The High Note is a fine music-drama-comedy with some good performances from Dakota Johnson and Tracee Ellis Ross, but can’t say this is a terribly memorable film and unlikely will remember a month from now.
Suspiria is one interesting film that does take aspects of Dario Argento’s 1977 original and adds a little bit of a spin of it, including an absolutely bananas finale which in some respects was actually better, or at the very least more memorable.
Bad Times at the El Royale is hardly a perfect movie and it does seem like writer-director Drew Goddard channeling his inner Quentin Tarantino, yet I found this drama-thriller thoroughly entertaining ensemble, headlined with fine performances by Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth and newcomer Cynthia Erivo.
Fifty Shades Freed isn’t bad enough to be fun and the lack of chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan makes it so much worse to watch, thankfully this is the shortest one of the series, so there’s that.
It’s really no surprise that Fifty Shades Darker is a bad film but the worst sin of this entry it was awfully dull but did manage to elicit a few chuckles at least.
How to Be Single is just the latest ensemble rom-com that doesn’t quite work with an unfocused story and message, however the cast turns in the best performances as possible given the material, though it belongs among the ranks of Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve if not a slight step above them.
Black Mass, although decent enough, is a disappointment considering the subject and a well rounded and respected cast headlined by the versatile Johnny Depp. However, in the end it felt underwhelming and pedestrian which is a shame as filmmaker Scott Cooper could be a respectable director.
Fifty Shades of Grey is one of the more blasé “controversial” movies, one which doesn’t appeal to anybody, alienating its fans as well as those who have not read the novels. It also doesn’t help that the filmmakers seem to take the material so seriously and have actors read such terrible dialogue. That said, Dakota Johnson is pretty good and the production design and soundtrack are all far better than this material deserves.