Smile 2

I loved the first one. I re-watched it and it was even better than I remembered. Something as good as "Smile" it's hard act to follow. If "Smile" is an A, then "Smile 2" is an A-, good enough for a proper entry here on the Marquee. The sequel picks up 6 days after the first film ends as Joel (Kyle Gallner) is trying to lose his inner demon. The demon ends up in global pop super-star, Skye Riley's (Naomi Scott) body as she is about to embark on her comeback tour. Skye is coming back from drugs and alcohol, and a car crash which has left her with a few large scars, not to mention some serious mental trauma. Naomi Scott's performance is utterly fantastic as the pop queen diva. Anyway, soon enough, fans are grinning at her in the most horrible way as Skye's inner demon grows inside her mind. Parker Finn is the writer and director of both films and understands what makes a good horror movie is the same as what makes a good movie: a strong central character - a fully living and breathing character with a back story. Finn has not only created a clever monster, he has now written two great female leads, robust and fully formed. Horror fans will grin. Film nerds should smile, twice. Catch this one now in theatres, just in time for Halloween. 

Smile

“Smile” is bright enough to light up a theatre of horror movie fans even if it might not have brushing as hard as it could have been. What’s it all about? Similar to HBO’s “The Outsider,” Wes Craven’s “Shocker,” or recent horror hit, “It Follows,” we have a creature which moves from victim to victim assuming false identities and hiding in plain sight. In the case of "Smile" the creature stalks the next target as the last witness of the previous victim's suicide. The creature takes on different forms, reflections in mirrors, other people, relatives, etc. Its trademark, it's always smiling psychotically at its next potential victim. The next target is Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) after she witnessed a patient kill herself in front of her. "Smile" is a well crafted horror movie with a soundtrack which I adored. The score reminded me of great horror movie soundtracks of the 70s - "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Shock Waves," and "The Exorcist." 2022 has given us some great horror movies, so there is lots to Smile about (see what I did there). With Halloween around the corner, go catch this one in a dark theatre as soon as possible. 

The Best Films of 2024

Top 15 Films of 2024

2024 was the year of sequels: Beetlejuice 2, Alien 9, Despicable Me 4, The Omen 5, Ghostbusters 4, Twister 2, Rebel Moon part 2, A Quiet Place 3, Beverly Hills Cop 4, Bad Boys 4, Dune 2, Planet of the Apes 4, Kung Fu Panda 4, Gladiator 2, Joker 2, Moana 2, Smile 2, Venom 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, etc.. Thankfully there were some original films. Here are my top 15 and everything else which made the blog (it's got to be at least an A- to make it). Followed by blog-worthy films from last year I only got to watching this year. Then you get blog worthy films from further in the past. Then we have honourable mentions and guilty pleasures of 2024. Finally the worst of and most disappointing films of 2024. 

There are a lot of big movies I haven't seen yet, "The Brutalist" for example. It could very well be in my top 15, top 10 - who knows? I can only comment on what I've seen.

Letterboxd tells  me I watched 284 films this year to bring you this list. 

Enjoy!      

These are the best 15 films of 2024

1.The Substance  

2. Anora

3. Bird

4. Civil War

5. His Three Daughters

6. Red Rooms 🍁 - Released only international this year, it gets its proper place on the top 15. 

7. Caligula The Ultimate Cut

8. Kinds of Kindness

9. Saturday Night 

10. Hundreds of Beavers

11. The Promised Land

12. Strange Darling

13. Late Night with the Devil

14. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

15. Love Lies Bleeding 

And here is everything else (in no order) that made the blog for 2024 - all worthy of your time. 

16. Dogman

17. American Star

18. Land of Bad

19. Seven Veils

20. Immaculate

21. Knox Goes Away

22. Arcadian

23. Monkey Man

24. The Movie Man 🍁

25. In a Violent Nature 🍁

26. The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed 

27. The King Tide 🍁

28. Trap

29. Cuckoo

30. Rebel Ridge

31. Speak No Evil

32. Mother, Couch

33. The Idea of You

34. Thelma

35. Woman of the Hour

36. The Deliverance

37. Smile 2

38. Ghostlight

39. The Bikeriders

40. Challengers  

41. Memoir of a Snail

42. Babygirl

Great Films of 2023 I only watched in 2024

1. Society of the Snow

2. Memory

3. Perfect Days

4. Red Rooms 🍁 (released only in Canada in 2023)

5. Origin

Other great films I watched this year from previous years

1. The King

2. Jojo Rabbit

3. The Empty Man

4. Fish Tank

5. Nocturama

6. Le Trou (The Hole)

7. We Need to Talk About Kevin

8. Stalker

9. The Rover

10. Cure

11. Mikey and Nicky

12. Coraline

13. A Pure Formality

14. Rat Race

Guilty Pleasures/Honourable Mentions of 2024

Dramas

The Old Oak - Ken Loach's last film about a small town coming to grips with foreigners 

Silver Haze - Another gritty British drama reminiscent of something by Andrea Arnold 

Seagrass 🍁 - A Japanese-Canadian woman and her husband go to B.C. for couples' therapy during the 1980s along with their two kids. Full of moments of honesty and sadness. 

Wicked Little Letters - Olivia Colman is receiving nasty letters she believes is coming from her next door neighbour  

My Old Ass  🍁- A touching and comedic Canadian coming-of-age romance involving psychedelic mushrooms, sci-fi communication with a future-self, and cranberry farming. 

The Apprentice - Sebastian Stan as Trump is fabulous and this film as a portrait of a young, hungry, capitalist-monster on the rise just missed getting a full entry on the Marquee. 

A Real Pain - Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed, and stars alongside Kieran Culkin in a film about two cousins who go to Poland on a holocaust guided tour trip. It's funny, heartfelt, and I found it far more moving than "The Zone of Interest."

Small Things like These - Cillian Murphy give a great performance in a film about bad nuns running a laundry sweatshop in 1980s Ireland. 

Nightbitch - Amy Adams plays a visual artist who has given up her life and identity to raise her son. And she is also turning into a dog. This one has some funny bite to it. 

Animated

Flow - Post climate disaster, a cat finds its way with other creatures when a tsunami like flood occurs. Kind of like "The Impossible" but with animated animals. 

Thrillers

The Last Stop in Yuma County - A fun Tarantino style stop at a gas station. Try the rhubarb pie, it's to die for. 

The Order - Jude Law plays an FBI investigator hunting down white supremacists who are also bank robbers - "Skin" meets "Hell or High Water."

Sci-Fi

The End We Start From - Mass Flooding hits the U.K. and we follow a woman and her new baby through this imagined environmental disaster. A visually gorgeous film. Think "28 Days Later" but replace the zombies with water and add starvation into the mix.   

Documentaries

Enter the Clones of Bruce - about the Brue Lee exploitation craze which occurred after he tragically passed away. Staring Bruce Le, Bruce Li, Bruce Lo, The Black Dragon and many more. Over 200 Kung-Fu Bruce Lee style films were made! 

Faye - Faye Dunaway, iconic American actor is interviewed about her film roles and her challenges with mental illness. Famous for her roles in Chinatown, Network, Bonnie and Clyde, The Eyes of Laura Mars, Mommie Dearest and many more. If you are a fan, it's must viewing.

Will & Harper - Will Ferrell and his close friend of 30 years, a writer from SNL go on a cross America road trip once he transitions to become a woman. It touching, heartfelt, and worth a your time.  

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare - Netflix doc about a woman in an online relationship for nine years with somebody who wasn't who she thought. It's completely bananas. Up there with Baby Reindeer. 

Horrors

Suitable Flesh - It's actually a 2023 film, but I didn't want it missed. From the folks who gave us "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond."

Abigail - it's a bloody good vampire movie

I Saw the TV Glow - two teenagers have an unhealthy relationship with a TV show. This small film almost got a full entry on the blog. If you are looking for something different, seek this one out. It's something right from the Twilight Zone.

Heretic - Hugh Grant gives a great performance and I LOVED the first half of this film. Unfortunately I lost my faith in the second half. Still, it gets an honourable mention here on the Marquee.   

Worst Films of 2024

1. Night Swim - as much fun as drying yourself off with your spouse's soggy towel and about as scary too. 

2. The Beekeeper - as fun as a kicking a hornet's nest naked

3. Madame Web - don't get caught in this web of boredom

4. The Watchers - Unwatchable

5. Wildcat - Ethan Hawke directed this movie and it's a boring mess

6. Janet, Planent - A pretentious and boring planet; do not visit. 

7. A Family Affair - awful, how Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron ended up in this Hallmark like puke is beyond me 

8. Humane - you will want to kill yourself

9. Mother's Instinct - A film critic's instinct - don't watch it.

10. Rumours - Guy Madden gives us a giant brain without much thought, plot, or characters. Rumoured to be awful. 

11. Emilia Pérez - A Mexican Scareface musical about a trans cartel boss is one of the most tonality bizarre things I've ever witnessed and makes awful musicals look great. 

12. Here - Go anywhere but here. 

Biggest Disappointments of 2024

1. Dune Part 2 - It lost its way in the desert. The guy down my seat-row was snoring. 

2. Bob Marley: One Love - The Music is great, the rest is weak weed

3. The Fall Guy - a stunt gone wrong

4. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - The banana has blackened and turned to a mushy Pablum not even fit for apes or banana bread. 

5. Brats - A boring self indulgent documentary about brats which isn't even worth being an extra on a blu ray of "Pretty in Pink."

6. Longlegs - I was hoping to love it and didn't. Nic Cage does give a great performance but the film is surprisingly dull.

7. MaXXXine - the end of the "X" trilogy and it was a letdown. If it were made in the 80s it would have been released directly on VHS.

8. A Quiet Place Day One - After the first two were so good, this one landed without making any noise (see what I did there)

9. Alien Romulus - In space, nobody can hear you yawn. Fan service quickly moves from fun to tedious, eventually birthing out a cobbled Alien monster composed of the better films that came before it. 

10. Joker: Folie à Deux - To quote Fleck himself at the end of a boring and pointless film, "Stop signing and just talk to me."

11. Gladiator II - CGI monkeys, rhinos, tigers, and sharks, oh my. There was no fight left in it. 

Schitt's Creek

If you had told me that a CBC half hour comedy would almost bring me to tears about two gay men sharing a first kiss in a car, I would have said your head is full of sand. But it did. I nearly wept over Dan Levey’s characters David Rose and Patrick Brewer exchanging romantic firsts in a car outside of the Rosebud Motel. A CBC comedy worth my time to blog about – not in your wildest dreams my friends. That would never happen. And then I watched Schitt’s Creek. And now we are here. Dan and Eugene Levy co-created this wonderful little show and it has brought millions of people joy, especially those just discovering it during the pandemic. It’s not roll out of your seat funny, but it put a smile on my face every episode and over time I grew to love these characters. It’s worth your time. Here is Wikipedia’s list of all the awards Schitt’s Creek has won: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Schitt%27s_Creek

 

With no place to travel to these days, Schitt’s Creek is a place you will want to visit. Catch it on CBC Gem or Netflix.

Best Films of 2022

Here are my favourite films of 2022 - My TOP TEN and everything else. There are some films I have yet to see which might rightfully belong on this list. There is only so much time. Click on any of the film titles to read my full review. Enjoy!

My Top Ten

1.  Blonde

2.  Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

3. Elvis

4. The Batman

5. Emily the Criminal

6. Bones and All

7. Resurrection

8. Barbarian

9. Men

10. Everything Everywhere All at Once  

And the rest of the best films of 2022 (in no real order)

11. The Black Phone

12. Official Competition

13. Terror on the Prairie

14. Hustle

15. Nope

16. The Gray Man

17. God's Waiting Room

18. Mad God

19. Prey

20. Thirteen Lives

21. The Phantom of the Open

22. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent  

23. Pearl

24. Vesper

25. Smile

26. The Silent Twins

27. Kimi

28. Drinkwater

29. Crimes of the Future

30. The Righteous 

The Guilty Pleasures/Honourable Mentions:

Canadian Horror films: Kicking Blood, Bloodthirsty 

Zombie films: The Sadness, Virus-32

Other horror films: X, Hellraiser (2022), Soft & Quiet

Action: Top Gun Maverick

South Korean Sci Fi film: Alienoid

Dramas: Armageddon Time

Great films of 2021 I only got around to seeing in 2022

1. Licorice Pizza

2. American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story

3. Drive My Car

4. The Worst Person in the World

5. Catch the Fair One

6. Flee

7. The Innocents

8. The Fallout

9. Scarborough

10. This is Gwar

The Worst Films/Biggest Disapointments of 2022:

1. Moonfall

2. Ambulance

3. Northman

4. The Lost City

5. Jurassic World: Dominion

6. Memoria

7. Where the Crawdads Sing

8. Black Adam

9. EO

10. The Eternal Daughter

11. The Fabelmans

12. Next Exit

13. Pray For the Devil

14. Babylon

15. Avatar: The Way of Water

Dolemite is My Name

I love underdog stories, whether it's a sports story or in this case, a entertainer past his prime and who really has no shot of making it in the showbiz world. This is the true story of Rudy Ray Moore, played by the great Eddie Murphy. Dolemite is My Name is kind of like the Black 1970s version of Ed Wood or The Disaster Artist. Rudy is a man who's hell bent on making something of his life after his farmer father told him he would amount to nothing. The story begins with a middle aged, slightly overweight Rudy, working in a record store with a failed singing and comedy career already behind him. But Rudy is tenacious, the belittling words of his father linger in his head; he presses on. He creates the character of Dolemite, a crude, rude, rapping pimp persona with a catch phrase, "Dolemite is my name and fucking up motherfuckers is my game." This line is delivered (multiple times) by Murphy with a profane panache that plastered a big smile onto my face. Murphy is great in this role.
So Rudy begins to have some mild success with his Dolemite character on vinyl records - a large segment of the black intercity crowd loves Dolemite. But when Rudy goes and watches the film, The Front Page, a white comedy for white audiences, he realizes that to be a true star, he needs to make a movie. Rudy goes all in to make a B- version of Shaft with very little in terms of experienced talent or budget. I had a hell of a good time watching it all go down. Catch this bad motherfucker on Netflix.

Lola

If you had a time machine, would you go back and kill Hitler? I'm sure this drunken university philosophical question continues to bounce around, popping up at campus pubs from time to time. How about if the year were 1941 and you had a machine that could pick up radio broadcasts from the future, so you would know when and where the Germans were coming to attack your English country? Welcome to "Lola," Andrew Legge's first feature length film - although with a very short runtime of only 1 hour and 19 minutes. What's it all about? Two sisters have built, Lola, a machine that can pick up radio broadcasts from the future and they use it to help England fight the Nazis in WWII. For a low budget film, Andrew Legge and his crew have crafted a very special looking film, and one of the most intriguing and ingenious little stories to come along since "Memento." A lot of it looks like modified footage from WWII. Apparently "Lola" was shot on actual film giving this black and white picture a crackling-hiss-pop sensibility of a classic analog movie. Highly watchable and wickedly smart, this "The Man in the High Castle"/"Twilight Zone" story is well worth your time. Clever as all get-out. It put a smile on my face and definitely didn't overstay its welcome. The Kinks, David Bowie, and Bob Dylan are some high stakes we are dealing with - that and the future of the free world. Catch Lola on streaming services or at your local rep cinema when you can.  

Private Life

Okay, the first movie in 2019 I want to recommend is, Private Life starting Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn. It’s written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, who brought us The Savages. I loved The Savages (Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star) which is about a brother-sister relationship and putting their father into an old age home. Linney played a playwright and Hoffman a writer. It seems that Tamara Jenkins likes writers and playwrights. In Private Life, Giamatti is the playwright and Hahn is the writer, not brother-sister, but a husband and wife who are trying to get pregnant, in their late forties.

As someone who spent close to three years travelling down the fertility highway with my wife, and having written my own comedic book about it (The Cube People – shameless plug) I know the material well and Private Life is authentic, not only in its mechanics, but the in how the characters behave, feel, and react. Like, The Savages, Tamara Jenkins has written real people with candid dialogue. And it’s funny. Not roll-on-the-ground funny, but there is an honesty to the characters and what they say, and it will put a smile on your face. It's also heartbreakingly sad.

I love Paul Giamatti and Sideways is one of my all-time favourite films. He is as good in this film as any of his best work (Sideways, American Splendor, or Barney's Version).

Anyone who has been down the fertility highway will know this material, but even if you don’t, I think Private Life is worth the trip. Catch it on Netflix.