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PREY Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Stormee Kipp, Michelle Thrush, Julian Black Antelope, Bennett Taylor, and Dane DiLiegro Director: Dan Trachtenberg AMARÚ Well before the Predator arrives on screen, Prey is badass. Building on her standout performance in the TV show Legion , Amber Midthunder (Naru) blends vulnerability and intensity to introduce a character worthy of going toe-to-toe with the Predator. Her relationship with her tribe, especially her brother Naabe (Dakota Beavers), is a highlight that builds character and action, some of which are the best choreographed scenes in the entire franchise. Prey pays homage to the brutality of the franchise starter, but adds an emotional resonance that arguably elevates it to the top spot of the series. Plus, top tier movie dog. NICK I’ve never had an emotional connection to the Predator franchise, but damn if I don’t keep coming back even when it continues to underwhelm. Well, that trend has come to an end because Prey has not only rejuvenated the Predator name, but also provides numerous directions to take future projects. The claustrophobic storytelling that director Dan Trachtenberg used in the fantastic 10 Cloverfield Lane is on full display here, and it works wonderfully to create tension. But most importantly, the star of this show (as it should be) is the Predator itself. The gadgets, the precision, and the violence are all here. Well done. QUENTIN Fans, rejoice! It took 35 years, but with Prey , we finally have a worthy sequel to Predator . It’s a little slow to start, but once it gets going, it’s everything the other five Predator sequels aren’t. It’s tense, propulsive, full of action, and purposefully blood-soaked, not to mention delightfully lean and surprisingly well-acted. Plus, the Comanche-ness of it all provides a fresh entry point to what is, if we’re being honest, a fairly generic plot. Most of all, though, it just feels like a Predator movie, and I applaud director Dan Trachtenberg for not trying to make it anything more than that. Now do Alien. JACOB Despite some occasionally shoddy VFX and an awkwardly-placed title card, Prey is one of the best streaming films to come out in 2022, and it absolutely deserved a theatrical release. Director Dan Trachtenberg’s prequel to 1987’s Predator is full of heart, tension, and thrilling set-pieces worthy of not only carrying the franchise brand but evolving it. Amber Midthunder is an excellent action heroine (with a great movie dog), and the film’s score, cinematography, and sound design match that excellence. There are some elements that feel slightly unnecessary given their outcomes, but it’s not as if they don’t make sense considering the story’s setting. PAIGE Prey delivers a thrilling survival story led by Amber Midthunder that puts the Predator franchise back at the top of the food chain. It’s a bloody masterpiece! This is a Predator film done right, and is easily the best entry since the original. Even though we know all the story beats, director Dan Trachtenberg understands what made the 1987 classic so great, and he uses that to make this film feel fresh just by bringing it back to basics. Hands down, this movie should have gotten a theatrical release because it’s that good! ADRIANO This is how you do a Predator movie, Shane Black! Everything I love about Predator , it’s in there. Tense atmospheric horror, the Predator absolutely ripping people to shreds, and a hell of a fun time. It also helps that Amber Midthunder makes for a badass lead, and the concept itself is pretty interesting. Its lone flaw is that it’s on Hulu and not in theaters, which really isn’t a flaw in the grand scheme of things. Point is, Prey absolutely slaps. At last, we have a worthy entry in the franchise.

SELF RELIANCE Starring: Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Andy Samberg, Bill Wiff, Emily Hampshire, Natalie Morales, Mary Holland, Daryl J. Johnson, and Nancy Lenehan Director: Jake Johnson PRESTON Self Reliance is a comedy “thriller” (kind of) that can be almost exclusively attributed to Jake Johnson as writer, director, producer, and lead actor. When he isn’t carrying the film as the hilariously hapless protagonist, the chemistry between him and the perfectly cast Anna Kendrick is quite heart-warming. It’s what you might expect from the likes of a Lonely Island production, with its absurdist humor that will either endear or disenchant its audience (myself being the former). Ultimately, its message is quite lovely, with our need for human connection and the seeming difficulty inherent in achieving it. KATIE Self Reliance is entertaining, but far tamer than I expected. Jake Johnson’s directorial debut puts forward an intriguing concept that promises more thrills than it can deliver, never going far enough with its premise or pushing it to the level of absurdity that would have made it more engaging. Anna Kendrick and Johnson have great chemistry, and I found their relationship to be the most interesting part of the story, so since the film shies away from anything too excessive, I would have preferred it if it leaned into the quirky rom-com vibe. QUENTIN Aside from an ending that I wish had more…uh…something, Self Reliance delivers everything I could want from a Hulu comedy-thriller unceremoniously released in January. The infinitely watchable Jake Johnson being as affable as ever? Check. The incredibly charming Anna Kendrick being as adorable as ever? Double check. A steady stream of randomly absurd side characters and non sequiturs? Triple check. Hell, even the score is great, carrying a surprising amount of tension amongst all the levity. Plus, the message advocating for living life to the fullest should be relatable to all. It’s early, but this likely will be one of my Top Hidden Gems for 2024. CALEB A comedy about a down-on-his-luck loser being hunted for sport sounds like a solid pitch, but Self Reliance doesn’t go far enough with its own wacky premise. I was hoping for an unhinged action-comedy, but what I got was a mildly amusing, faux-psychological character-study with some annoyingly vague takes on mental health. I was excited to see how Jake Johnson would handle himself as a writer/director, but he played it disappointingly safe. The jokes aren't very funny, and the ending is absolutely spineless. Thankfully, Johnson's still a pretty likable lead, so at least Self Reliance has that going for it. PAIGE Unfortunately, the fascinating premise of Self Reliance is never fully realized or thrilling. Sure, it features endearing performances, an admirable directorial debut from Jake Johnson, and some humor, but I was hoping for more of a payoff from this concept. The film is most effective when it focuses on Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick’s chemistry, and it is least effective when it attempts to convey its overarching themes of living life to the fullest. That said, even though the film ends abruptly and leaves a feeling of unfulfilled expectations, it's still an enjoyable ride.

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Diana Rigg, and Terence Stamp Director: Edgar Wright NICK Last Night in Soho is a beautiful and haunting tale. Director Edgar Wright's ability to transport the viewer back to the 1960s is sublime, especially when paired with such wondrous visuals. On the technical side, this should be an awards juggernaut. On the performance side, ladies and gentlemen, Thomasin McKenzie. The actor's recent work has been good, but this is one of those performances that will make you seek out her next project. This is another triumph for Wright, who is on the shortlist of directors that can sell a film on name alone, an accolade the man has earned. ADRIANO It's hard to express how much I loved Last Night in Soho in under 100 words. Edgar Wright's time-bending psychological horror shows he's in full control of his unique and beyond-entertaining style. The writing has laughs, twists, and remarkable characters that balance incredibly well with the film's themes of exploitation and nostalgia. The two headlining actresses are the best they've ever been, but it's Thomasin McKenzie that blew me away. As for the film's technical aspects, everything is firing on all cylinders, especially the costumes and cinematography. The final 15 minutes goes a little overboard, but this movie floored me. QUENTIN Aside from most of his Cornetto trilogy (loved The World’s End , not so much the other two), I’m generally a fan of filmmaker Edgar Wright, which makes it all the more disappointing that I didn’t care for Last Night in Soho . Long story, short: this movie is the epitome of lipstick on a pig. Every bit of production design, from the sets to the costumes, is a beauty to behold, while the soundtrack is the absolute tits. However, all the goodwill that those things generate is wasted as they support a boring mess of a story full of uninteresting characters.

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KILLER HEAT Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Richard Madden, Clare Holman, Babou Ceesay, Abbey Lee, Eleni Vergeti, and Manos Gavras Director: Philippe Lacôte PRESTON An office with frosted glass and stenciled black lettering. A shadow creeps across the wall as a fan revolves at an unusable pace. An alcoholic private investigator (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) relies on his painful past to drive him to ask the dangerous questions in order to get to the bottom of the case. Each step is conveyed through the inner monologue of our tortured hero, who doesn’t mind playing the bad guy in pursuit of greyish justice. Place all these film noir clichés in the setting of the Greek landscape, and the result is an altogether predictable and unremarkable flick. QUENTIN Despite me calling the ending within literally the first five minutes, not to mention Joseph Gordon-Levitt being somewhat miscast, Killer Heat is an entertaining enough diversion for fans of hard-boiled detective noirs, especially considering it’s a straight-to-Prime release. All the genre clichés are there, including Nick Bali’s (Gordon-Levitt) internal monologue, but those same clichés are part of why I like these types of stories. As for Gordon-Levitt, he’s generally fine, but the character would have been better played by someone who conveys “man with demons” a bit better. Slight flaws aside, including unnecessary white pants slander, Killer Heat is a breezy beach read of a movie. KATIE Killer Heat is a good-looking but undercooked murder mystery with a distinctive noir style. Guided by private investigator Nick Bali’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) classic detective internal monologue, Killer Heat nominally explores a suspicious case involving American expat Penelope (Shailene Woodley), but all I can truly recall is a film full of beautiful scenery and beautiful people. That isn't inherently bad, but the story loses momentum due to how predictable the plot and dialogue are (to the extent I could predict the next line or upcoming twist on multiple occasions). Overall, the performances are good and the outfits are better, but Killer Heat favours style over substance.

THE CROW Starring: Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston, and Sami Bouajila Director: Rupert Sanders AMARÚ Throughout The Crow , Bill Skarsgård adds “fuck” to more sentences than Samuel L. Jackson in an attempt to emphasize how tragic his and FKA twigs’ characters’ lives are, but serving us their pain on a silver platter just leaves the film feeling tonally unearned. Skarsgård and twigs’ angst-filled trauma-bonding gives them great chemistry, but is too heavy-handed to create connection to their struggles. Yet somehow, while preparing for an overly disquieting inciting event to create the titular mantle, it came and went without me realizing it, leaving me befuddled at the jumbled pacing, tone, and writing. Honestly, this one could’ve stayed in development hell. ADRIANO The Crow is one awesome gore-fest action sequence away from utter disaster. The ultra-focus on the central romance is weak, and despite Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs' decent chemistry, the film gave me no reason to actually feel for this crucial love story. I probably wouldn't have cared had it not taken a full hour of the film's 110-minute runtime. On top of that, the revenge storyline is half-assed, unengaging, and rushed beyond words. While the sequence I mentioned earlier is fun, the rest of the gore in the film is nothing more than a crutch. Overall, just yikes. PRESTON I never read the original graphic novel or watched the cult-classic film adaptation from 1994, so I am unfamiliar with how their stories go. I’m assuming, given their popularity, that they don’t use one of the most ridiculous premises to a storyline I’ve ever seen, one that had me justifiably skeptical from the jump. Worse still is that Bill Skarsgård’s (Eric) performance is too reminiscent of the annoyingly, whiny portrayal of Anakin Skywalker by Hayden Christensen. There is a single sequence that feels rewarding, but otherwise, the pain of the titular character is felt through the slog. KATIE After the pessimistic reviews, I was apprehensive about The Crow . However, I really enjoyed it, even if it's far from perfect. The dark visuals are sometimes unclear, the story is thin, and FKA twigs’ performance is uneven despite her and Bill Skarsgård having strong chemistry and a fun, toxic couple vibe. The film takes an unashamedly sincere approach to the edgy romance, which makes it feel like it belongs in the mid-2010s, further emphasised by the gothy neo-noir aesthetic. The violence is excessive and intense, and there is a particular sequence that is impressively brutal. I can see teens making shrines about this film in the years to come.

A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE Starring: Kevin Smith, Seth Green ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Gilbert Gottfried, Taran Killam, Paul Scheer, and Donny Osmond Directors: Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak This film has been reviewed by Nick and Paige as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival. NICK The almost mythic Star Wars Holiday Special has long been discussed as the worst piece of Star Wars content ever created. Unfortunately, this documentary shows there really isn’t much more to say beyond that. Notable names such as Kevin Smith, Seth Green, the late Gilbert Gottfried, and more are interviewed, but they’re almost there to mask the lack of story there is to tell. It was a variety special featuring the original cast doing musical numbers, numerous Golden Age TV guest stars, and a whole bunch of Wookies (some doing questionable things). No big conspiracy here, just a bad decision everyone involved wishes never happened. PAIGE Even though A Disturbance in the Force tries to dive further into the reasons why the Star Wars Holiday Special was created and why it was such a hot mess of a disaster without saying anything new, this documentary is actually more of a celebration of the pop culture phenomenon through interviews and archival footage. This hilarious and entertaining doc caters to die-hard Star Wars fans. While it feels like a time capsule for this fandom, it’s an intriguing study on this bizarre case that occurred in entertainment.

BLOODY AXE WOUND Starring: Sari Arambulo, Molly Brown Billy Burke, Sage Spielman, Matt Hopkins, Angel Theory, Eddie Leavy, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan Director: Matthew John Lawrence KATIE Bloody Axe Wound presents a unique approach to the slasher genre combined with an unconventional coming-of-age narrative, resulting in an entertaining but uneven film. The teenage romance is sweet, but I struggled to reconcile the coming-of-age themes with the horror-comedy, especially since it's much funnier when it leans into the absurdity and hilariously gratuitous gore. Eddie Leavy is hysterical as Glenn, stealing every scene, but the comedy is sometimes impeded by the varying tone. Although it didn’t quite hit the mark for me, Bloody Axe Wound offers a fun, fresh, and gloriously bloody experience for genre fans. NICK Bloody Axe Wound doesn’t get off to a very good start, but as the film progressed, its B-movie charms started to win me over a little. The mix of electric rock music and gnarly kills satisfies the throwback horror vibes, but it’s telling a more grounded story of parental pressures through that lens that adequately layers it. Sari Arambulo (Abbie Bladecut) is a serviceable lead who is able to balance the campiness and terror the film requires, but the rest of the cast is fairly replaceable due to poor character development. For a film built around a father/daughter dynamic, I needed more scenes exploring that.

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE Starring: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Carlos Alazraqui, and Fred Tatasciore Director: Peter Browngardt AMARÚ The Day the Earth Blew Up is exactly what you would expect from a Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Eric Bauza) two-hander. It’s wacky, silly, ham-fisted, and the perfect combination of slapstick comedy with adult-laden one-liners. The animation is the best Looney Tunes has ever looked, and the story fits right in with all your childhood favorites from the Tune Squad. The shticks will only take you as far as your tolerance for campy comedy, but even if you're not the hugest fan, the heart of Daffy and Porky’s relationship should take you the rest of the way. ADRIANO The Day the Earth Blew Up is classic Looney Tunes . The visual of Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) bursting through a wall, leaving a hole in the shape of Daffy is enough to get me laughing hysterically. There were maybe one or two jokes that made me cringe, but other than that, the hijinks and slapstick are all here. The animation is great, the plot is hilariously ridiculous, and as high and silly as its concept goes, the movie has a lot of heart, so you're not coming just for the laughs. I'm a simple man sometimes, and I loved this movie.

EL CONDE Starring: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger, Catalina Guerra, Marcial Tagle, Amparo Noguera, Antonia Zegers, and Stella Gonet Director: Pablo Larraín KATIE El Conde is so many things at once: scathing, gruesome, wickedly funny, absurd, and beautiful. Director Pablo Larraín re-imagines the infamous Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, as a literal blood-thirsty monster who, much like his real-life legacy, refuses to die. This is an ingenious way of confronting Chile’s traumatic recent past, allowing Larraín to make a mockery of the dictator, showing him miserable and wasting away in his crumbling mansion. The black and white cinematography is striking and brimming with visual references, creating an absurd alternate reality that traps all the characters within it. This film will stick in my mind for a while. QUENTIN In its entirety, El Conde isn’t a movie that I enjoyed. Despite the intriguing and outlandish logline, it’s surprisingly boring, but it’s possible that it works better for people who have some knowledge of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, of which I have very little. Perhaps that is why the satire didn’t hit for me. That said, director Pablo Larraín was able to create a surreal and haunting atmosphere that is well suited to the content, but this mix of Knives Out and Roma falls into the “movies I respect more than like” bucket. ADRIANO It’s hard for me to say that El Conde doesn’t overstay its welcome a bit, but I still feel it accomplished its goal of being a sharp and funny satire. Granted, some of its ideas overshadow the overall goal, and it leans a little too hard into the gore and surrealist elements, meaning the film’s political angle easily gets lost in the madness. But Pablo Larraín’s direction and Edward Lachman’s slick black-and-white cinematography make this a unique viewing experience that, for better and for worse, is unlike anything you’ll see this year. This film was reviewed by Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Venice International Film Festival.

SASQUATCH SUNSET Starring: Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Christophe Zajac-Denek, and Nathan Zellner Director: Nathan Zellner and David Zellner ADRIANO Sasquatch Sunset is depraved, gross, and borderline nonsensical. I loved it. With not a single word, directors Nathan and David Zellner create a bizarrely funny year-in-the-life-of-sasquatches film that, once you get past all the fluids and insanity, has something interestingly profound to say about our connections with nature and each other. The film has many moments of genuine heartbreak and humanity, and being able to do that only with grunting creatures is quite fascinating. I imagine it won't be for everyone, but I fell pretty hard for Sasquatch Sunset . KATIE Sasquatch Sunset is a truly unique film. Following a year in the life of a family of sasquatches, the film ranges from melancholic sadness to truly disgusting gross-out humour, all whilst meditating on the nature of family and our impact on the natural world. The prosthetics are incredible and not a word is spoken, with the unrecognizable cast’s dedicated physical performances doing all the talking. It's eccentric, absurd, and strangely heartfelt, and although the excess of bodily fluids did slightly test my patience and limits, this ambitious film has a more serious message at its heart. QUENTIN Sasquatch Sunset is an odd duck of a movie, like the R-rated, artsy follow-up to Harry and the Hendersons you never knew you needed. Hell, for most of you, you likely won’t want it either, especially if you are grossed out by bodily fluids, shit-flinging, and sasquatch penises. That said, Sunset also features genuine moments of laugh-out-loud surreal humor and somber poignancy, not to mention quiet reflections on who we are as a society. Sure, it probably could have been shorter, and even though I’d only recommend it to a very specific audience, it gets a high rating because of its originality, go-for-brokeness, and audacity. PAIGE Sasquatch Sunset may be one of the most poignant movies of the year despite its peculiarities. Having said that, many people may genuinely wonder, "what the fuck did I just watch?" much like I did. Even though I have mixed feelings about the movie overall, I have to acknowledge that this dialogue-free film is going to majorly polarize audiences. With its stunning cinematography, this documentary-style film transports you into the world of a sasquatch family. It may not be for everyone, but if you're a Bigfoot enthusiast, you should definitely check out this bizarre yet tranquil gem.

YOU'RE CORDIALLY INVITED Starring: Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan, Meredith Hagner, Jimmy Tatro, Stony Blyden, Leanne Morgan, Rory Scovel, Jacki McBrayer, and Celia Weston Director: Nicholas Stoller NICK Considering it stars Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon, You're Cordially Invited is straight out of the 2000s. Evoking the memory of films such as Bride Wars , I can't say it adds anything to the comedy battleground genre, staying on par with many of the other entries. There are some decisions late in the film that hurt my overall rating, but for the majority of it, it's an average film. Inoffensive, yet likely to be forgotten once the year turns over. What shouldn’t be forgotten, however, is Geraldine Viswanathan. She’s enjoyable here, and it’s time we start seeing more of her. QUENTIN There are a few moments in You’re Cordially Invited when it seems like writer-director Nicholas Stoller wanted to let Will Ferrell cook in his trademark improvisational style, but they’re buried under so many lazily unfunny jokes, you wonder why they cast Ferrell at all. Alongside that, Invited has one of the laziest R-ratings I’ve ever seen, amounting to nothing more than a couple shoehorned-in F-bombs. Frankly, this dated movie feels like Stoller either self-sabotaged or the studio had too heavy a hand in the final cut because there are shadows of glimpses of a comedy that could have been entertaining. As is, though? RSVP No. PRESTON I entered You’re Cordially Invited with extremely low expectations, and should you choose to do the same, there is an outside chance that you may consider it…not half-bad. I even, surprisingly, avoided the all-too-familiar moment when I thought that I was hating what I was watching. It is ridiculous and sweet, and sometimes funny, and sometimes cringe. But for me, it was a perfectly acceptable way to pass time on a day I was feeling a little poopy. Besides low expectations, an appreciation of Will Ferrell’s style of comedy is also a prerequisite, but that’s too easy. AMARÚ I’m happy to say that You’re Cordially Invited is genuinely heartfelt, hilarious, and more than your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy. Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon go toe-to-toe with ridiculous (but not overdone) antics and insightful arcs that’ll make you look at your own familial relationships more closely, but it’s Leanne Morgan and Rory Scovel who threaten to steal the entire movie. Writer-director Nicholas Stoller gives them the biggest laughs while also delivering an honest examination on how people’s differing beliefs can inhibit their ability to listen and empathize. He had no right creating something this good with this premise, but it works. Bravo. ADRIANO You're Cordially Invited has an easy concept, a proven comedic director in Nicholas Stoller, and two great lead performers, one of whom is a comedy legend… so why did it fall so flat? It just comes down to it not being very funny. It has some heart, some chuckle-worthy moments, and there's nothing insincere about it, but Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon are sadly not amazing here. Ferrell, in particular, feels weirdly neutered (Jimmy Tatro and Keyla Monterroso Mejia are innocent, though). For a streaming movie, it's simple enough; just be aware you may not laugh as much as you'd hope.