glumski

All Cheerleaders Die is the kind of movie you stumble upon while looking for trashy but fun horror comedies. It features generic cheerleaders in a vague "Mean Girls" setup, generic jocks to serve as the antagonists, a discount version of Willow Rosenberg that's gone a tad too far into necromancy, and a writer-director duo that's trying to fit all their male fantasies into a single movie.

Despite half a library's worth of plot points squeezed into a ninety minute runtime, All Cheerleaders Die somehow finds the time to have bland and boring spots, but it delivers where it needs to. Still, it delivers where it needs to but certainly doesn't punch above its weight class.

I came for some campy horror and was surprised to also find hot cheerleader zombies eating some innocent randos, hot cheerleader not-yet-zombies kissing each other, hot cheerleader zombies having teenage drama meltdowns, and hot cheerleader zombies being killed in unnecessarily bloody ways. (I might be sensing a theme here.) The film ends on calling itself "Part 1", which seems a fair bit too optimistic. Also, this is apparently a remake of a 2001 movie of the same name; apparently the writer-director duo were appalled to find that their original "masterpiece" had been all but forgotten and decided to just make it again twelve years later. No third version in 2025? Somehow I fail to be disappointed.

KPop Demon Hunters is one of those movies that come out of nowhere, are supposed to appeal only to niche audiences, and nevertheless somehow manage to break the charts.

The premise: In the ancient world of KPop Demon Hunters, demons preyed on defenseless humans until the huntresses arose, fighting the demons not only with martial force but also with their voices, raising the spirits of those the huntresses are sworn to protect. Ever since, there has always been a trio of huntresses to shield humanity from the demons. In present day, the duty has fallen to Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, leading a double life as the KPop trio of Huntr/x at day and a team of fierce demon huntresses at night. However, Rumi is keeping a terrible secret: she may not be entirely human herself...

Not only does the premise of KPop Demon Hunters sound like every superhero/supernatural teen show since Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it is entirely formulaic and predictable without offering any surprises at any point. But there is a reason why this true and tried formula has been steadfastly present over the last few decades: it's entertaining, it's often heartfelt, and it just works.

What sets KPop Demon Hunters aside from the many, many generic superhero and supernatural teen shows and movies is that the developers absolutely killed it in the execution. The story hits just the right balance between action and emotion, the animations are a joy to behold, the colour palette is a feast for the eyes, and most importantly, the songs are all almost painfully catchy.

KPop Demon Hunters isn't really doing anything new, but it sure is doing it right. While the mild violence might disqualify the movie for the youngest audiences, it certainly is highly enjoyable both for young and old. The most relevant warning may very well be that the parents of preteen girls will soon be faced with the movie and its songs on endless repeat, like a supercharged version of Let It Go from more than a decade in the past.

Despite being yet another Disney-produced Star Wars series, 'Andor' sets itself apart both by tone and by intent. Unlike other recent works like 'The Mandalorian', 'Ahsoka', or even the sequel movie trilogy, 'Andor' does not try to expand the Star Wars universe in new directions but instead returns back to the roots, featuring the Empire as the oppressively powerful antagonist, and directly tying into the original movie trilogy. The end of the second and final season of 'Andor' concludes with the start of 'Rogue One', which itself concludes with the start of the original 'Star Wars: A New Hope'.

As such, 'Andor' is also terribly derivative. Its titular protagonist, Cassian Andor, is also the protagonist of 'Rogue One'. Other characters known from the original 'Star Wars', such as Mon Mothma, the leader of rebellion, have their own storylines in this series. Additional characters and events are referenced repeatedly, and as such 'Andor' isn't quite suitable for an audience unfamiliar with at least 'Rogue One' and 'A New Hope'.

The story of 'Andor' begins five years before 'Star Wars IV' and follows a number of characters as they are directly or indirectly involved in the build-up of the Rebellion against the Empire. In addition to Cassian Andor and Mon Mothma, there is also Luthen Rael, who serves as a sort of spymaster for the incipient rebellion, Dedra Meero, who works in the Imperial Security Bureau (essentially the Empire's KGB or CIA), Syril Karn, a fervent security officer on the hunt of Andor, and many others. Unlike typical Star Wars fare, these characters are multi-faceted and undergo severe development over the five year span to the end of the series.

This also sets the tone for the series. There are no lightsabre-swinging Jedi, no magic Force powers, but instead political intrigues, violent incursions, and calamitous uprisings. 'Andor' is a thoroughly mature series, where some episodes are almost entirely devoid of action, building up to a greater finale.

This pace is perhaps the series' weakest point. Episodes are typically bundled in trilogies, two to set up the action of the third. While the initial episodes are certainly not boring, they very much are slow. Personally, I thought that the second season was especially sedate at setting up, taking a full seven episodes to finally culminate in a furious escalation in its eighth episode, which I consider one of the best TV episodes I've ever seen. The fast pace is kept for a total of three remarkably excellent episodes, before 'Andor' spins down and instead focuses on setting the stage for 'Rogue One' and 'A New Hope'.

In total, 'Andor' is a hot recommendation if and only if you have an interest in the Star Wars franchise and at least some knowledge of 'Rogue One' and 'A New Hope'. I'd certainly love to see more works that follow ordinary people in their fight against the Empire; to me, this seems considerably more interesting than the usual Force shenanigans. The mature and unromanticised atmosphere is extremely welcome as well, as it has been in other high points of the franchise like 'Rogue One' or the final few episodes of 'The Clone Wars'.