20s Movie Review - Shelby Oaks

Director: Chris Stuckmann
Genre: Horror
Runtime: 91 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Camille Sullivan, Brendon Sextan III, Michael Beach, Sarah Durn, Keith David

Description: A woman's (Camille Sullivan) obsessive search for her missing sister (Sarah Durn) leads her into a terrifying mystery at the hands of an unknown evil.

Review: “Shelby Oaks” is a solid and atmospheric debut film, in which the well-known YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann proves he’s more than capable of making the transition from reviewer to filmmaker. The film excels particularly in its intense atmosphere.

The film combines found footage with a traditional mystery thriller. We follow Mia on her obsessive search for her sister Riley. Riley disappeared without a trace twelve years earlier while filming for a paranormal YouTube channel, “Paranormal Paranoids”. When new video footage surfaces, Mia becomes entangled in a dark mystery filled with occult elements.

Stuckmann excels at creating an ominous, oppressive atmosphere. The excellent sound design keeps the viewer constantly on the edge of their seat. With the help of producer Mike Flanaga, the film looks cinematographically impressive despite the modest budget. The mix of grainy faux-documentary footage and sleek Hollywood shots works surprisingly well.

Camille Sullivan carries the film and is completely convincing as the protagonist driven by the grief and despair. She reminded me of Essie Davis in “The Babadook”.

Stuckmann’s love for the genre is palpable, but the film leans just a bit too heavily on its sources of inspiration, such as “The Blair Witch Project” and “Lake Mungo”. And the finale feels rushed, even though I really loved the ending. But it does leave to many questions unanswered.

“Shelby Oaks” is not a revolutionary masterpiece, but it is a very good horror movie. I seriously don’t understand the low rating on IMDb. Stuckmann proves he has an eye for suspense and effective jump scares (not the cheap ones that are often used in modern horror). The film is a must-see for hardcore horror fans.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Review - American Fiction

Director: Cord Jefferson
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, Keith David, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Erika Alexander, Adam Brody, John Ortiz, Raymond Anthony Thomas
 
Description: A novelist (Jeffrey Wright) who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from Black entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of the hypocrisy and madness he claims to disdain.

Review: In “American Fiction”, a struggling writer is offered a big movie deal for his purposely steretype-filled, accidentally successful novel Fuck. The movie applies critique of the literary world from Percival Everett’s 2001 satirical novel “Erasure” to today’s film world.

When author Thelonious “Monk” Ellison hears from his agent that his books ‘aren’t black enough to sell’, he writes a novel filled with black stereotype out of frustration. He want the book to hold a mirror up to the literary world, about their worship of real and raw stories about the struggles of black people. He calls the book Fuck, pretends it was written by a fugitive criminal and thinks that makes it unpublishable. Of course, it becomes a raging success. He gets a 750 thousand advance and a movie deal.

Debuting director Cord Jefferson based the screenplay of “American Fiction” on the 2001 satirical novel “Erasure”. The criticism of the literary circuit from “Erasure” clearly dates back to the turn of the century. “American Fiction” shifts the focus to a critique of Hollywood. The actual focus is of course Ellison’s personal life.

Ellison is the sole writer in a family of doctors. They own a beach house and have a live-in help. When h is fired as a literature professor at a university in California, de decides to visit his family in Boston. He dislikes them. His brother and sister have always resented him for being his father’s darling. What follows is a personal story.  

I absolutely loved “American Fiction”. An underdog at the Oscars of 2024, that will most likely not win a single award, but really deserves a ton of praise. Not only the movie and its story, but also for actors Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown. Go watch this film, it’s streaming on Amazon Prime.

Rating: 5/ 5

Movie Review - Nope

Director: Jordan Peele
Genre: Horror/ Science Fiction/ Mystery
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Michael Wincott, Steven Yeun, Wrenn Schmidt, Brandon Perea, Keith David
 
    
Description: The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Review: Director Jordan Peele manages to give his film projects something special. All of them are pleasant genre films that do not rely on scare effects or other cheap effects, but are completely based on atmosphere, mutual tension and subcutaneous fear. At the same time, the director constantly holds up a mirror to us by addressing themes such as racism and the state of American society, without beating us over the head with them. Peele’s third film is not thematically a repeat of “Get Out” and “Us”.

Everyone knows the first well-known footage of a black man on a galloping horse from 1878. Its creator became world famous, but no one knows the name of the rider even though it was really the first real movie star. In “Nope”, his (fictional) descendants are a brother and sister who manage a horse range. Their noble animals are used for movies and commercials, but when OJ shows up with his horse for the filming of a commercial, he is hardly taken seriously and is even belittled.

Six months earlier, the two lost their father during an unexplained shower of objects. Their father was killed by a coin that pierced his eye, while a horse was pierced by a falling key. When OJ witnesses a strange presence in the sky one afternoon, it takes little effort on his part to convince his sister Emerald. They decide to capture the phenomenon on camera, but just at that moment, let every electrical appliance fail. With the help of a tech salesman, they still try to get a handle on the matter.

When OJ is chased one evening, gets out of his car and then looks up at the sky, his brief response is a confident ‘nope’, after which he safely gets back into his vehicle. With this, Peele seems to want to say that you shouldn’t look for something behind everything, which is in star contrast wo the messages he wanted to convey with his other two movies.

One of OJ’s potential customers is a former child star who once had an extremely traumatic experience with a murderous and vengeful chimpanzee. Why exactly Peele brings up this storyline remains somewhat unclear, but he seems to want to convey that man is powerless in the face of nature. This ties in with the manhunt that OJ and Emerals make for the unknown presence above their ranch. And balloons are somewhat of a factor as well, but I will not elaborate on that, for spoilers sake.

Jordan Peele proofs with “Nope” that he doesn’t only have a great talent for content, but also as a true visionary. The visuals are impressive. With its leisurely build-up and slow pace, “Nope” may not fully appeal to seasoned horror fans, but it’s certainly a skillfully crafted unconventional blend of genres that colors delightfully outside the lines. I truly loved “Nope” and considering Jordan Peele as one of the best modern horror directors.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

90s Movie Review - Eye for An Eye

Director: John Schlesinger
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 1996

Starring: Sally Field, Ed Harris, Kiefer Sutherland, Beverly D’Angelo, Olivia Burnette, Alexandra Kyle, Joe Mategna, Keith David, Philip Baker Hall, Geoffrey Rivas, Charlayne Woodard

Description: When the courts fail to keep behind bars the man (Kiefer Sutherland) who raped and murdered her daughter, a woman (Sally Field) seeks her own form of justice.  

Review: When Karen McCann is stranded in a traffic jam on her way home one afternoon, she calls her eldest daughter Julie who is busy preparing for youngest daughter Megan’s birthday party. While on the phone, she hers Julie opening the door to a man and then being attacked. Panicked, Karen tries to get home and call the police. Once home, her world collapses when it appears that Julie has been murdered after being raped. A short time later, the killer Robert Doob is caught. But unfortunately, he is released after an error. Karen’s shock and grief slowly turn to disbelief and anger. Karen and her husband Mack join a support group for parents who have lost someone due to violence. There Karen meets a man who teaches her how to take justice in her own hands. But though she desperately wants to kill Doob, she can’t follow through. Until Doob strikes again. Karen is determined Doob has to pay for his actions.

A film about the search for justice in an unjust world. Sally Field pays her role as Karen McCann very well. The intense sadness that slowly turns into anger is portrayed well, I almost felt It myself. Kiefer Sutherland plays the bad guy and he does this well too.

“Eye for an Eye” has an excellent start, the first few scenes are very intense, and the way they portray the grief of losing a child, is very well done. The feeling of revenge quickly takes over. And the grief that the family feels is lost. Karen’s search for justice is understandable, yet it takes over way too fast. It is in fact very original that it’s the mother in this case, and not the father. In most movies with a revenge arc, after a child was murdered, it’s the father that seeks justice.

“Eye for an Eye” is a solid thriller, because it starts out so strong and has great performances. But overall an it’s very average.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Review - 21 Bridges

Director: Brian Kirk
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Crime
Runtime: 99 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Sienna Miller, J.K. Simmons, Stephan James, Keith David, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Siddig, Louis Cancelmi, Victoria Cartagena, Fary Carr, Morocco Omari, Chris Ghaffari

Description: An embattled NYPD detective (Chadwick Boseman) is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy.

Review: If your father is a cop, you probably will be too. This is a fact in many cop movies, including “21 Bridges”. The father of detective Andre Davis was also a cop and was killed on he job. That didn’t scare Andre because he is determined to put every criminal behind bars.
He shows that in everything he does. When a robbery gone wrong and eight cops are killed, it’s up to Davis to catch the perpetrators. In order to make sure the killers don’t flee, he closes all the 21 bridges that connect the island Manhattan to the mainland. With the help of his colleagues and the FBI, he has four hours to catch the criminals. But nothing is as it seems.
“21 Bridges” is a fierce action film, with some moments that get you on the edge of the seat. The story isn’t very unique or original, but because of the fast pace and the shorter runtime the film entertains from start to finish. Chadwick Boseman, who we lost way too soon, is very strong in the lead.  It’s a solid action film with some nice twists.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 15: Princess Mononoke

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Genre: Animation/ Adventure

Runtime: 134 minutes

Year: 1997

Starring: Gillian Anderson, Lewis Arquette, Corey Burton, Jennifer Cihi, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Keith David, John DeMita, John Di Maggio, Minnie Driver, Alex Fernández, Jack Fletcher, Julia Fletcher, Pat Fraley, John Hostetter, Leslie ishii

Description: On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Review: “Princess Mononoke” is an animation by Hayao Miyazaki, who also created “Spirited Away” and “My neighbor Totoro”. Those movies were also suitable for children. “Princess Mononoke” is not, due to the theme and the amount of violence. Ashitaka is a prince of an isolated tribe and is cursed after a fight with a demonic boar. To save his life, he has to leave his tribe and find the origin of the demon. On his quest he encounters a mine colony and several animal tribes that have been in war for a while. Both parties are led by strong women: the mine colony is led by Lady Eboshi, and San, also known as Princess Mononoke, leads the animals. Eboshi gives shelter to former prostitutes and tries to give her people a good life. San is raised by wolves and wants to save the forest. Ashitaka tries to get the two tribes together.

“Princess Mononoke” is a beautiful fairytale like story, with strong themes and many layers. I’ve always loved Miyazaki’s style and the music he puts with it. The movie has many things: humor, an original strong story, atmosphere, interesting characters, emotion and it’s all balanced well. The great eye for detail is something I admire in Miyazaki’s work. Another great film from this amazing director. For fans of the genre it’s a definite must-see!

Rating: 4/ 5