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Movie Review: I Know What You Did Last Summer

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Far too often, it is hard to believe the movies that are chosen by executives to remake It is often difficult to understand the films chosen by executives for remakes or, in this case, a new sequel to the original “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” (1997). At its best, the original movie was a very stupid, poorly produced slasher movie that grossed only 125 million world wide. Through some demographic calculations and surveys based on the name recognition created from the original movie, the decision was made to try and make more money from the same basic idea about young people on a dangerous road who make a series of mistakes, and a young man dies.

This sequel did not have enough imagination to create a new idea, and once again, five people in their twenties are on the same kind of road overlooking a cliff, with one drunk idiot playing a game of chicken with oncoming cars at night, and once again, someone dies in a car accident. Why not think of something new? Why not have a new evil slasher character that kills people other than, once again, the faceless man in the dark raincoat who guts people with a giant fishhook? We saw this already, 28 years ago. Why do the same thing again?

This time around, there are five new characters in their twenties, Danica Richards played by Madelyn Cline, Ava Brucks played by Chase Sui Wonders – both of whom recently dated Pete Davidson. The other 3 actors involved in the car accident at the start of this movie are mostly unknown. The “hook” idea to save the box office for this bad movie is to bring back three of the main actors of the original 1997 movie, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and a strange, misplaced dream sequence cameo from Sarah Michelle Gellar. The attempt to connect what happened in the first story with this new story failed, along with the absurd ending – an attempt to shock and surprise the audience with the unveiling of the killer. This attempt at shocking surprise turned out to be the worst part of this bad movie because it all made zero sense. The other bad part of the ending was the idiotic reappearance of people who were definitely killed in previous scenes, who for reasons unknown, are still alive despite being killed.

This time around, the critics on Rotten Tomatoes are correct with their very low 38% ratings for this bad slasher movie. I agree with this low rating and do not recommend this film. Hopefully, this is the last movie in this franchise.

Hulu Series Review: The Bear Season 4

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The shame about the great series “The Bear”, now in its 4th season, is that after season 2, the series lost its way. What was so good about this series, which premiered in September 2022, is that for some reason, the writers and producers forgot that the greatest thing about this story is that it demonstrated for the first time the nightmare of hard work, chaos, and non stop problems that people who are high level Chef’s in the best restaurants go through, every day. The other great part was showing what it takes to create the best food in the world. Then problems with expenses, employees, turning a profit, etc. In the last two seasons of The Bear, all of these most important ingredients that made the first two seasons so great are almost nowhere to be found.

With few exceptions, this 4th series seems to be about finding excuses for insane, talking at the same time, screaming arguments over issues that ordinarily would not require this level of rage and yelling. This is at its worst in the 10th episode, when Carmen, played by Jeremy Allen White, has an over-the-top, lengthy argument with Sydney, played by Ayo Edebiri. This argument could have been resolved in 10 minutes, and yet it lasted almost the entire 34 minutes of the last episode, ending with Carmen’s friend Richie, played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, joining the argument. Regardless, the acting is impressive during many of these arguments, with no evidence of acting; it all seems like real life. However, the point of all yelling is lost, because the reasons for the arguments do not support the extreme overtalking and anger in almost all cases.

As with the 3rd season, there are numerous cameos from well-known actors in this 4th season, including Gillian Jacobs, Will Poulter, Joel McHale, Rob Reiner, John Mulaney, Josh Hartnett, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Brie Larson, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The first time appearance of Brie Larson, who plays Francie, was one of the best parts of this 4th season, including an ongoing, funny, foul-mouthed argument with Natalie during a wedding, played by Abbie Elliot.

By far the best episode of the 4th season was episode #7, about the wedding of Pete and Natalie, which includes the Francie and Natalie argument and an outstanding scene where a young girl is hiding under a table, and is joined, one by one, by the entire cast. The dialogue in this one scene is outstanding, showing the phenomenon that when people are gathered closely together in an enclosed space, tension and problems can sometimes seem to melt away. This episode was rated 9.5 on IMDB, by far the highest rated in this 4th season..

One huge complaint in this series is the nightmare of nonstop chain smoking from too many of the characters. There is no need for this much smoking in any movie, and the Tobacco companies should be barred from funding movies only if they show smoking.

The first two seasons of The Bear were rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the huge drop to 83% is for the reasons of forgetting all of the main reasons why the first two seasons were so good. I do recommend the 4th season of The Bear, mainly for the acting and for the great 7th episode.

Movie Review: 28 Years Later

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I have often wondered how the late director George A. Romero would have reacted to the hundreds of zombie movies and long-standing TV shows his original “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) has spawned since its release. This original zombie movie was about as disgusting, disturbing, and horrifying as any horror movie could be. However, 1968 was 57 long years ago, and by now, anyone would think that we have all had enough of the living dead, and the living dead eating living people, and the shooting or stabbing the dead in the head to kill them. Enough already.

The new movie “28 Years Later” is somewhat unique for two reasons. Number one, the movie trailer is one of the most annoying and overplayed of all time. Number two, by far the most used method for killing the zombies in this story is by using a bow and arrow.

This movie is mainly about two acts. Act one is about a father, Jamie, leaving the confines of a protected human camp and teaching his 11-year-old son Spike how to hunt and kill zombies with a bow and arrow. Obviously, this is an absurd idea, risking the life of a young boy like this, but for some unknown reason, this is the longest part of this movie. This first act consists of running, stopping, and shooting zombies in the head with a bow and arrow, resulting in repeated scenes that get old very quickly, in this remarkably bad movie.

The second act unfolds after a significant argument between Spike and his father. Following this conflict, Spike ventures out with his sick mother, Isla, into Zombieland for reasons that mostly lack clarity. By the end of the second act, they encounter Dr. Kelson, played by the film’s only well-known actor, Ralph Fiennes. To protect himself from the zombies, Dr. Kelson covers himself in iodine, which I found amusing, almost as if Fiennes was trying to disguise himself for participating in this surprisingly bad and boring movie.

It is anyone’s guess why the Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this film are as high as 90%, with a far more accurate audience rating of 67%. My rating for this waste of 2 hours is 30%, but only for the most die-hard zombie movie hobbyists.