movie review duo

The 10 Best Movie Duos We Got in 2022

Audiences couldn't get enough of these cinematic duos in 2022.

After so many pandemic-related delays and cancelations in 2020 and 2021, this year was one of the most exciting times for movie fans in what feels like forever. With lovers of every genre getting something to enjoy, 2022 had a varied and fun lineup of movies to obsess over.

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One thing that many of this year's best releases have in common is that they feature some truly entertaining character pairings. From a year that gave us some great on-screen siblings, unlikely best friends, and captivating lovers, these are some of the most dynamic duos of 2022.

Georgia and David ('Ticket to Paradise')

Ticket to Paradise is the story of a pair of formerly married parents who head to Bali on a mission to sabotage their daughter's wedding, believing she's making the same mistake they once did.

While the characters certainly have plenty of charm, what makes these exes so entertaining is that they're played by two of the most charismatic actors of their generation. Julia Roberts and George Clooney have an infectious onscreen chemistry that, along with their real-life friendship, makes them an endlessly fun pair to watch. Solid rom-coms may be in short supply these days, but these two bickering divorcees prove that there's still plenty to love about the genre.

Naru and Taabe ('Prey')

Prey follows Naru ( Amber Midthunder ), a young member of the Comanche tribe in the 18th century who desperately wants to prove herself to her family and the rest of her peers as a worthy warrior. When a Predator crash lands in their territory and goes on a killing spree, she finally gets a chance to do just that.

While the movie is entirely Naru's story, her relationship with her brother, Taabe ( Dakota Beavers ), is important to her development. The older and more battle-tested of the two, Taabe's treatment of her makes for a dynamic that is a realistic balance of classic sibling dismissal and comradery. Throughout the story, Taabe fully acknowledges her as a warrior on equal footing. When these two join forces to take on this film's Predator in the third act, they show a thoroughly satisfying level of synchronization that we wish we could have gotten to see even more of.

Stanley and Bo ('Hustle')

Hustle follows overlooked basketball scout Stanley Sugerman as he discovers a talented young player overseas and returns him to the US, hoping to get him into the NBA.

Everyone loves an underdog, and this combination of naive NBA hopeful and withered talent scout delivers just that. Thanks to an Adam Sandler performance that balances humor and tenderness and an impressive acting debut for real life basket-ball player Juancho Hernangomez , all the ups and downs of this student/teacher relationship feel real in all the best ways. By the time that final scene hits, you'll find yourself rooting for them both to keep climbing the ladder after the credits roll.

Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle ('The Batman')

The Batman sees a younger version of Bruce Wayne/Batman as he tracks down the serial killer, "The Riddler," who leaves various clues for anyone on his trail.

If the chemistry is what you're looking for in a Batman/Catwoman performance, look no further than Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz . A new iteration of the classic duo, these two masked strangers share a palpable romantic tension in every scene they share. Both are badass in their own right but are simply dripping with cool when put together. With a sequel already confirmed, here's to hoping they'll become the power couple everyone knows them to be.

Wendell and Wild ('Wendell & Wild')

Wendell & Wild follows a young orphaned girl in a ghost town who is offered the chance to see her parents again by a pair of demon brothers who have plans for the world of humans.

In another case of two performances being enhanced by the actors that play them, one of this film's main draws was seeing Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele ) join comedic forces again. This pair of bumbling hellspawn serve as a fun and funny foil not only to the film's protagonist but also to each other. While they're only a key component in someone else's story, if Henry Selick ever decided to give them their spinoff, we don't think anyone would complain.

Finney and Gwen ('The Black Phone')

The Black Phone follows Finney, a young boy kidnapped by an infamous child killer called "The Grabber." When he starts receiving calls from a phone in his cell with the voices of previous victims on the other end and his sister Gwen starts to have strange visions, it looks like there may be a way out of the killer's clutches.

The film would have dropped the ball if Gwen vanished from the story as Finney was captured. However, we get a parallel journey of sorts, with Finney in the belly of the beast trying to escape and Gwen using her visions to track him down. Whether they're working together to catch the Grabber or getting jumped by neighborhood bullies, the sense of solidarity between them never wavers.

Lemon and Tangerine ('Bullet Train')

Bullet Train follows a veteran assassin named Ladybug and numerous other assassins with interconnected stories and missions that are all traveling on a Bullet Train in Tokyo simultaneously. When their goals start to overlap, the ride suddenly becomes much less simple.

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In an ensemble as large and varied as this one, it says an awful lot that this pairing was able to steal the show completely. Brothers till the end, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Lemon and Tangerine brought a little of everything that makes the film work. Between countless laughs, badass action scenes, and tragic moments, these two nearly cover the full spectrum of human emotions in the most entertaining way possible.

Evelyn and Waymond ('Everything Everywhere All at Once')

Everything Everywhere All at Once is the story of Evelyn ( Michelle Yeoh ), a down-on-her-luck owner of a laundromat who is estranged from her daughter and at odds with her husband ( Ke Huy Quan ). When she finds herself at the center of a multiverse conflict, she's quickly faced with more danger than she could ever imagine.

In a movie that manages to be just as broad as it is specific in its scope, Evelyn and Waymond's relationship is one of the key elements that balances the story. Together through many different versions of themselves, their relationship ranges from tender in one universe to regretful in another: and everything in between. Not often are we treated to such a multi-layered middle-aged romance, and this pairing is proof that we need to see more. Here's to hoping they'll stay together, whether fighting evil or doing laundry and taxes.

Emerald and OJ ('Nope')

Nope is the story of a brother and sister belonging to a proud lineage of Hollywood horse trainers who attempt to get the perfect shot of what they believe to be a UFO to restore their family name.

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Possibly the most realistic depiction of fictional siblings of the year, Emerald and OJ (played to perfection by Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya ) share a bond that holds the film's emotional core together. Where so many movies treat siblings as either comically inseparable or complete enemies, Nope takes two characters who are polar opposites and paints them as nuanced people who may often butt heads but always have each other's backs. That, combined with the best onscreen dap up in quite some time, makes them as dynamic a duo as they come.

Bheem and Ram ('RRR')

RRR follows a pair of legendary Indian revolutionaries in the 1920s fighting back against the British colonialists that devastated their homes.

Anyone searching for a good bromance needs to look no further than the protagonists of this three-hour epic . Going from enemies to best friends, to enemies again, and finally coming back together, it's just as thrilling to watch these two fight against each other as it is to see them fight side by side. Even still, their bond is so pure that you can't help but root for them to work things out whenever they face off. Whether hunting down their enemies via piggyback ride or throwing a dance-off to let the other impress their crush, these two were, without a doubt the best movie duo of 2022.

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Greatness in Pairs: The 10 Best Movie and TV Duos

The history of iconic movie and TV duos runs deep, ranging from comedic partners such as Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller in Zoolander to action packed characters like Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black II . Many films even collaborate on the different types of duos, like the comedic action pair of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street .

Duos are spread across every genre and trope within film and television, whether fiction or nonfiction, live-action or animated , they cover every screen, and you can’t go far without a hit pairing. The idea of a team up is noticeable within all aspects of art, including literature , comics and music . With that in mind, here are 10 of the most beloved movie and TV duos in cinema and television history.

1. Shrek and Donkey, ‘Shrek’

“That’ll do, Donkey. That’ll do.” – Shrek.

Shrek ( Mike Myers ), a fearsome ogre, and the talkative Donkey ( Eddie Murphy ), are not friends at first. Shrek is constantly irritated by Donkey and his hyperactive personality, but they go on to become inseparable. One of the most unlikely and beloved friendships begins in the first installment in the Shrek franchise to save princess Fiona ( Cameron Diaz ) and carries on for several more movies.

2. Woody and Buzz Lightyear, ‘Toy Story’

“Woody once risked his life to save mine, and I couldn’t call myself his friend if I wasn’t willing to do the same.” – Buzz Lightyear.

The spaceman action figure Buzz ( Tim Allen ), and Woody ( Tom Hanks ), an old-fashioned cowboy figure start off as rivals, but for the love of their owner Andy, they soon become best friends and one of Disney’s most popular duos. The animated pair hit screens in 1995 and instantly became a fan favorite, later releasing three successful sequels following their adventures with their many newfound friends.

3. C-3PO and R2-D2, ‘Star Wars’

“R2D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer!” – C-3PO.

The Star Wars universe is known for the celebrated trios of Luke, Han, and Leia or Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme, but the true iconic droid duo have sometimes gone unnoticed. Their first appearance, per timeline order, is in Star Wars: A Phantom Menace, and their most recent in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker . They are always together, cracking jokes and making witty comments, or getting in the midst of the action.

Hopefully the storyline isn’t over for this incredible droid duo. What is a Star Wars film without its droids?

4. Batman and Robin ‘Batman Forever’

“This is why Superman works alone.” – Batman.

Batman ( George Clooney ) and Robin ( Chris O’Donnell ) have been an iconic duo for decades since their first appearance in DC Comics , and it doesn’t stop there. Ranging from costumes for Halloween to their performances in Batman Forever and Batman and Robin , the pair have long protected Gotham City together.

The two have been fighting alongside in numerous different productions and are classified as the prototype for all crime-fighting duos. Together they have gone against some of the most acclaimed villains in the DC Universe , including the Joker and the Riddler.

5. Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, ‘Breaking Bad’

“Is this just a genetic thing with you? Is it congenital? Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby?” – Walter White to Jesse Pinkman.

Walter White ( Bryan Cranston ) and Jesse Pinkman ( Aaron Paul ) undergo one of the wildest storylines together, classifying themselves as one of the most common duo archetypes, student and teacher. Although the pair have their ups and downs through the five season series, and it is most definitely a love/hate relationship, they are easily one of the most iconic movie and TV duos thanks to their unique friendship and unmistakable chemistry.

6. Doc and Marty, ‘Back to the Future’

“Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me you built a time machine?” – Marty McFly

The beautiful friendship between Doc ( Christopher Loyd ) and Marty ( Michael J. Fox ) started young. Marty grew up a friend and assistant to Doc Brown on his crazy and wacky science experimentation, and most famously his time travelling.

The iconic duo of Marty and Doc are in three Back to the Future films, highlighting the popularity of their characters at the time of release and more importantly, the impact the Back to the Future films have on present films and audiences.

7. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, ‘Sherlock’

“Elementary, my dear Watson” – Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock and Watson have been the ultimate duo long before the 2010 series. The iconic pair were first brought to life in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , and their relationship has grown stronger and stronger over the years, eventually being played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman .

You’d be hard-pressed to find a mystery Sherlock has solved without the help of Dr. Watson. Their relationship is more than meets the eye, as they are not just business partners. Sherlock works just fine as a detective without him, however, Watson’s significance lies in his friendship with Sherlock.

8. Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute, ‘The Office’

“What’s the most important thing I ever said to you?” – Michael Scott

“Before I do anything, I ask myself, ‘would an idiot do that?’ And if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing,” – Dwight Schrute

Michael Scott ( Steve Carell ) and Dwight Schrute ( Rainn Wilson ) are easily one of the funniest and most interesting duos in the history of television. Michael, known for his iconic “that’s what she said” jokes and Dwight for his obsession to please Michael rule The Office from day one.

The dynamic pair experience some questionable events through the nine season series. Constantly using one another or going behind each other’s backs, however, it is always evident the care and love they have for each other.

9. Doctor Who and Donna, ‘Doctor Who’

“I don’t believe in destiny, but if destiny exists then it is heading for Donna Noble” – The Fourteenth Doctor

Every Doctor in the history of Doctor Who has always had a companion, however, Donna Noble ( Catherine Tate ) stole hearts everywhere. The Doctor ( David Tennant ) and Donna were destined to be together, and have become one of the most iconic duos in Britain’s most famous sci-fi show. On Donna’s first appearance, many fans were worried that she would just be comedic relief. Fortunately this is proven wrong during ‘Fires of Pompeii’ where she convinces The Doctor to defy the laws of time.

From there on, the two parade and bring some of the show’s best episodes to life. Tennant and Tate’s chemistry is undeniable, and they are arguably the strongest aspect of season four, bringing about laughter and tears. The pair’s adventures come to a heartbreaking end after The Doctor is forced to wipe Donna’s memories of their adventures together.

However, hope lies ahead for the iconic TV duo as Russell T Davies is set to bring David Tennant and Catherine Tate back for the show’s 60th anniversary.

10. Dom Toretto and Brian O’Conner, ‘Fast and Furious’

“Thought you could leave without saying goodbye?” – Brian O’Conner

“No matter where you are, whether it’s a quarter mile away or halfway across the world. [from Fast Five] The most important thing in life will always be the people in this room, right here, right now. Salute mi familia. You’ll always be with me. And you’ll always be my brother” – Dominic Toretto

The franchise continuing after Paul Walker’s passing was unexpected and utterly heartbreaking. First appearing together in The Fast and The Furious (2001), they stared alongside each other as a pair up until Furious 7 (2015).

The loyalty and chemistry between the two is undeniable. In any tricky situation, both always risk their lives to save the other. Although Walker’s character Brian is well and alive in the film world, Paul Walker will always be loved and missed.

The power of the incredible movie and TV duos

The idea of an iconic duo in cinema history is undeniably one of the most powerful and common traits, and can be recognized as an equally important aspect, like a narrative or soundtrack. Although at times the duo trope can be seen as overused, if done correctly it provides some true chemistry or a good laugh.

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‘milli vanilli’ review: doc about disgraced duo poses intriguing questions that it never satisfyingly answers.

Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, Luke Korem's film looks at the Euro-R&B duo, their rise to Grammy-winning fame and their descent into lip-synching ignominy.

By Daniel Fienberg

Daniel Fienberg

Chief Television Critic

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Back in 1990, the downfall of European pop duo Milli Vanilli seemed like an open-and-shut case of disgrace.

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Luke Korem’s new documentary Milli Vanilli attempts to give the “Blame It on the Rain” non-singers 106 minutes of re-evaluation. Were they perpetrators or victims? If they were some gradation of the latter, who were the actual villains? If they were some gradation of the former, did the punishment fit the crime? What did Rob and Fab actually do, what was their actual sin and why did audiences respond the way they did?

Maybe Korem’s primary objective is simply to make you think more about Milli Vanilli than you ever have before. In that, it’s a total success. It’s more of a failure when it comes to trying to answer some of those big questions and engage in direct accountability, and I don’t know if I buy most of its cultural conclusions. But have I been thinking a weird amount about Milli Vanilli since watching this documentary? 

Reader, you know it’s true.

To recap: In 1989 and 1990, a German-French pair took the American charts by storm. Their songs were hella catchy. Were they already kinda silly? Heavens yes, but when has anybody cared about that before? People began to care when Milli Vanilli won the best new artist Grammy in 1990, defeating Indigo Girls, Tone Loc, Neneh Cherry and Soul II Soul. This was an affront to our general decency, as no silly or disreputable artist had ever previously won a Grammy. I’m guessing. 

Just months after that win, it was revealed that Rob and Fab did none of the singing on their breakout album. Horror ensued, and the name “Milli Vanilli” was never able to recover its former luster. 

Morvan is candid in a self-serving way. His play for sympathy includes a contested account of initial reservations when it was suggested that he and Pilatus would only be the frontmen in a charade, while his convoluted explanation for why they somewhat deserved their Grammy is thoroughly ridiculous. Generally, though, he presents Fab and Rob — so confident in their media presentation at the time — as inexperienced kids who got in over their heads and then, once success came, didn’t want to return to poverty. Who came blame them? 

Insight into their earliest days comes courtesy of Ingrid Segieth, assistant to German producer Frank Farian and recounter of an origin story in which neither non-singer expressed any reservations at all, as well as Charles Shaw, Brad Howell, Linda Rocco and Jodie Rocco, actual vocalists on “Girl You Know It’s True” and more. In terms of their American breakout, we hear from an assistant manager, three threatening Arista Records executives, and, naturally enough, MTV’s “Downtown” Julie Brown.

That’s frustrating because the smartest of the cultural observers featured in the documentary — critic Hanif Abdurraqib is an executive producer as well — want to make bigger points about exploitation in the music industry and Korem obviously would love to force a reckoning of some sort. But there are too many unconnected dots. It’s easy to make the right inferences about a scandal in which a group of Black performers were marginalized, erased or hung out to dry by a group of white executives who presumably got rich and faced no visible consequences themselves, but the documentary has to hover rather than land. That leaves Morvan as a victim worthy of empathy, but short of inherently deserving any triumphant redemption.

Morvan, it turns out, is a totally serviceable singer now and he’s able to capitalize on nostalgia to carve out something resembling a career. The documentary capitalizes on the same nostalgia to bring complexity to what felt, 30 years ago, like a simple story. It could have benefited from even more complexity.

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‘Leap’ Review: Glossy Chinese Sports Drama Gives Good Volleyball, Gong Li and Not Much Else

China's Oscar hopeful is a slick but never truly stirring account of the Chinese Women's Volleyball team's rise to international dominance.

By Jessica Kiang

Jessica Kiang

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A sport as quickfire as indoor volleyball deserves a nimbler workout than it gets in “Leap,” Peter Ho-Sun Chan ‘s lavish but curiously low-boil based-in-truth sports movie. Telling the decades-spanning tale of the Chinese Women’s Volleyball team and its star-player-turned-head-coach, Lang Ping, it’s essentially a rise-and-fall-and-rise-again story. But in presenting a sanitized vision of Chinese patriotism as pretty much the sole motivating force for any of its characters, despite a hefty runtime and some unimpeachably glossy craft, the film is a mis-hit spike, delivering far less penetration than its toned, muscular surface promises.

Ignoring or eliding whole decades of interim drama (Lang’s first stint as China’s coach is a particularly strange omission), the film is organized instead around three centerpiece matches: China versus Japan at the World Cup in 1981; China versus USA at the Beijing Olympics in 2008; and China versus Brazil at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Each takes place in a different era for Chinese volleyball, and therefore for China in general — the parallel between the success of the women’s volleyball squad and China’s post-Mao reentry onto the global stage is well established, but again, that just dangles the prospect of a more historically incisive picture than is delivered.

As strong-willed 18-year-old Lang Ping (played here by her daughter, Bai Lang) endures the borderline abusive but effective tough-love training of coach Yuan Weimin (Wu Gang), she forms a prickly bond with hitting partner Chen Zhonghe (Peng Yuchang from “An Elephant Sitting Still”). And though Chen is initially nonplussed at having to suppress his own sporting aspirations in service to the team, as the women start to win matches, he begins to take pride in being part of this squad. Their first major championship win is against Japan in 1981, a feat that establishes them, and especially dynamic outside hitter Lang, not only as the new shining stars of Chinese sport, but also as a potent symbol of China’s gathering strength post-Cultural Revolution.

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The match itself, like all the volleyball sequences here, is impressively recreated. The pretty, sun-flared camerawork from Yu Jin-Ping and Zhao Xiaoshi employs slow-motion, symmetrical overheads and multiple angles to make the action look both cinematic and authentic (to this inexpert eye anyway), aided by the almost exclusive casting of experienced volleyball players in the team roles. And here, there’s a little outside context about 1980s Chinese society, as massive factory floors grind to a halt so that workers can gather around crackly black-and-white TV sets to watch their nation serve, slam and spike their way to victory over neighboring nemesis Japan.

This underdog story could have been the whole movie, but now we jump, rather jarringly, to 2008. Lang Ping (now played by Gong Li , who resembles the former version of Lang not at all) is living in California and is the coach for Team USA. Their defeat of Team China — on the home ground of the Beijing Olympics, no less — is a bittersweet moment for Lang, not least because China’s being coached by her old friend Chen (here played by Huang Bo). And so when the Chinese volleyball commission, realizing their international prestige is waning, offer her the head coach position instead, she takes it. The rest of the film details her unorthodox, and initially unsuccessful training methods and her bonding with her new players (played by members of the actual 2016 Olympic team) culminating in a spectacular last-gasp turnaround in Rio against Brazil.

Zhang Ji’s screenplay has a lot of ground to cover, and clearly a lot of agendas to serve, and even the constant montages and omnipresent music can’t smooth over the glaring gaps and obvious sidesteps. We never learn why this properly patriotic woman left her native country to begin with, so her return packs less of an emotive wallop than it should. And with Lang so taciturn (her actual coaching philosophy remains oddly mysterious), there’s not a lot for even as fine an actress as Gong to do, except stoically suffer some unknowable inner anguish beneath an unflattering wig (which, to be fair, she does exquisitely) and be steely in the face of the overwhelmingly male Chinese sporting establishment.

So by some distance, China selecting “Leap” as its Oscar entry is the most intriguing thing here. Chan’s film may be politically uncontroversial to the point of blandness, ginning up Chinese national pride but carefully not at any one foreign nation’s expense — the American team even beats the Chinese. But still, given current geopolitics, the hope that U.S. Academy voters won’t notice or won’t mind a finale in which the Stars and Stripes hangs several symbolic feet below the Five-Starred Red Flag of China, is an act of either brave idealism, or amusingly sly trolling. Quite which, like so much else here, is hard to know.

Reviewed online, Berlin, Jan. 6, 2021. Running time: 134 MIN. (Original title: "Duo Guan")

• Production: (China) A Jetsen Huashi US release of a WE Distribution presentation of a Beijing J.Q. Media Company, We Pictures, Huaxia Film Distribution, Huanxi Media Group, Beijing Alibaba Pictures, Lian Ray Pictures, Such a Good Film, Shooting Pictures,, Shanghai Dimension Films., Goodfellas Pictures, One Cool Film Prod., Zhejiang Hengdian Films, Huoerguosi Jinyi Film and, X-Frequency Pictures production. Producers: Jojo Hui Yuet Chun, Zhang Yibai. Executive producers: Qin Hong, Sandra Ng, Fu Ruoqing, Dong Ping, Fan Luyuan, Cai Yuan, Jiao Honfen, Han Mei, LV Jianchu, Zhao Maofei, Jiang Jun, Vivian Shen.
• Crew: Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan. Screenplay: Zhang Ji. Camera: Yu Jin-Ping, Zhao Xiaoshi. Editor: Zhang Yibo. Music: Shigeru Umebayashi.
• With: Gong Li, Huang Bo, Wu Gang, Peng Yuchang, Bai Lang, Zhu Ting.

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Blood for Dust Review: An Action-Packed Crime Thriller

Blood for Dust plunges into the grim underbelly of illegal arms dealing, setting its scene amidst the tension and volatility that defines the lives of those ensnared in such a world. Directed by Rod Blackhurst and penned by David Ebeltoft , the film crafts a narrative brimming with suspense, violence, and fleeting moments of camaraderie, stitched together in a gritty fabric characteristic of action crime thrillers. With a notable ensemble cast led by Scoot McNairy , Kit Harington , and Josh Lucas , it teases the potential for an explosive cinematic experience. However, it somewhat falters, hovering in the gray zone where its aspirations and actual deliverance diverge.

At the heart of Blood for Dust is the ill-fated partnership between Cliff (McNairy) and Ricky (Harington), with McNairy offering a compelling portrayal of a desperate everyman ensnared in an escalating crisis. His descent from a struggling traveling salesman to a beleaguered criminal is palpable, drawing empathy from the audience with his beleaguered resilience. In contrast, Harington’s Ricky is a whirlwind of charisma and unpredictability, embodying the recklessness and flair of someone who’s thrived in the perilous balance of gun-running. Josh Lucas’s cartel boss, John, completes this trio with a chilling performance that exudes menace and control. This is a stark contrast to the chaos Ricky represents.

However, where Blood for Dust promises a nuanced dive into its character’s psyches, it somewhat stumbles. Ricky’s motivations and the transformation of Cliff are often overshadowed by the film’s relentless pacing. The script also occasionally leans more towards spectacle than substance.

The action sequences themselves, while undeniably thrilling and well-orchestrated, occasionally veer into the realm of excess. This sacrifices the film’s potential for a more grounded and haunting examination of its themes. The directors’ penchant for style is evident; there’s a certain aesthetic pleasure in the way violence is choreographed and executed. The stylistic prowess overshadows the narrative’s need for quieter moments.

The film’s cinematography captures the tri-state area’s diverse landscapes in a hauntingly beautiful manner. The serene vistas contrast with Cliff and Ricky’s chaos, amplifying their tragedy.

Supporting performances, notably from Nora Zehetner and Ethan Suplee , provide layers to a story that, at its core, revolves around broken individuals striving for redemption or ruination. Zehetner’s Amy offers a glimpse into the personal stakes, grounding the larger-than-life chaos in the painfully human. Similarly, Suplee’s Slim delivers a memorably gritty performance, adding a necessary dose of humanity to the narrative.

Despite its strengths, Blood for Dust doesn’t entirely escape the pitfalls of genre conventions. At times, it slips into predictable plot turns and character arcs. The struggle for originality is palpable, but action thriller clichés catch it. The film almost says something profound but holds back, prioritizing spectacle over depth.

The film’s attempt to critique the very cycle of violence it depicts can feel undercut by its own glorification of these elements. The ending, in particular, might leave audiences divided. While aiming for a cathartic climax, it might instead prompt reflection on whether the journey justified its conclusion.

Blood for Dust delivers the adrenaline and visual flair expected of the genre. Strong performances from its lead actors bolster it. Yet, it ultimately feels like a missed opportunity to delve deeper into the emotional and psychological landscapes of its characters. As it stands, it’s a commendable effort that captivates and entertains but stops short of leaving a lasting imprint. Whether Whether Blood for Dust is remembered as thrilling or a missed chance is to be seen. It achieves moments of brilliance but also falls prey to the shadows of its own ambition.

• Acting - 6.5/10 6.5/10
• Cinematography/Visual Effects - 7/10 7/10
• Plot/Screenplay - 6.5/10 6.5/10
• Setting/Theme - 6/10 6/10
• Watchability - 7/10 7/10
• Rewatchability - 5.5/10 5.5/10

User Review

About Caillou Pettis

Caillou Pettis is a professional film critic and journalist as well as the author of While You Sleep, The Inspiring World of Horror: The Movies That Influenced Generations, and co-author of Out of Time: True Paranormal Encounters. He has been writing in the entertainment industry for over seven and a half years professionally. Throughout the years, he has written articles for publications including Gold Derby, Exclaim!, CBR, Awards Radar, Awards Watch, Flickering Myth, BRWC, Starburst Magazine, Punch Drunk Critics, Mediaversity Reviews, Vinyl Chapters, Northern Transmissions, and Beats Per Minute.

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‘Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie’ Review: The Legendary Stoner Duo Recount Meteoric Rise in Hit-or-Miss Archival Doc

Vikram murthi.

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Alas, every success story comes with its fair share of complications. “Last Movie” also explores the financial headaches and managerial difficulties Cheech and Chong weathered at the height of their success, as well as the creative differences that ultimately drove the two men apart. Though the pair are currently on friendly terms, director David Bushell depicts how they still carry some resentments. Much like brothers, the two remember different versions of the same events, and depending on who’s telling the story, the other half is inevitably portrayed as the malefactor.

Most importantly, “Last Movie” reunites Cheech Marin, age 77, and Tommy Chong, age 85, back together on screen. The film features sequences of the aging stoners driving together through the desert, and watching the two men riff together in a car will inevitably recall similar scenes of them as younger men in films like “Up in Smoke.” Bushell reportedly shot these scenes near Joshua Tree without a script, and though some are certainly improvised — like when Cheech and Tommy banter or argue — others are clearly staged, especially the one’s featuring “passengers” like their former producer Lou Adler and Tommy’s wife Shelby. Bushell’s combination of staged and improvised scenes not only falls in line with the history of non-fiction filmmaking (“Is this a doc or a movie?” Cheech asks. “I don’t know, man,” Chong replies), but also neatly reflects how the duo brought their recorded work to the big screen.

Though these early scenes have a plodding, standard biographical quality, complete with ho-hum animated sequences to flesh out stories absent from the archive, they also capture how both men developed different skills that would later be utilized in their act. Tommy’s musical background gave him an early glimpse into show biz life and confidence as a live performer, whereas Cheech was on the front lines of the counterculture as a politically active college student in the ’60s on the West Coast. The two also found their way into marijuana at similar times, albeit through radically different venues befitting their distinctive pasts. Cheech discovered the herb in college where he also crossed paths with Timothy Leary. Tommy, on the other hand, got high for the first time watching jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman play in a club.

For a while, “Last Movie” languidly ambles through its and-then-this-happened structure, but just as it completely loses steam, it picks up when it focuses on the duo’s break-up, specifically how the two feel about it in the present day. Bushell films individual interviews with Cheech and Tommy that recur throughout the films, and though it provide a good foundation for their respective histories, watching the two relitigate arguments from decades prior as they drive together compels on its own merits. Tommy betrays plenty of egotism on his part when he insists he needed full creative control with every successive film and Cheech never quite got over being marginalized in the act. Even in their autumn years, they often can’t or won’t perceive how the other feels about certain events, and it’s telling the two never abandon their positions even when they agree to let it go.

Any serious comedy fan will probably get something from “Last Movie” even as it overstays its welcome. It’s refreshing that the film never tries to force Cheech and Chong’s comedy to transcend its historical period. At one point in the film, an interviewer asks whether the two comics would have an act if they took away the four-letter word and the drugs, to which he replies, “If you took away the four-letter word and the drugs, you wouldn’t have the youth.” Even though “Last Movie” spends two hours explaining the pair’s rise to cultural prominence, there’s nary a better explanation for it than that eloquent retort.

“Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie” premiered at SXSW 2024. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Analogue Duo review: A second chance for an underappreciated console

Analogue's love-letter to the turbografx-16 hits almost all the right marks..

We are living in a second golden age for console gaming. Active communities, open developer tools and easy distribution have given new life to many once-dead systems. If there's one company who deserves the most thanks for bringing a love for '80s and '90s cartridge-based console gaming back to the semi-mainstream, it's Analogue.

It started with the CMVS , an obsessive (and expensive) wood-grained reboot of the iconic Neo Geo. Then came the Analogue Nt in 2014, which brought easy, high-def NES gaming to our homes . In 2017, the Super Nt did the same for SNES gaming, then the Mega Sg for the Sega Genesis and, most recently, the Analogue Pocket , which supports everything from the Game Boy to the Neo Geo Pocket thanks to a series of adapters.

Analogue's latest is something different. While all those before have lived and died by their cartridge ports, the new Analogue Duo takes us to the next generation of gaming: optical. That's right, Analogue has entered the multimedia era with this love letter to one of Japan's most beloved consoles, a machine that barely made a dent elsewhere in the world.

Analogue Duo

Analogue's most expensive console in years and its first system with a CD-ROM drive is the ultimate ode to a forgotten gem. It's not quite perfect, but it's a great addition to any serious game collector's arsenal.

• Sleek, classy design
• Simple and intuitive interface
• Pristine HDMI output
• Easy compatibility with any region
• Middling controllers
• Analogue's priciest machine in years

That system is the TurboGrafx-16, known as the PC Engine in its home market of Japan. It launched there in 1987, beating the Sega Genesis to market by two years and the SNES by three. It rocketed to huge popularity, ultimately outselling Sega and keeping pace with Nintendo for much of its life. By the end of its run, its library offered nearly 700 games.

It didn't fare so well in the US. The TurboGrafx-16 didn't come here until 1989, arriving after the Genesis brought blast processing to the masses. Nintendo and Sega soon engaged in a marketing war of epic proportions. NEC's humble TurboGrafx-16 didn't stand a chance.

It didn't help that it wasn't really a 16-bit console. Though it offered support for 16-bit graphics, it only had an 8-bit internal processor, so it couldn't match the power of the competition. The add-on CD-ROM didn't help. Despite hitting the market years before the Sega CD, the Genesis add-on included an additional processor to deliver an early taste of 3D processing. The TurboGrafx drive was just that: an optical drive.

The system struggled in the US for a few more years before NEC pulled the plug in 1994. In Japan, new games hit the system all the way through 1999, meaning that even the most hardcore enthusiasts in the US missed out on the bulk of the PC Engine's best titles.

And, since the Analogue Duo can play imported games just as readily as local ones, it's a great excuse to dig deeper into that library.

Out of the box

The Analogue Duo is a slender console that shares an aesthetic similar to the PC Engine Duo, which was released in the US as the TurboDuo. NEC's Duo integrated the CD-ROM peripheral into a single, sleek, unified device. But, the Analogue unit feels far nicer. Its plastic body feels sturdier than the brittle stuff used on consoles back in the '90s, and the bottom is even rubberized. In fact, the Duo feels more like a high-end piece of home theater equipment, whereas the TurboGrafx-16 feels like a 30-year-old toy.

Up front are two slots. On the left is where cartridge-based games go, either on HuCard or TurboChip, the two media formats NEC used over the years. On the right is the CD-ROM slot.

Output to your display is via the HDMI port on the back, but there's also a 3.5mm headphone jack with its own volume knob if you want some private listening. You'll also find a port on the side for wired controllers, but since this uses the smaller Japanese connector, not the larger American one, you'll need an adapter to use TurboGrafx-16 controllers.

Around the back is an SD card reader for firmware updates or the like, plus a USB-C port through which the system gets its power.

At the heart of the system is an Altera Cyclone V processor, a dual-core Arm Cortex field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip that can be effectively coded to act like any other processor. It's that core which enables the Duo to emulate the PC Engine and all its derivatives over the years.

There's none of the lag and glitchy performance that you'll get when running ROMs through an emulator. This is as close as you're going to get to a modern reboot of the PC Engine, but with much cleaner output.

Whether you're playing domestic or imported games, everything will look stellar. As with previous Analogue releases, the Duo outputs a 1080p signal over HDMI, resulting in the absolute cleanest way to play your games on a modern digital display.

While there are ways to get an HDMI signal out of a TurboGrafx-16, ranging from RGB adapters that clip on the back to outputs soldered onto the system itself, even running through something like a scanline converter you're unlikely to ever get a signal this crisp and clean.

But for those who like to preserve a taste of the old school, Analogue includes a few different gameplay modes to deliver a CRT-like look and feel.

To be fair, even the greatest of games for this system don't offer much in terms of high-fidelity graphics compared to modern titles. But there are plenty well worth your time. Gate of Thunder is one of them, and it’s among the best side-view shooters, or shmups, ever to hit a console. The quality of games like this helped establish the PC Engine's success in Japan.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood , though, is generally believed to be the single greatest title for the system. Released on CD-ROM in 1993, exclusively in the Japanese market, this is still ranked among the top Castlevania titles of them all.

It's damned good, and plays excellently on the Analogue Duo. Load times for this game and others are quite fast, and the drive isn't as noisy as many console CD-ROM add-ons were back in the day.

Gaming on the Analogue Duo

The Analogue Duo delivered flawless compatibility and playback for virtually every game I threw at it, with only one falling short: SCI: Special Criminal Investigation — which, thank goodness, has nothing to do with the CSI television series. SCI is the sequel to Chase H.Q. , which was big in American arcades. Its unique mix of driving and shooting, as well as the inclusion of amazing period cars like the Nissan 300ZX Turbo made it a real favorite of mine. In fact, this was the first game I tried to play on the Duo.

So, imagine my horror when the Analogue system wouldn't play it or even recognize it. It just displayed a blank screen, much like what happens on a region-locked US TurboGrafx-16 console when trying to play a Japanese game. So, I went into the Duo's settings, explicitly changed the region to Japan, and the game played without issue.

This is the only game that the Duo failed to appropriately identify the region of, which is a minor annoyance at best that I'm sure will be fixed soon in one of Analogue's frequent updates.

Firmware updates are easily applied via the integrated SD-card reader, which is also where your save games for CD-based titles are stored. This makes them easy to back up or even edit. With the appropriate USB adapter, it's also possible to import your old save games.

Controllers

If there's one fly in this ointment, it's the controllers. As usual, Analogue partnered with 8BitDo to provide peripherals for the Duo. The $24.99 gamepad is the standard offering, and while it looks good in photos, in the hand it's somewhat underwhelming.

For one thing, it feels just as light and flimsy as 8BitDo's other products, with buttons that rattle when you shake the thing. The controller doesn't even offer the same weight and solidity as the original TurboGrafx-16 controllers, which certainly aren't standouts themselves.

But the 8BitDo controllers have a major advantage: they're wireless. They pair quickly and easily with the Duo and work without lag. They also feature a dedicated home button to bring up the Analogue menu.

There is, though, one final kicker with the controllers: they charge over micro-USB. It's 2024, 8BitDo. Even Apple has moved to USB-C.

I really enjoyed testing the Analogue Duo. It was an opportunity to play releases I hadn't dug out in years, and also to experience some games I hadn't yet tried, all rendered in immaculate detail.

That said, it's easy to see this as a very niche release for Analogue, a company whose obsessive fans are already far from mainstream. Software emulation is infinitely cheaper and still delivers great results, but those of us who love classic console gaming know that there's just something different about running it from the original media.

Whether that extra something is worth the extra cost is between you and your accountant. Despite being Analogue's most expensive release in years, and despite supporting a decidedly underappreciated console, the Analogue Duo is yet another excellent quality of life improvement for retro gamers and collectors. I can't imagine playing my HuCards any other way.

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• Novel Encounters: The films of Lee Chang-dong
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The Benny Chan Cops & Robbers Rundown Part 6: Heroic Duo

Straight police action peppered with a quirky driving plot device showcases both sides of Chan well…

In honour of the forthcoming release of the late Benny Chan ‘s Raging Fire, we look back on his career and the genre for which he was best known.

Despite Chan’s quite high and consistent levels of success both as a director and a producer, he didn’t just play it safe by repeating formulas and casting decisions. His casting preferences for crime movies in particular ran the gamut, with favourites for several films including big guns Jackie Chan and Andy Lau, newcomers Nicholas Tse and Daniel Wu and niche stars Lau Ching Wan and Francis Ng (though interestingly, he’d never use the same female lead twice except for in his A Moment of Romance sequel). Just comparing how totally different the roles of Anthony Wong, Tse and Ng are from one Chan movie to another gives a good idea of the surprising variety within formula Chan proved adept at finding.

Inspector Ken Li (Ekin Cheng) is a competent but cocky cop who likes to spend his time tormenting his subordinate and equally loyal girlfriend in the force, Brenda (Karena Lam). But after a decorated officer commits a crime that shocks everyone, the suspicious Ken turns his attention to master psychologist and hypnotist Jack Lai (Leon Lai) — who’s serving time for a killing himself — to help get to the bottom of it in exchange for clemency.

Things get even more urgent (and stranger) when Jack’s rival, Ocean (Francis Ng) — who uses his gift for hypnotism to be a finer crime boss — is plotting a huge heist at an auction of ancient Egyptian diamonds that are priceless (except for the fact they’re being auctioned). But Ocean wants more than money, as the one thing driving his crime spree more than greed is his ego. He has a doesn’t-even-need-to-be-hypnotized obsession about imposing himself over others.

Jack clearly knows what’s going on, but seems to really enjoy playing games with Li and running the police through hoops. But it’s not that Jack’s just trying to be Hannibal Lecter; he has quite the motivation for his methods in the form of his wife (Xu Jinglei) and children. The plot ends up implicating Li, giving his rival in the force Officer Yeung (Raymond Wong) an opportunity to bring him down that he’s all too happy to take. But that also leaves Brenda (who’s under Yeung’s command) in quite the dilemma.

A lesser-known but still by all means notable part of the resurgence of HK crime cinema kicked off by Infernal Affairs at the end of 2002, Heroic Duo saw Chan returning to the roots of the genre with a twist. Even while featuring so many of his hallmarks, Duo is rather unique among Chan’s films; not just for its highly unusual driving plot mechanism among more common genre elements, but for being the most steady transition point between his earlier more romantically-minded, jocular and juvenile cops and robbers movies and the more serious-minded thrills of his last few films.

The plot involving hypnotized cops helping to steal ancient Egyptian jewels sounds straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. But if that’s the case, it’s an especially fun, clever and (less naturally) violent one. Even when stretching credibility and occasionally logic, Duo maintains good pacing and keeps a good focus on the main story with steadily building suspense. That focus is unexpectedly enhanced by a wide range of characters and appropriately, character psychologies that create a particularly fascinating dynamic between Cheng’s (flawed) hero and Lai’s shade of grey.

Duo also has a wonderful sense of humour that’s again something of a bridge; past the plain silliness of the Gen -cops series while not yet allowing itself to be marginalized by the more stern and strict polish of later efforts (a certain twist involving Hello Kitty is a classic example of Chan’s gift for making small details into memorable laughs). And the way that the villain accommodates his child hostages in darkly comic fashion by convincing them they’re really just playing a game for the sake of their emotional calm — even if he has completely different motivations for keeping them calm — is like Life is Beautiful in twisted reverse (though actually more believable).

Chan’s cops would find themselves in worse and worse predicaments with their own forces with every new movie; on Big Bullet and Gen-X Cops they’re severely punished or suspended by their superiors, but on Gen-Y Cops and even worse here, the lead cops end up being wanted by the cops themselves (this time on “shoot to kill” orders). So Duo creates an awkward (and again, almost cartoon caper-like) situation similar but tighter than that of Gen-Y’s where Li’s after Lai, Yeung’s after Li, Lai’s after Ocean, and Brenda’s literally trying to serve two masters (staying on the force that’s after Li while she also can’t help helping him).

Everybody — including lovers and partners — has their own duties, agendas and priorities, so most inevitably find themselves in very iffy situations where they have to depend on the cooperation (willing, coerced or hypnotized) of others with their professions, possessions or lives on the line. Still, Duo rushes through it all so fast that most characters are only really fleshed out by their struggles and concerns — except, ironically, for Ng’s pure evil villain whose temperament is the most detailed (but that’s also due in part to his standout performance).

That dynamic of course, leaves plenty of well-exploited room for gunfights, car chases, foot chases, martial arts and stunts courtesy of Stephen Tung, who’s designed decades of iconic action scenes from A Better Tomorrow to Reign of Assassins . And the building tension and suspense leads up to the most Hollywood-esque race against the clock of all Chan’s climatic battles. Yet when all’s said and done, even amidst all the chases, shooting, scheming and of course explosions, Duo’s core message reveals itself as surprisingly simple, moral and even a little traditional — again more or less like your favourite old cartoon.

Heroic Duo is not quite hypnotically entertaining, but it delightfully manages a very unusual spin on a very usual story without coming off as too fantastical. As such, even when not his best film, this is perhaps the most plainly accessible introduction to the everyman wit, energy and showmanship of Benny Chan.

“When you tell yourself you can do it — then you can do it….When you tell yourself you can do it — then you can do it.” [Call him a motivational speaker; just with crime and hypnotism instead of business or life advice.]

Join us next week for the next in our The Benny Chan Cops & Robbers Rundown .

HK Geonotes

If you’re a high roller, you might fancy stopping by the real-life auction house featured and robbed in this film, Sotheby’s. Their HK headquarters is aptly located in the upscale Central District to match the status of the longer-established Bond Street and Manhattan locales. They probably won’t quite have Nefertiti’s jewels up for sale, but they do sell plenty of things (paintings, collectibles, wine) that reach sums ranging from the hundreds to the tens of millions (hundreds of millions for HKD). The commercial building it’s located in, One Pacific Place, is full of luxury hotels, brand name stores and upscale restaurants that are largely in about the same price range as the auctions. But like a few such buildings in HK, even if one doesn’t tend to splurge it’s still good for taking a look through.

The same year this movie came out, Xu Jinglei started directing movies herself, becoming one of Mainland China’s most prominent female directors and later the most successful ever by far, with 2010’s Go Lala Go! making over ¥100 million and 2017’s The Missing making just under that. That same year, she’d star in the similarly far-fetched-but-fun futuristic crime thriller Battle of Memories .

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Screen Rant

Radio silence duo compares melissa barrera's abigail & scream characters.

Abigail directors Tyler Gillett & Matt Betinelli-Opin talk Melissa Barrera's ability to draw in horror fans and where they're at with Ready or Not 2.

• Abigail is not your typical horror movie, as it combines heist elements with a bloodthirsty monster twist.
• Directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Betinelli-Opin praise Melissa Barrera's fearlessness and empathy in her performance.
• Practical effects take center stage in creating the impressive and bloody scenes in Abigail , adding to the tactile horror experience.

In Abigail , a crew of criminals kidnap a young girl in order to ransom her back to her father for $50 million. However, while staying in the secluded house where they are keeping her for the night, tensions run high as strange occurrences befall them. They soon discover that not is all as they believed when they discover that they are trapped in the house with the little girl, Abigail, who is actually a bloodthirsty monster in disguise, not the other way around.

The Radio Silence directing duo Tyler Gillett and Matt Betinelli-Opin have made quite a name for themselves in horror. They cut their teeth with V/H/S and Ready or Not before rekindling excitement for the beloved horror franchise Scream with Scream and Scream VI . Abigail is an opportunity for them to not just tap into the horror and comedy that they have become synonymous with, but play with the heist genre as well.

Abigail Review: Scream 6 Directors Reinvent Vampire Movies In Highly Entertaining, Gory Horror

Screen Rant interviewed Radio Silence directing duo Tyler Gillett and Matt Betinelli-Opin about their new horror movie Abigail . The pair praised Barrera's performance and explained how she draws audiences in with both Abigail and Scream . Betinelli-Opin also gives an exciting update on Ready or Not 2 and discussed keeping details about the heist crew in Abigail under wraps.

Abigail Directors Praise Melissa Barrera's Fearlessness, Vulnerability, And Empathy

Barrera has made quite a name for herself in the horror space, becoming one of the more well-known scream queens of today. Her performance as Sam Carpenter in Scream and Scream VI helped to reignite excitement for the franchise, drawing in countless new fans. In Abigail , she once again plays a complicated character tapping into vulnerability and toughness in an extraordinary situation.

Tyler Gillett: I think that Melissa is incredibly relatable and she's not afraid to be vulnerable. I think that is what you have to have. You have to have a character at the center of any horror movie that's going to draw you in and that you can see yourself reflected through. And Melissa there's a fearlessness in the way that she approaches every character that we've worked with her on that I think is just really sticky. It has audiences leaning in. At the end of the day, if you feel empathy for that character, then you're afraid when they're in peril, and you're so satisfied if they make it out alive. Melissa just does that remarkably, remarkably well. It seems effortless the way that she handle that. Matt Betinelli-Opin: Just to add one thing to it too, I think she also has an incredible sense of empathy. So the way she cares about Abigail in this makes you care about her in a great way. Same thing with the way she cares about Tara in the Scream movies. You can feel it in every scene when she's with somebody else.

Abigail begins as a heist movie with a team of criminals each playing an important role in a scheme to kidnap a young girl in order to ransom her to her father. As part of their protocol, details about each criminal are kept closely guarded. However, as the movie spirals into a monster, movie secrets begin to spill out, in part because they are attempting to survive while trapped in a house with a bloodthirsty monster.

Matt Betinelli-Opin: A lot of that was on the page and it was really wonderful watching it come to life with these actors. We joked a lot about how they're kind of all in different movies from different eras even. So much of the fun of it was we got a lot of stuff when we were shooting and then in the edit really deciding, we don't need to know that yet. Let's wait till later. Let's wait till later. And trying to hold off as long as we could for most of the information.

While CG special effects have become instrumental to movie making today, the use of practical effects is still a key part of great horror. Gillett explained how using practical effects helps to build camaraderie on set, as the many different production teams must work together to pull off the impressive and bloody scenes.

Tyler Gillett: We set out to try to achieve any effect as practically as possible. For us that's about certainly the audience's experience. We as fans of movies that deploy those kind of practical effects, feel a connection to the movie when you can tell that it's handmade, that the magic of what you're seeing is actually crafted. And so that's a huge part of it for us. But just in terms of being behind the camera, it's so fun to watch that stuff take shape to design those moments. It creates a morale on set when everybody has come together to achieve something like that. There's a community of people that come together and the energy of that, it's so fun to be a part of. It's so fun to design. At the end of the day, I think it's why people show up to make horror is because it's so tactile and so there's an enthusiasm that you get when you're making something practically that you just can't achieve any other way.

Directors Give An Update On Ready Or Not 2 Script, "It's Written, It's Fantastic"

Radio Silence also gave a promising update on the highly anticipated sequel to their smash hit Ready or Not . Although they are keeping details close to the vest, they did hype up the script for Ready or Not 2 and confirm that the script has been written.

Matt Betinelli-Opin: It's written, it's fantastic. That is not as much as we know. The script is incredible, though.

About Abigail

After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.

Check out our other Abigail interviews:

• Screen Rant 's Abigail set visit
• Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin at WonderCon
• Dan Stevens at CinemaCon
• Melissa Barrera & Alisha Weir
• Kathryn Newton & Dan Stevens
• Kevin Durand & William Catlett

Abigail hits theaters on April 19.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Abigail (2024)

Abigail is a 2024 horror thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The plot follows a group of people who kidnap the daughter of a dangerous crime lord only to discover that the little girl is actually a vicious vampire out for blood. Alisha Weir stars as the titular character alongside Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, and Dan Stevens.

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Critic’s Pick

‘It’s Only Life After All’ Review: Indigo Girls Laugh Last

The director Alexandria Bombach benefited from the musician Amy Ray’s archivist instincts in this warm, compelling new documentary.

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By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Indigo Girls have been going strong for over 40 years now, and maybe the key to their resilience is that they never were cool. Often, they got it worse: Even at their commercial peak in the 1980s and ’90s, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers were routinely mocked for being too earnest, too poetic, too folky, too lesbian. Back then, being labeled a female, gay singer-songwriter was an artistic and commercial curse, as Ray recalls in “It’s Only Life After All,” a smart, compelling new documentary.

The director, Alexandria Bombach, greatly benefited from Ray’s archivist instincts: The musician has held on to decades’ worth of artifacts and opened up her vault — 1981 rehearsals, recorded on cassette when Ray and Saliers were in their teens, are startlingly crisp documents of a budding chemistry, for example.

From this clay Bombach has sculpted an affecting portrait of two women who have stuck to their beliefs and, just as important, their loyalty to each other. Existing fans will be mesmerized, but non-fans like me should also get a kick out of “It’s Only Life After All.” The film is especially good about contextualizing the band’s emergence in the midst of condescension (at best) from the mainstream media — their dramatic, and very funny, reading of a withering 1989 review in The New York Times is a highlight — along with their personal struggles and steadfast political engagement for causes, including the Indigenous-led organization Honor the Earth.

Now that the band is experiencing a cultural moment — its hit “Closer to Fine” was prominently featured in “Barbie,” and an indie jukebox musical movie set to their songs, “Glitter & Doom,” came out last month — it is delightful to see them have the last laugh.

It’s Only Life After All Not rated. Running time: 2 hours 3 minutes. In theaters.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, recent two thumbs up® reviews.

Linked here are reviews in recent months for which I wrote either 4 star or 3.5 star reviews. What does Two Thumbs Up mean in this context? These films are worth going out of your way to see, or you might rent them, add them to your Netflix, Blockbuster or TiVo queues, get them by VOD, watch for them on cable, anything. Many of the older titles are already streaming on Netflix and Amazon.

" Another Year " (PG-13, 129 minutes). Tom and Gerri ( Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen ) and long and happily married. Their frequent visitor is Mary ( Lesley Manville ), a unhappy woman with a drinking problem who needs shoring up with their sanity. Mike Leigh's new film is one of his best, placing as he often does recognizable types with embarrassing comic and/or dramatic dilemmas. One of the year's best films. Four stars

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Do Aur Do Pyaar (Two Plus Two Is Love) review – refreshingly nonjudgmental infidelity romcom

Vidya Balan shines in this witty remake that sees a married couple, both cheating on each other, on the verge of breaking up

T he algebra of love is a multiple-choice conundrum in Shirsha Guha Thakurta’s debut, a witty remake of Azazel Jacobs’ romance The Lovers starring Debra Winger. Transporting the original story of a disaffected American couple caught up in extramarital affairs to Mumbai, Do Aur Do Pyaar often heads to the city’s beaches, whose shifting tides bring to mind the unpredictable ebb and flow of long-term relationships.

In the film, the weight of marital distance is etched on to every frame. Twelve years into their marriage, Kavya (Vidya Balan) and Ani (Pratik Gandhi) have run out of affectionate words. Revolving around allergy medicines and bin bags, their daily conversations have gone terribly stale. At the same time Kavya finds comfort in the arms of handsome photographer Vikram, played by Heroes alum Sendhil Ramamurthy, while Ani is knee deep in a committed relationship with aspiring actor Nora (Ileana D’Cruz). The film treats these romantic entanglements with a refreshing, nonjudgmental frankness, destigmatising the possibility of divorce and unshackling the concept of matrimony from its eternal promise; instead it depicts commitment as a perpetual work in progress.

A trip to Kavya’s home town ignites nostalgic memories of the couple’s thrilling, whirlwind courtship; radically the film sees their struggles not simply as individual failure but an extension of cultural differences and familial angst. While excelling in visual terms, some of the dialogue is sketchy: one pivotal argument between Kavya and Ani, for instance, culminates in sputterings that shed little light on the pair’s disillusionment. Nevertheless, Balan’s assured performance, in which her character speaks frankly about abortion and sexual pleasure, is an impressive avatar of modern Indian womanhood.

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