This summer, get in line for perfect scoops of gore and violence, courtesy of Eli Roth, who serves up both in his new film, <b><i>Ice Cream Man</i></b>. As the director of such films like <i>Hostel</i> and <i>Cabin Fever</i>, as well as 2023's <i>Thanksgiving</i>, this time, he takes us for a spin with 31 flavors of killer kids and frozen terror.
Set in a small town as the school year comes to an end, a mysterious ice cream man begins to patrol the streets, serving up ice cream to all of the children and adults. Soon after, the children fall ill and begin to wreak havoc on anyone and anything in their way, dismembering family members and strangers alike. It's gory, violent, and offers insanely creative kills that'll leave horror fans smiling with pleasure.
The film also takes a few interesting turns.For starters, this film is not a remake or revision of <i>Ice Cream Man, </i>the 1995 film starring Clint How<i></i>ard. Same name, very different approach, so there's no need to pass on this (and you shouldn't). Plus, in some ways, it dives into Religious Horror. While that may make you scratch your head, it works until the very end of the film, which delivers a slight gut-punch right before the credits roll.
Forget the Lactaid - <b><i>Ice Cream Man</i></b> is a fun film packaged with laughs, necessary violence (former schoolteacher here - those kids deserve it), a good story, and a few twists that, when combined, delivers the perfect ice cream sundae with all of the toppings and a cherry on top! 🍦
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Taking place in the <i>M3GAN</i> universe, <i>Soulm8te</i>, which was due to hit theaters after <i>M3GAN 2.0</i> but was pushed back after the film (<i>M3GAN 2.0</i>) underperformed, offers a new perspective on AI companions.
The film follows a man who, after the death of his wife, seeks companionship through AI apps that, through text and voice conversations, learns about his life, thoughts, and more. When his company is acquired, he is given an AI companion, "Sara", well-played by Lily Sullivan (<i>Evil Dead Rise</i>), that, after some coding "fixes" (workarounds in the coding structure), fulfills his needs. Of course, all things start off well and slowly move into dark territory as "Sara" becomes jealous, and, ultimately, vengeful.
<i>Soulm8te</i> is a well-executed film with a solid story that plays out well, even though it's predictable, and I look forward to seeing how Blumhouse continues to explore this universe, especially as technology advances and new ideas come about.
<b>Setup</b>: With my new LG OLED TV, and given that this is a horror film, <i>Soulm8te</i> fit well with Perfect Black in Filmmaker Mode.
Pretty much a rinse and repeat of the same formula, which gets enough laughs out of me to balance out the misses.
GET A JOB
STAY AWAY FROM HERCatchy tunes, and Ron Howard was such a little cutie. I just sort of can't condone this relationship even if he helped her adorable ginger brother with his lisp.
Also this was surprisingly long. CATCHY TUNES though.
Now, I have no idea how good of an adaptation this was as I don’t think I even laid eyes on the game, but the core plot on its own is pretty well trodden ground.
There is no denying that this was a HUGE step in computer generated animation. I don’t think we truly had any idea how big of a step it was 25 years ago. Or maybe we did and that is why it did so poorly at the box office. Maybe it was a push back on something we weren’t quite ready for. Flash forward 20 years and now what was achieved in this film seems quaint and almost as old-fashioned as cel animation.
Between this and 2004’s “Sky Captain…” the genie was out of the bottle and it was only a matter of time before it would, as it has, being the norm rather than just “experimental.”I don’t mind the film. I remember being VERY impressed with it then and looking at it now, it is easy to see its rough spots. The animation while groundbreaking, lacks emotion and feels a little disjointed from the audio. The actors are giving it their all and their characters seem disinterested.
The “spirits” motivation is questionable. I get that they are the souls of a dead world, and that they are confused and scared, but I’m not sure that justifies their very decisive attacks on the living.
You have to be willing to accept a lot of metaphysical theories and be willing to just roll with the plot, but it’s not a bad film. It just fails to elevate itself to being a good one.If it is nothing else, it is a fantastic time capsule of technology and animation.
Much like Peter Parker's agony, I am in agony trying to decide where Spider-Man Brand New Day lands in my MCU movie ranking.
The thing I love most about the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies has always been the coming of age stuff: the Peter/MJ/Ned friendship, my girl BETTY BRANT, the teachers, Flash, all of that. That stuff is (mostly) GONE! They (technically) aren't kids anymore! They are young adults, and Peter is (understandably) DEPRESSED.
So overall, yeah, this is not as much of a GOOD TIME as Michael Keaton driving to the prom, being charmed by Jake Gyllenhaal, or doing the pointing meme with Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield, and that is okay. The screentime balance between the various characters and their plotlines is solid, and the Peter/Frank relationship is a new and fun dynamic. I am glad they didn't go wild with the multiverse or do anything wacky. Also I will compliment them on almost all of the trailer footage being in the first half hour, so they spoiled very little.
<I>The Devil's Mouth</i> is <I>The Descent</i> but with sharks. Starring Kathryn Newton and a handful of annoying costars whose onscreen deaths you anticipate each and every second, the film becomes a laughing stock as they are pursued by a CGI shark. Kudos for a beautiful setting, but, overall, it's not worth sinking your teeth into.
I can't emphasize enough how much I hate that it has the same name as the original. Either way, this isn't good, but it's sort of nice to spend two hours in the nostalgia.
Embargoed until 8/30/26.
I was surprised how well it actually worked, up to a point. As with all 1st person or found footage films, the believability of someone continuing to film when the situation gets particularly desperate, stretches credulity.
I wonder if there was a bet with someone on how many times they could work the word “DAT” into the film.
I don't care about the plotholes because I only care about Andrew Garfield and J Jonah Jameson
I want to love these but instead I think they're just okay
