A lightning round of reviews for “Fresh,” “The Adam Project,” “Deep Water” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”

Nolen Kelly, Editor

Posters: Netflix, Hulu and Paramount | Edit: Jakob Eiseman

It’s been a while since my last review and since then I’ve watched quite a few movies that I’ve been bursting at the seams to talk about. Today I have two good and two bad movies to quickly review and I’m going to do my best to keep it simple enough so as to not drive either of us insane. Today we’re talking about “Fresh,” “The Adam Project,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Deep Water” and I have a lot of thoughts on all four so without wasting any more time let’s hop in first with something good: “Fresh.”

1. Fresh — Good

“Fresh” is a Hulu original movie that did not initially grab my attention. It looked like a less interesting version of “Get Out” with added cannibalism, but that disinterest changed really quickly. Sebastian Stan has never been an actor I would run at breakneck speeds to check out, even in his Marvel projects, so I couldn’t even force myself to try and be interested but seeing him branch out lately has been nice to see so that was some incentive to give it a go. To my delightful surprise, this movie was a lot of fun. While I still believe there was some influence from “Get Out,” they take it in their own direction and make it interesting. Stan (“I, Tonya” “Avengers; Endgame”) is a great balance of uncomfortably weird, darkly funny and strangely hypnotizing as Steve, the movies central antagonist to Daisy Edgar-Jones’ (“Normal People”) sweet and equally funny protagonist, Noa. 

“Fresh” is funny, grotesque, charming and a good time of a movie. The film and trailers were both perfectly punctuated by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs classic club banger “Heads Will Roll” and I’m glad it was used because it fit shockingly well into the vibe and tone of the movie. “Fresh” was a surprise to me and I really can’t recommend it enough. I laughed at times, and it felt wrong. But, the characters were played well enough that when horrible things happened it felt horrible, and I want more movies like this. Are psychological gore horror/romance/comedies for everyone? Not at all. But, hey, I had a lot of fun and I’ll be revisiting this either for Halloween or Valentine’s Day… maybe both. “Fresh” is available on Hulu now and I give it an 8/10.

2. The Adam Project — Bad

If I never watched a movie by “The Adam Project” director Shawn Levy ever again, my life will be almost exactly the same but I would still have the two hours that I invested into every one back. This isn’t to say his movies are bad, or even unwatchable, but they all meet the bare minimum requirements to make a movie just enough. “The Adam Project” is another example of this phenomenon that Levy regularly produces. My main problem with this movie is that everything in it feels like a watered down version of a cooler version of this movie. Time travel, family, Mark Ruffalo, spaceship battles and wacky science fiction jumbo are all super cool stuff and are present, but it’s all just there and hollow. Nothing is very interesting about any of it, unfortunately. In one scene they used “Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin for a shooter fight scene and I did not enjoy any of it despite how cool that sentence sounds. While this movie had some decent effects and visuals, I couldn’t tell you anything particularly interesting about the effects but just that there was enough of them to keep the movie going. 

There really is not much that I think I can add to this other than it was just really bland and predictable. There were moments I had fun, yeah, but this movie had the same formula as the previous Shawn Levy movies I watched before: “Real Steel,” “Free Guy” and any of the “Night at the Museum” movies. I feel bad that I don’t like this movie because maybe I am being too harsh on a kids’ movie but there just wasn’t a lot of fun here. The emotional scenes were minimal and made me begin to realize I have emotion right as they began to move on which got annoying and hurt my viewing of this movie. I don’t know, man, maybe I just need to rewatch with someone who likes this and I’ll change but I don’t think that’s likely. In summation: “The Adam Project” was not very fun, was very predictable and kind of cringe at times and I wish this was actually something better. “The Adam Project” is available on Netflix and I give this a 5/10.

3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 — Good

I’ve never been the biggest fan of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” franchise mostly because I never played any of the games or watched the shows, but I always appreciated how others appreciated the character and his media. When the first “Sonic” movie was released in 2020, I had no thoughts about seeing it since it was not my thing and video game movies are never good, but after pirating it with Korean subtitles I thought it was pretty good for what it was. Recently, I went along with my roommates and paid 17 U.S. dollars to see “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and as someone who cruised through the first one and knows nothing of the lore, I had a good time. Is it a good movie? I really don’t know. I think I laughed harder watching this than anything I have in months. Was it actually funny? Not totally, but it wasn’t boring. At a two hour runtime, “Sonic 2” never for a second bored me and I think that’s the highest praise I can give it. There was a fair balance of bad, good enough and pretty good in this movie but it was never so terrible that I wanted to cry. This may be the least cinematic movie I ever talk about, but when I have a good time with a movie I want to talk about it and “Sonic 2” was a good time for me.

There is a possibility this will be Jim Carrey’s last movie ever, which I highly doubt, but if it is I think he went out in the most ballistically Jim Carrey way possible as Dr. Robotnik a.k.a Dr. Eggman. If Carrey was not in these movies, they definitely would not be as fun as they are. He is wild and relentless and just the right amount of whacky needed to make a silly speedball like Sonic feel more watchable. Would I recommend this to everyone? I don’t know, maybe. It all depends on your tolerance for super, silly, speedy, chili dog eating hedgehogs. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is in theaters now and is a 6/10.

4. Deep Water — Bad

I don’t think Ben Affleck is the worst actor ever. Far from the best by any means, but when he is good he is really good. “The Town” gets better for me on every watch and “Good Will Hunting” is still a masterpiece today for every reason under the sun. Ana De Armas is a very talented actress that I am gravitating more towards after her great performance as Marta in “Knives Out” and her slick time in Bond’s final outing, “No Time to Die.” I was interested in giving this a watch mostly because it seemed like it would be good but boy was I wrong. No clue what happens in this movie even though it’s pretty clear what was happening. There was no plot in this and despite the tense thriller feel to it, it always felt like it was ramping up to the story but then just never got to it. Things happen, but incoherently because it’s never clear why anyone does anything. 

My initial critique that I will stick with for now is to trim a third of this movie out completely, reframe it like a dark comedy, and have more movie actually happen. Despite the dark framing and scenes, I didn’t think this looked too bad cinematography wise but if they leaned into making this funny or capitalizing on the ideas present, this could have been great and it’s a shame we got this mess of a movie. It sucks but I guess I shouldn’t have expected much from a Hulu original starring Ben Affleck called “Deep Water” that has about three scenes of anything deep or water-related. What are you going to do though? “Deep Water” is now available on Hulu and is a 4/10.

That’s about it. Have you seen any of these movies yet? If you have what did you think and if you haven’t which ones will you be checking out? There are plenty of movies that I still have not seen yet from 2022 but I hope to be checking them out and reviewing them soon. Thank you for reading and checking out this article. I’m Nolen Kelly and you’re watching Disney Channel.

Anthony Pantalone, Staff 

Everyone wants to feel seen. Everyone wants to feel understood. I don’t think it would be an over-exaggeration to say that a great struggle of life is finding others who truly understand you and truly understanding them in return. Thoughts. Nuanced emotions. Experiences. It’s impossible to fully know anyone and their individualized perception of the world. Every person is left to simply try their absolute best to understand the people in their lives. I like to think that the filmography of Mike Mills intends to at least address and explore this universal struggle and the stresses that result from the “gray spaces” in all human connections. Mills’ writing of characters is always uniquely full of both love and empathy in comparison to many other filmmakers though.

“C’mon C’mon”

“C’mon C’mon” is Mike Mills’ newest film offering for audiences coming off his prior successes — 2016’s “20^th Century Women” and 2010’s “Beginners” — and follows a radio journalist, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker,” “The Master,”) who must care for his nephew Jesse during a family emergency. Phoenix’s character Johnny in his profession as a journalist interviews children across the country regarding their hopes for the future and outlook on life. Johnny is forced to process and mend his own strenuous relationships with his sister and gain perspective on parenthood. Spanning from Los Angeles to New York to New Orleans, Johnny looks after his nephew Jesse while continuing his career and understanding more and more how special his own nephew’s perspective of the world is. Acting as a parent can be incredibly challenging, but the protagonist very emphatically cares about his nephew and is able to forge a strong meaningful bond.

Mills as a visual filmmaker

With a previous background in graphic art and design, Mills is an auteur that understands the importance of film as a visual medium. His films are always framed well and simply just look good. When speaking to music legend and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, this writer-director talked about how the basis for what “C’mon C’mon” would look like came from this idea of a parent and child walking in space. Many scenes in the movie include this type of shot—whether Johnny and Jesse are walking on a beach in Santa Monica, a busy urban street in New York City, or under a Southern Live Oak tree in Louisiana. Cinematography has played a major role in Mills’ prior films, and “C’mon C’mon” is no exception. Black and white cinematography was used to draw out more sense of the scene and authenticity of the relationships onscreen without the distraction of color for viewers — a feat that Mills achieves with flying colors.

Writing personal connections

A major aspect of Mills’ directorial features has been his incredibly personal connection to each work. “C’mon C’mon” is about this filmmaker’s relationship to his son. “20^th Century Women” is primarily based on his mother and his struggle to truly know and understand her in their relationship as mother and son. “Beginners” was written about Mills’ father and his own struggle to know and understand his dad through their relationship as parent and child. Writing about real people, personally, feels somewhat gross and exploitative, but the manner by which Mills always does so is with compassion and love. He does not try to sculpt an image of this person from his life and present them to the audience as he experienced them. Mills instead deftly offers that each individual person is more complex to a degree that is not humanly comprehendible. Each movie is about the struggle and experience of trying to know that person and the profound effect it has had on Mills.

Some minor spoilers ahead

Nolen Kelly, Editor

Who could’ve predicted that a Batman movie would include Nirvana in the soundtrack twice, draw inspiration from David Fincher movies and real serial killers, slip in some surprise jokes and it would all be good? Life could not be better for annoying people, film bros and The Official Robert Pattinson Fan Club. I am all three. 

“The Batman” is a dark and sinister crime drama with a lively depiction of a struggling city choked by a crime-ridden underbelly and an insane new killer in the streets of Gotham, all fended off by one man, Batman, played by Robert Pattinson (“The Lighthouse,” “Twilight”). “The Batman” is everything that I have ever wanted a movie about the caped crusader to be and is very much nothing we have ever seen before. 

The Battinson Begins

Normally this is the part of a review where I talk about whichever side I have less of an opinion on, but with total honesty I have nothing negative about “The Batman” to say. Every complaint or minor issue that people have with this movie, I totally acknowledge and understand. But, I think most criticisms are easily defendable. The most common complaint that people have with the movie is the runtime, which clocks in at 2 hours and 56 minutes. If there is anything actually wrong with this movie, it’s that sometimes you can feel that it is three hours, but personally I love that feeling of a movie being long like this.

The story takes place in Batman’s second year as the vigilante in Gotham City and there are a lot of nice and specific details that show that he is still learning but already knows some stuff. A section of the movie is dedicated to one clue Batman is given that he figures out, but is also misled by the wording. In every movie Batman just gets it all right, which is great most of the time, since he’s a detective, but the fact that he couldn’t solve this one problem or understand the clue left my jaw on the floor five rows down from my seat. “The Batman” is mostly about the unraveling of the mystery of the story and it works wonders. This is a long movie with an antagonist who kills politicians and leaves riddles and clues all over the place; this was never going to be a straightforward narrative, so all the twists and turns in here are well worth the buildup and payoffs.  

Characters 

Pattinson is the best Batman, bar none. He’s a real detective, he doesn’t kill, has insane bat technology like his grappling hook and he is terrifying. The movie introduces him with shots of dark alleys and shadows, building Bats up in the most appropriately and bad*ss way possible. A lot of the tone of this movie is carried by Pattinson and his naturally brooding energy. His ability to play off or work with anyone he is sharing the screen with felt super organic, like he was friends or enemies with everyone. I believed he hated his villains The Riddler, The Penguin and Carmine Falcone. I believed he loved or could love Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. I believed he was still traumatized by his parents’ death and was taking some of it out on Alfred. I believed he was real friends with Gotham Police Officer Jim Gordon. This is a dark world, so both Batman and Bruce Wayne needed to fit this mold, and who better to do that than Pattinson? He makes sense in this role and fills it out completely. I have a feeling both Pattinson and Wayne’s music rotations are Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor’s movie scores and Death Grips.

Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine” “There Will Be Blood”) was someone I was always excited for in this movie and he more than lived up to the expectations. Delusional, maniacal, intelligent, evil, lost and broken are all words that come to mind from Dano’s performance. I loved his overall rise to control and how he didn’t reveal his master plan until it was already in motion and too late to prevent, but even then he still didn’t even fully reveal it. The plan just happened and it was all so crazy. The final twenty minutes of the movie are some of the finest moments of writing in any comic movie and of any noir film in my opinion all because of the complexity of Riddler’s plan and how it unraveled very quickly. Aside from his big plan and his disturbing performance, I loved a lot of the small details he included in his character, like when he attacks someone he lets out a small scream because he’s not athletic or a fighter. Whenever he wears his mask he breathes really heavily, but not like panting, more like soaking in what he just accomplished, and it is freaky as hell. Dano is a talented actor, but he is sort of like a more confident Michael Cera, so seeing him in the antagonist’s chair for once was invigorating.

Zoë Kravitz (“X-Men,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) as Catwoman is easily my favorite interpretation of the character. She felt closer to an actual spy than a thief in this film and her scenes in the Iceberg Lounge were some of my favorites of the movie. She had several moments where she perfectly balanced being a one-woman wolfpack and a vulnerable victim of circumstances. In my eyes, Kravitz is the only person who could play Catwoman currently. She makes sense in this world, in this character and in this movie. She’s quiet, yet ostentatious when she decides to be. She blends into the background but always stands out in every scene. On an unrelated note, I am currently in love with Kravitz and I will be shooting my shot in the near future. Wish me luck, readers.

Jeffery Wright (“Westworld,” “Casino Royale”) is also the best Commissioner Gordon in any interpretation. Gordon and Battinson have a very good working relationship and bounce off each other really nicely. They crack some light jokes at times, organically, and are really funny together. Gordon feels like a good cop. He’s someone you can trust and want to work with. There’s a scene that was aired on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that shows Gordon and Batman talking in the GCPD and it encapsulates every scene the two are in together.

I’ve talked a lot about the characters, but there’s one more character that is absolutely worth going out of your way to see and that is the unrecognizable Colin Farrell as The Penguin. He’s a nasty crime boss. He’s hilarious in almost every scene. He is an important character who spends a lot of time passing along information but still acts as a key figure in the story.

Colors, Cameras and Cobain

“The Batman” is a good-looking movie. Despite being a dark thriller, there is a pretty unique color palette to this film. While the majority of the movie is in darker shades of black, green and brown, there is a surprising amount of yellows, reds and oranges. The Iceberg Lounge has tons of flashing red lights, there are numerous scenes with a gorgeous yellow/orange sky in the background and there is a notable shot from the trailer with Batman holding a flare that just looks incredible with the red light contrasting the blackness of the scene. Cinematographer Greig Fraser may have topped his previous best-looking movie “Dune” with “The Batman,” because I could stare at this grimy, filthy, rainy, sloggy, pretty cinematic experience for a while. Michael Giacchino more than delivered on his score for the movie, making every scene feel grand and intense with his almost orchestral score. The main theme of the movie, “The Batman,” is such an epic piece of music that I wouldn’t mind if it was my theme music since I am vengeance. Speaking of music, I referenced Nirvana earlier because they are featured in this movie twice. “Something in the Way” is the closing song off of the band’s seminal 1991 grunge rock album “Nevermind.” The song appears in the first trailer and at the beginning and the end of the film. It’s a perfect fit for the tone and is a great song, too. At some point I got lost in the character of Bruce “Kurt Cobain” Wayne and believed that Pattinson was singing “Something in the Way” at one point. 

In Summation

“The Batman” is a movie I have been looking forward to for a long time and, as a lifelong Batman fan of the comics, video game series and previous films, it more than lived up to what I wanted. It’s long and exciting and an immersive experience worth sitting through. It’s been a long time since a movie has given me a refreshing experience like this. What else is there This should not be a surprise to anyone but I think this movie is a perfect 10 out of 10.  “The Batman” is in theaters now.

Warner Bros. Studios

Nolen Kelly, Editor

On a recent rewatch of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” I fell into a deep depression and found myself screaming in a hotel room, because while Ben Affleck was fine as the Batman, the writing for the rest of his movie is some real bad stank. With the upcoming release of Matt Reeves’ newest entry in the Bat Pantheon, “The Batman,” starring Robert Pattinson (“Twilight,” “The Lighthouse”) and Zoë Kravitz (“X-Men,” “Divergent”), it looks like something we have not seen before in a Batman movie. In terms of a character focus on the Dark Knight and a villain that feels eerily like Paul Dano (“There Will be Blood,” “Little Miss Sunshine”) as a real serial killer, “The Batman” is new and exciting and you should be excited that it’s here.

The last time there was an air-tight Batman movie was 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” which was a frantic story of chaos and pushing heroism to its limits. “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012 was good, but had some unfortunate weak writing at points and a so-so ending. It has been 14 years since Batman was treated like a necessary protector of Gotham while also being shown as a fatally flawed human. Zack Snyder (“Watchmen,” “Justice League”) is not a very good character writer, in my opinion. He may have a good character or two in the majority of his movies, but none of them have good writing to back them up. The biggest intrigue of Batman is how he is still just a man — money and gadgets aside. Snyder kept all of those things in the background of his interpretation and it all felt lost, like this was not even really Batman. Batman has existed in movies since “Batman: The Movie” in 1966, and was first depicted as a serious character in “Batman” (1989), but a true representation of the flawed billionaire Bruce Wayne as the Batman has been missing for over a decade.

Director Matt Reeves has a small resume, but it consists of some notable movies. He directed the found monster footage classic “Cloverfield,” as well as “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” with a writing credit on the latter. If you haven’t seen those two then you should know that Matt Reeves is really good at making a movie with an abstractly quirky concept seem kind of like a nightmare. The two “Apes” movies are very good and when it was announced Reeves would be taking on the Bat in his next project, it made a lot of sense to me. I know not many know his name yet, but it is a name worth investing in. One of the first pieces of info released about the movie was the casting of Pattinson, and if you’ve been on the Robert revival train like I have, then this is a baller move.

There’s not much need to dwell on “The Twilight Saga” Pattinson started his career with, because those jokes have already been made about the hilarious vampire parody series and now it’s time to finally begin to recognize Robby as the actual dark, brooding, Death-Grips-listening, fan-trolling, Adidas-track-suit-wearing acting chameleon he really is. “The Devil All the Time” showed he can pull off a predatorial southern preacher, “Tenet” proved Pattinson can more than handle himself in the up-its-own-a**-ness of a Christopher Nolan movie, “High Life” showed a soft and caring father of an infant facing impending doom in the form of a black hole and “Good Time” was a tense day in the life of Pattinson as a bank robber and it ruled. Ever since his big push, the B-tier Edward Cullen actor has been on a killer hot streak. Now is the time to invest in Pattinson as an actor. With “The Batman,” there could not have been a better actor working today that can bring each of their previous roles into a new role that also fits that personality better than Pattinson. But Pattinson isn’t even the only perfect fit in this movie. 

Dano, Kravitz and Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld,” “No Time to Die”) as The Riddler, Catwoman and Commissioner Gordon respectively are all flawless casting decisions. Dano is another wickedly talented chameleon who always delivers a top quality performance, especially in “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Prisoners.” Kravitz is another up and up talented actress that seems to be getting better in every role she takes on. See “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “X-Men: First Class.” Wright is Commissioner Gordon and, while his backlog may not all completely support this choice, it still makes sense. Wright is a soft spoken yet super dramatic actor who knows how to put himself in each role he is in, especially in “Casino Royale” and “Westworld.” From all of the trailers and character posters released so far, it looks like Dano’s iteration of Riddler is heavily inspired by The Zodiac Killer, David Fincher movies and the Riddler character from the “Arkham” video games. Talking in rhymes, threats against Batman but with actual weight to it, mysterious symbols and disturbing methods of torture all increase Paul Riddler’s chances of becoming one of the best comic villains portrayed in a live action movie. I didn’t even get to mention Colin Farrell (“In Bruges,” “The Lobster”) as The Penguin yet, that’s how incredible this cast is. 

Somewhere someone who likes movies or comics might read all of this and still not be excited for this movie and that is kind of baffling. Are you still not convinced? Fine. Here are some actually awesome facts about “The Batman” that will hopefully make you a convert to the cause for the cowl. 

• Reeves has stated the inspiration for this Batman is “1970s movies, 1980s comics and Kurt Cobain” of Nirvana. The first trailer released in 2020 featured Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” as the backing track. 
• The movie follows Batman in his second year as a crime fighter, so this hopefully means we will be skipping an origin story. 
• And, speaking of origin story, the bat symbol in his chest is made of the gun that Joe Chill used to shoot his parents, cut in half and shaped like a bat. 
• In many scenes it is said they used the same technology “The Mandalorian” uses, a giant computerized screen with the backdrop rather than always using a green screen or digitized effects.
• ”The Eternals” actor Barry Keoghan is rumored to have a spot in this movie as another villain. 
• Alfred is played by Serkis, best known for playing Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies and Emperor Snoke in “Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi,” which is a big freaking deal because Serkis is still really cool. 
• The batmobile will be a muscle car with a big a** turbo engine on the back instead of a comically large tank and it is equally as cool as previous batmobiles. 
• Farrell’s Penguin is inspired by Fredo Corleone from “The Godfather.” 
• Composer Michael Giacchino has previously done scores for Jon Watts’ “Spider-Man” trilogy, “Up” and “Lost.”

I am excited for this movie, and it seems there is a lot of excitement for it, but, in my humble eyes, it feels like it could be way bigger. I have Nirvana’s “In Utero” angel tattooed on my leg and I played and loved all of the “Arkham” games, yes, all of them. “The Dark Knight” is my favorite movie of all time and I wrote this article as a magnum donker of a love letter to a movie that has not been released yet. You clearly see my passion for this movie and I hope you find some excitement in you too. If this changed a few minds on how great this movie will be then I’m glad I did my job. If the movie bombs and is actually a mess (it won’t be) then you should never listen to me again. “The Batman” will be in theaters March 4.

Nolen Kelly, Editor

Header Image: Glamour

Greetings, lovers and movie lovers. It’s Movie Season and Valentine’s Season. In previous editions of this column I used the convenience of the holiday to gauge your favorite movies of a specific genre or specific holiday-theme but this time I want to look at a specific emotion. I’m talking about love, and just in time for Valentine’s Day. To clarify, this is not specifically your favorite romance movie, this is movies about love. Whether that be the hilariously chaotic romances of “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and “Palm Springs,” the heartbreak and turmoils of “Blue Valentine” and “Marriage Story,” or the alluring sensual encounters like those of “Closer” and “Vicky Christine Barcelone.” Here are some picks that you gave, from my social media, of your favorite movies about love, but first:

Nolen’s Favorite: “Punch-Drunk Love” (2002)

In Sept. 2021 La Salle University hosted Adam Sandler (“Uncut Gems,” “Big Daddy”) for a week so he could shoot a new movie here on campus. To celebrate the Sandman’s birthday I watched “Punch-Drunk Love” for the first time and the world was a different place after that. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood,” “Boogie Nights”), the movie follows Sandler as a blue-suit wearing, toilet plunger business owner named Barry Eagen, who is crippled by his social anxieties surrounding love, himself and his family of seven sisters. Barry falls in love, but then also has to juggle dealing with a group of scammers trying to hurt him and his new girlfriend, Lena. Adamantium Sandworm brings a sad but lovable performance, Emily Watson (“Chernobyl,” “Corpse Bride”) is the perfect pick to ground Sandler and make us fall in love too, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (“The Master,” “Magnolia”) gives another testament as to why he was one of the greatest of all time as the lead scammer. The performances are some of the strongest of anyone in this movie’s career. Despite the romance, this movie is tense as hell but funny as well, and the lighting is so bright if you watched at night you could lose your sight. Jon Brion’s score helps keep the tension and adds some personality to the movie especially with the inclusion of Shelley Duvall’s “He Needs Me” from the “Popeye” movie. Used in both a heartbreaking and a heartwarming context, the song is so perfectly used that anytime I hear it I bawl and crawl into a ball. The song’s inclusion works swimmingly alongside the chaos that ensues but backs up how Lena and Barry need each other in this hectic story of finding oneself through someone else. “Punch-Drunk Love” is on HBO Max and I can’t recommend it enough. A few of my other favorites include “Moonlight,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Blue Valentine,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Moonrise Kingdom.”

That’s enough about me. Let’s talk about you. You have good taste in movies and we should talk about it. Here are some of your favorites.

Sanera Powell, ‘22: “Hitch” (2005)

“One of my favorite movies about falling in love is ‘Hitch’ which stars Will Smith and Kevin James. I remember watching it as a kid and laughing so much and awwing at the romantic moments because it is such a cute movie with a great message. To me, it’s one of the best rom-coms because of how funny each character is. The movie shows how love can be funny, messy and complex. You don’t have to change yourself for someone to fall for you, you just need a push from a friend or love counselor to show them what they’re missing. Overall such a light-hearted and cute movie and a must-watch for anyone who loves rom-coms.”

Aidan Brandt, ‘25: “Frozen” (2013)

“‘Frozen’ is a great movie about love because it puts a twist on the classic ‘Prince Charming’ movie trope. The charming, handsome Prince Hans, who we are convinced will be the savior of our heroine, Anna, betrays her and leaves her to die. In the end, sisterly love saves the day when Anna’s love for her sister saves the kingdom and helps Elsa control her powers.”

Izzy Hill, ‘22: “Flipped” (2010)

“I don’t think ‘Flipped’ is as known as it should be. Directed by Rob Reiner, ‘Flipped’ is a perfect blend of budding romance and coming-of-age philosophies that I use in my own life. It follows and flips (no pun intended) back and forth between the two protagonists throughout their young life, maturing into their own and maturing in and out of infatuation with each other. It leaves you with an optimistic bliss and leaves you very content with an open-ended ending. From start to finish, Reiner really showcases the lives of these two kids, not only with their romance, but their own problems and struggles outside the relationship.” 

Gregory Shannon, ‘22: “Shark Tale” (2004)

“While normally people don’t look at ‘Shark Tales’ as a romance movie, the themes of it are very much there. The movie focuses heavily on the relationship between Oscar and Angie. No matter how many times Oscar messes up or how much money he gets, Angie still supports him through all of it. The movie teaches us that while money and fame can get you anything it doesn’t compare to having someone who loves you while you’re at your lowest. Moral of the story: find your day one.”

Other People’s Favorites:

With all of those to consider for your Valentine’s Day viewings here are a few favorites of the Collegian community. Fellow Joseph Gordon-Levitt enjoyer Aidan Degnan was broken after “(500) Days of Summer.” On opposite ends of the romantic timeline, Tori Sciarra stared at Ryan Gosling just like I did in “La La Land,” while Eric Valenti stared at Barbra Streisand just like I did in “The Way We Were.” The Collegian’s Managing Editor David O’Brien is not like the other dudes in the club since he chose David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart.” The other unique and different dude is the Collegian’s Sports Editor, Enrique Carrasco’s choice of “The Dark Knight Rises.” 

Big thank you to everyone who submitted a response and to those who shared their thoughts on their favorite movies about love. Have a happy Valentine’s Day if you celebrate it but if you don’t, happy Monday, Feb. 14.

Nolen Kelly,  Editor

“Damn, that kind of sucked,” muttered everyone in unison on Jan. 1, 2022. Another year has come and gone, and with it went all things 2021, ranging from super terrible to mildly okay. We lost Omar (Micheal K. Williams) and Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), Sia released “Music” and I created a Letterboxd account, a terrible moment in time. Despite all of that, the world was treated to some surprisingly great movies this year, and here is my list of my five favorites. A few honorable mentions include “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” “Pig,” “The Harder They Fall,” “Summer of Soul,” “Luca,” “The Suicide Squad” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” 

#5: “Dune”

“Dune” was released on HBO Max on Oct. 21, 2021. On that day, I was sick with the flu. With low energy levels and no desire to leave my house,  I settled in and gave it a shot. The dork part of my brain that loves movies had a surge of “Hell yeah” while watching this and my energy rose to normal amounts, allowing me to have a cool experience taking in Denis Villeneuve’s impressive and glorious interpretation of “Dune.” Gargantuan world pieces, interesting enough space politics, interesting characters and a simple but great story to follow all make this a nifty watch that I recommend for anyone looking to watch “Star Wars” if the politics were actually good. Despite only having a few scenes of action, this movie is more of a spectacle to behold than another space war opera, and for that, it was an excellent movie that I will be rewatching again and again.

#4: “Spider-Man: No Way Home”

Honestly, how could I not put this movie on the list? I’ve been a lifelong fan of the wall crawler’s comics — I grew up watching “Spider-Man 2,” Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was a super cool skater dude I wanted to hang out with at 12 years old, Tom Holland’s “Home” trilogy is my favorite of all of the Marvel movies, and “Into the Spider-Verse” is an achievement in every sense of animation and storytelling. You get it, I like the spider. Going into this movie I expected to have a satisfying ending to Tom’s trilogy, but I came out feeling like a six-year-old who rediscovered Spider-Man. It was an absolute blast of a time and I have no shame whatsoever admitting I cried three times in the nearly three hour runtime of the movie. I prefer my films to be more “film-y” and have something to say, but dammit, I would be a cold monster to exclude this phenomenal time of a movie from my list. Tears were shed, guffaws were had and vocal cords were shredded from the amount of pure joy I had from one sitting of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

#3 “Annette” 

I still have absolutely no idea what this movie is. Is it a musical? Is it an Adam Driver standup special? Is it a ghost story? Is it a “Child’s Play” sequel? I don’t know, but I’ll take two, please. Initially topping my list of “5 Good and 5 Bad movies of Summer 2021” on the good side, it was August when I first watched this movie; and to this day, there is so much I find myself thinking about frequently. “So May We Start” is the song of the century thanks to the Sparks brothers, Driver and Cotillard give some severely overlooked and incredible performances of the whole year, and Simon Helberg has been in my nightmares ever since. Although they sing and act really well, this film may not be for everyone, as it feels more like an angry arthouse response to “Singin’ in the Rain” and as if the audiences of the movie are talking directly to you. Bizarre, lovely, strange, weird, delightful and some other word for ‘good.’ Again, I don’t know what this movie is, but I really liked it. 

#2: “The Power of the Dog”

Have you ever watched a movie that just goes on and on and by the end you catch yourself staring blankly into the abyss thinking about what it was you just watched? Me neither. Writer/director Jane Campion’s newest slowburn comes in the form of a Western starring real-life cowboy Benedict Cumberbatch. Great googly moogly Benny, you scary man. Delivering one of his sharpest and most uncomfortable performances of his whole career, Cumberbatch makes the skin crawl just by existing. Despite his rough ridges, the movie is nicely balanced out by the delicacy of every other character. Of the many characters that soften the punches from the Cumberbatch cowboy, the most important is Kirsten Dunst’s onscreen son Peter Gordon, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. A broken boy in a cowboy’s paradise allows Peter to bring one nightmare of a ranch experience into something with a little more cleanliness than manliness. Too many words, don’t care version: Benedict and Kodi worked incredibly together and I highly recommend this movie if you want to see what a Western looks like made by a New Zealander — terrifying. Speaking of terrifying:

#1: “Spencer”

In 2019 there was “Uncut Gems,” in 2020 there was “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” and in 2021 along came “Spencer” to add to my yearly list of “Movies that Gave me Anxiety.” “Spencer” is not the same level of anxiety-inducing as the previous two, but this movie was hard to watch. Kristen Stewart nails it, kills it and knocks it out of the park as Princess Diana. This movie is just so sad but I’m just so happy watching it. It’s a backwards feeling but I smile just thinking about how perfect her performance was. The tension is high, no one is happy at all, the outfits and costumes are excessive, Kristen Stewart is still the best, and the musical score is neverending. This movie is correct. Everything about it is just right and works so incredibly well that it feels like the most “movie” a biopic movie can be. Other biopics always feel like they are missing something and it is never super clear what it is, but they still work for whatever they are. “Spencer” works 100 percent even though it is not the most 100 percent accurate story. To me, “Spencer” is a perfect five out of five movie and I hope whoever needs to read this, give it a watch.

And that’s my list. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Should I have liked one of your favorites more? It doesn’t really matter, this is my list and it is what I like. 2021 had some good watches, but the fingers are crossed that 2022 brings some more surprises and contemporary classics.