – REVIEW
A mind-bending, heartwarming adventure across the multiverse, packed with action, hilarity and sincerity.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – REVIEW
A semi-faithful continuation of a video game icon’s adaption to film, managing to be fun if not a tad shallow.
Morbius – REVIEW
A bland, uninspired superhero film that expects us to get behind a bloodless, “toothless” vampire story.
X – REVIEW
A flash back to the gritty, gory golden days of the slasher genre.
After Yang – REVIEW
A quiet reflection on memory and what it means to be human, stylized as an interesting glimpse into the possible future.
Turning Red – REVIEW
I always found it funny that, for literal decades, Disney and Pixar have put out several films depicting mature themes involving slavery, death, and my favorite, eternal damnation in the … Continue reading Turning Red – REVIEW
The Batman – REVIEW
A thrilling reimagining of one of comic’s greatest heroes, taking a slower approach to the character through heavy noir stylization and themes.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre – REVIEW
A gory horror film that’s great on kills, but with a weak script and underwhelming atmosphere, it can’t possibly hold a candle to its predecessor.
Nightmare Alley – REVIEW
A dark and twisted noir thriller about the manipulation of others and the power craze that comes with it.
The Beta Test – REVIEW
A darkly funny Hollywood satire that may have too many targets, but the ones it hits it hits incredibly well.
Scream (2022) – REVIEW
While fun at times, Scream (2022) never truly builds upon its inspirations, aiming to satisfy with nostalgic callbacks and unfitting meta commentary.
The BEST and WORST Movies of 2021
A ranking of EVERY 2021 film I saw this year!
Spider-Man: No Way Home – REVIEW
A rollercoaster ride of fan service and nostalgia that may not have enough legs to stand on its own, but offers a hell of a good time for returning fans of the webhead.
Last Night in Soho – REVIEW
A paranormal thriller that has the style, but lacks some of the substance.
C’mon C’mon – QUICK REVIEW
A compassionate, understated look at childhood and all the frustration, sadness and love that comes with it.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – REVIEW
A mildly entertaining, nostalgic revisit to the world of one of the 80s most successful films.
Spencer – REVIEW
A haunting, ghost story of a biopic beautifully decorated with stunning cinematography, stylish costumes and a transformative lead performance.
Eternals – REVIEW
A century-spanning epic that bites off a bit more than it can chew.
Dune – REVIEW
A grand sci-fi epic that’s big on spectacle, but not nearly as big on heart.
The Martini Shot 