These are quick impressions of some other newly released films that I watched over the past month that I wasn’t able to write more in-depth reviews for. Please note that these are just some of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for these films may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
The Drama
Plot, Via Letterboxd: A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.
Quick Impressions:The Drama is the kind of film that feels almost engineered to divide people. Critics, audiences, and even activists seem split on how it handles its central premise; one that the marketing goes out of its way to obscure, even though it probably warrants some kind of trigger warning going in. When the film finally lays its cards on the table, the tonal whiplash can be jarring, and it’s easy to see why some viewers find it off-putting or even irresponsible in how it navigates such sensitive territory.
That said, there’s something undeniably compelling in what it’s trying to say. Beneath the shock value, the film digs into the awkward, often uncomfortable reality of love; how it means accepting not just the best parts of someone, but also their flaws, closeted secrets, and contradictions. There are moments of genuine comedy mixed in with some pretty harsh truths, giving the film a strange but effective emotional texture. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it hits hard; and the finale, in particular, does a lot of heavy lifting, delivering a closing stretch that elevates the entire experience.
Initial Grading: B+
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Plot, Via Letterboxd: Having thwarted Bowser’s previous plot to marry Princess Peach, Mario and Luigi now face a fresh threat in Bowser Jr., who is determined to liberate his father from captivity and restore the family legacy. Alongside companions new and old, the brothers travel across the stars to stop the young heir’s crusade.
Quick Impressions:The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is undeniably a feast for the senses. The animation is gorgeous, bursting with color and scale in a way that really captures the cosmic wonder of its source material, and the score does a lot of heavy lifting in selling that sense of adventure. There are individual moments and set pieces that feel awe-inspiring on their own, the kind of sequences clearly designed to get longtime fans excited. But once you step back from those flashes, the cracks start to show, and they show quickly.
If anything, the film is even worse paced and written than the original, which has only aged more poorly for me over time. It leans heavily on Easter eggs and flashy visuals without ever weaving them into a coherent or satisfying story, resulting in a bloated experience that drags despite constantly throwing things at the screen. There are even a few character arcs that seem promising at first, only to go nowhere by the time the credits roll. It ends up feeling less like a fully realized film and more like a collection of fan-service moments stitched together. For me, it crosses into frustrating territory, banking so hard on Mario nostalgia that it assumes audiences won’t demand better, and sadly they don’t in this case.
Initial Grading: C-
Faces Of Death
Plot, Via Letterboxd: A woman, employed as a website content moderator, comes across a series of violent videos reproducing death scenes from a film.
Quick Impressions:Faces Of Death tapped into a surprisingly personal sense of nostalgia for me, bringing me back to my high school years when I first became aware of the infamous series it’s built around. There was always this aura of taboo curiosity surrounding it, something you weren’t supposed to watch but couldn’t help hearing about, and the film does a solid job of capturing that uneasy fascination. It leans into that cultural memory in a way that feels authentic, almost like it understands why this material lingered in the back of people’s minds for so long.
As a horror film, it ends up being decent enough, even if it doesn’t fully break new ground. Where it stands out is in its willingness to engage with the idea of shock content itself; why we seek it out, how we process it, and what it says about us as viewers. It doesn’t always dig as deep as it could, but there’s a genuine attempt to wrestle with those questions rather than just exploit them. That added layer gives the film a bit more substance, making it more than just a surface-level scare ride.
Initial Grading: B-
You, Me & Tuscany
Plot, Via Letterboxd: When a woman crashes at an empty Italian villa, posing as the owner’s fiancée, she discovers an unexpected romance that could transform her life.
Quick Impressions:You, Me And Tuscany looks and plays exactly like what you’d expect from a straight-to-streaming romance; sun-drenched locations, attractive leads, and a familiar story that hits every beat right on cue. There’s a certain baseline competence to it, and it never quite dips into being outright bad, but it also never finds a way to distinguish itself from the dozens of similar films that flood the algorithm. It’s polished in that generic way, where everything is pleasant enough but rarely feels specific or lived-in.
The biggest issue is just how quickly it evaporates once it’s over. There’s no standout chemistry, no particularly memorable set piece, and no emotional hook strong enough to linger. It’s the kind of movie you throw on for a quiet night and then immediately forget you even watched a day later. Not horrible by any means, but firmly in that mixed-to-negative territory where it just doesn’t justify its own existence beyond filling space in a streaming library.
Initial Grading: C+
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
Plot, Via Letterboxd: The young daughter of a journalist disappears into the desert without a trace; eight years later, the broken family is shocked when she is returned to them, as what should be a joyful reunion turns into a living nightmare.
Quick Impressions: Man, this movie was a mess. It feels like it’s constantly restarting itself, opening with not one but two intros that never quite settle into a clear direction. From there, it drifts through uneven pacing, clunky dialogue, and direction that struggles to build any real sense of tension or momentum. Even when it leans into horror, a lot of it comes off as trying too hard, like it’s forcing scares instead of earning them, resulting in moments that feel more awkward than unsettling. By the time it reaches what should be its climax, it’s hard to tell if the film is actually ending or just gearing up for yet another false finish.
And yet, buried within all that chaos are glimpses of something genuinely interesting. There are flashes of a fresher take on the Mummy mythos, moments where the film hints at a new angle that could’ve set it apart from previous iterations. You can see the outline of a better, more focused movie trying to break through, especially when it plays with expectations or leans into its more atmospheric ideas. Unfortunately, those pieces never fully come together, leaving you with a frustrating experience, one that’s not without potential, but ultimately undone by its inability to harness it.
Initial Grading: C+
Mother Mary
Plot, Via Letterboxd: Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm on the eve of her comeback performance.
Quick Impressions: David Lowery has always been a bit hit-or-miss for me, often treating his films like visual canvases where the cinematography and performances take center stage while the storytelling feels secondary. Mother Mary continues that trend. There’s no denying how striking the film looks or how carefully composed each frame is, and it’s clear he’s working with actors who are fully locked in. But as is often the case with his work, I found myself admiring it more than actually connecting with it.
It helps that Anne Hathaway delivers a genuinely strong performance here, holding her own alongside Michaela Coel in a way that gives the film some emotional grounding. The technical craft across the board is impressive, from the visuals to the sound design, and there are moments where it all clicks into something compelling. Still, the story itself comes off as pretentious and oddly cold, keeping the audience at a distance rather than pulling them in. It’s another case where the pieces are clearly there, but the overall experience left me more detached than moved.
Initial Grading: B-
Michael
Plot, Via Letterboxd: Discover the story of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists the world has ever known, and his life beyond the music, tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world, highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career.
Quick Impressions:Michael is one of the most bland, play-it-safe biopics Hollywood has put out in a while. It basically feels like Bohemian Rhapsody all over again, doing a few things better, a few things worse, but ultimately hitting the same overly familiar beats. The film spends two hours cycling through montage after montage of MJ’s life, heavily fixated on the Jackson 5 era, all set to his biggest hits in a way that feels more emotionally manipulative than genuinely earned. I caught myself smiling when the bangers kicked in, but that had everything to do with the music, not the script.
It’s not nearly as bad as some of the harsher reviews suggest, but it’s also extremely generic and ultimately forgettable. Even biopics I didn’t love at least took bigger swings with their storytelling; this one never really does. The clear highlights are the performances from Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, and Nia Long, with the first two in particular feeling like potential awards-season players depending on how things shake out.
As for everything else, it lands squarely in “eh, it’s fine” territory. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t enjoy it much either.
