Original Movies (not sequel, not reboot, not spin-off)
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Relax, I'm from the Future (2022) directed by Luke Higginson
Sci-fi, dark comedy. Story about a time traveler smuggling himself into the past to alter or ensure certain past events to enrich his future self. Not all that remarkable or expansive. The author/director think too small. The schemes and ambition of the protagonist are limited in scope and rather small minded. Not all that remarkable as a movie.
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Creation of the Gods 1: Kingdom of Storms (2023) directed by Wuershan
Chinese epic fantasy, based on the classic novel "Investiture of the Gods." Very good production. Good costumes, good cinematography, good special effects/computer graphics, good action. The original novel is itself very imaginative, and this movie takes advantage of that. Generally competent directing and acting. It's yet another movie that showcases the Chinese entertainment industry's prowess -- when they want to make an "epic" movie, they deliver an "epic" movie. (Compare to the "Adipurush" movie reviewed earlier.) The plot is vast and complex, with war, politics, wizardry, and complicated relationships between humans, gods, and demigods, etc. (The original novel is vast and complex.) And this is only the first of what is planned as a trilogy. If you ever feel like watching a good epic fantasy in a foreign language, this is as good as any.
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The Creator (2023) directed by Gareth Edwards
Sci-fi. Set in a future world where AI and humans are at war with each other. The androids look very much like humans, have attained sentience, and have even developed religion. But the humans are winning the war. So the androids are depicted as the oppressed. You get many scenes that looks like "Apocalypse Now" where the human military tears into the oppressed androids' villages and obliterating the androids. The story revolves mostly around a special ops soldier being tasked to track down and deliver the AI's latest weapon thought to have the capability to shutdown the human military's gigantic space laser and thus tilt the balance in favor of AI, but it turns out the "weapon" looks and act (mostly) like a human child, so emotion got involved. Anyway, not all that ground-breaking for the genre, but also not a bad movie. Mostly it makes me think of Apocalypse Now where the Vietnamese are AI/androids.
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Dumb Money (2023) directed by Craig Gillespie
Dramatization of the GameStop "meme stock" short squeeze saga. If you have read the news stories about GameStop's crazy stock price movements during the pandemic, you already know the plot and you already know the ending. Predictable as it is, it's still a captivating movie. It still makes you want to root for the "little guys" who put their faith in GameStop. There are little details here and there about the GameStop meme stock saga that I was previously aware off, like the Robinhood stock trading platform at one point enforced a restriction that only allowed their users to "sell" but not "buy" GameStock. Overall I would still say it's a good movie. Showing now-historical video footages of various key players' congressional testimonies at the end is a really nice touch, as it allows you to compare the real testimonies with the dramatized versions shown in the movie. Recommended.
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The Kill Room (2023) directed by Nicol Paone
Financially distressed art gallery owner got looped into laundering money for the mob/assassins. Why? Because there is no standard for what "art" should cost and the IRS would not bad an eyelash when pieces of "art" change hands for exorbitant amounts of money, according to the movie (clearly the movie is ribbing aspects of the art world). Within that context, an assassin is turned into an "artist" who creates art pieces that the gallery owner would "sell" at artificially high prices thus making the money "clean." Then it gets complicated as real art collectors start noticing the assassin's art, demanding for more and offering lots of money. The plot is contrived, but not more so than most movies in this genre, and it's still entertaining as a movie. Recommended.
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Strange Way of Life (2023) directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Short film about of a couple of gay cowboy/gun slingers. The actors tried their best, but ultimately not all that memorable, not very remarkable.
The Human Voice (2020) directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Short film (packaged with the above as a "double feature") about a woman falling into despair and ended up immolating herself. It's mostly a monolog. The actress tried, but again ultimately not all that memorable, not very remarkable.
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She Came to Me (2023) directed by Rebecca Miller
Romance/drama, with bits of comedy thrown in. An operetta composer is creatively blocked, then after having an affair with a tugboat captain, got the inspiration to compose a new work that made the tugboat captain's character a serial killer. Recommended on the account that it does break out of the usual rom-com formulae and gives the world something new and not easily predictable, there is good complexity to this movie. Recommended.
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Thank You for Coming (2023) directed by Karan Boolani
Hindi sex comedy -- not rom-com, the protagonist searches for sexual pleasure, not romance. The protagonist is a woman who have trouble achieving orgasm, but the morning after her engagement ceremony, she work up recalling having had orgasm the night before, but cannot remember who she slept with. Shenanigans and hilarity ensue as she search for "the one" who managed to got her to climax. There may be some empowerment for Hindi-speaking women given their likely cultural background but probably not that much for the Western audience. I might have missed some of the jokes for not being able to follow the dialogue in Hindi (had to rely on translated subtitle.)
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Dicks: The Musical (2023) directed by Larry Charles
A musical with lots of vulgarities, crass and outrageous jokes. I don't know how the director/producer did it, but they talked Nathan Lane into playing a scene where he performed premastication for two caged "monsters", a scene (like many others in this movie) that seems unnecessarily gross and stupid. You have to really want vulgarity to watch this movie/musical. And no, there is not a good "moral of the story" at the end. I am not necessarily against vulgarity in movies, but I have found nothing redeeming in this one.
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The Other Joey (2023) directed by Sara Zandieh
Rom-com, mistaken identity. Boy with amnesia mistaking another girl with the same name as his girlfriend for his girlfriend, and oh, that girl does not be believe in rom-com. Not bad, but also not great. Well acted, and can foot the bill just fine if you just want some light "comfort food" to pass 90 minutes.
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Inspector Sun (and the Curse of the Black Widow) (2023) directed by Julio Soto Gúrpide
Animation. An arachnid inspector investigates crime and foil evil plot on a seaplane. An OK animation, probably better than the straight-to-TV stuff, but not quite at the same level as the Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks stuff.
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Freelance (2023) directed by Pierre Morel
Action, rom-com. Ex Special-Ops hired as bodyguard to protect a journalist sent to interview a third world dictator. They end up getting mixed up in a coup d'etat and save the day. Certainly have exciting action scenes, not a great movie, but still good entertainment. A good popcorn flick that can be enjoyed without engaging the brain.
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Bad Blood (Ke an Danh) (2023) directed by Dan Trong Tran
Vietnamese action flick. Ex gangster henchman retired to a quiet neighborhood reenters the gangster world after his stepdaughter is missing. Like a Liam Neeson plot made in the style of a Bruce Lee film, and still not as good as either. The action style is Vietnamese (not "kung fu"), so there is something different there, but that's about it.
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What Happens Later (2023) directed by Meg Ryan
Romance? Old, divorced couple reminisce about their past relationship while stranded at an airport. This is basically a two-person show; no action, mostly just dialogue. Nothing particularly memorable, not all that remarkable.
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The Persian Version (2023) directed by Maryam Keshavarz
This one I like a lot. Drama/comedy. In some sense, it is an immigration movie (Persian/Iranian family that immigrated to the USA), but it is so much more. The first generation with their baggages (cultural and personal) from the old world and the struggle to make a life in the new world, the rebellious second generation trying to find their identities and place as they grow up in the new world, the complicated relationship between the USA and Iran that changed dramatically over time. Entertainment and good stories aside, there is a lot to unpack and mull over in this movie, intellectually and emotionally. Probably haven't seen an "immigration movie" as fresh and thoughtful in a very long time. Highly recommended.
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The Holdovers (2023) directed by Alexander Payne
Some problem boarding school kids are stuck in school during winter break under the supervision of a not-personable teacher, along with a cook and another support staff. Stuff happens that made the kids and the teacher better people and helped them get over some personal issues. The overall contour sounds well-trodden but this is actually a well-executed and thoughtful movie, in my estimation among the better ones in this genre. Recommended.
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It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) directed by Tyler MacIntyre
Slasher, with some comedy thrown in. Holiday related serial killing -- think the "Holloween" franchise, except this one is just the first film and it may or may not make it into a "franchise." In this one the holiday is Christmas. Many people die, lots of blood and gore, before the killer is identified and the motive exposed. Good enough entertainment, and among the better ones in the genre, if you ever want a Christmas-themed slasher film.
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Wish (2023) directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn
Disney animation/musical. Something or other about magic and the power of a wish; not sure if the details are all that important as the plot and premise are contrived anyway (and with most animation/fantasy). Not really feeling the music in this one. Animation and computer graphics are good but nothing groundbreaking, technologically or stylistically. Still a good family movie, just not "special."
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Thanksgiving (2023) directed by Eli Roth
Slasher, with some comedy thrown in. Holiday related serial killing -- think the "Holloween" franchise, except this one is just the first film and it may or may not make it into a "franchise." In this one the holiday is
ChristmasThanksgiving. Many people die, lots of blood and gore, before the killer is identified and the motive exposed. Good enough entertainment, and among the better ones in the genre, if you ever want aChristmasThanksgiving-themed slasher film.Compare to It's a Wonderful Knife (2023) reviewed in post #188.
