Nope

This is one of the most anticipated films of the year for me. I’m a big fan of Jordan Peele’s work and he has written, directed, and co-produced Nope. With Get Out and subsequently Us, Peele subverted and reimagined the horror genre. And now he is back with a bigger budget and a very entertaining film.

Nope, which stars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun, is undoubtedly a different kind of horror than Peele's last two films. And I enjoyed it throughout. But I really don’t want to spoil anything about it. Everyone involved in it has been doing a great job keeping people in the dark and I don’t want to be the one ruining your experience. So, I will keep this review very vague and give you guys just enough information to make you intrigued and excited to watch it.

The film follows two siblings played by Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer. They are in charge of a horse ranch in California and things get very weird when they come across mystical energy that has an impact on both people and animals. Kaluuya’s character which is called OJ is mysterious. He is chill yet never dull. You can feel that there's always something happening behind his piercing eyes. Palmer's Em, on the other hand, is a bundle of passion and perseverance and is similarly fascinating.

Nope is a great combination of extraterrestrial thriller and Hollywood satire. It delivers all the thrills, jokes, and high concepts one would anticipate from a Jordan Peele production. It has a compelling setup and a ton of surprises. I enjoyed the excellent sound production and cinematography as well as the countless references to movies and pop culture that are included in everything from the dialogues to the characters’ wardrobe.

Peele has once again proved that he is amazingly good at creating suspense and doesn’t settle for easy or simplistic conclusions. I highly recommend checking this film out.

Prey

Prey which takes place 300 years ago in the Comanche Nation, tells the story of a teenage woman named Naru, a strong and accomplished warrior. When danger approaches her camp, she goes out to defend her people since she was bred in the shadow of some of the most renowned hunters that roam the Great Plains. She follows and eventually engages a highly developed alien predator with better-evolved weaponry than she had ever encountered before.

The Predator franchise has long ago run out of ideas and presumably audience as well. After 35 years and six terrible films, it is hard to justify watching another one. However, this entry adds an unexpected yet delightfully restrained element to the series by providing fans with a coming-of-age perspective on a well-known storyline. And t is not fueled by nostalgia like many of the remakes and reboots that we have seen lately.

So yeah, I had very low exceptions for Prey, but it turns out to be much more interesting than I anticipated. The movie doesn’t overstay its welcome with a well-paced 90 minutes run. And even though it isn’t overly long the movie still managed to have some good character development. Additionally, it recreates the fear and savagery of being pursued by the most powerful entity in the universe. The film's visuals are full of lush, bright green fields, mountain landscapes, and forest lands. And the VFX is pretty solid for a streaming movie. Overall, prey is a Predator movie done right—a rare action thriller that raises the stakes without sacrificing dramatic tension.

Bodies, Bodies, Bodies

This is an exciting and hilarious movie. A funny take on backstabbing/sham friendships, and a party that has gone out of control. Everything can happen when a bunch of wealthy 20-somethings prepare a celebration during a hurricane in a remote mansion and a party game goes horribly wrong.

Bodies, Bodies, Bodies is directed by Halina Reijn and Stars Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Pete Davidson, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, Myha'la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, and David Conner O'Malley. The movie is a brilliant commentary on the internet era disguised as a slasher. A Gen Z take on a very tired horror genre centered around beautiful people acting recklessly. The whole cast gave outstanding performances that helped sell its massive, dramatic turns. I like Pete Davidson’s brand of humor and was expecting him to steal the show. But even though he has some great moments, Rachel Sennott is the one who totally makes her presence be noticed.

The movie is cleverly written and has infectious dialogue. I’m pretty sure that a lot of the lines in it will be quoted by many of us and most definitely will be turned into memes. I also really enjoyed Its ferociously dark sense of humor and the cinematography. Although she didn’t reinvent the wheel, Reijn has created a frenetic pace movie that keeps the momentum going and is a lot of fun to watch. But at the same time, she did a great job maintaining the film’s delicate balance of being funny and unsettling. The best way to describe it would be Scream meets Clue.

Overall Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, is a brilliant whodunnit with a very clever script and an amazing soundtrack. Director Halina Reijn and this killer cast have done a great job creating a super fun horror comedy.

Funny Pages

This film is the directorial debut of Owen Kline, who is best known for his role as a co-star in 2005's film The Squid and the Whale. Funny Pages revolves around Robert, a high school senior fascinated with the darkest corners of underground comics and their outsider creators.

After the passing of his mentor, Robert decides to leave school to have a closer relationship with the underground style he adores. This film is an amazing dirty, angst-coming-of-age comedy that is hilariously entertaining. It also shows us a somber glimpse at an era without social media. exploring passions, oddballs, and artists through the perspective of a privileged yet tortured teenager who defies society and therefore must learn things the hard way Daniel Zolghadri turns in a ground-breaking performance as Robert. He convincingly embodies the youthful naiveté situations. Additionally, the supporting cast members are excellent and get opportunities to shine.

Funny Pages doesn't overstay its welcome (it has a 1 hour and 26-minute runtime) is entertaining to watch and has a deliciously non-Hollywood ending.

Adopting Audrey

Audrey (Jenna Malone) has been fired from her seventh job in two years. She lives alone and relies on YouTube to keep her company since she is also estranged from her family. After being lost in a YouTube rabbit hole, She discovers the world of adult adoption and chooses to attempt it for herself in the hopes of feeling more at home. Soon after, Audrey discovers an adoptive family whose instability matches her own. This leads to an unexpected friendship between Audrey and Otto (Robert Hunger-Bühler), the grumpy father, who appears to be as icy as she is charming.

The movie has a highly indie vibe to it, yet it's very well made. And I loved the two main characters’ delightfully funny dynamic. Although occasionally dark and grim, Adopting Audrey is pleasant and proves that Malone is still an extremely skilled and underrated performer. Her character, Audrey, is a self-sufficient floating island. The DIY enthusiast also has trouble being categorized socially. She is not on the outskirts of society due to her political or religious ideals, but rather because she just wants independence. She isolates herself from normal life with a quiet disillusionment, but as she struggles to survive, her thought attitude seems just like a façade she has created for herself.

I think that Adopting Audrey does a good job of examining typical causes of suffering, such as relationship problems, behavioral patterns, and challenges with family dysfunction. It is lovely how Otto learns from Audrey how to be a more accepting father. And that provides a pleasantly upbeat but perhaps not particularly engaging story arc for the movie. Overall, I liked the film and I think you guys should give it a chance. Just keep your expectations low and you might enjoy it too.