Jamie Bell – Spinning Platters

Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2023

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for: my 2023 cinematic favorites! You can also check out fellow film critic Chad Liffmann’s list here to compare and contrast and see who you agree with more. Will Oscar voters agree with us? We’ll find out when the nominations are announced on January 23rd!

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Film Review: “All of Us Strangers”

You were always on my mind: Haigh’s latest is a consummate tale of overcoming loss

Adam (Andrew Scott, l.) begins a relationship with his neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal).

Back in 2017, in my review of the lackluster film A Ghost Story, I declared that Manchester by the Sea was the “finest movie about grief ever made.” Fast forward to the present day, however, and I now retract my statement. Writer/director Andrew Haigh’s devastating new film All of Us Strangers has usurped that designation, and at this point I can’t fathom that another picture could even come close to knocking it out of position. An emotionally wrenching, achingly true, and deeply affecting story about trauma, grief, and memory, Haigh’s film is one of the year’s best.

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Film Review: Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four is short and to the point, but pointless.

Four horsemen of the apocalypse, without the horses, and with one woman.

If you were clamoring for a reboot of the Fantastic Four movie franchise ever since 2007’s Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, you can probably assume that you’re in a small minority. I can safely say that not many people were interested in a new Fantastic Four movie, nevermind watching an attempt to relaunch the franchise in a more dark, gritty, and “character driven” storyline, a la X-Men: First Class and just about every superhero movie these days. Not all super hero movies need to follow the same exact formula again and again and again. It’s getting tiresome. The new Fantastic Four is no different. Even considering its weak editing and laughable story structure, it still manages to fall victim to comic book adaptation formula. I will concede one small victory to it—a reasonably short running time of 1 hour 45 minutes. It was nice to see a comic book film stay under 2 hours, though it was quite apparent that the F4 editors had no idea how to keep the pace and plotline efficient within that timeframe. In the end, Fantastic Four is not strong enough to stand on its own few merits, nor is it able to push a disappointing franchise forward.

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