843 Contributions by: Renee Cuisia (Page 53)

Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She’s also seen You’ve Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it’s one of the greatest films out there.

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781. Becoming King (2024)

	
As emotional and personal as it is, Becoming King is just too dewy-eyed and close to the source to have any bearing on those who are not all that interested in learning about the immersion process a Hollywood actor goes through. Jessica Oyelowo admittedly has an interesting story on her hands: that of her husband David Oyelowo (whose name literally means “respect the king”) fulfilling his seven-year dream of playing Martin Luther King, Jr. His journey is a combination of grit, talent, and what appears to be fate and destiny, and it is nothing short of inspiring, especially for aspiring actors. But there is an inherent bias in depicting this story as magical and heroic, without the thorny nuances other more distant filmmakers might’ve included. For one, it barely tackles class and race, and when it does, the discussions are short, superficial, and only in service to the real conflict of the documentary, which is whether or not Oyelowo achieves his acting dreams. It feels shortsighted in the way some passion projects can be, bolstered by limited funds and even fewer eyes to critique it. It’s well-meaning and personal, and it can serve as a helpful resource to those who want to know how to get into the industry. But for the general viewer, the documentary offers little more than standard information on the actor and his breakthrough film.Genre: Documentary
Actor: Ava DuVernay, David Oyelowo, Jessica Oyelowo, Martin Luther King Jr.
Director:  Jessica Oyelowo

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782. Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal, 2024

If you’re not familiar with the Ashley Madison scandal like me, then this series—at least initially—comes as a highly addictive watch. Of course you’ll want to know how a dating site promoting infidelity was created, used by millions, and eventually hacked. Who wouldn’t? But the intrigue quickly fades once you realize it’s coming from the subject matter alone. The documentary itself adds little to the discussion. There are no new discoveries to be had and no new angles to look at it from. It could’ve gone philosophical or sociological and looked deeper into why people craved discreet relationships and affairs in the first place. Or it could’ve gone technical and explored the business development side of the story more. It also could’ve conducted its own investigation of the data breach, if not to know who was behind it, then to get closer to cracking the case at least. But as it stands, this Netflix series is just a mere retelling of a Wikipedia page that only occasionally grips you.

Genre: Documentary

Rating: TV-MA

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783. Alexander: The Making of a God, 2024

Attempting to be both a serious, well-researched documentary and a serious, hard-hitting drama is nothing new. Many shows on educational channels like History have long employed skilled actors and directors to elevate their reenactments. But Netflix’s Alexander: The Making of a God doesn’t seem to know where (or when) to draw the line. There is no tonal balance, no tasteful blending of the two; instead, drama and docu are smushed into one incoherent mess. And that’s a shame because, on their own, they could have been worthwhile. The production value and acting that goes into the drama have enough heft to carry it through, while the history and research (though not the strongest) are engaging enough to whet our appetite for learning more. But as they stand, these mixed genres only distract us from appreciating either.

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Actor: Agni Scott, Alain Ali Washnevsky, Buck Braithwaite, Christopher Sciueref, Dino Kelly, Jadran Malkovich, James Oliver Wheatley, Kosha Engler, Mido Hamada, Mohamed Attougui, Salima Ikram, Souad Faress, Steven Hartley, Waleed Elgadi, Will Stevens

Director: Hugh Ballantyne

Rating: TV-MA

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784. Vasco Rossi: Living It, 2023

As impressive as Vasco Rossi’s life was, it’s hard to connect to someone you haven’t heard of, which is probably why this docuseries is best seen by die-hard music fans alone. The series takes its time to introduce Rossi and explain his impact on Italian music, but even then, it can seem like something you’ve seen before. The documentary shies away from the cultural specificities and nuances that make Rossi the singular musician that he is, attempting instead to generalize his life into clear-cut sections as if it were a book. Even with Rossi present and narrating many parts of the series, it still lacks the ruggedness and spikiness that made Rossi’s music burst with relevance in the late 20th century. There is a sense that the filmmakers created this series with an international audience in mind, but by making his story as general and universal as possible, they might have inadvertently diluted Rossi’s power.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Vasco Rossi

Rating: TV-MA

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785. The Pope's Exorcist, 2023

As a supernatural horror, The Pope’s Exorcist doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It employs more or less the usual elements you’d expect from the genre, and to be fair, it does occasionally fright you with its bloody jumpscares and demonic screeches. But as a drama, the film is surprisingly watchable thanks to a committed and compelling performance from Crowe. The movie works best when it removes itself from its horror trappings and follows Crowe’s Gabriele as he moves through the ins and outs of the Vatican. When he challenges the church’s authority, when he defends his practice, when he inserts jokes in serious conversations because “the devil hates jokes,” these are when The Pope’s Exorcist shines and entertains. They’re also proof the film shouldn’t take itself too seriously when its star is having this much fun.

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Actor: Alessandro Gruttadauria, Alex Essoe, Andrea Dugoni, Bianca Bardoe, Carrie Munro, Cornell John, Daniel Zovatto, Derek Carroll, Ed White, Edward Harper-Jones, Ella Cannon, Franco Nero, Gennaro Diana, Jordi Collet, Laila Barwick, Laurel Marsden, Marc Velasco, Matthew Sim, Pablo Raybould, Paloma Bloyd, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Ralph Ineson, Russell Crowe, Ryan O'Grady, Santi Bayón, Tom Bonington, Victor Solé

Director: Julius Avery

Rating: R

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786. Oregon, 2023

For a film with virtually no plot, there’s a lot of fuss going on in Oregon. The characters are constantly yelling and complaining, but the noise—like the plot, the set, and everything else about the film—is empty. The beauty of a Turkish summer is reduced to indoor sets, where much of the film takes place, and there here’s barely any movement, leaving us stuck with dialogue and half-baked backstories that don’t seem to serve any real purpose other than to fill in the film’s overlong runtime. The problems are superficial and solved almost immediately, purely by talking it seems, and there’s no attempt to connect the many disparate stories it shows. A farce like this could’ve worked if it got sillier and more ridiculous by the minute, but Oregon just goes in repetitive, unfunny circles.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Ali İpin, Alper Baytekin, Alper Saldıran, Aslı İnandık, Burcu Biricik, Ferit Aktuğ, Gün Akıncı, Melisa Doğu, Nazlı Bulum, Nejat İşler, Nevra Serezli, Onur Özaydın, Özgür Emre Yıldırım, Selen Uçer, Serkan Çayoğlu, Zihni Göktay

Director: Kerem Ayan

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787. Happiness for Beginners (2023)

	
Sanitized, predictable, and utterly cheesy, Happiness for Beginners feels like one of those TV movies made to fill the time in between the stuff people actually watch. It’s baffling how wasted Kemper is here; the actress’ signature pep, which was fully utilized in shows like The Office and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, is nowhere to be found. She plays a grump who, by the sheer power of love and friendship, transforms into a happier person, but even then we see no trace of Kemper’s infectious energy. It was hinted that Kemper’s character, Helen, struggles with depression, but the film is either unwilling or incapable of digging further and offering Helen actual solutions, like therapy or medicine. The movie’s saving grace is the ensemble behind Kemp, who thankfully are able to exercise their comic chops. Nico Santos, Ben Cook, and Gus Birney deserve a special mention for their full-bodied and entertaining performances.Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Actor: Ben Cook, Ellie Kemper, Esteban Benito, Gus Birney, Luke Grimes
Director: Vicky Wight
Rating: PG-13

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788. One Shot: Overtime Elite, 2023

Created in 2021, Overtime Elite (OTE) is a basketball league that offers players aged 16 to 20 a new way to play pro ball. Instead of waiting four years after graduating from high school, or entering college as most hopefuls do, young athletes can choose to play immediately with OTE and earn their keep. All the while, they’re housed, educated, fed, salaried, and given a chance to play for NBA scouts. If this is starting to sound like an ad for OTE, that’s because that’s how this six-part miniseries from Amazon Prime mostly plays out. It’s an impressive facility and training ground to be sure, filled with budding basketball stars and watchable reality-show-like drama, but it often feels like an infomercial instead of a truly gripping docuseries. I wish it explained the need to create OTE, what role it plays in the current landscape, and how it can possibly change the rules of playing ball in the US. I also found myself wanting to know more about the backers of the league—who funded it, why, and what future they see with it. Adding more historical context and speculation could’ve deepened the impact of this series. But as it stands, it’s an okay feature for the young athletes. It gives them their 15 minutes of fame and boasts their impressive physicality, even though it intercuts them with commercials.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Amen Thompson, Ausar Thompson, Eli Ellis

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789. Bone Cold (2023)

It’s easy to identify what Bone Cold is trying to be, which is a psychological thriller that explores the traumatized psyches of military personnel. And initially, the film achieves this goal. The inhuman creature that creeps from behind genuinely startles, and the movie is able to effectively connect the monster to lead sniper Jon Bryant’s (Jonathan Stoddard) decaying mental health. But the lack of a strong style, cohesive vision, and adequate budget betray the movie’s premise and turn it instead into a jumbled mess. The creature, upon closer inspection, is no more than a pixelated CGI creation, while Jon’s PTSD is diminished into melodrama fodder. Moreover, the two-hour runtime is bloated with awkward close-ups and overlong sequences that don’t add much to the central point the film is trying to make. If Bone Cold were ever to be the haunting, heavy movie it set out to be, then it might’ve been worth it for writer-director Billy Hanson to let the film incubate a bit more and invest in the fantasy, the world-building, the weirdness, and the details. These small things add up, and in this case, they fall short of what Bone Cold could’ve been.

Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller

Actor: Elise Berggreen, Jennifer Khoe, Jonathan Stoddard, Matt Munroe, Trinity Bliss

Director: Billy Hanson

Rating: NR

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790. Spaceman, 2024

	
Set at a time when humans can travel as far into space as Jupiter, Spaceman looks delightfully retro-futuristic. It’s as if the people and tech of the ‘60s were transported to a faraway future where things like long-haul space flights and nebulous pink clouds exist, and so visually, Spaceman is not tiring to look at. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about most of the film’s other elements, including its dialogue and story. Jakub is sent to space to collect mysterious ancient dust, but since we never know why he should exactly, it never feels consequential if at all necessary. In fact, this is less about his mission than it is about coming to terms with existential truths like pain, loss, and love. And what better way to confront all that than with a wise primordial arachnid? Now, the idea of a therapy session between a spaceman and a spider sounds intriguing enough, and with strong enough writing, it could fly. But the dialogue is too sparse to be thought-provoking. The main message, that you should appreciate what you have while you have it, is also too simple to carry the weight of this expansive film, especially since we have very few details about the story and character to go on with. But Sandler, Carrey Mulligan (who plays his wife), and even Paul Dano (who voices the spider) do the best with what they can, and if anything, you leave the film stunned by the visuals and moved by their empathetic performances.Genre: Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction
Actor: Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Isabella Rossellini, Jessica Bechyňová, John Flanders, Kunal Nayyar, Lena Olin, Marian Roden, Mikuláš Čížek, Paul Dano, Sinéad Phelps, Sunny Sandler, Zuzana Stivínová
Director: Johan Renck
Rating: R

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791. We Are Newcastle United, 2023

If you’re expecting a story about sportsmanship, athleticism, camaraderie, and community, you won’t get a lot of that in We Are Newcastle United, a docuseries that is more interested in business than in football. It begins with the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s takeover of the club, reportedly the most expensive purchase in the football world, and firmly stays in that angle throughout the series. Never mind that Newcastle United has a formidable set of players, a loyal community of fans, and one of the most inspiring underdog journeys in football history—the documentary only touches on those rich topics. Instead, its main focus is the PIF and the technical details of their ownership. How much did they spend to secure the top players? What does the Saudi state hope to gain out of this acquisition? Is Newcastle United complicit in Saudi Arabia’s alleged breach of human rights? We Are Newcastle United has some insightful takes, but for the filmmakers to bill it as a sports feature feels like false advertising. Like the club’s owners, they put financials first before football, not the other way around.

Genre: Documentary

Actor: Alan Shearer, Amanda Staveley, Callum Wilson, Eddie Howe, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, Yasir Al Rumayyan

Director: Jack Wood

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792. Universal Basic Guys, 2024

	
Maybe it’s too early to tell, but the pilot episode of Universal Basic Guys doesn’t feel particularly new or terribly funny. It’s just okay. The premise is that a bunch of guys were put out of work because of AI, but are now compensated $3,000 monthly (universal basic income) for their troubles. If you’re expecting interesting commentary, or even just a witty one-liner, as a result of that friction, you won’t get it in the first few entries of the series. So far, nothing has been said about AI or job security despite their increasing relevance in our day-to-day lives. Instead, the guys’ firing simply inspires them to get into all sorts of hijinks and shenanigans because of their free time. It’s the kind of show that mines funny moments from their everyday mundanity, which is fine, except they’ve introduced this interesting premise only to do nothing with it. It’s a nice no-brainer show if that’s what you’re looking for, but time will only tell if it can go beyond the box it stuck itself in.Genre: Animation, Comedy
Actor: Adam Malamut, Ally Maki, Fred Armisen, Talia Genevieve
Rating: TV-14

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793. Tires, 2024

There’s something about Tires’ simplicity that can feel endearing, especially at a time when there are too many shows to keep up with. With its 20-minute runtime and almost nonexistent premise, it doesn’t ask too much from you, just that you hear out its jokes. But if only those jokes were good, and if only the characters had more to work with than what they’re given, then maybe Tires could actually be worthwhile. As it is, the humor is too juvenile, the characters too underwritten, and the plot too thin to be interesting. There is no friction nor conflict, just vibes, which makes Tires a pretty good background show to put on if you’re doing something else. But not one that’s satisfying enough to focus on and follow.

Genre: Comedy

Actor: Chris O'Connor, Kilah Fox, Shane Gillis, Stavros Halkias, Steve Gerben

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794. Those About to Die, 2024

	
Despite reportedly having a hundred-million budget, Those About to Die looks laughably cheap. From the CGI backdrops that take us to 10 different locations in the first 20 minutes to the inconsistent costumes, poor lighting, and cheesy narration, almost everything about the show is off-putting. Even the brief presence of Sir Anthony Hopkins can’t save it. But perhaps the worst crime the show commits is that it fails to deliver the blood, sweat, and tears the teasers and trailers promised. Is the Ancient Rome of brutal violence and hedonism? Why does it feel so staged and sanitized? If you can sit through the first episode, the action sequences do eventually get better, but for the most part, the show buckles under the weight of the many things it tries (but fails) to be.Genre: Drama
Actor: Alicia Ann Edogamhe, Angeliqa Devi, Anthony Hopkins, David Wurawa, Dimitri Leonidas, Emilio Sakraya, Eneko Sagardoy, Gabriella Pession, Iwan Rheon, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Jojo Macari, Kyshan Wilson, Lara Wolf, Liraz Charhi, Moe Hashim, Pepe Barroso, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Rupert Penry-Jones, Sara Martins, Tom Hughes
Rating: TV-MA

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795. The Perfect Couple, 2024

	
The Perfect Couple is an uneven show. Some parts of it work, particularly the dramatic exchanges between members of the rich but strained Winbury family and the performances of its great actors. But most of it falls apart. The scenes where characters in the interrogation room provide information on the main characters aren’t just unhelpful, they’re deeply unfunny. Among the running jokes are that the feminine wedding planner may or may not be gay and that the French girl speaks funny. Oh, also, the maid hates poor people for some reason. The mystery and the writing of it are borderline soapy. Dakota Fanning and Meghann Fahy are always great, but multiple characters mean we don’t get to see a lot of them. Even Kidman and Schreiber, despite what the trailers suggest, are barely in it. The Perfect Couple is perfectly pleasant if you don’t mind your murder mysteries thin, but don’t expect it to be like The White Lotus, Big Little Lies, or Bad Sisters. Put those on instead if you want to see the actors here perform in much better shows.Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Actor: Billy Howle, Dakota Fanning, Donna Lynne Champlin, Eve Hewson, Ishaan Khattar, Jack Reynor, Liev Schreiber, Meghann Fahy, Mia Isaac, Michael Beach, Nicole Kidman, Sam Nivola
Rating: TV-MA

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