Mini-Reviews: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 / Jay Kelly / Hedda

I’m in my catch-up period for this year’s new releases, so this is gonna be a lot of fun.

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Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

"You there?"

Director: Emma Tammi
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio, Theodus Crane, Freddy Carter, Skeet Ulrich, Wayne Knight, Mckenna Grace, Teo Briones, and Matthew Lillard
Synopsis: “One year after the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, the stories about what transpired there have been twisted into a campy local legend, inspiring the town's first ever Fazfest. With the truth kept from her, Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, setting into motion a terrifying series of events that will reveal dark secrets about the real origin of Freddy's, and unleash a decades-hidden horror.”

I’m a big fan of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games, so I’m well aware that for this, I gotta separate the fan-brain and the critic-brain. I didn’t even hate the first movie, but Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is a flat-out disappointment. Nearly all of the criticisms I have go towards the writing. The script from franchise creator Scott Cawthon is so frustrating to see be brought to the screen because it’s shockingly bad. It washed over me in the theater, but the more I thought about it, the angrier I was that such a bad script would make it this far. It’s not like the first one was a writing masterclass, but we gotta have standards here. Outside of that, Tammi’s direction is actually pretty solid and a lot of the acting at least gets the job done. Like the last one, the highlight is the work from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop with all of the practical animatronics. If you’re not a fan of the franchise, avoid it like the plague.

Ryan’s Grade: D+



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Jay Kelly

"Everybody knows Jay Kelly, but Jay Kelly doesn't know himself."

Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Alba Rohrwacher, and Greta Gerwig
Synopsis: “Famous movie actor Jay Kelly embarks on a journey of self-discovery, confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager, Ron.”

Jay Kelly is a very sad movie, and using one of the last “movie stars” was a very effective move. It reminded me of a twist on A Christmas Carol in many instances, especially when we flash back to earlier in Kelly’s career. Clooney is excellent here, weaponizing his typical casting as an effortlessly charming guy to essentially have him have his own personal reckoning. However, Sandler is my favorite performance, being the emotional anchor of the movie as Kelly’s manager. I actually would’ve loved to see him be the main character because he gets so much to work with. It’s a little too long, though. It didn’t need to be over two hours, but I didn’t really mind it. I really hope Sandler finally comes through with an Oscar nomination for this. It’s worth a watch for Clooney and Sandler alone, but the rest of the ensemble is pretty good too.

Ryan’s Grade: B+



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Hedda

"A little chaos is good for the gathering."

Director: Nia DaCosta
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, and Nina Hoss
Synopsis: “Hedda Gabler finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt—pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.”

Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda has had many adaptations over the past century(!!), but this is actually my first time experiencing this story. Nia DaCosta has quickly become one of my directors to really look out for because of her Candyman movie from a few years back, and I personally enjoyed The Marvels despite all of the drama that surrounded it. Hedda didn’t knock me off my feet like Candyman did, but boy did I enjoy Thompson here. I’m not sure how many changes it made to the original story, but seeing Hedda be a “filthy bitch,” as Hoss’s character put it, without putting any other spin on it was just delicious. It’s strange that this got buried on Amazon Prime, though. Seek this one out because DaCosta’s next movie, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is out next month. I’ve got a good feeling about that because of Hedda.

Ryan’s Grade: B-