Tag: Michelle Monaghan

Spoiler-Free Review of “MaXXXine” in Theaters: It’s Mia Goth’s World and We’re All Just Living In It!

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“I always wanted to be famous…”

MaXXXine releases in theaters on July 5th 2024. The slasher horror film is the third installment of the X franchise and it stars Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, Moses Sumney, Halsey, and Elizabeth Debicki. It runs for approximately an hour and forty-five minutes.

Six years after surviving a massacre in Texas, Maxine Minx gets her big break in 1980’s Hollywood. However, when a serial killer named the Night Stalker targets young women in the city, Maxine’s bloody past is brought back to the present.

Here is the trailer:

MaXXXine once again allows Mia Goth to shine in this bloody fantastic world, channeling classic horror films in a stylish and entertaining way. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of A24

Transports us to another place and time with style!

Everything screamed 80’s perfection from the bubble gum pop font in the opening credits to the music. The fashion was on another level and I want Maxine’s boots for obvious reasons…

I loved the crime noir feel. It was nice to see that Ti West took the time to truly depict how this world was in such an aesthetically pleasing way. It made my watch so much better and reminded me why I absolutely love the 80’s.

Much like X, this film also successfully paid homage to classic films in a fun way without overdoing it. It was fantastic to see as a horror fan.

Images courtesy of A24

Mia Goth does it again!

This should really come as no surprise since I think she is exceptional in everything she does. She was on another level in Pearl and she gave us an electric performance now in MaXXXine.

I loved that we got the chance to truly experience Maxine’s story this time around. There were hints of this in X, but we didn’t have time to explore it. This movie definitely answered all those questions I had in a satisfying way.

Mia Goth is a modern scream queen in the best way possible and she really poured everything she had into this role with twisted charisma. I loved her performance.

Some brutal kills!

There weren’t as many of them in this movie, but the ones we witnessed will be haunting me for some time to come. Especially that one scene…yikes!

The Cons:

Images courtesy of A24

Phones it in with the plot…

My only issue with this film was that it didn’t take the time to flesh out the plot. I was actually really interested in certain aspects of the mystery killer and I think we glossed over some opportunities here.

We also didn’t spend enough time with other characters, which was a miss in my opinion. We had such a spectacular cast here and I get that this is Maxine’s movie, but this needed some work so we would actually care about who lived or died…

This isn’t really a con, but this movie didn’t feel like the third installment of a franchise. It felt like more of a spin-off with Maxine’s character in another world. This isn’t a bad thing and I think it worked effortlessly for the most part, but I guess I was expecting some kind of bloody finale here and I’m not sure that it pulled that off.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of A24

I’m in!!!

MaXXXine carves its way into the spotlight with sex, style, and blood galore, featuring an unforgettable and electric performance by Mia Goth.

While probably my least favorite film of the franchise, MaXXXine still has plenty of fantastic moments to appreciate and is well worth the watch.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on MaXXXine in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

THIS COMPETITION IS KILLER…

When former friends, Shay and Adriana team up to participate in a Halloween scavenger hunt with a cash prize, they temporarily put their differences aside to outsmart their opponents. However, they soon start to realize that a dangerous threat is playing their own version of the game, stalking them during each hunt.

Winning is now a necessity as their lives are at stake. As old wounds and memories re-surface, Shay and Adriana attempt to unmask the threat before the night is over, but soon learn that Scream Hunt is not done with them just yet…

My young adult horror thriller is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Scream Hunt is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!

Spoiler-Free Review of “Nanny” on Prime Video: Chilling Performance

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“Jobs like this, they don’t fall from the sky…”

Nanny premiered on Prime Video on December 16th 2022. The psychological horror-thriller film stars Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, and Morgan Spector. It runs for approximately an hour and forty minutes.

Aisha takes a job as a nanny, hoping to earn enough money to bring her son to the United States, but a dark presence begins to slither into her dreams, threatening to shatter her sanity.

Here is the trailer:

Nanny weaves together a foreboding mystery that hooks you until the very end. Is it worthy of your next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Prime Video

A layered mystery.

Aisha had to deal with quite a lot while being a nanny for a wealthy, but clearly troubled couple. The dynamic between her and the parents was interesting enough on its own, but there were also these dark dreams and hallucinations sprinkled into the mix, along with Aisha’s own struggle to reunite with her son. While this film could have easily felt overstuffed and unfocused, it did a good job of balancing out all of the elements, refusing to let its audience off the hook.

I loved the imagery and connections to folklore. They really gave this film such a unique feel. The ending was also unexpected, but really well done.

Images courtesy of Prime Video

Strong female lead.

Anna Diop was beyond fantastic in this. She really put forth so much effort into the portrayal of her character and truly made this film into something unique and intriguing just by her mere presence. She nailed every single scene and gave her character so much strength during pivotal moments. 

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Prime Video

Needed more of an edge at times…

Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the dark imagery and vivid dreams, but I also wanted them to embrace some horror elements a little bit more. There were several moments that could have been truly terrifying if they had gone a little bit farther with them. I didn’t need anything really grotesque or extreme, but submerging a little bit more into the horror side of things would have worked really nicely with the overall tone of this film.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Prime Video

I’m in!

A consuming mystery enhanced by a stunning performance that honestly left me with chills.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Nanny in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!

Spoiler-Free Review of “Echoes” on Netflix: A Trashy Thriller with A LOT Going On

*This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!*

“My sister is missing…”

Echoes released on Netflix on August 19th 2022. All seven episodes are available to stream now. The thriller drama series stars Michelle Monaghan, Matt Bomer, Daniel Sunjata, and Jonathan Tucker. Each episode runs for approximately 42-47 minutes.

Gina travels back to her home town to track down her missing identical twin sister, as deadly and dangerous secrets are revealed along the way that could shatter her life completely.

Here is the trailer:

Echoes has a decent Gone Girl-esque set-up and a well known cast, but its messy plot and endless twists over-complicate things. Is it worthy of YOUR next watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Images courtesy of Netflix

A strong start.

I was actually really pulled into this story initially. There was a major twist at the end of the first episode and I thought the mystery was decent enough to keep me coming back for more. Michelle Monaghan put forth a valiant effort with her performance and I thought the actual premise was really interesting with lots of guilty-pleasure potential.

The Cons:

Images courtesy of Netflix

Annoying voice-over narration…

Gina spends a lot of time “talking” to her identical twin sister over their video diary to find out where she is and what’s going on, but I found this really distracting and annoying. I’m not a fan of voice-over narration, but they really overdid it with this one.

Images courtesy of Netflix

A really messy plot.

I’m frustrated with this show because it started off really good and I thought I had an exciting binge-watch to enjoy. As the episodes continued, things started going off the rails completely. The plot was super messy and trashy. The performances got weaker and the twists were overdone, which ruined the initial shock value from the first episode for me.

So am I in or out?

Images courtesy of Netflix

Unfortunately I’m out on this one…

If you’re looking for a Lifetime-esque trashy thriller, there is enough going on to make your head spin (if that’s your kind of thing). I was intrigued at first, but I started to lose interest as the episodes continued unfortunately. I think this might have worked better as a Saturday movie of the week instead.

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Echoes in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!

 

Spoiler-Free Review of “The Craft: Legacy” The weirdos are back…sorta

**This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!**

“Air, fire, water, earth…”

Blumhouse’s The Craft: Legacy premiered on Demand on October 28th 2020. The film stars Cailee Spaeny, Zoey Luna, Lovie Simone, David Duchovny, and Michelle Monaghan. It is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes long.

Based on the original film, The Craft (1996), The Craft: Legacy follows Lily, who moves in with her mom’s new boyfriend and his family. After getting off to a rough start as the outsider in school, she meets three girls who have been practicing witchcraft.

Here is the trailer:

The Craft happens to be one of my favorite films of all time.

The Craft

However, I went into this watch with an open mind, but it’s not easy channeling the cult classic that made us all want to be “the weirdos” playing light as a feather, stiff as a board. The Craft has paved the way for shows like Charmed and others, but a fresh take on the film could be promising. Let’s find out if it can stand on its own merit…

The Pros:

The Craft Legacy

Images courtesy of Blumhouse Productions

Fun tributes and throwbacks to the original with a cameo worth waiting for.

I was a little worried about this, but I thought the film did a good job of throwing in some welcomed throwbacks to the original film without overdoing it. We got a classic line thrown our way, an epic cameo, and some familiar spells and rituals.

New spells and story to spice things up.

The reboot has the formula to pretty much replicate the original film, but we did get some twists thrown in and some new spells as well. 

The Cons:

The Craft Legacy 2

Images courtesy of Blumhouse Productions

No layers to our new four.

Part of the reason why the original film worked so well is we got to peel back the layers for every member of the coven. It helped us connect to them more and it also really emphasized the “personal gain” or consequences of magic aspect that much more.

Magic is fun, but it can be deadly and I was missing the connection to every single character in this film. Why do we care about them? Do I really care if the coven splits up?

Questions like this continued to come up and I was disappointed because the formula was there, but the effort was not demonstrated.

Forcing the female empowerment angle.

Much like the new Black Christmas (2019) film, The Craft: Legacy hits us over the head with female empowerment vs. uninspiring and played out misogyny. I was expecting a lot more here.

So am I in or out?

The Craft Sarah

Unfortunately I’m out on this one…

The film is not bad at all. In fact, you can watch it and be somewhat entertained. However, it just pales in comparison to the original film. It doesn’t do anything really unique or different for the new generation. While there are glimmers of potential sprinkled in, they fade rather quickly. Other than the cameo at the end, I was pretty disappointed overall.

If you are looking for a newer version of The Craft, I recommend watching the series, Light as a Feather on Hulu instead. 

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on The Craft: Legacy in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

Girl Number Thirteen Lurking Promo

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My new supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen releases on November 12th 2020! Available for pre-order! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

**If you enjoyed this blog, I would love it if you would click the follow button on your way out to subscribe.  Thanks for your support!