Unseen Films reviews: Sundance (2022) Midnight feature ‘FRESH’

Fresh

(Spoilers Ahead)


I have to do this review in two pieces. The first is going to be a no-spoiler review and the second will have more details for those who don’t care about spoilers 

Part 1- No Spoilers

FRESH is the story of Noa, a young lady who is unlucky at love. She bemoans the fact to her friend that she can’t meet anyone nice online. She then meets Steve, a charming doctor in the supermarket. sparks fly and they are soon heading off to a quiet weekend getaway, where Steve reveals his appetites.

Without giving anything away this is a not bad little thriller that suffers from our having been here before and a pace that stretches things to almost two hours.

Part 2- Spoiler filled discussion

FRESH is a really well-made film with great performances, I just wish that the script and the pacing were up to everything else.

No, wait I wish going in the promotional material didn’t use the term “appetites” since it pretty much tells you someone is getting eaten. I suspect that the copywriter thought they were being clever, but the fact is it’s not, and coupled with the film’s love of food you know how this might go.

The real problem here is that after a leisurely first 35 minutes during which things are set up and we aren’t quite sure where this is going to go, the film turns and suddenly we’re in the “heroine is chained in a room genre” that has been done so many times that we can largely figure it out where it’s going. I mean the filmmakers gave Noa a plucky friend who wasn’t certin the trip was a good idea, so you know help is on the way. I felt no suspense while watching the film, other than curiosity about what condition the other trapped girl was going to be in.

It doesn’t help that the film runs almost two hours for no really good reason other than to have some sequences play out to 80’s songs in a “clever” way.  Despite what the film thinks it is not reinventing the wheel, and while entertaining it never really does anything to stand out from an overcrowded subgenre.

While I freely admit the fact that I see way too many films, especially horror/thrillers, every year influenced my feelings for the film, I can’t imagine anyone other than a non-horror film fan being over the moon about this film. (Additionally I also freely admit that the fact I had seen 30 Sundance films before I got to this did influence my feelings)

Then again the cast is so good that I could be wrong.

Ultimately worth a look for the curious.


Fresh will stream exclusively on Hulu starting on March 4.


To read all of Steve’s coverage of Sundance 2022, be sure to head over to Unseen Films!

To find out more about the entire Sundance 2022 lineup, click here!


Review: ‘Endings, Beginnings’ is the emotional roller coaster we didn’t know we needed.

In present-day Los Angeles, Daphne (Woodley), a thirty-something woman, navigates love and heartbreak over the course of one year. Daphne becomes intertwined with friends Jack (Dornan) and Frank (Stan) after meeting them at a party. During that time, she will unlock the secrets to her life in a sudden turn of events and in the most surprising of places. 

There’s something emotionally tangible about the editing and performances in Endings, Beginnings. Woodley is easily the representation of every viewer after an adult relationship comes to an end. There is a grounded, vulnerability that feels familiar. But out of context that could sound boring. What you’re getting with this script’s progression is all the aspects of the human experience; passion, volatility, depression, exhaustion, excitement, lust, self-loathing, hope, and everything in between.

Shailene Woodley has earned this script. It’s an awesome platform for her abilities. The dynamic between Woodley and Dornan vs Woodley and Stan is like night and day. This is a joy to watch because as the plot rolls along you begin to realize this isn’t truly a film about the two relationships. They are the springboard. Sebastian Stan and Jaime Dornan are brilliant, beautiful foils for one another in every single way. Both equal parts passionate and sexy but for very different reasons. While this lets Woodley showcase her ability to play both a light and dark side of her personality, it’s merely the beginning of this story. At the heart of it, the film is about self-actualization. It’s about forgiveness and growth through your mistakes and the mistakes of others. The script is complex and rewarding. I highly recommend Endings, Beginnings for everything that it represents, which is a lot. At the end of the film, you’ll easily take a huge breath in and exhale any expectations you had at the start of the movie. Drake Doremus has given us a perfect watch right now.

Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the romantic drama,ENDINGS, BEGINNINGSin On Digital April 17, and On-Demand May 1, 2020.

ENDINGS, BEGINNINGS is directed by Drake Doremus (Equals, Like Crazy) who co-wrote the script with Jardine Libaire, who makes her feature screenwriting debut.  The film stars Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent franchise), Jamie Dornan (50 Shades franchise, A Private War), Sebastian Stan (Captain America franchise, “Gossip Girl”), Matthew Gray Gubler(500 Days of Summer, “Criminal Minds”), Lindsay Sloane (Bring It On, She’s Out of My League) and Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer,” Singles). 

 

Review: ‘We Have Always Lived In The Castle’ in theaters and VOD today.

WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE 

A film by Stacie Passon
based on the book “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson

Starring Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, 
Sebastian Stan, and Crispin Glover

SYNOPSIS: Merricat lives with her sister Constance and her Uncle Julian. The trio are survivors of an arsenic poisoning that killed everyone else in the family five years prior. Merricat is bold and imaginative, and protects the property with “spells”. Despite being hated by the townspeople, the sisters live an idyllic life, until cousin Charles arrives. Charles offers to help around the house, and inquires about the family’s finances. Constance is charmed by Charles, and Merricat resents Charles’ intrusion. As Charles and Merricat battle for control, tragedy threatens to strike again.

There is a heavily literary feel to the structure, script, and performances. If you consider yourself a reader, these aspects will delight you. This all makes perfect sense since it’s based on Shirley Jackson‘s novel. Taissa Farmiga has given us a gorgeous portrayal of Mary Catherine. The specificity of her facial expressions, her physicality, and her tone is a master class in character acting. Sebastian Stan is entirely unlikable in his charm and clearly underlying intentions. His strong presence will make you squirm just as it does the other Blackwood family members. Alexandra Daddario is as elegant and she is uneasy with her plastered on smile. Obviously hiding true emotion on the outside, it’s the moments when the stare lingers a touch too long in which we are suspicious and fearful of her truth. Crispin Glover, who ages at a snail’s pace, is a complex, almost ancillary uncle character with what seems like bouts of early onset dementia. As the only other survivor of their dark tragedy, his idea of a memoir drives his protection of his nieces and the family legacy. This story is filled to the brim with mystery. There are so many assumptions and unanswered backstory questions, but that didn’t stop me in any way from enjoying the hell out of it. It’s the darkness that keeps your interest. The music, costumes, and sets are delicious. With elements of magic, superstition, and greed, We Have Always Lived In The Castle is stylistically engrossing.

In theaters and VOD on May 17 

Review: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ *SPOILER-FREE*

Ten years and eighteen movies have lead to this. Marvel Studios has been wildly successful in their films leading up to this moment, but this is quite possibly the biggest and most ambitious film of its kind. Avengers: Infinity War brings together the heroes of the MCU to take on Thanos, the mad titan, who is looks to fulfill his destiny of bringing together the infinity stones and reshaping the Universe. It’s all lead to this. Each past film was a piece in a larger puzzle and now it’s complete and the result exceeds expectations. Simply put, Avengers: Infinity War is epic.

Still broken following the events of Age of Ultron and Civil War, the Avengers are scattered across the galaxy. Thanos and his children have begun their quest in search of the infinity stones when they come across the Asgardian ship of Thor and his people, whom Thanos believes to be carrying the space stone. Seeing the sheer power of the mad titan, Hulk must reach Earth to warn the Avengers of the coming threat, but what he finds is a team shattered by squabble and a new group of heroes ready to take the fight to Thanos. The film is choked full of spoiler fodder at every corner so I will leave my summary there.

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo continue their onslaught into the MCU with yet another film worthy of calling the best and most ambitious, but this one certainly stands out above them all. Based on a storyline from the Marvel comics, the film is a re-imagining of the original story with obvious liberties, but nonetheless, works magnificently with the previous MCU films tying them all together nicely. The worry for some was the massive undertaking of the cast and how they would all fit into a 2 1/2 hour film, but the Russo’s and their writing team gave each subplot equal amounts of care and screen time without over saturation. And you would be hard pressed to find a weak link in the casting chain. Each actor shines in their corner of Infinity War with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth and Zoe Saldana winning stand out stars.

Overall, Avengers: Infinity War is a overwhelmingly satisfying first act and will leave you speechless at the close. It’s a film that needs to be digested multiple times to catch everything you missed while you were trying to pick your jaw off the theatre floor as you look on in awe of the visual spectacle before you. I can’t wait for the next 10 years of the MCU. If Infinity War is any indication, the best is yet to come.

Stars:

4 1/2 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

Yes. One after the credits

Trailer:

Marvel Studios ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Trailer is Here!

Watch the new teaser trailer for Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, which debuted this morning during Good Morning America here now!

An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

Anthony and Joe Russo direct the film, which is produced by Kevin Feige. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo and Stan Lee are the executive producers. Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely wrote the screenplay.

Avengers: Infinity War releases in U.S. theaters on May 4, 2018.

Marvel Releases First ‘Captain America: Civil War” Trailer and Posters!

captain-america-captain-america-3-civil-war-who-will-winLast night, Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live and surprised fans with the first trailer for their newest Marvel film Captain America: Civil War and we have it for you below!

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Joining Evans and Downey Jr. in the film are Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Paul Bettany as The Vision, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes/War Machine, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier as well as Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter/Agent 13, Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo, Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, William Hurt as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man. The film will also debut Marvel’s new Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland.

Captain America: Civil War is scheduled to be released on May 6, 2016, in 3D and IMAX.

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2015 MTV Movie Awards Nominations Announced

dabs_myla-MA_logo_painting-1424814886

The 2015 MTV movie awards is upon us and the nominations for the coveted golden popcorn (sorry, I can’t say that without laughing) are here! The award show is unique as it is one of the few awards shows where the viewers actually get to vote for the winners. You can vote for your favorites at MovieAwards.MTV.com through April 11.

I for one can’t wait for the Best Shirtless Performance..that’s a tight race…get it!

Amy Schumer, star of Judd Apatow’s upcoming Trainwreck, will host this year’s show on Sunday, April 12 at 8/7c on MTV.

Movie of the Year
“American Sniper”
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“Gone Girl”
“The Fault In Our Stars”
“Boyhood”
“Whiplash”
“Selma”

Best Female Performance
Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Shailene Woodley, “The Fault In Our Stars”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
Scarlett Johansson, “Lucy”

Best Male Performance
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Ansel Elgort, “The Fault In Our Stars”
Miles Teller, “Whiplash”
Channing Tatum, “Foxcatcher”

Best Scared-As-S**t Performance
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Annabelle Wallis, “Annabelle”
Jennifer Lopez, “The Boy Next Door”
Dylan O’Brien, “The Maze Runner”
Zach Gilford, “The Purge: Anarchy”

Breakthrough Performance
Ansel Elgort, “The Fault In Our Stars”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
David Oyelowo, “Selma”
Dylan O’Brien, “The Maze Runner”
Ellar Coltrane, “Boyhood”

Best Shirtless Performance
Zac Efron, “Neighbors”
Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Channing Tatum, “Foxcatcher”
Ansel Elgort, “The Fault In Our Stars”
Kate Upton, “The Other Woman”

Best Duo
Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill, “22 Jump Street”
Zac Efron & Dave Franco, “Neighbors”
Shailene Woodley & Ansel Elgort, “The Fault In Our Stars”
Bradley Cooper & Vin Diesel, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
James Franco & Seth Rogen, “The Interview”

Best Fight
Jonah Hill vs. Jillian Bell, “22 Jump Street”
Chris Evans vs. Sebastian Stan, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
Dylan O’Brien vs. Will Poulter, “The Maze Runner”
Seth Rogen vs. Zac Efron, “Neighbors”
Edward Norton vs. Michael Keaton, “Birdman”

Best Kiss
Ansel Elgort & Shailene Woodley, “The Fault In Our Stars”
James Franco & Seth Rogen, “The Interview”
Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″
Scarlett Johansson & Chris Evans, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
Rose Byrne & Halston Sage, “Neighbors”

Best WTF Moment
Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne, “Neighbors”
Jonah Hill, “22 Jump Street”
Jason Sudeikis & Charlie Day, “Horrible Bosses 2″
Miles Teller, “Whiplash”
Rosario Dawson & Anders Holm, “Top Five”

Best Villain
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Jillian Bell, “22 Jump Street,”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”
Peter Dinklage, “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

Best Musical Moment
Jennifer Lawrence, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″
Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Seth Rogen & Zac Efron, “Neighbors”
Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig, “The Skeleton Twins”
Miles Teller, “Whiplash”

Best Comedic Performance
Channing Tatum, “22 Jump Street”
Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Rose Byrne, “Neighbors”
Chris Rock, “Top Five”
Kevin Hart, “The Wedding Ringer”

Best On-Screen Transformation
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Elizabeth Banks, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″
Zoe Saldana, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Ellar Coltrane, “Boyhood”

Reel News Daily’s Top Movies of 2014 on The Reel Big Show!

best-movies-of-2014

It’s a full house on The Reel Big Show! Michael leads the group in discussion of their favorite movies of 2014, the night before the Oscar nominations. Below are their lists – with bold for which were nominated. See the list of nominations at Oscar.org.

Check out the fun IMDb quiz based on the 36 movies in all the lists!
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Reel News Daily’s Top Summer Movies of 2014

TopSummerMovies2014At one point the Summer Season was depicted by the film’s released between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, but the time’s have changed and so has Hollywood. Summer tent-pole films are being released earlier and earlier to avoid the cluster of blockbusters being released weekly to capitalize on the lack of competition which of course means more money. So we’ve decided to expand our scope and include April into out Top Summer Movies of 2014…buuuuut we’re also cutting off the last 2 weeks of August…so sue us!

Jeremy‘s List

10. Fort Tilden
9. Obvious Child
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past
7. Calvary
6. Life Itself
5. Bluebird
4. Snowpiercer
3. Boyhood
2. Under the Skin
1. Only Lovers Left Alive

Liz‘s List

10. Neighbors
9. Chef
8. Coherence
7. Filth
6. Dom Hemingway
5. Frank
4. About Alex
3. Boyhood
2. Snowpiercer
1. Only Lovers Left Alive

Michael‘s List

10. Edge of Tomorrow
9. Filth
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past
7. Nymphomaniac
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Only Lovers Left Alive
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Snowpiercer
1. Boyhood

Melissa‘s List

10. Coherence
9. Godzilla
8. Locke
7. Dom Hemingway
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Filth
4. Frank
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
2. Only Lovers Left Alive
1. Snowpiercer


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