Annette
I have a philosophy that if I deem any movie 'The Worst Movie of' whatever year or decade I saw it in, it would have to be the most soulless, corporate, expensive release I saw that year. So since I actually sat through HBO Max's Mortal Kombat movie, it's the worst movie I've seen this year. But right behind it is the kind of movie I can never deem the ABSOLUTE worst because it was made with artistic integrity; it's not a cash-grab, it's someone's vision. In fact, it's so aggressively artsy and pretentious that no studio would ever touch it anyway. So, yeah, it's not a big committee-made movie but, goddamn, Annette is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I hate it. It has one gigantic positive, though: Adam Driver gives the best performance of his career; he's on fucking fire in this movie and, thankfully, has the starring role so he kept me watching when I wanted to turn it the fuck off....which happened over and over again. It's repetitive, obnoxious, boring, baffling, and phony (Driver excluded). It's one musical set-piece after another with repetitious lyrics for the illusion of story and character. I loathe this movie. D-
Candyman
I'm gonna try to keep this short cuz 1) Jake already wrote an incredibly accurate review and 2) I won't be able to shut up, otherwise. I've
seen it twice and it's the most frustrating movie I've seen this year. ...actually, the most frustrating movie of the 2020s
considering nothing from last year is this annoying. It's a constant
tug-of-war where I want to dismiss it outright for its occasionally
stupid writing (it's shockingly bad at times)... but it's also clever--and sometimes brilliant--so I wanna love it. But I can't do either cuz
it's a discordant noise of steps forward and back, none of them taking
it to anywhere definitive on the spectrum of Good or Bad. The ending is
both satisfying and perplexing and, just like with Us, Jordan
Peele has ill-fitting comedy amidst a kitchen sink of ideas that weigh
it all down. If this was more concise and lean, minus the unfunny comedy
and didacticism, I'd fucking adore it; it's effectively creepy, so
much so that I've kept the lights on longer than I usually do when I
get home from work. The opening credit sequence is on par with Hitchcock and the score is a great companion to every scene, working in tandem with Nia DaCosta's confident direction. It also has one Hell of a compelling lead, not just on the page but Yahya Abdul-Mateen
II gives an undulating and engrossing performance - he's infinitely
watchable...and so is this movie since I'll never be able to let it go. C+
The Suicide Squad
As far as DC, James Gunn, and R-rated Superhero fare: Suicide Squad is nowhere near as weird as Doom Patrol, not as fresh as Guardians 1, not as dark as Super, not as satisfying nor as endearing as Guardians 2, but it's as funny and charming as anything James Gunn has ever made - nothing exceeding his talents. It's not bad, it's not great - this is James Gunn for hire. It's a serviceable movie with some big laughs and a killer soundtrack. B-
Army Of The Dead
Enjoying two Zack Snyder movies in one year is bugfuck crazy to me but here I am, giving this movie a surprised and enthused B
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