My Review of Hot Frosty (2024)

 

Written by Russell Hainline

Directed by Jerry Ciccoritti

Kathy: "I'm getting grief counselling from a snowman."

It's November so Netflix are a month behind on Hallmark's Christmas movie assault but that doesn't mean they can't generate the bigger headlines with some of their choices. Like this one for example.

If you were dying to see a sexy Jack Frost, well then, this one will be for you. The titular character, simply going by Jack (Dustin Milligan) got brought to life once single girl of the story Kathy Barrett (Lacey Chabert) placed a scarf on the sexy snowman and brought him to life.

From there on in, this movie played exactly as you expected to, almost beat for beat. Jack immediately found Kathy and in spite of her scepticism about being a snowman, she couldn't resist getting involved with him. 

Of course it's not just Kathy taken in by Jack's charms. The ladies of Hope Springs have no problem with his lack of attire or shirt in certain scenes while even Deputy Sherriff Ed Schatz (Joe Lo Truglio) found himself charmed by Jack. The whole community loved the guy on the spot.

Of course there was at least one exception to the rule. There was Sheriff Nathaniel Hunter (Craig Robinson). He was overzealous in wanting to uphold the law and even Jack had to pay for some minor crimes he commited when he first came to life. 

By the end of this movie, Jack was in danger of doing what snowmen must do and that was to melt away. Of course, true love had other plans and he became human instead. Come on, the kind of movie this was, there was no way it was going to end like The Snowman. It's a cute ending though.

- You get the feeling this movie was originally aimed for Hallmark before they decided that Lacey Chabert had aged out of their market range.

- There's a nice (but not subtle) Mean Girls reference as well as a reference to another Netflix Christmas movie. Two words: Lindsay Lohan.

- Standout music: The usual classics, in particular Jingle Bells Rock.

- Chronology: Christmas time in the lovely fictional town of Hope Springs.

I don't watch a lot of these movies but when I do, I'll admit in spite of their overtime cheesiness, they're usually inoffensive fun. Hot Frosty did feel a bit more polished compared to it's Hallmark counterparts but it's fun with believable chemistry between the leads. It did what it needed to and succeeded with it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Superman And Lois 4x08: "Sharp Dressed Man"

 

Written by Brent Fletcher And Todd Hellbing

Directed by Michael Cudlitz

Lex (to Amanda): "Now that is a killer suit."

As we edge closer and closer to the very end of this show, there's time for Lex to make a few more underhanded moves against the Kents and Superman. What better way with some good PR?

Enter talk show host Gordon Godfrey. Yes, the mystery has finally been solved in terms of who Tom Cavanagh was playing this season as he popped up here.  Usually, this guy's connected to Darkseid but here, Godfrey's sole purpose was to make Lex look to the general public. He might have just succeeded.

Despite being encouraged by Clark to go the rebuttal route, Lois instead agreed on go on Godfrey's late night show to challenge Lex publicly. At first it looked like Lex was winning, then Lous almost came out on top. She nearly had Lex but then Dr Milton Fine (Nikolai Witschl) got the upper hand.

Assuming he's Brainiac, they really did wait until the last minute to introduce the guy. They also made sure that he made a lot of noise in this episode. When he wasn't scuppering Lois's attempts to take down Lex, Milton also went after John and Natalie.

The antics with faking a crash in order to gain access to their suits was a clever ruse. Unfortunately for John and Natalie, it also worked with Lex having the suit he really wanted. Yup, despite some initial setback, Lex won this round. He even got a kiss from Amanda.

- Lois was officially cancer free, there was jokes about her grammar and that favourite bar of hers was referenced.

- Otis ended up being killed off screen. Lex didn't lie about Otis beating him up in prison.

- Bit of a subplot with Jonathan and Candice breaking up as well as a dated Jamie Kennedy reference. Would a teenager in 2024 even know who he is?

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Sharp Dressed Man certainly saw Lex coming out on top while also foreshadowing a predicted fate for Superman in light of recent events. Just two more to go.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Gladiator II (2024)

 

Written by Peter Craig And David Scarpa

Directed by Ridley Scott

Lucius: "What does my past matter, when my future is only to die as a gladiator?"

Ah, the legacy sequel. When they hit, they can really hit and when they miss, they certainly miss. Where does this one fit into things? If I'm being honest, there's elements of both at play here. I liked but did not love this movie.

Following a slew of critically acclaimed and some financially successful smaller movies, this was Paul Mescal's chance to prove he could play in the blockbuster space. I think he has the knack for that and with Lucius "Hanno" Verus, he effectively was given a superhero role without actually taking one.

Lucius was the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and Maximus Decimus (Russell Crowe) and like his father, he too, started this movie by losing his wife (Yuval Gonen) and winding up in slavery. It's not long before he's acquired by villain of the piece, Macrinus (Denzel Washington) and trained up to be a Gladiator. It's a path that Lucius grudgingly embraced along with a tense reunion with his mother.

Of course like his father, Lucius was motivated by revenge to offset Macrinus's thirst for power and control over. Macrinus in particular certainly played brother Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) off each rather well. On top of that, he also managed to orchestrate the respective downfalls of both Lucilla and her new husband, Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).

Getting to Marcus Acacius, I was expecting more from Pedro Pascal. Not in terms of performance because Pascal doesn't put a foot wrong here but more in terms of screentime. He's actually not got a lot to do here and there's a revenge subplot between him and Lucius that felt poorly fleshed out with an almost rushed conclusion to it. I have similar thoughts about Lucius's subplot with Lucilla as well.

On the other hand, the dynamic between Lucius and Macrinus was easily the best thing about the movie. Both Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington are magnificent in their scenes together with the final few minutes dedicated to their rivalry coming to a rather swift conclusion. Fortunately the movie was smart enough to make sure it didn't the exact same ending as the first one in regards to Lucius's fate, thus opening that door for a third chapter. 

- May Calamawy was meant to be the female lead in this movie but her scenes were cut big time. You see her very briefly though.

- Macrinus is bisexual and even kissed a man but that scene also got cut. Saying that, Denzel Washington certainly played him like a bisexual man.

- Derek Jacobi popped up again as Senator Gracchus and even Matt Lucas had a few scenes as the Master of Ceremonies.

- There was some genuinely mad ideas involving a massive rhino that should've killed Lucius and mutant baboons. Caracalla also appointed his monkey Dondas as first consul.

- Standout music: The soundtrack has some good ones, including Strength And Honour, Let The Gods Decide, War Real War, The Dream Is Lost and Now We Are Free.

- Chronology: It's been sixteen years since the events of the first Gladiator movie for Lucius.

Gladiator II was something that treaded similar ground to it's first movie with a few differences but didn't quite come as well as it could've done. The lead performances are great, the action sequences executed well and there's some mad ideas that are to be admired. Overall, it's a good follow up to a classic movie but not without it's flaws.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Fall Of The House Of Usher (2023 Netflix Miniseries)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Emmy Grinwis And Justina Ireland And Mat Johnson And Dani Parker And Rebecca Leigh Klingel And Jamie Flanagan And Kiele Sanchez

Directed by Mike Flanagan And Michael Fimognari 

Verna: "The house of Usher. May it rest in peace."

With this, I have come to the endeth of my Mike Flanagan Netflix horror miniseries binge. It's been a rather fun two weeks watching these shows in a near vacuum but all good things come to an end and there's something oddly full circle about this particular series.

Flanagan started off with the Crain family back in 2018 and while they were dysfunctional, they also clearly loved each other. The Ushers on the other hand, they're more the polar opposite in this Succession style retelling of some Edgar Allen Poe tales.

Let's talk about the Ushers, shall we? You've got brother and sister duo, Roderick (Bruce Greenwood/Zach Gilford) and Madeline (Mary McDonnell/Willa Fitzgerald). They're a ruthlessly ambitious sibling act, desperate to take over their illegitimate father, William's (Robert Lomgstreet) pharmaceutical company, Fortunato but instead, they're having to deal with the obstacle of Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco). That was until he wasn't an obstacle for them.

Of course to get ahead in life and when they weren't working with/backstabbing the likes of Assistant US Attorney C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly/Malcolm Goodwin), the sibling duo entered a treacherous deal with the mysterious Verna (Carla Gugino) aka the Raven of this macabre miniseries. A deal that would cost them dearly.

Verna was happy to grant Roderick and Madeline's wish for success but it was a price that eventually Roderick's children (most of whom were illegitimate) had to pay. It probably doesn't help that because of Roderick's power games and influence that his children were predominantly selfish people, this making it harder to feel bad for most of them.

Between the second and penultimate episode, the downfall of each child varied but were effective nonetheless. Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota) succumbed to an acid attack in a nightclub while PR machine Camille L'Espanaye (Kate Siegel) had her face mauled by another siblings monkey. Each death got crazier as the show went along.

There was Napoleon (Rahul Kohli) being driven mad by cat while Victorine LaFourcade (T'Nia Miller) ended up killing herself. Vain Goldbug founder and cuckqueen Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan) got butchered by glass, following her public downfall but the most deserving fate was left to eldest child Frederick (Henry Thomas). Let's just there's a certain Poe story that's brilliantly executed here for this one. 

Of course while the Ushers themselves had a reputation that even Camille couldn't whitewash, what about the people within their orbit? Dupin in particular found himself summoned on the last night of Roderick and Madeline to hear the story he wanted to hear. In flashbacks we also saw Roderick's marriage to his only moral compass, Annabel Lee (Katie Parker) fall apart with the more Madeline influenced her brother.

Then there's the Ushers right hand man, Arthur Gordon Pym (Mark Hamill). He was a handy person for the Ushers to have in their pocket and one that was so hardened, even Verna herself struggled to tempt him. Even I was a bit surprised by that.

There's some emphasis on the Usher kids spouses and partners, but often they're very secondary to things. Morella (Crystal Balint), fellow doctor Ali (Paola Nunez) and fitness guy William (Matt Biedel) were probably the worst treated by their Usher partners with Leo's boyfriend, Julius (Daniel Jun) reasonably treated in comparison. Also Roderick's only grandchild Lenore (Kyliegh Curran) being the only Usher with a moral compass along with Roderick's second wife, Juno (Ruth Codd).

As for Verna herself, Carla Gugino must have had a lot of fun with this character. She got to have so many different guises as she claimed each Usher throughout the series. She also had great but often different reactions in how Verna approached each of them as well as her final scene, one they had all been taken off the board. This might be her best role yet in Flanagan's horror universe.

- Episode titles for this were A Midnight Dreary, The Masque Of The Red Death, Murder In The Rue Morgue, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, Goldbug, The Pit And The Pendulum and The Raven.

- With the exception of Roderick and Frederick (maybe Tamerlane and Lenore), nearly all of the Ushers were LGBT. Dupin also mentioned having a husband in the last episode.

- Other alumni actors who popped up were Annabeth Gish, Lulu Wilson, Alex Essoe, Igby Rigney and Aya Furukawa.

- Althought this was Flanagan's last horror show for Netflix, he had expressed an interest in adapting Hell House. He likely will too but for somewhere else.

- Standout music: The Newton Brothers did some great work here once more.

- Chronology: The downfall itself took place over a span of two weeks in November 2023. The flashbacks were largely set between 1953 and 1980.

Now this definitely packed a bit more of a punch. The Fall Of The House Of Usher played like the horror version of Succession and did with aplomb. Some genuinely horrible but fascinating character, a man willing to finally bring down the crime family and a harbinger of doom that was fun to watch. A great final installment to this Netflix horror universe.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Heretic (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Scott Beck And Bryan Woods

Reed: "Well, ladies. I think it's time."

Sister Barnes: "Time for what?"

Reed: "Time for enlightenment."

2024 has been quite the year for horror with both well received sequel/prequels and other original fare seeping through. Yes, there's also been a few duds but the output has been largely positive this year.

Now where does this movie fit? Is it good or bad? Does it try to do something new within the genre? After all, it's not the first religious themed horror movie this year but it's one where we're spared demonic pregnancies, so points there.

The movie started off with two Mormon missionaries - Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East). They're spreading the word of God and on their way, they make the unwise decision to visit obvious weirdo, Mr Reed (Hugh Grant). It's a decision they end up regretting.

Going into the strange man's house, they keep asking for his wife (as part of their own beliefs to have a woman in the room with them) and he kept trying to derail the conversation. Eventually when it dawned on them that he's nuts, they're given a terrible option in order to get their freedom back.

The second half of the movie somewhat trailed into weirdness. There was an old woman (Elle Young) rambling about being a prophet and then Sister Barnes was seemingly killed off after a secret about her was revealed (a contraceptive implant). Then Reed showed Paxton all the other women that he had kept prisoner.

Needless to say, there's a battle of wits between both Reed and Paxton about the nature of all religions being used to control people. It's a bit messily done but Hugh Grant certainly sold that scene well before one of them managed to make it out of the movie alive.

- A blueberry pie was actually a blueberry scented candle and Sister Paxton had a thing for butterflies.

- Topher Grace had a brief but not very interesting or effective role as Elder Kennedy.

- Standout music: There's references to Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Creep and The Air That I Breathe.

- Chronology: Present day America. I'm uncertain as to where it's specifically set.

Heretic was a nice against type role for Hugh Grant and he certainly played the role well. He's backed up nicely by both Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East. Overall, while not as good as I thought it would, it's pretty solid and made for a diverting time. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Invisible Man (2020)

 

Written And Directed by Leigh Whannell

Cecelia (to Adrian): "Surprise!"

There was a time, not so long ago that Universal had planned a big and connected horror universe but with the flop of The Mummy that idea got quickly abandoned. Instead, it was a case of reviving horror icons but keeping them in their own worlds.

That shift in ideas definitely benefits this particular version of The Invisible Man because it feels too grounded to be in a shared universe. Not to mention, it's given a rather definitive ending that doesn't seem to lend itself out to further expansion.

However while past versions of the titular character aka Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) have been more heroic, this one's a straight up menace. A controlling mad scientist and Cobalt CEO, the movie opened with Adrian being drugged by his girlfriend, Cecelia Kass (Elisabeth Moss). Yes, she had good reason to do it.

Cecelia was trying to escape the abusive relationship she was suffering from with Adrian and had gotten her sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer) to aid her escape while staying with her detective best friend, James Lanier (Aldis Hodge) and his daughter, Sydney (Storm Reid). It seemed like she was free of Adrian, even more so when his brother, Tom (Michael Dorman) told her Adrian was dead.

Of course at no point in this movie were we as an audience meant to believe that and it didn't take long for an invisible Adrian to terrorise the living daylights out of Cecelia. Messing up job interviews, breakfasts, drugging her with diazapam and yeah, killing her own sister in a restaurant. Adrian's onslaught of terror on Cecelia was relentless.

It got to the point in the movie that Adrian succeeded in nearly removing all of Cecelia's support system, even letting her rot in jail until she managed to fight back. There's a bluff with Adrian making it look like Tom had tied him up and was actually the one hounding Cecelia but the latter saw throught that and got her revenge.

For a title villain of the piece, Oliver Jackson-Cohen definitely got very little screen time as Adrian but certainly made the most of the material regardless. It's Elisabeth Moss who dominated as Cecelia and there's something satisfying in the revenge that she enacted on Adrian. He really should've seen it coming.

- Originally this was going to be a movie that had Johnny Depp as the title character but I think we fared a lot better with what we got here.

- There's a connection to Whannell's other movie, Upgrade here through the fictional Cobalt company.

- Funnily enough a sequel has been discussed (where would they go with that?) as well as a movie for The Invisible Woman but whether either happen remains to be seen.

- Chronology: Present day San Francisco, thought the movie was filmed in Australia.

This version of The Invisible Man might have taken our title character down a villainous path for a sci-fi take of domestic abuse and coercive control, but it was worth it. Great performances from Elisabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen and a satisfying ending make this a very worthy reboot.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Midnight Club (2022 Netflix Miniseries)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Leah Fong And Julie Bicknell And Elan Gale And Jamie Flanagan And Chinaka Hodge 

Directed by Mike Flanagan And Michael Fimognari And Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. And Axelle Carolyn And Viet Nguyen And Morgan Beggs

Dr Stanton: "We look forward to helping you write your own ending."

After going down an original path with Midnight Mass, it was back to book adaptations for Mike Flanagan's fourth horror show for Netflix and this one was something a bit different. Imagine a slightly maturer version of Goosebumps and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? That's what you get with this show.

Focusing on a hospice for dying young adults named Brightcliffe, you've got a slew of younger characters all coping with life ending illnesses as they navigate the limited time they have left, form friendships and oh yes, The Midnight Club. That title had to come in somewhere.

The title of course referring to the fact that our eight young adults meet up during Midnight in the library to tell each other ghost stories that are somewhat thinly veiled thoughts and feelings on the person telling them to a point. Some of these stories are better handled than others but if you like witches, ghosts, devil pacts, serial killers, time travel and so on, there's plenty to enjoy in that regard.

The young adults themselves are a likable bunch. The recently admitted Ilonka (Iman Benson) had thyroid cancer and was actively seeking a previous Brightcliffe patient named Julia Jayne (Larson Thompson) who was cured through supernatural means. It's a bit of an obsession with Ilonka throughout the show, putting her at odds with Brightcliffe's Dr Georgina Stanton (Heather Langenkamp) as well was making her an easy mark for the manipulative Shasta (Samantha Sloyan).

With secret cults factoring into this show, there's also some ghostly encounters in Brightcliffe that Kevin (Igby Rigney) can see while the other patients have their own shit to deal with. Abrasive Irish amputee Anya (Ruth Codd) worked as a brilliant foil to Ilonka and had two of the most moving stories in the show before her untimely death.

As for the rest of the kids, Cheri (Adia) was a rich girl with a penchant for lying, Spencer (Chris Sumpter) was a gay man who had AIDS, Amesh (Sauriyan Sapkota) had feelings for Natsuki (Aya Furukawa) and Sandra (Annarah Cymone) ended up being misdiagnosed. For protagonists, they're younger than previous shows but they're likable enough that the show works with them.

In terms of the adults though, both Stanton and Shasta are the main ones, largely servicing the Five Paragon plot that ended on a cliffhanger. There was also Ilonka's well meaning foster father, Tim (Matt Biedel) while gay nurse Mark (Zach Gilford) was an ally to Spencer, though a bit underused as a character.

- Episode titles for this show were The Final Chapter, The Two Danas, The Wicked Heart, Gimme A Kiss, See You Later, Witch, Anya, Road To Nowhere, The Eternal Enemy and Midnight.

- Mike Flanagan alumni who also appeared in guest roles included Rahul Kohli as Vincent, Henry Thomas as Freedom Jack, Alex Essoe as Poppy Corn, Katie Parker as Aceso, Robert Lomgstreet as a janitor and Michael Trucco as Frederick.

- The geek in me was happy with the references to the likes of Doctor Who and The X-Files. William B. Davis from the latter show also appeared as Mirror Man.

- Originally this show (based on the Christopher Pike book of the same name) was intended to be a two season show until Netflix cut it short. 

- Standout music: There's a good 90s soundtrack through the series. 

- Chronology: This show was set in the mid 1990s, especially given Mark's love for Interview With The Vampire.

The Midnight Club admittedly would be the weakest of Flanagan's horror adaptations for Netflix but not because it's bad. It's just that the ones that preceded it were much stronger than this one, which does plenty to get into. Overall, it's worth the twn episode but you'll need to read Flanagan's Tumblr for closure.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Oh, Daddy!"

Written by Joe Baken And Byron Crawford 

Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey

Robert: "I'm honoured to meet my brother's better half and clearly his better looking half."

Brian: "Well, not quite half."

After last week's episode solidifying a throuple scenario for Max, Avery and Tristan, this episode was for the gays and introduced a throuple that would be more impacting on Robert. Though that wasn't a negative impact.

Robert's younger brother, Craig (John Stamos) boarded The Odyssey for Gay Week and with him came two lovers - Brian (Cheyenne Jackson) and Riley (Johnny Sibilly) for good measure. All three being recovering alcoholics and throughout the episode, all three being shown to genuinely love each other. That wasn't the issue for Robert.

The issue instead was the fact that it appeared that Craig appeared to be going off the wagon and when he hit his head, there was a lot of alcohol in his bloodstream. The actual reason behind it though was a bit more unexpected than a simple relapse but at least the episode ended with Robert and Craig on better terms with each other.

Of course they weren't the only ones focused on during Gay Week. There was a straight couple who had their baby,a bunch of TikTok influencers who got quite a bad dose due to sweet potatoes and there was Marsha (Caldwell Tidicue). For Marsha, her wig caught fire but it led to a defiant performance at the end.

As for the throuple this week - Avery was the only one who wanted to maintain the arrangement. Both Max and Tristan got cold feet and for very similar reasons too. However going by next week's trailer, there will be bigger consequences to that one night stand that Avery wanted a repeat performance of.

- Max is a daddy, Avery a femme, Tristan a twunk, Robert a silver fox, Corey a twink and Rosie a masc. 

- Tristan really laid it on thick about his love for Avery, complete with a comparison to Tikka Masala crisps. Did him and Vivian break up between episodes?

- Standout music: Marsha lipsynched I'm Coming Out to close out the episode.

- Chronology: Not long from the events of the previous episode. 

Oh, Daddy! was fun but definitely could've been a bit gayer, lol. No, the guest throuple were great but there was a bit of a missed opportunity with the recurring LGBT characters and the main throuple soured quicker than expected. Max and Tristan's rivalry even got out of hand in this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Polar Express (2004)

 

Written by Robert Zemeckis And William Broyles Jr.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

The Conductor: "Seeing is believing but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

A few days ago, this movie turned twenty years old. It's a movie that I've watched in more recent years in the lead up to Christmas. It's a tale all about belief and what happened when a child lost their belief in Christmas.

The child in question being an unnamed boy (Daryl Sabara) who on Christmas Eve found himself invited onto the titular train with a bunch of other kids. Those kids included the know it all (Eddie Deezan), the girl (Nona Gayle) and the lonely Billy (Jimmy Bennett), all of whom have their moments in the movie.

On board the train, there was the officious Conductor (Tom Hanks). He was a stickler for tickets and when the girl lost hers, she almost lost her place on the Polar Express. It took some death defying attempts from the boy to make sure his new friend didn't lose her place.

Of course it wasn't the only problems for them. The train separated, there was a frozen lake setting and it took a while for Billy to feel a part of the group. As for the know it all, he was more interested in showcasing his knowledge about trains for a fair portion of the movie.

The trip to the North Pole though was where the magic really came through with this film. We got to meet Santa Claus (Hanks), children got their presents and the boy's belief in Christmas was certainly renewed.

The kicker of the movie being the plot about no longer hearing bells when you stop believing in Santa Claus. It's a sad but logical conclusion for everyone. Everyone except for one boy of course, who by the end of this movie never lost his regained belief in Christmas.

- Tom Hanks also voiced an adult version of the boy and a Hobo in this movie.

- Although he's referred to as Hero Boy, the main character is actually called Chris according to book sources.

- Standout music: The Polar Express, Spirit Of The Season, Hot Chocolate, When Christmas Comes To Town and Believe.

- Chronology: Set during Christmas Eve and decades later into the boys future.

The Polar Express is a sweet, Christmas movie. It's a lovely movie with a lovely group of characters and a nice look into believing in Christmas for as long as you can. I can see why it's endured so much as a movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10