Reminiscence (2021) - 3/5

This movie is a modern noir with impeccable aesthetics and a solid story. The telling of that story, however, gets a little convoluted and some of the rabbit trails seem more like a waste of time than interesting diversions. It’s a little too self-absorbed, a little too horny, a little too distracted, but the overall impact is still fun and it lands the ending which carries a lot of water for this film.

Closest comparison: It’s like the Maltese Falcon by way of Love, Death, and Robots.

Setting: Sci-Fi
Plot: Detective
Tone: Noir

Dune: Part One (2021) - 5/5

This movie is a paragon of adaptation, sticking incredibly closely to the source material and making only the changes necessary to deliver the same emotional beats on the big screen. It is the masterpiece Denis Villeneuve was born to film, making his previous work look like practice by comparison. The few parts I didn’t like or made me uncomfortable were taken directly from the book, which made me feel the same way reading them and instead of being drawbacks only serve to make the film a better adaptation. And it manages to convey convoluted political intrigue with ease, due in no small part to the outstanding acting, which is second only perhaps to the cinematography.

Closest comparison: It’s like Blade Runner by way of Ad Astra.

Setting: Sci-Fi
Plot: Political Intrigue
Tone: Arthouse Drama

Doctor Sleep - 4/5

It’s hard to compare this movie to The Shining, because they have different directors and a different core story. If you haven’t seen The Shining (1980) you may still enjoy this movie, but you’ll be taking a lot of the explanations at face value. It branches out a bit more into the greater Stephen King mythos and ties it in very well to his other stories even beyond The Shining. This one was as scary for me as its predecessor, and although that will definitely vary from person to person there is a long, drawn-out scene of a child being tortured that makes this movie the more uncomfortable of the two. The acting, sound design, and special effects are all top notch, and if you like psychological horror you should give this movie a watch.

Content warning: child torture

Closest comparison: It’s like Logan (2017) by way of the darker parts of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, in the trappings of The Shining.

Setting: Teen Supernatural/Other World
Plot: Cat-and-Mouse Thriller
Tone: Psychological Horror

Men in Black: International - 3/5

It’s kind of dumb, but it’s a lot of fun. It follows in the steps of Ant-Man, where it keeps to its own rules for the main storyline but abandons them when it wants to make a joke. That being said the jokes land, for the most part, and it’s flashily cinematic in all the usual places. Instead of having a boring, predictable plot it changes up the formula by keeping the audience guessing which of the myriad tropes they’re going to fall into. This is the least weird and most stylish of the Men In Black franchise, and the second best one of the lot because of it.

Closest comparison: Thor and Valkyrie in a buddy cop movie with aliens.

Setting: Weird Sci-Fi
Plot: Buddy Cop
Tone: Comedy

Mission Impossible: Fallout - 5/5

It's really really good. Its 2h27min runtime packed full of chases and missions, with just enough time in between for the audience to catch its breath. There are solid performances all around and impressive cinematography both technically and viscerally. A return to form in many ways, this is almost as good as the 1996 original. A few problems with luckiness, a few poor lines of dialogue, and some overly convoluted backstories are all that kept this from being a 5/5.

Originally I gave this movie a 4/5, but over time all of the issues with it proved to be only nit picks which places it squarely in the 5/5 category.