Let's Cee a Movie

This Woman’s Work

Different, but still pretty good (Spoilers)

Since the events of the last film, Gemma Forrester (Allison Williams) has served time in prison after her toy creation M3GAN (Amie Donald, Jenna Davis) went on a killing spree. She somehow retained custody of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw), however, and has also become a proponent of AI regulation alongside her new boyfriend Christian (Aristotle Athari), whose name is pronounced “Chris-tee-AHN.” That tells you everything you need to know about him.

Tiny Dancer

John Wick-lite done right (Spoilers)

Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) is a ballerina, assassin, and bodyguard. When she was a little girl (Victoria Comte), her father Javier (David Castañeda) was killed under the orders of the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). After that, she was delivered by New York Continental Hotel Manager Winston Scott (Ian McShane) to the Director (Anjelica Huston) of the Ruska Roma, who taught her how to dance, fight, and kill.

F4AR STREET

A marginally entertaining letdown (Spoilers)

Fear Street: Prom Queen is a soft reboot of the 2021 summer slasher spectacular (you should familiarize yourself with the previous trilogy because there will be spoilers). Lori Granger (India Fowler) is a high school senior who everyone thinks is a psycho like her mom, who allegedly killed her dad. Lori wants to be prom queen to prove she’s “more than a Shadyside sob story.” It’s a task made more difficult with another killer on the loose.

Ring of Fire

It’s familiar, but well done (Spoilers)

After a long hiatus, this new installment shakes things up a bit. Instead of receiving a vision of her death, college student Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) starts receiving visions of the Skyview. It was a high-rise restaurant that collapsed on opening night back in the ’60s. The vision is from the point of view of a woman named Iris (Brec Bassinger), who also ends up being Stefani’s grandmother.

Hello, Frendo

A fine slasher movie (Massive Spoilers)

Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) moves to Kettle Springs, Missouri, after her dad (Aaron Abrams) gets a new job as the town doctor. Quinn quickly develops an interest in Cole Hill (Carson MacCormac), the son of corn syrup oligarch Arthur Hill (Kevin Durand). Cole and his friends are on the s**t list of Sheriff Dunne (Will Sasso) and most of the other adults in town for two main reasons.

Wang Dang Doodle

As good as grilled cheese (Massive Spoilers)

In writer/director Ryan Coogler’s latest film, the SmokeStack twins (Michael B. Jordan) have decided to move back home to the Mississippi Delta to open a juke joint after a stint working for Al Capone in Chicago. To that end, Elijah “Smoke” Moore recruits his love, Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), as a cook. While securing the music, Elias “Stack” Moore runs into Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), a white-passing ex-girlfriend.

Space Oddity

A very ‘meh’ conclusion

Eddie Brock and Venom (both played by Tom Hardy) have now become fugitives, but that’s the least of these problems. They’re also being hunted by a Xenophage, an alien being who can detect them when they’re in full symbiote mode. The Xenophages are the servants of Knull (Andy Serkis), the creator of the symbiotes. To escape from his prison, Knull requires the Codex, a MacGuffin that Eddie and Venom possess.

Let The Good Times Roll

Though not as good as I hoped (Spoilers)

The Monkey, based on Stephen King’s short story, is about a toy monkey that causes fatal “accidents” after playing an instrument. In the source material, it’s one of those creepy cymbal-banging monkeys, which Disney (somehow) copyrighted after Toy Story 3. So, for the film, the Monkey now plays the drums. The kicker of the situation is that, as writer/director Osgood Perkins has pointed out, a drumroll before someone gets killed is way better.

Spitting off the Edge of the World

It’s an enjoyable genre blend. (Spoilers)

Levi Kane (Miles Teller) is given an unusual assignment by Bartholomew (Sigourney Weaver). His mission is to travel to an outpost in the middle of nowhere and guard a gorge with strange creatures trying to escape. Across the gorge is a much nicer and better-stocked Russian outpost with another sniper, Drasa (Anya Taylor-Joy). They’re not supposed to contact each other, but they do because otherwise, this would be a rather short and boring movie.

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You

A good slasher, but okay rom com (Spoilers)

Ally (Olivia Holt) is a career woman with an abysmal love life and on the verge of getting fired. Jay Simmons (Mason Gooding) is a new co-worker who seems more interested in getting Ally to loosen up than his actual job. However, the rom-com setup takes a turn for the horrific when Ally and Jay are mistaken for a couple by the Heart Eyes Killer, or HEK for short, a serial killer who targets couples on Valentine’s Day.