venom avenue

films that will poison yer mind

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Malcolm & Marie -⭐️⭐️ Have you ever sat through a one-man, off Broadway show? Would you ever want to? That’s what this film felt like & I honestly think it only deserves a 1.5 but I’ll give it’s a boost because of the soundtrack/score (shout out to Labrinth). Before watching, I heard mostly consistent reviews that this film was draining, and I must agree. The majority of the storyline was Zendaya or JDW walking to a part of the house to engage in an argument and then attempt to passionately make up… before walking to another part of the house to begin another fight. It was really exhausting and I hope to gawd I never participate in such a relationship - no matter how great the sex might be. A friend of mine described the script as masturbatory and the film as a whole, self-gratifying. There is little chance this movie would have gotten the attention it’s getting, had it not been for the stars. The plot was bland, and the scenes dragged. I was happy to see JDW act beyond typical his monotone voice, although his monologues were mostly rants. Zendaya on the other hand; I am getting a little bored of her picking up these somber, I-sit-in-cold-bathwater type roles. The use of black-and-white felt like an attempt to make this films seem more artsy. Ok, sure. Also, saying “fuck” a lot makes it artsy, too, I guess. Lastly, it’s odd to me that this film was written by a white man... trust me on this one Some of the language used in the script - just weird that it sprouted from the mind of a white guy. This was a harsh critique, but it be like that sometimes.

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What Happened to Monday - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was suggested to watch this after listening to opinions on the successes/failures of China’s One-Child policy. This film is set in a modern-industrial, dystopian near-future where a one-child policy is enacted for population control. The protagonists are 30-year old septuplets, living in secret, who live one day a week each as Karen Settman. Think of Children of Men (which I haven’t seen in full) and a bit of the Handmaid’s Tale, with a sprinkle of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for the sake of vibes… The plot line was quite good and left me with a sense of disappointment and melancholy for the protagonists’ quality of life. I liked how distinct each sister’s personality was, however I did find the acting a bit dry at times - that might just be Noomi Rapace’s signature acting style, but it was balanced by the surprisingly violent visuals. This right here is an action movie y'all. It was loud, it was cold and it was bloody. I wasn’t prepared for it, but I’ll take it.

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Raw -⭐️⭐️⭐️ This movie made me hella uncomfy and I loved it. This is a coming-of-age film with cannibalism as the creepy under-arching theme. There are very limited amounts of violence and gore here, so dont let my brief synopsis scare you off, however there were multiple moments that i needed to avert my eyes from the screen (lol hell ya). I really really like when films push the boundaries of normality. I would have liked to see a smother progression of how the young lady "comes of age" as some things  escalated quickly. Its a awkward drama/horror, fueled by college hazing, rabid youth behavior and a very strange sibling relationship (prepare for subtitles or work on your French).

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Pieces of a Woman -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was hoping to get a good cry out of this, and although tears were not "jerked" as I expected, I found this film wholesome and ominous at the same time. Vanessa Kirby -Margret from the Crown- does another great job of playing an exhausted-by-society heiress, plagued by her family's grasp on reality. The movie circles around the death of her character's newborn child and although this film is meant to be her story, the plot gracefully focuses more attention on the people in her life and how they respond to the tragedy. As my flatmate and I watched this, she pointed out the one-take childbirth scene. It was draining and beautifully wretched, but most importantly significant as it was included to be viewer evidence for later developments in the film. The details of the scene allowed us to make our own opinions on character moral and intention, which I appreciated. Shia LaBeouf played another character you love to hate and hate to love. The movie's run time was a bit long so we took a break a little over halfway through. I wouldn't call this a slow burn but it definitely flutters on at slow pace.

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The Neighbors’ Window -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sometimes, when I’m on the verge of a siesta, I’ll scan through YouTube for a short-film to help me doze off. I typed in ‘psychological’ and came across this beautifully executed story about perspective. In 20 min, I was fed a long-term relationship sewn together by exhaustion, amusement, light jealousy, subtle resentment, empathy and appreciation. I will defintly need to start reviewing more short films. ~the actual reason for unhappiness is not not getting what you want, but forgetting what you already have~

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Black Box -⭐️⭐️ I saw the preview for this the last time I was in a theater (for Tenet, ah memories) and I remember thinking, even in the short clip, that the acting felt a little bit dense. It kicks off pretty fast and continues at a good pace, however there were some elements in the essence and logic of this film that felt unintentionally off. The protagonist looses his memory from an accident that also takes the life of his wife. There is an on going struggle to regain memories from the past, while also being mentally and physically present for the new family dynamic. My issues - If a person experiences cognitive memory loss, there are certain daily activities that they would refrain in operating... like a car.  That seems like a silly thing to point out but it retracted from the validity of the plot. Additionally, the main character is supposedly an moral and upstanding character but had virtually no friends and family except his 9-ish year old that behaved more like a 14 year old & his best friend who happens to be a doctor associated with may neuroscientists. I think the tone of the film was haunting as it was intended to be, but I couldn't quite dive in because of these and other simple plot line flaws. Additionally, I was a tiny bit annoyed with lurking "dishonorable father" theme. Maybe I am sightly triggered due to outdated stereotypes, but on the flip side I am relieved that the story, which debuted an all black cast, did not focus on blackness whatsoever.

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The Call - ⭐️⭐️ I decided to go with an easy watch since I’ve been offline for a bit, but this movie was so terrible I can’t help but laugh. WHYYyyy Halle, did you do this damn movie? If I called 911 and Halle Berry answered the call, I know I’m about to die. Nothing about this was realistic. That being said, it did give me some unintentional comic relief. I had a jolly good time yelling at the dumb people on screen, and it was just the thrill I needed.

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The Handmaiden -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have been sleeping on South Korean psych-thrillers, and I need to give credit where credit is due. This erotic thriller was truly a piece of art, directed by Chan-wook Park. If you’ve seen his earlier work, Oldboy, then you know his plotlines have zero boundaries with pushing the moral limits and they will totally fuck your shit up. Not to be confused with another Korean pysch-thriller The Housemaid (very good but not as good as this), the movie is set in 1930’ Korea and gives exposure to the height of opulence and the depths of poverty, of that time. There is a lot of greed, gluttony, and lust in this film. So much lust that I’d go as far to say its a soft pornography. Its isn’t vulgar by any means, but don’t watch it with ya mama. This is also another long one: 2.5 hours divided up in three parts that could be three separate short stories. It was nothing short of excellent. SN: I should mention that it being of South Korean origin, there are subtitles. But pls don’t be that guy that misses out on high quality, artistic cinema all because you don’t wanna read. *eyeroll*

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The Devil All The Time - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I finished this about 30 seconds ago and immediately came to write my thoughts. WOW. This one is not for the faint at heart. Although it is sick, and sad, and is the epitome of "rock bottom", it was beautifully and intensely written and portrayed. I didn't expect to like it this much. Set in America's heartland in the late 1950s, the theme here is the constant battle between deep, God-fearing, Christian faith and the perpetually sinning man. And it gets dark. It gets disturbing, but somehow manages to feel wholesome. There are a lot of characters in this film. The plot line takes twists and turns but unfolds effortlessly within its 2hr 15min runtime, and there wasn't one dull moment.  I had no idea that Rob Pattinson was in this one, but boy did he act his ass off. I HATED his character, so he did his job. Tom Holland and Bill Skarsgård both struck my sympathy chords hardcore, and Riley Keough played another gritty, grimy role (I need to watch more of her films). Be prepared for immense feelings of struggle and despair. It'll stick with you for a bit, post-watch.

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Antebellum -⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’d been anticipating this film for months and months, and while it was pretty goooood, I had higher expectations. It’s best to analyze this film with the understanding that the are three acts. The drama, the cinematography, the historical accuracy and the secondhand trauma I felt during the first act, hit it out the park. The second and third act were not as strong. The more the film progressed, the more I felt there were holes in the story line, for example, this butterfly symbolism - it was used so much in the previews and movie posters, but it had virtually no meaning in the film.  Had I watched this in a theatre setting, I might have ignorantly agreed that it did its job, but it could have been another thirty min longer… So many things didn’t have answers, which disappointed me a lot. The concept of the film is very compelling and quite frightening, considering the social climate of American, right now. It could have been much, much more profound and mind bending.

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Zodiac -⭐️⭐️⭐️ I like to throw in an older movie every now and then; Zodiac is a solid film! It’s, of course, inspired by true events of the Zodiac serial killer and a newspaper the helped crack the case. I get giddy for anything that involves cryptology or code breaking, and this film got me thinking about the level of creativity that went into committing heinous crimes back in the 70s/80s. They just don’t make murderers like they used to (dark humor).

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Cam -⭐️ In the age of the rona and Only Fans, this movie felt relevant in a quirky way. It’s a horror flick about an online cam girl - recommended to me by a male friend, of course (lol) I’ll give it 1 star for creativity. It’s pretty straight forward in its story line. Teen slasher vibes with minimal gore. The was a small element of “spooky” because I suppose this situation could really happen. IDK. Its a cute movie night flick, since its October.

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American Murder: The Family Next Door - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have never reviewed a documentary before, but to me, this constitutes as a psychological thriller because it frightened me as a single, unmarried person. The overarching theme here being “you may think you know your partner, but that mf could kill you”. Scary stuff. Before i get into the review, I want to say that I initially wasn’t interested in watching this documentary, because of how this case was unraveling in the media. Not long after Chris Watts committed the murder of his family, another father named Melvin Harris was arrested for fatally beating a man who followed his teen daughter into a bathroom stall, to assault her. The difference between these men? Race. The media portrayed Harris as an already guilty criminal, whereas Watts was depicted as a “family man” while simultaneously being accused of slaying his pregnant wife and two daughters. This sickened me and completely turned me off to the story. But as I am stuck in a two-week quarantine in my London flat, I gave it a watch and it was really well done and slightly disturbing. Jenny Poopplewell, the director, used raw footage like police cam recordings (luckily they were working!), social media posts, real-time text messages and home videos to walk you through the timeline of this event. Again, it was excellently pieced together and distressing. It’s wild how the guilt of leaving your wife can be stronger than the guilt of taking her life and the life of your children.

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Tenet -⭐️⭐️ Disclaimer: I don’t consider myself a dumbass or lacking common sense by any means, but hell… I felt really goofy trying to understand the layers of this film. I can’t possibly rate this any higher, simply because I was LOST for most of it lmao. I took the risk of going to the theatre with a mate who shares similar movie taste, and I don’t know if I would have been able to get through it if I weren’t in the theatre setting, and if i weren't able to bounce ideas off my friend, while watching. This movie is super similar to Inception- it’s theme being time and how time can be perceived. I understood the general plot line, but trying to actually understand the movie in all it’s intricacies - I would have had an aneurysm, first. It was a great production with solid acting (my first John David Washington film & Pattinson, at it again proving that he is more than a sparkly vampire). Film was a good ole mind fuck, my favorite. I def recommend, and if you do watch it and understand, congratulations because you’re brilliant. Realistically, you’ll need to watch a YouTube explanation video, like we did.

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Good Time -⭐️⭐️⭐️ a classic A24. I hated this film because it really pressed my nerves, but it was truly a good time. Rob Pattinson did a fabulous job of portraying PWT, but who loved his brother to the moon and back. It was sort of beautiful, in a grimy way. I desperately wanted the best for the antagonist, but you know that feeling of frustration that comes from watching someone repeatedly make dumb decisions…? yeah. Imagine that for 90 min. Big fan of RP in a velour sweat suit, though. I really respect how much he’s transformed as an actor.

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I’m Thinking of Ending Things -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This film was tricky to follow and left many thing up for interpretation; that’s the reason I liked it so much. This is definitely an art film, directed by Charlie Kaufman. It reminded me much of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in its tone and conflict - one of Kaufman’s other significant films, starring a dreary Jim Carey. I’m Thinking of Ending Things required me to watch a explanation video to understand some of the references made. I also read the book, post-watch, which helped clarify the plot line a little bit, but it feels like Kaufman made this film more for his own entertainment, rather than an audience. Some of the references in this movie weren’t even related to the movie (or the book), and trying to find out which was what, brought challenges. When you watch this film, appreciate it for what you see and what your mind concludes. Nothing is really what it seems. I threw in an extra star for the magnificent choreography.

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Cuties - ⭐️⭐️ This type of movie is not in the Venom Avenue genre, however, considering the controversy and the fact that I have this blog, I figured I’d watch and review. A few important points: 1) This movie is not for kids 2) This movie does have provocative, non-age appropriate dancing 3) This movie has a clear message, if you actually watch it. A quick synop – Cuties is a coming-of-age story about a young Senegalese girl who has recently moved to France with her family, and attempts to climb her way into the “popular crowd” at school. She uses dance to win over their respect – specifically, dance moves that she mimics from social media and internet videos – eventually taking her newly discovered concept of sexuality, way too far. I will not say this movie was great by any means, but it is incredibly misunderstood; particularly, by people who are choosing not to watch it due to Netflix’s poor advertising. The most important takeaway of this film is that this is an example of ART IMMITATING LIFE. Of course, we can and should be concerned that perverts and pedophiles will watch this for their own filthy entertainment, however we mustn’t be naïve that this type of content doesn’t already exist online. Just a few weeks ago, my friends and I learned the WAP Dance Challenge via Tik Tok (you can also find this dance on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, etc). A dance routine that includes strikingly similar dance moves to the controversial dance scene in Cuties. We would be naïve to think that younger humans aren’t as curious about this choreography as I, and many others, were. I do believe that the color scheme of this film is slightly misleading. Based on the vividness, the pinks and purples, it would be easy to mistake this film as child-friendly; compared to other child-exploitation narratives like Thirteen (2003) and Kids (1995). However, this film is NOT kiddie porn or child porn. Those statements reduce actual child porn to provocative dancing, which we know it is worse than that. If you aren’t interested in watching Cuties to form your own opinion of the message, that is perfectly okay. But consider refraining from speaking on a movie that you haven’t fully grasped the concept of. That is the issue we are currently facing with political propaganda – folks making a full statement on half of the information – but y’all not ready for that discussion lol