themizk-19715 Reviews

Pearl (2022)

Just an absolutely powerhouse performance

[9/10 · 25 October 2022]

I feel like people aren't talking about this enough. Yes, it is a strange prequel to a movie that you would absolutely never expect a prequel to in X (perhaps this years biggest surprise on the horror side of things).

Pearl as a character is written so perfectly that I think if X didn't exist and this was the first introduction to her that this movie could have been absolutely huge. I actually think the fact that this was a prequel hurt it's marketability somewhat. X was a fun slasher that took us back to when things were simple and campy and Pearl is a very in-depth character piece that I wouldn't even remotely describe as a "horror" film. It has elements of it, sure, but I'd describe it more like a combination of the film "Prescious" and "Election". Weird combination but the absolute horrifying conditions she's living in juxtaposed with her willingness to do whatever it takes to become a star this is the best I can come up with right now.

This is among the best films of the year and has stayed with me longer than most of the other contenders (that I've seen...which is most of them).

Ticket to Paradise (2022)

You get what you pay for

[6/10 · 25 October 2022]

Nothing surprising here. The two leads give you exactly what you expect them to give you... themselves amped up to 12 charm-wise. The banter is fast and they have an understanding of each other that perhaps isn't earned considering they haven't spoken in 20 years and weren't together all that long. They know all of each others little tricks.

The setting is absolutely wonderful and the best single aspect of the movie. The locals seem so friendly, the scenery is obviously incredible, and there seems to be a heart to the place that makes you believe someone on the path to becoming a lawyer could fall in love there.

We can all agree we needed more Billie Lourd.

High School (2022)

An EXCELLENT coming of age story

[9/10 · 25 October 2022]

I only knew tangentially of tegan and sara before seeing this show. It doesn't matter towards your potential enjoyment whatsoever.

The scene-setting for me particularly (incredibly early-mid 90's pilled musically) was so fun to see. My high school experience was a decade after this show but It didn't feel far off at all.

The acting is quite good. The 2 leads are asked to be all sorts of things... snotty, sarcastic, infatuated, caring... and they do all of it well enough. The real heavy hitting will come towards the end of the season I'm assuming.

The Mother is a real breath of fresh air. She strikes a balance between "cool mom" and stern that you love to see.

Having 2 separate but conjoined queer stories at the helm of a coming of age show is something we need more of. Hopefully gone are the days of a "thrown in" queer story or even the stereotypical stuff with a "good heart". This feels very real.

Let the Right One In (2022)

An admirable continuation of the IP

[8/10 · 25 October 2022]

The story of childhood lost and found and all of the moral questions asked of the father-figure are still a highlight here. They are somewhat muddied by a side-plot which might lend itself to answering some of the questions people may have had about how this all started...weather it be necessary or not. That being said, all the acting is good and I am interested to see where they take this version.

There are no immediate standouts acting-wise for me but there aren't any performances that don't belong, either. Feels very ensemble to me which is a different take on the IP considering how heavily it generally leaned on the child actors.

Any reviews that say this is just a "woke-ified" version of the IP should be disregarded, of course. I'm sure there are many.