judemarkland

While this is undoubtedly the best we've seen dwayne johnson, that's not necessarily saying all that much. If an NBA player goes from 2 points a game to 15, that's an impressive improvement but that doesn't mean he's an MVP. And with all the talk of dwayne johnson's performance, it's a little ironic that emily blunt and ryan bader acted circles around him every scene there were in.

Overall this was a frustratingly well stylized movie that would be otherwise aggressively mediocre.

It's rare for me to walk into a movie with exceedingly high expectations and to still be completely blown out of the water, yet here we are. Francis Lawrence's The Long Walk left me with my mind blown and my heart shattered, let's go into it.

There wasn't a ton of world building in this film, because frankly, it didn't need it. It didn't need to explain to you what was going on, you already knew. The lack of explanation of how the world got to this point, if anything added to the experience.

Finally this film starts off letting you know exactly what kind of movie it's gonna be. Yes, these are kids, but it isn't pulling any punches. This film is dark. Very dark, and it doesn't cut away to make you feel better. You truly watch these kids die in gory fashion.

In a film like this it's tough to make characters without putting them into a box, almost like character types that don't actually act like normal people would. This film didn't have that problem. Each of the people we meet, genuinely seem like real human beings who just want a better life. Even the characters that are supposed to be the antagonistic ones, have real depth to them, and you can tell deep down they're just a scared kid, just like the rest of them.

The biggest takeaway from this movie was the acting. Holy crap. There was not a single unremarkable performance in this movie. Specifically from David Johnson. I could write an entire essay on David Johnson's performance in this. Every single time this man was talking, I was so invested and intrigued. Sorry to any supporting actors this year, David Johnson just gave the performance of a lifetime. Cooper Hoffman plays an incredible anchor as the lead. He really brought his A-game and was flawless. The scenes of him and David Johnson felt like acting masterclasses, it was incredible. Those two standouts were followed by a variety of great supporting roles from Ben Wang, Tut Nyuot, Garret Wareing, and Charlie Plummer. Plus it's great to see Roman Griffin Davis in another good movie since his standout performance in JoJo Rabbit (2019). The performances in this movie were so strong, that I was crying for more of this movie then I wasn't.

The deadly teen dystopian genre is one that frankly has been milked to death (Looking at you Divergent) yet The Long Walk is a refreshingly strong take, and a clear standout of the year. See this in theatres, and cry, and laugh, and make a bloody mess of yourself like I did. It adds to the experience.

If you told me that a movie literally titled The Threesome was not only going to be hilarious but also grounded, mature, and frankly pretty beautiful, I would've thought you were crazy.

Let's start with the obvious, this movie is so funny. Almost every joke lands, several times I was laughing obnoxiously loud. Generationally hilarious performance from Zoey Deutch in this. I am baffled on how she isn't in more movies. I challenge you to think of a single movie where she wasn't the best part of it. She is so incredibly funny. Don't get me wrong, the other actors were funny too. Jabouki Young-White was super funny as Greg, and Ruby Cruz gave me some good laughs, but Zoey Deutch really carried it for me.

The movie was frankly sweet as hell! It's not easy to make a movie about a threesome turned double pregnancy into a heartwarming story about all the messy catches that come with being in love. Hate to keep beating a dead horse but Zoey Deutch nailed the heartfelt scenes as well! Truly, hats off to whoever decided to cast her in this because good lord was she great.

Saying that the movie The Threesome was shockingly mature sounds like an oxymoron but alas here we are. A big topic of this movie was abortion. And it looked at it, in such a real, profound way. It never turned into a pro-life MAGA thing, but it didn't romanticize abortion either. That's a tough, sad decision for someone to make. And someone should have every right to not want to get an abortion out of their own moral beliefs, as someone should have the right to get one. Ruby Cruz's character was originally portrayed as this "anti-abortion religious freak" but as you get to know her, it's just her fears and beliefs. She would judge herself for getting one, but she never once even hints that she doesn't believe in the right to, just that it isn't for her. This movie was really what being pro-choice is all about. The choice.

I was lucky enough to see this movie early, so that I can tell you guys, ignore the haters! This movie is awesome! It's a fun, rated R, romcom, that also makes you really think about love and relationships, what else could you ask for?