FilmGator – Between Movies

A private user reviewed The Assessment (2025)

The Assessment

It often feels like we’re constantly being assessed, evaluated on everything from our creditworthiness to our work performance to our scholastic achievements. But imagine what it might be like if we were scrutinized on highly personal matters, with intrusive investigations into our most highly intimate concerns. Such is life in director Fleur Fortune’s debut feature in a dystopian version of Earth of the future. With the planet devastated by environmental decline, human society has been drastically reorganized into the old world and the new world. The former is a pathetic wasteland ...

A private user reviewed Shelby Oaks (2025)

Shelby Oaks

I thought this was going to be about a woman called “Shelby Oaks” but instead it’s a petty shameless hybrid of “Blair Witch” meets “The Omen” by way of the Blumhouse cutting room floor - and it isn’t very good. It starts out in sensationalised faux-documentary mode as it explains to us that four folks from one of YouTube’s most successful American paranormal investigation programmes have gone missing in the woods near the abandoned town of Shelby Oaks. Bodies are duly, and rather gruesomely, discovered but not that of “Riley” (Sarah ...

A private user reviewed Left-Handed Girl (2025)

Left-Handed Girl

Fewer moviegoing experiences are more exasperating than comedies (or comedy-dramas) that try too hard but invariably fall flat. These insipid, allegedly zany offerings try viewer patience with their listless narratives, lack of substance and even greater absence of laughs. But, unfortunately, that’s precisely what dooms this second feature outing from writer-director-producer Shih-Ching Tsou. The film follows the lives of a single mother, Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai), and her two daughters, I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma) and I-Jing (Nina Ye), who relocate (from where it’s never made especially clear) to Taipei (where they already seem ...

A private user reviewed The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

The Conjuring: Last Rites

Oh well, all good things must come to an end - except, well, this isn’t really very good. It’s reminiscent of the second Enfield Haunting one (2016) as the Smurl family start to find their home is being terrorised by a spirit that this time has been malevolently lingering on the land that their new home has been built on. Initially, the Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are reluctant to get involved, but when a priest is found dangling down the stairwell of the bishop’s residence and then their daughter ...

A private user reviewed The Wedding Banquet (2025)

The Wedding Banquet

“To thine own self be true” is more than just an oft-used platitude. It’s also good advice, given that concocting and pulling off a scheme rooted in artifice is virtually assured to fail. Such is the case when a long-term gay male couple, Chris and Min (Bowen Yang, Han Gi-Chan, respectively), hatches what they believe to be an ingenious plan for carrying out a marriage of convenience involving their lesbian friends, Lee and Angela (Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, respectively). In essence, Min, a South Korean national from a moneyed background ...

A private user reviewed Star Trek: Section 31 (2025)

Star Trek: Section 31

As a lifelong diehard “Star Trek” fan, I find it almost unfathomable to think that I would end up writing something negative about a franchise with which I have long been so deeply enamored – until now. The Paramount+ network’s first effort at creating a standalone “Trek” feature film is, to be honest, dreadful. “Section 31” is a picture with so many problems that it’s hard to know where to begin. For starters, the narrative is so convoluted that it’s difficult to follow without taking notes or constantly hitting the rewind ...

A private user reviewed We Bury the Dead (2026)

We Bury the Dead

Full review: https://movieswetextedabout.com/we-bury-the-dead-movie-review-daisy-ridley-delivers-a-masterclass-in-stoic-despair/

Rating: B-

"We Bury The Dead ends up being a positive experience, where technical excellence and a sweeping central performance try to compensate for a script that loses its breath and coherence in the home stretch. Although it doesn't manage to keep the promise of its unique premise until the end, falling into conventions it sought ...

A private user reviewed Seven Veils (2025)

Seven Veils

Author/poet/playwright Oscar Wilde is widely renowned for his observation that “Life imitates art” (or, more precisely, as the full quote maintains, that “Life imitates art far more often than art imitates life”). But is that statement indeed true? In many ways, it seems that both propositions are just about equally valid these days. And that’s a pervasive theme – from both perspectives – that runs through the latest feature from writer-director Atom Egoyan. The film tells the story of a theatrical director (Amanda Seyfried) who takes on the challenge of mounting ...

A private user reviewed Five Nights at Freddy's 2 (2025)

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

⭐ Review of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 ⭐

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is simply excellent! The movie delivers incredible visual effects that keep you on edge from start to finish. I literally jumped 11 times, which shows how well the horror atmosphere is handled ...

A private user reviewed Back in Action (2025)

Back in Action

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/back-in-action-review/

"Back in Action would have been more appropriately titled Out of Action. Seth Gordon fails to strike the necessary balance between action, humor, and emotion to stand out in the genre, delivering a highly forgettable, formulaic piece ...

A private user reviewed Friendship (2025)

Friendship

“Tami” (Kate Mara) is recovering from cancer, needs a bigger van for her flourishing florist business, kisses her teenage son on the lips, and is married to advertising executive “Craig” (Tim Robinson). He is a fastidious gent, usually clad in beige, who keeps himself to himself and is largely derided by his workmates as being a bit of a drip. They are looking to move house when they get a parcel for an address nearby. “Craig” is an helpful sort of fella and so takes it round to “Austin” (Paul Rudd) ...

A private user reviewed Lilo & Stitch (2025)

Lilo & Stitch

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/lilo-stitch-movie-review-one-of-disneys-most-heartfelt-adorable-remakes-yet/

"Lilo & Stitch is one of Disney's most adorable, emotionally sincere live-action remakes to date.

With charming performances - protect Maia Kealoha at all costs - an incredibly cute Stitch, and a heart as big as the world, Dean Fleischer Camp proves that there's room for new versions when they're made with soul and ...

A private user reviewed Bring Them Down (2025)

Bring Them Down

We start with a fairly traumatic car accident that goes some way in explaining just why, many years later, the sheep farming “Michael” (Christopher Abbott) is living with his immobile dad (Colm Meaney) and living a fairly unfulfilled life. Their neighbour calls to advise that a couple of his rams have been found dead on their farm and so when he goes to investigate, we meet “Caroline” (Nora-Jane Noone) who used to be his girlfriend before she left him for “Gary” (Paul Ready) and they had son “Jack” (Barry Keoghan). With ...

A private user reviewed The Monkey (2025)

The Monkey

'The Monkey' has a great concept and I enjoyed the wacky nature of it, I did almost lose interest in the human characters towards the end though. That isn't the best sign given the short 90 minute run time, but the end does come when desired so that saves it.

Theo James is pretty good in this, for sure the most I've liked seeing him. I haven't seen him act much (five films now), my ...

A private user reviewed Nobody 2 (2025)

Nobody 2

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/nobody-2-movie-review-bob-odenkirk-returns-in-an-action-sequel-that-knows-its-audience/

"Nobody 2 isn't going to redefine the genre or make anyone's top-ten lists of the year, but it fulfills its mission perfectly: entertain its target audience for ninety minutes with inventive, stunt-driven action, sharp humor, and a charismatic lead ...

A private user reviewed Die My Love (2025)

Die My Love

“Grace” (Jennifer Lawrence) and boyfriend “Jackson” (Robert Pattinson) arrive at the remote Montana home that used to belong to his uncle. She’s not exactly enamoured of the place but they are so loved up that it is quickly a case of getting down to things on the wooden flooring and making themselves a bairn. Thing is, though, once motherhood beckons “Grace” begins to feel the full effects of their isolation. With “Jackson” at work, often far away, she finds herself bored and captivated by their married and motor-cycle riding neighbour “Karl” ...

A private user reviewed F1 (2025)

F1

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/f1-review-a-high-octane-triumph-of-technical-filmmaking/

"F1 is a technical and sensory triumph, a cinematic rollercoaster that throws viewers right into the heart of the action with rare intensity.

Despite some narrative stumbles and a familiar structure, Joseph Kosinski's creatively bold and technically dazzling vision, Hans Zimmer's electrifying score, and a fully committed cast turn this blockbuster into one of ...

A private user reviewed Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

I’m sure I remember reading that the first of this trio of films (2019) was going to be a one-off? Well obviously it wasn’t and despite a fairly thin plot here, it is quite hard to believe that the “Crawley” clan and their staff are really going to be hanging up their hats here, either. This time, it’s the American cousins who are due to visit them all with, they hope, some good news on the inheritance front following the death of the mother of the Countess (Elizabeth McGovern). It also ...

A private user reviewed Bad Apples (2026)

Bad Apples

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/bad-apples-review/

"Bad Apples is a shocking, original satire, carried by Saoirse Ronan in a state of grace and surprising child performances.

Its journey toward the absurd is highly entertaining, but the constant collision between the dramatic weight of the staging and the ridiculousness of the script creates a tonal dissonance that affects its final message ...

A private user reviewed The Electric State (2025)

The Electric State

Never read the book, so I went into this movie unbiased. (Will read the book now) This movie is a "turn your brain off and enjoy the fun" kinda movie. It doesn't pretend to come across as realistic, it's just a fun action fantasy with robots and humor. Throw Chris Pratt into the mix and you can't go wrong. Herman, the robot (Anthony Mackie) was obviously the star of the show with his snappy remarks. I know Millie Bobby Brown's star is rising lately, but she doesn't do it for me ...