Whether you noticed it in passing as an adult or watched its rise on YouTube during the 2010s, it’s been hard to ignore the mark Five Nights at Freddy’s left on horror gaming as well as indie games as a whole. Since its inception as a last-ditch effort by the creator Scott Cawthon, the game has evolved into a multimedia franchise with multiple video games, novels, and now a feature film directed by Emma Tammi. Long-time fans know all too well the development hell this film has been stuck in, so it’s no secret why diehards the world over are going so far as to dress up for the film in theaters. I didn’t have much to dress up with myself during my viewing, but my friends and I chose outfits that generally adhered to… I guess, the palette of the characters? Regardless of our lack of fitting attire, trust me when I say we were dying to see this.
Blumhouse Productions has had a bit of a renaissance lately. Though some of their recent films have been a bit underwhelming to some, such as the recent Halloween revival trilogy and the recent sequel to The Exorcist, some of their other productions like M3GAN and The Black Phone were critical and commercial successes. The studio allows the freedom for directors to bring stories to life, which bodes well for fans of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series. This movie elaborates on both core and blink-and-you-miss-it points from the first game to bring the game to life on screen, while also throwing in plotpoints, foreshadowing, and allusion to other games in the series. At the end of the day, however, the story of the film does mainly focus on the first game.
As other reviews have definitely implied (or even just outright SAID), this film is far from perfect. However, what is Five Nights at Freddy’s if not perfect? Every fan of the series knows that the series has been full of plot holes, imperfections, and retcons from the start. At the end of the day, it’s a very simple game that’s brought to life by the passion both the fans and the creator pour into the culture of the franchise. In that same sense, the film having this low-budget practical horror B-movie feel is the PERFECT way to adapt it. There’s only so much terror that can be derived from a haunted animatronic party pizzeria establishment, but the potential for a grounded story focusing on WHY things have gotten that way is through the roof. Though the two aspects have a bit of trouble finding their footing early on, they eventually balance each other out and make for a compelling story that horror fans will… tolerate, and Five Nights at Freddy’s fans will absolutely love.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is now playing in theaters worldwide, and streaming on Peacock.
From the moment we first saw Margot Robbie’s Barbie float down from her dream house to meet Ryan Gosling’s Ken, we knew Barbie would be this year’s big summer blockbuster and one of the biggest movies of 2023.
The character of Barbie first appeared in Toy Story 2, acting both as product placement and expansion of the series’ universe. This role was expanded upon greatly in the movie’s sequel, with said follow up entry introducing the character of Ken to the big screen. News of the brand having its very own movie, however, has had a rocky history of development hell dating back to 2009. After many changes in management, cast, and crew, more news on the film’s active development finally broke in 2021. Director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women) was first announced to be working on the project with her partner and frequent collaborator, Noah Baumbach.
Gerwig and Baumbach come together to tell a story in Barbie that is equal parts empowering and heartbreaking while paying massive respects to the brand upon which the film is based. Almost all Barbies get representation, so there’s no need to worry whether or not your favorite made the cut. There’s even lesser known characters such as Michael Cera’s Alan, as well as deep cuts like the Barbies and Kens who reside with Kate McKinnon’s “Weird Barbie” (no spoilers here, but they all do an amazing job and their costume design nails it!)
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s performances as Barbie and Ken are stellar throughout the film, achieving a near perfect balance of emotional revelations and comedic relief in their scenes. The script is written from a place of love for the Barbie name, while also being a bit more mature and existential than you’d expect from a film about the dolls. This is far from being a deficit to the film—it’s definitely a movie made for those who’ve grown up with or knowing Barbie, so expect some more adult themes to peek in every so often.
Barbie is now playing in theaters worldwide.
by J Nagle
One of the more recent drops on Netflix is Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, released in late 2016. The plot may seem similar to those who viewed Chazelle’s more recent film, Babylon, from 2022. The films are two sides of the same coin, La La Land having a more positive perspective on the experience of stardom while Babylon focuses on some of the darker aspects that come with it, as well as the entertainment industry as a whole. While some of Babylon‘s horrors stretch themselves out during the film’s 3 hour runtime, La La Land‘s brisk pacing and dynamic, immersive scenes make for one of the quickest 2 hour films to watch.
Ryan Gosling, currently in the spotlight for his performance as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, plays Seb Wilder, an ambitious pianist down on his luck who’s moved to Los Angeles to fulfill his dreams. He stars alongside Emma Watson who plays Mia Dolan, an equally ambitious actress who craves some of the same stardom Gosling’s character does. As the two are shown in their own separate storylines fighting for their lives in the industry, the two are also shown alone together, fighting with each other for what stardom really means to them. Damien Chazelle’s emphasis on location as character in these moments is crucial to making each line, motion, and expression feel so integral to its respective scene.
The supporting cast includes names such as John Legend as well as J. K. Simmons, the latter of whom some may recognize from his performance in Chazelle’s first feature film, Whiplash, both of whom play key roles in Seb’s story early on.
La La Land is now streaming on Netflix.
Some movies this summer can’t be as fortunate as Barbie and Oppenheimer, having constant aspects teased and marketed that keeps hype going and growing consistently towards its release. One of these movies is Dreamworks Animation’s Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, released right at the end of June. The film set a new record for the lowest grossing opening weekend out of any Dreamworks film ever, with its current total cementing its status as a box-office bomb—only around $35 million on a $70 million budget.
Again, most Dreamworks fans know this is a result of the film’s poor marketing. Dreamworks has had some notoriously bad marketing recently, with another example being December’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The film was hardly marketed, with even some Shrek fans being unaware of its release. Being launched alongside a myriad of other box office hits such as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water, it was looking likely that the film would flop. However, out of nowhere, word of mouth both in real life and on the internet led to the realization that the film was an instant classic and was deserving of a trip to the theater. Ruby Gillman suffered from the same marketing, though did not see the return that Puss in Boots did. A few more of these factors can be attributed to its mixed reception upon release and its introduction of an original story—whereas Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was a sequel to a Shrek spinoff.
Stylistically, the film is very fast-paced and flashy at times, credited to its dazzling underwater scenes and obvious satire on the “high school movie” genre. Ruby Gillman finds itself subverting some of the tropes typically found in high school movies, however plays some of them straight as well which doesn’t exactly mix the best with the subversion Dreamworks is known for in their films. Once a predictable element enters the plot, the viewer is left wondering when it’s going to subvert itself just like most of the other tropes in the movie. But the moment never comes and the viewer already knows how said plotpoint will end up about an hour before it does resolve in some way.
Ruby’s family tree, while small, is somehow convoluted whenever the spotlight is on them. Miscommunication and falling outs between family members is something that can be relatable for many, and would have been great when expanded upon earlier on rather than showing up. However, miscommunication between the film and its audience occurs instead, making it feel, at times, like another “then this happened” movie. This is something Turning Red handles better, and while Ruby Gillman does hit some of the same plot beats that Turning Red does, the two movies are not the same by any means. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, their pushes and pulls, and when put into perspective are obviously independent of each other.
Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken is now out on Digital, as well as in theaters.
by J Nagle
A year ago today, we briefly reported on the film Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank in our July release of Weekend Box Office. It stuck out like a sore thumb in some theaters’ previews, as it’s rare to see a film under the Nickelodeon Movies banner release in theaters not based on a pre-existing property in 2023. In this sense, the film felt a bit out of place, like something that would have released years ago.
Well, this technically is the case; Paws of Fury was first greenlit in 2010 under the title Blazing Samurai and faced numerous production issues and shifts that caused its seeming development hell. It seems like something that would have been better off a Paramount+ exclusive at this point, but it probably still released in theaters due to contractual obligations or something like that. The premise is also bizarre—an animated soft remake of Blazing Saddles made for kids where every character is a common house pet?
On the one-year anniversary of its release, we watched through the film to see what exactly its deal was. Here are our findings.
Paws of Fury feels like, ironically, a feature-length version of one of those film recap/parody cartoons across YouTube. In its attempts to distance itself enough from Blazing Saddles to justify its existence and loosely maintain its plot beats, it just ends up feeling like a lackluster replica that makes the viewer want to watch Blazing Saddles instead. Its attempts to tackle racial allegory fall flat, as it feels like the idea’s abandoned for the majority of the movie, something that people again feel Blazing Saddles handled much better.
The animation feels a tad expressive, in the sense that it feels like the bare minimum compared to other animated releases that came out before and later in the same year. Considering the lengthy parade of vanity cards the film opens with, it really felt like it should have been something more. The best animation in the entire film, in my opinion, was found in the opening of the film. This animation is 2D rather than the 3D the rest of the film uses, and its flashiness is honestly the most entertaining visual the film has to offer. Again, disappointing given it’s only used for the intro.
In spite of its mixed public reception before release, small marketing budget, and little fanfare upon release, Paws of Fury came surprisingly close to breaking even at the box office last year, grossing $42.5 million on a budget of $45 million. While most older audiences weren’t impressed by the film, there is at least a decent enough low-budget kids movie to be found here. There’s definitely worse out there, and it would be pretty funny to see some grown-up kid admitting that this was their first exposure to Samuel L. Jackson’s work in cinema.
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is now streaming on Paramount+.
by J Nagle
Whether it’s with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or What We Do in the Shadows, FX has proven time and time again to be capable of broadcasting some of the year’s hottest programs in TV. Last year, The Bear proved itself to be a new name worthy of carrying on this lineage of acclaimed FX programming, with the show’s second season releasing earlier this summer. With said season review already underway here, we wanted to take a moment to review the show’s first season, giving an overview of what’s captivated audiences and critics alike.
The Bear follows Carmen Berzatto—known in the show as Carmy as well as the titular Bear—as he manages the restaurant inherited from his brother Jeremy’s death, The Original Beef of Chicagoland. This narrative is juggled with many other struggles Carmy is managing simultaneously, such as his brother having died in the first place. As both narratives progress and characters develop throughout the season, we get to see their perspectives on both the restaurant’s process and their own methods of processing grief.
The writing throughout the restaurant narrative has multiple strengths and weaknesses that can both entice its viewing audience while also occasionally failing to ignite the same spark other parts have. At times, the cooking segments can feel like they bring little progression to the characters’ development or that of Carmy’s personal struggles, despite how well-directed each shot of said cooking feels. By the fourth or fifth episode, most sections of said segments can feel a bit samey in how they add to the story, as well as moving a bit too quick at times for some. However, some of this is in the show’s favor, as the fast pace goes to justify the frantic nature of the restaurant, as well as serving as an extremely accurate point of view of working in the food service industry.
The restaurant introduces the audience to the main characters they’ll get to know throughout the course of the season, ranging from new recruits to those who have been there since before the death of Carmy’s brother when he ran the establishment. This is where the show excels—each character gets their own time to shine during the season and flesh themselves out. Whenever Carmy’s late brother is brought up, each recalls a different memory or tradition from when he was around to manage the team, and each member of the team clashes or gels with the new management style in a different way. Sometimes the team just wishes his brother had stuck around with them—and occasionally, so does Carmy.
Both seasons of The Bear are now streaming on Hulu.
Get Some Strange!
