“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” offers one of the most charming, refreshing and heartfelt movies since “Paddington 2”. An adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1970 novel, actresses Kathy Bates, Rachel McAdams and Abby Ryder Fortson in the lead role are absolute standouts, bringing this movie to life and making it feel real and endearing. 

The film provides incredibly powerful moments concerning growing up, public image and religion, particularly with a monologue in the latter part of the movie. A faithful adaptation of the book and according to author Judy Blume, pieces even better, you should go into this movie with as little information as possible.

If you grew up reading the novel by Judy Blume of the same name or have been into the girlcore trends circulating social media lately, boy is this the movie for you. “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is a charming piece of feel-good cinema that’s presentation of the awkward, middle school phase of girlhood is so sweet and realistic it’s impossible to dislike the movie. 

Rachel McAdams is a gift to humanity and her role as a loving mother is everything. She and lead actress Abby Ryder Fortson work together to produce a coming-of-age movie that hits the tween nail on the head with its hilariously relatable experiences the twelve-year-old main character Margaret goes through. It’s a delightful movie to cuddle up under the covers and watch with a drink and a fun little snack. 

While not necessarily groundbreaking by any means, “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” is the gentle, feel-good movie this year needed. 

Something “Barbie” does incredibly well is that it gives the viewer one of the most broad range of emotions within a two-hour span in recent memory. Between laughing hysterically, feeling utter hopelessness, enjoyable wackiness and serenity, this movie makes you feel everything. 

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are fantastic leads, embodying each of their respective characters superbly. “Barbie’s” production team is immaculate, making Barbieland look unlike anything seen before, although this leaves the real world looking overly uninspired. Despite this, director Greta Gerwig is able to provide one of the most original screenplays this year with incredible imagination and interesting themes. 

While the film doesn’t always meet its high expectations, it’s still a well-produced, well-directed and thought-provoking movie.

Exploding on social media for its well-known director, cast, and memes sparked from its release date being the same as “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie” was an unforgettable part of summer. 

Overall, the movie is a fun, quick-paced film that follows Margot Robbie’s character Stereotypical Barbie as she learns about the real world and being a real woman. With several emotional moments that women of all ages can connect with, Barbie solidified itself as a cultural impact with its feminist themes. 

While the movie has its flaws and plotholes, its vaguely white feminist lens, and a few complaints that it didn’t live up to expectations, “Barbie” is still a wild ride of a movie that’s perfect for a movie night. 

The cast, costuming and soundtrack are by far the highlights of the movie. The incredible casting of Ryan Gosling as Ken shows the man’s range as an actor and it’s so clear how much fun he’s having with the role through his energetic performance. The supporting cast of notable actors and actresses like Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Michael Cera, Simu Liu and America Ferrera, all add their charm and wit to the movie, bringing the characters to life in a way that makes the movie 100% more enjoyable to watch.

Between every other comedy released this year, “Bottoms” has shown to be one of the most critically acclaimed of the bunch. However, it doesn’t last long enough to make you care about any of the characters as much as you could. With a hilarious concept and dry humor everywhere, it should be a fun, original comedy. Except, it falls heavily into the usage of tropes, with a stretched-out, liar-revealed plot, the unpopular-to-popular storyline, and heavy inspiration from the movie “Fight Club”. 

The best parts of the movie are when the club is running smoothly as well as the final fifteen minutes, but outside of this, the movie just feels lackluster. The movie is good, only it delves too far into cliches and you don’t get to spend enough time with the characters to love what they’re doing.

A hilarious comedy that takes the experience of being an absolute loser in high school to another level by adding being queer to the mix, “Bottoms” is a movie that will be remembered as a teen cult classic. Chaotic and fast-paced, “Bottoms” never misses a beat. 

The dry, in-your-face humor of the script is expertly delivered by actresses Ayo Edebiri, Rachel Sennott, Havana Rose Liu and Ruby Cruz, who make up the main cast of girls we see. Supporting characters played by Kaia Jordan Gerber and Nicholas Galitzine 

With all of these recent Josh Hutcherson edits on Tiktok, one must think that it is because of the phenomenal success of “Five Nights at Freddy’s”…not quite. Unfortunately, FNAF ends up being a boring movie. Not because it is paced slowly, but because it doesn’t do anything unique. It is, ironically, a very safe movie to its own detriment.

It’s a shame that this movie became a box-office success solely because of name recognition. If this movie weren’t named “Five Nights at Freddy’s” it would have flopped as a poorly made movie.

Going into this movie with low expectations is a given, but consider dropping your expectations altogether. For both fans of the original “Five Nights at Freddy’s” games and people who only know of the franchise through memes and references on the internet, this movie was awfully disappointing.

Starring Josh Hutcherson (who’s recently become an internet sensation with the 2014 “Whistle” edit meme) fans flocked to the theaters to see his performance in the adaptation of a beloved childhood game. Unfortunately, even his acting couldn’t save this movie from being a dumpster fire. With little to no jumpscares– something the games are known for– and a confusing, underdeveloped storyline with shallow character development that adds nothing to the story, the movie is only enjoyable for its pop-culture relevance and being something to make fun of. 

With quality holiday movies becoming increasingly less common nowadays, “The Holdovers” stands out exponentially in a sea of Hallmark movies. In a very Ebenezer Scrooge-turned-good manor, this movie feels like a warm hug. 

Much like movies of the 80s, this film takes a simple premise: some students stay at school over break because they have no plans. It takes this premise, adds in amazing, thoroughly engaging characters that you want to learn about and it puts them in heartwarming scenarios. I have no doubt that this movie will go down as a classic holiday movie if given the attention it deserves.

Truly a holiday movie unlike any before, “The Holdovers” is a movie that simultaneously makes its audience feel warm and fuzzy on the inside while also being emotionally devastating. The film follows the stiff, hardened ancient civilizations teacher Paul Hunham played by Paul Giamatti and the mouthy, troublemaking boy under his care for the holidays Angus Tully played by Dominic Sessa. They, alongside a supporting cast of various characters, including other privileged boys who accompany Angus Tully at school and the chef Mary Lamb who’s recently lost her son, shape the movie to be heavily character-driven. 

The way the script is written is brilliantly done, with the audience getting to wheedle out new details about the characters at the exact same time they do to each other. It’s a witty script that is expertly delivered and feels like entirely real conversations plucked out of a New England boarding school just like the one in the film. The writing isn’t the only great part of the movie, though, with the soundtrack being outstanding in it’s time-accurate music like “Venus” by Shocking Blue and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” by the Allman Brothers playing in the background of scenes to really instill the early 70’s time period of the movie. 

“The Holdovers” has a certain quality that makes it feel timeless, an instant classic that is a must-watch every time the holidays roll around going forward. 

With an eleven-mile-long roll of film that weighs 600 pounds a movie like “Oppenheimer” must carry a lot of weight, and thankfully it does. Director Christopher Nolan has received a lot of flack over the years for his lack of focus on character in film, instead focusing on the plot instead, but “Oppenheimer” takes these criticisms and turns them on their head. 

With a screenplay written in the first-person perspective, fantastic direction and an Oscar-worthy performance from Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” stands out as Nolan’s best character study. In just a few scenes following the bombings, you can see and feel firsthand the emotional toll these developments held on Oppenheimer. With the film’s powerful imagery, jaw-dropping music accompaniment and fantastic supporting performances from the cast, “Oppenheimer ” shapes up to be one of, if not the best film of the year.

An absolute bomb of a movie (pun intended), Christopher Nolan’s biopic “Oppenheimer” is one of the best movies of the year. 

Cillian Murphy delivers an outstanding performance as R.J. Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, presenting the American theoretical physicist as a complex, intelligent man whose life leading up to, during and after World War 2 affected himself, America and the history of the world. 

While a deeply compelling movie for history buffs, film nerds and critics alike, some audiences complained about the long run-time and parts of the movie being difficult to understand or too slow. The movie is not for everyone, but if you’re looking for a beautifully crafted movie with an excellent script, outstanding music and compelling narrative that you can commit your focus to, “Oppenheimer” is the best movie from the past year. 

Produced by studio A24, a trend I’ve noticed with the studio is their release of realistic movies. While some use sci-fi or horror elements they always seem to be grounded in reality. “Past Lives” is no different.

Much like “Lost in Translation” or the “Before” trilogy, this movie plays unlike a wacky or extreme rom-com, but instead, as a real romance and slice-of-life between two people. In one of the best moments of the movie, director Celine Song shows a couple talking in bed about the situation they’re in. It is done incredibly well because it plays exactly how you could imagine. Although a slice-of-life storyline may turn some viewers off, the film engages you so quickly in the situations that the characters are in and makes you truly feel like you know these people. 

It is amazing how much the movie covers about living past lives, choices in life, and where they will take us. For Celine Song’s directorial debut, this is a magnificent film that should absolutely receive all the awards it deserves.

A stunning directorial debut by Celine Song. “Past Lives” is a film that simultaneously leaves you feeling nostalgic and philosophical while also heart-wrenching in its romance. The commentary on immigration hits incredibly hard in its expertly written dialogue and presentation, with nearly half of the movie being entirely in Korean. Nora, played by Greta Lee and Hae-Sung, played by Teo Yoo, are childhood sweethearts who reconnect throughout their lives and each time leave a mark on each other that is unshakeable. 

The movie feels less like a romance than it does a philosophical spin on love, marriage and something so huge as fate leading everyone together. There’s been countless theories to explain why people fall in love, from soulmates to the red-string theory and to In-Yun– the Korean belief that interactions in the present life are owed to interactions in a past life. This feeds into the whole movie and drives home this clear division between Korean and American lives that Nora has bridged through her immigration, her marriage and her personality as someone who leaves. 

As Letterboxd’s highest-rated animated film of all time, does it live up to its high status? Basically. As a fan with generally favorable opinions towards “Into the Spider-Verse”, though not as overwhelmingly positive as many, this fully surpassed my expectations. 

An incredible quality of the “Spider-Verse” franchise is its ability to provide fascinating characters with a story not over-saturated with fan service or cliches. Yet, the series still delivers one of the most visually inspiring franchises of all time. “Across the Spider-Verse”‘s incredible music, pacing, sharp storytelling, and an ending that will leave fans wanting more cements it as one of the greatest animated films of all time. Perhaps not the greatest, but certainly one of them.

After the massive hit that was “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” which brought together die-hard animation and superhero fans, expectations for the next two movies were through the roof and the pressure was on for Sony. Luckily, after four years of anxious waiting, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was released and blew the minds of everyone all over again. 

An amazing animation team worked for over three years to create the flawless art of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” that stands out from other animated movies, enhancing the film’s signature look that was established in the first movie. Everything about the movie is incredible, from the voice acting, to the animation, to the music, to the character design. It’s evident how much dedication, thought and love was poured into the movie to live up to the success of the first and it’s an animated masterpiece that cannot be topped. 

For a directorial debut, the Philippou siblings did an honorable job at making a very well-made movie. With the whole movie centered around a supernatural hand as an allegory for teenage drug use, this is where the story shines. As the hand is used more and more often, you can see quite literally how it is destroying their own lives as well as others in truly terrifying ways. It makes the start of the movie even scarier to see how nonchalantly they use the obviously dangerous hand. Certainly not a rewatchable movie, but a decent film for the A24 studio and a good debut for the Philippou siblings.

As far as horror movies go, “Talk to Me” is a solid addition to the genre. While it doesn’t stand out for its horror elements– gore, jumpscares, screams, etc– it’s a very well-shot film with great music. 

Led by Sophie Wilde as Mia, who’s an awkward, off-putting young girl trying desperately to fit in with her peers, Mia attempts to cope with the loss of her mother by going out to a party that’s gone viral. What stands out the most is the montage of the main group of teens taking turns shaking hands with the embalmed hand that summons ghosts like the activity is a party game. It’s a brilliant scene that’s very fun to watch but after that, the movie is depressingly predictable. Overall the movie is pretty good and is great for a horror movie night, but not necessarily anything groundbreaking. 

Does Timothée Chalamet live up to Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp’s performances as Willy Wonka? Somewhat. It is hard to compare the three performances because they are all completely different. Gene Wilder delivered a calm and quirky Wonka, Depp gave an eccentric yet childish interpretation, and Chalamet gave the audience a youthful, while not childish, but very theater-esk performance. You’ll either love this or hate it. 

Directed by the same directors of “Paddington”, you can easily see how they made this, and that’s one of the best parts about this movie. You can tell the creators have a lot of love and respect for the original. This movie does not worsen the image of Willy Wonka in any way nor take away from the world. It is definitely the most Roald Dahl-inspired movie despite this being the only Willy Wonka movie not based on his book. 

While the emotional core is fantastic and the movie was handled with care, the movie is quite campy, which may work for some and won’t for others.

When the trailer for this movie originally released, many were skeptical of American-French actor Timothée Chalamet’s capabilities as a lead in a musical, especially one that is a prequel to the beloved novel and franchise Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. However, when the movie finally released, many were pleasantly surprised at the charming spin put on the classic. 

The film introduces Willy Wonka as a young man just starting his career, pre-Oompa Loompa and everything. This set-up allows for an interesting amount of worldbuilding that was unexpected and isn’t necessarily well-done by any means. What the movie lacks in quality it makes up for in pure entertainment. The musical numbers are jaunty and catchy enough, with the choreography being funny to watch. Chalamet is a capable singer who puts his heart into belting out those tunes and it’s easy to sit back and enjoy. 

While obviously a movie made for children by the simplistic storyline, scenes and origin, “Wonka” is a great watch for the whole family and holds a lot of jokes, references and details that more mature audiences can laugh at.

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