Forgotten Island - Review: Don't You Forget About Me

A movie can be inspired by anything, and a film being inspired by a friendship is one of the oldest traditions. Writer/directors Joel Crawford (“The Croods: A New Age,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”) and Januel Mercado (“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”) are best friends. They became best friends by working at DreamWorks together and eventually directed films for the studio together. So, it's only fitting then that they would get to make a film inspired by their own friendship for the studio where they met. And they’ve done just that, mixing in the Filipino mythology of Mercado’s upbringing and the stylized animation of their previous directorial effort, to craft an animated trip to a “Forgotten Island.”

Set in the 1990s, the film follows best friends Jo, voiced by H.E.R. (“The Color Purple (2023)”) and Raissa, voiced by Liza Soberano (“Alone/Together,” “Forevermore”), growing up together in the Philippines. After Raissa decides to go to college in the United States much to Jo’s disappointment, the pair find themselves transported to Nakali Island, a mythical island full of monsters and creatures from Filippino folklore. Stranded on the island, they enlist in the help of a werewolf Raww, voiced by Dave Franco (“Neighbors,” “Now You See Me”), to help them find a way home before the island causes them to forget their entire friendship.

Soberano and H.E.R. are perfect together, with plenty of love and chemistry oozing from each of their interactions. They’re not only believable as best friends, but their vocal performances nail the varied tones of the adventure. The tale runs the gamut from wild, outlandish comedy to fantastical but serious drama. They never falter, earning the emotions throughout. Franco is also great, turning in a surprisingly layered and charming performance as the rambunctious Raww. The supporting cast ranges from comedic standouts like Manny Jacinto (“The Acolyte,” “The Good Place”) as the demon baby Bungi and Kevin McCann (“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”) as the Kataw prince Mermahn, to the more serious roles like Jenny Slate (“Zootopia,” “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)”) as Batiba the memory demon or Lea Salonga (“Yellow Rose,” “Sana Maulit Muli”) as the villainous demon Manang. All are fantastic, with Slate and Salonga standing out among a sea of excellent supporting performances.

Crawford and Mercado’s script goes for some true emotion throughout the film, and it all works wonders. Watching Jo and Raissa hang out, just existing with each other, talking out their issues and their new quest makes for a really engaging story, and their humor feels perfectly mined from a real-life friendship. Yes, it's loud, brash, and moves like a bullet through its tale. But as opposed to other animated films where the humor can feel aggressive, here it all feels like it naturally comes from the personalities of the two leads, and by extension the two writers. It won’t be for everyone, but it never feels false or inauthentic, and the tonal balances really work. For a film to go from broad silly humor to deeply serious sequences of emotional drama without breaking a sweat, it’s a true triumph.

Given how exceptionally stylish their “Puss in Boots” film was, it should come as no surprise that Crawford and Mercado have pushed those aspects even further here. Not only is the film bursting at the seams with color on every scale, but there’s hardly a moment where something stylish isn’t going on. There’s a heavy emphasis on mixing two-dimensional and three-dimensional animation, from entire sequences animated by hand to layering two-dimensional elements on top of three-dimensional characters. It’s a dizzying art style and always manages to provide something new to see in each new scene, bring the Philippines and Island to life in gorgeous ways. The musical identity of the film is also fantastically unique; Nathan Matthew David (“Chang Can Dunk,” “Deadly Class”) develops a unique sound that meshes modern Hollywood sensibilities with Filipino flare and language.

It could be easy to call “Forgotten Island” loud or brash or hyperactive or silly. But its easier to call it deeply authentic. Here is a film that feels like it was made by two friends to make each other laugh and cry, and it just so happened to reach a mainstream audience after the fact. The voice cast is fantastic, the animation is gorgeously stylish, the tonal balance is just right, and the musical identity is pitch perfect. There’s so much energy and creativity here that it feels at times like a movie Crawford and Mercado got away with making. Something for just the two of them. Something unforgettable. 5/5

Primetime - Review: You See How This Looks

 

As the television landscape changed in the 1990s, most households went from watching Rachel and Ross and Jerry and Elaine to Big Brother and Jersey Shore and anything that involved Keeping Up with those darn Kardashians. But arguably one of the most lasting figures in 2000s pop culture is Chris Hansen and “To Catch a Predator,” a program that has loomed large over the years and remained a part of American culture even to this day. Its legacy has continued in various forms to this day, from other programs hosted by Hansen to various other forms of internet vigilantism. Now, we have a biopic film seeking to chronicle the meteoric rise and fall of that original series with “Primetime.”

Based on the Esquire article by Luke Dittrich, the film follows Chris Hansen, played by Robert Pattinson (“Twilight,” “The Batman”), as he and his producer Andie Bender, played by Merritt Weaver (“Nurse Jackie,” “Unbelievable”), are invited by NBC to develop “To Catch a Predator” into a spinoff for a primetime slot. This involves hiring a new acting decoy named Dan, played by Skylar Gisondo (“Superman (2025),” “Santa Clarita Diet”), and seeking out bigger, juicier targets courtesy of their internet team Perverted Justice, led by founder Xavier, played by Matthew Maher (“Air,” “Our Flag Means Death”) and longstanding decoy Del, played by Phoebe Bridgers.

This is a thorny film full of difficult subject material, and director Lance Oppenheim’s (“Some Kind of Heaven,” “Ren Faire”) trademark flourishes are here on grand display. It’s a film full of fuzzy lighting cues and camerawork, deliberately mimicking the style of CRT televisions from the early 2000s. Each moment has some kind of deliberately faked lighting choice that rattles the sense of realism throughout. No moment feels out of place, as if each is chosen to prevent the audience from falling into a sense of complacency. But it isn’t just for show; the film is laser focused on showcasing Hansen’s descent during this pursuit of journalistic integrity, and so much of the film is dedicated to showcasing that spiral in him and the rest of his crew. Oppenheim and cinematographer David Bolen (“Gone In The Night,” “Thelma”) make this look unlike any other drama you’re likely to see this year, and it transports you into the weird, unsettling nature of a story like this.

Pattinson is perfect. Plain and simple, he launches himself into the role and never comes up for air. This isn’t a caricature, or some kind of hollow puppet act. There’s real emotional pathos going on with his version of Hansen, and Pattinson simply transforms into the role. While it is full of his typical idiosyncrasies, there’s also a deeper rumbling beneath the surface that makes each choice riveting to behold. The entire cast is truly captivating; Gisondo’s co-lead performance sets up a perfect mirror to Pattison’s Hansen, both in character and performance. The two are electric together, and Gisondo’s slowly evolving disillusion is a feast for the young actor. Maher gets a meaty role here as well, and while his is the most strictly comedic, there’s also a lot bubbling under the surface for him as well. Bridgers turns in some great work despite limited screentime, but she manages to do a lot with a little especially in her final scene. Weaver completely captivates as well, bouncing off Pattinson’s more flamboyant portrayal of Hansen with a quieter, slowly boiling performance. She is easily delivering the performance of her career, and the nuances on display as her character evolves in the third act are simply spectacular.

Ajon Singh’s script is where a few minor cracks start to show, but not nearly enough to bring the film down. While the film certainly doesn’t shy away from the lurid nature of the program and the work it does, Singh is clearly more interested in the psyche of the people who would do a program like “To Catch a Predator.” There are musings on the viewership and the surrounding world’s reaction to the program, but it's not the focus. That’s not to say the film demonizes Hansen or vilifies the men he goes after, far from it. But it isn’t a legal procedural. It’s actually more dreamlike and hazy, giving the impression of a half-hallucinatory recounting of the stranger than fiction events that led to the show’s cancellation. Editor Daniel Garber (“Some Kind of Heaven,” “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”) layers the film in on itself, looping moments in as if it’s a snake eating its own tail. There’s a very lurid sense to the events, but also a liminal psychosis as well. The dialogue pops off the page and gets brought to life by its talented cast, and Ari Balouzian’s (“Some Kind of Heaven,” “Ren Faire”) musical score heavily juxtaposes the events on screen with a light, chime and xylophone heavy bout of music.

Oppenheim wants to captivate you; that’s why the film is shot the way it is, filled with actors as good as this group, scored the way it is, and with subject material like this. There’s a good amount going on under the surface, and while it isn’t a complete recount of this subject, it seeks to poke at it. Yes, these events are fictionalized, but the strangest ones that will cause people to seek out the truth are true. Pattinson is electric, arguably the best he’s ever been, and Weaver also delivers a commanding, career best performance. It’s a lurid dream, something that feels both completely real within the façade, like reality television, built with gorgeous production design, cinematography, and music. There are other, more nuanced takes on the nature of blending news entertainment media and journalistic integrity, but even if this isn’t the de facto authority on this subject, you cannot deny the allure of what Oppenheim has crafted. You’ll want to have a seat. 5/5

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom - Review: A Tale of Shear Terror

 

In 2015 and after almost a decade on British television, Aardman Animation brought the lovably mute sheep who made his debut in 1995's "A Close Shave" to the big screen with "Shaun the Sheep Movie." After a second feature film adventure with 2019's "Farmageddon," Shaun and his gang are back in a new adventure, this time themed around the spookiness of the fall and Halloween season. At least as spooky as a family-friendly stop motion mute sheep can be.

It's almost Halloween! Shaun, bleated to life by Justin Fletcher ("Justin's House," "Something Special"), and his friends have been trying to grow massive pumpkins to carve for the season. But after a mishap involving their Farmer causes them to all be smashed, Shaun channels his inner mad scientist to create a potion letting them grow to gigantic sizes. However, this inadvertently results in the unleashing of a massively hairy beast running rampant through the nearby town. It's up to Shaun and his friends to stop the beast and solve the mystery of its appearance.

It's difficult to find much to say about Shaun's latest adventure, and that's not a bad thing. Aardman has spent decades finely crafting their very specific style of British humor and stop-motion slapstick to a chemically perfection concoction. Every movement, bleat, grunt, or visual gag hits with maximum precision, piled high with plenty of color and whimsy. You'd be hard pressed to find a single person with a beating heart who can't find something to enjoy in Shaun and his friend's latest adventure. The fall and Halloween theming provide some light spookiness, but it's far from terrifying, coming much closer to a "Sesame Street" Halloween episode than anything legitimately scary.

What plot exists mostly seems to be an excuse to string together a light parody of various horror tales, specifically Frankenstein. It lacks the surprising emotional weight that was seen in the very first film, but it's still filled to the brim with charm. Directors Steve Cox ("Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas") and Matthew Walker (" Lloyd of the Flies") and writers Mark Burton (" Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl," "Madagascar") and Giles Pilbrow (" Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas," "Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans") know these characters well, and the fun then comes from putting them in these circumstances outside of their farm. Shaun's turn as a pseudo mad scientist is exceptionally amusing, particularly just to allow him ample time to be the butt of many jokes. It never exceeds its own grasp but reaches as high as possible within its own constraints.

It's a quick little romp as well, clocking in at just around 75 minutes when the credits start. No moment ever overstays its welcome, moving briskly from gag to gag without feeling hyperactive. There's plenty to enjoy here for kids without feeling like they're rotting away, and plenty to amuse adults without resorting to adult jokes or pop culture references. Natalie Holt's ("Loki," "Pin Cushion") musical score pops in and gives everything as much bravado as needed; a welcome bit of theatricality added onto an otherwise charmingly low-stakes film. Really, it's just a perfectly charming little tale, and, with the spooky theming, one that could and should easily fall right into plenty of family's fall movie rotations.

If you like stop-motion, Aardman's other works, or just fun and simple filmmaking, then chances are you're already planning on seeing "The Beast of Mossy Bottom." But if it isn't on your radar, then you should take the time to see just a simply delightfully charming and extremely amusing little slice of hand-made Halloween filmmaking magic. With sci-fi and now horror under their belts, if Shaun and his friends keep invading other genres every few years until the end of time, the world would be a better place. 4.5/5 

Resident Evil (2026) - Review: Delivery Us To Evil

After decades of varying approaches, from CGI heavy action romps to animated continuations to faithful-to-a-fault adaptations, and varying degrees of commercial and critical success, the "Resident Evil" video game franchise is getting its third theatrical reboot and eighth live-action film in just under twenty-five years. The difference though is the director behind the camera; fresh off the back-to-back critical and commercial success of "Barbarian" and "Weapons," co-writer/director/self-proclaimed "RE" super fan Zach Cregger is here bring his version of the mega-successful survival horror franchise for the big screen. 

"Resident Evil" follows medical courier Bryan, played by Austin Abrams ("Weapons," "euphoria"), as he takes a last-minute job transporting an overnight package through the snow-covered Colorado mountains to Raccoon City. While on his way, he finds himself in the middle of a zombie outbreak, forcing him to fight his way through to reach Raccoon City General Hospital with his delivery intact. 

Given the franchises' prior existence as what some might charitably call "guilty pleasure films," Cregger's deft hand is immediately apparent from the start. His vision of this world isn't one of direct adaptation or winking nods to the games. Rather, his goal is clearly to impart the same atmosphere and feelings given when one cracks open an entry in Capcom's legendary series. From the moment things begin to turn sour for Bryan, there's a very specific and direct feeling of tension that echoes a loss of control. Once things make a turn for the worst, the film moves like a bullet, never letting up in its quick pace. At just under 90 minutes without credits, it's a borderline perfect mixture of tense dread and adrenaline rush. That rush can overtake the third act a bit, where things can get a bit silly. But the slow evolution of the film's tone from tense dread to more adrenaline pumping sequences means this doesn't feel out of place. 

Cregger and his co-writer Shay Hatten ("John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," "Army of the Dead") inject just enough humor throughout the film to allow the release of that tension at very specific moments. Cregger makes sure that it doesn't betray the scares though, and the peril felt for Bryan on his adventure is never sacrificed for a cheap gag or laugh. There aren't jokes so much as Hatten and Cregger mining the circumstances for fish out of water scenarios to put Bryan in, and they all work wonderfully thanks to Abrams immense charm and everyman talents. 

Abrams is a fantastic lead. He carries Bryan with a slight oafishness, but he never resorts to making him a caricature. There's never a clear moment where you think he knows exactly what he's doing, but he isn't dumb either. His lack of experience is an important aspect to this tale, and it makes him a more compelling character as a result. The supporting cast is few, but they punctuate the film well. Zach Cherry ("Severance," "Fallout") appears briefly as a scientist, and Paul Walter Hauser ("Richard Jewel," "Blackbird") pops up as an advisor to help direct Bryan further, both working for the Umbrella Corporation. Neither make grand impressions, but they're fodder for Bryan's arc and journey, and they fill those roles well. 

Overall, the film's atmosphere is its greatest asset, both in terms of being an adaptation and just a straight horror film. Cienmatographer Dariusz Wolski ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "The Martian") doesn't just keep things tight and smooth, but the film looks simply gorgeous despite being set entirely at night. Wolski and Cregger display a fantastic use of both pitch-black darkness and color. Red is utilized throughout to delightfully gruesome effects, and the lighting is a constant standout. Ryan and Hays Holladay's ("Weapons," "Roommates (2026)") score is a warping electronic undercurrent that manages to be exceptionally memorable, without overpowering each scene. As it garbles along, setting the mood for each new situation Bryan finds himself in, it helps to continuously build up the atmosphere and personality that helps make this film the best kind of adaptation. 

What kind of adaptation is the best adaptation then? Well, while that can vary based on what the material being adapted is, for something as varied as this franchise, tone is the clear goal. Zach Cregger has done just that, recreating the tone and tension that comes from the atmosphere of the series rather than directly adapting the characters or stories of each game. It results in a film that's the best of both worlds: a fresh, quick paced popcorn horror bonanza that will also create many many new fans as a result of its authentic vibes. With an excellent lead actor being thrown right into the fray, the best thing that can be said about Cregger's vision of this world is that if you adapted it into a new "Resident Evil" game, it would be right at home. 4.5/5 

Hope (2026) - Review: There Goes the Neighborhood

 

In our age of modern-day blockbusters, what does it mean to be self-aware of one's own violence? Questions like that have been posited in film for decades now, with a differing perspective on the subject coming every few years to add something new to the conversation. It's not hard to see a writer/director like Na Hong-jin ("The Wailing," "The Yellow Sea") adding something to the conversation with his big CGI monsters and fights and small-town struggles. However, whether or not he is actually interested in adding anything is an entirely different story.

Set in the small Korean town of Hope Harbor, "Hope" follows police chief Ko Bum-seok, played by Hwang Jung-min (" You Are My Sunshine," "12.12: The Day"), and rookie cop Im Sung-ae, played by Jung Ho-yeon ("Squid Game"), as they investigate the destruction of a nearby town by an unknown entity. After teaming up with a local firearms expert Ko Sung-ki, played by Zo In-sung (" Something Happened in Bali," " Escape from Mogadishu"), they discover that the creature wreaking havoc is actually an alien leader J'aur, played by Alicia Vikander ("Ex Machina," "The Green Knight") and her bodyguard Ma'veyyo, played by Michael Fassbender ("X-Men: First Class," "Steve Jobs").

Hong-jin's film is immediately engrossing. In draws you in with slow, tense moments that spend the bulk of the first hour expertly setting up the mystery surrounding the destruction. It serves as a showcase for a truly fantastic amount of practical effects and production design, tearing this small Korean town to shreds and allowing the audience and Bum-seok to wade through the aftermath. It almost feels like a detective story, as you piece together clues in the scenery to try and discern what this creature might be. Then the reveal: a hulking nine-foot tall sickly green humanoid alien creature with long slick hair, created using some of the worst CGI in modern moviemaking.

This is where the film's first big tonal shift becomes apparent. The CGI on the aliens looks so particularly bad and uncanny that it comes across as completely intentional. Surely, a director with as much acclaim and experience as Hong-jin wouldn't approve of something that looks like this, right? The fact that this is then followed by an extended period of downtime without any action, and some truly bizarre dialogue. Who doesn't want to hear about how an elderly man discovered the aliens as a result of having diarrhea? It's so odd that it still manages to be enrapturing as you wonder what direction things will go in next.

For as odd as things get, Hong-jin's cast are all completely game for the material. Jung-min is a great stoic kind of action lead that lets his fears bleed through to create a relatable and realistic kind of protagonist. Ho-yeon fluctuates between a cool badass and a bumbling goof in a myriad of endearing ways. Sung-ki is a slimy kind of oddball that feels like a teenager who never grew up, and he makes for a great foil against Hong-jin's more mature character. Vikander and Fassbender are completely bizarre in their casting, as the pair never speak any English or even any discernable language. The fact that they are here for only a handful of moments in total, speaking an entirely made-up language, makes for one of the film's biggest and oddest swings.

While much of the appeal here is how odd the project is, what is undeniably excellent is the film's action. Hong-jin and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo ("Parasite," "Save the Green Planet!") shoot the film with a blistering sense of action. The combination of CGI and practical effects, despite the former's shoddy look, are seamless. The first and last hour hit the gas and never let up, giving the same feeling as "Fury Road" or other breakneck action flicks. Even if you don't agree with the rest of the film's bizarre, almost satirical approach to its plot, the action sequences alone are fantastic enough to be worth the price of admission. Especially with a score from Michael Abels ("Get Out," "NOPE") backing it up; his music sounds like an odd alien western action flick mixture that becomes as fascinating as the film itself the longer things go on.

"Hope" is an oddball of a film, one far more bizarre than its marketing would have you believe. The plot is both extremely detailed and also superfluous, the performances are completely committed to the insanity, and the practical effects are excellent, juxtaposed against some truly awful (possibly purposefully so) CGI effects. Na Hong-jin's latest film is an oddity, plain and simple, almost satirical in its execution of action movie filmmaking and storytelling. But it is a wild ride of an oddity that will keep you engrossed even while baffling you. 3.5/5