Joy Ride | Review by: Luke Elisio

Between “No Hard Feelings” and now “Joy Ride,” summer 2023 is shaping up to be a season filled with wildly entertaining, raunchy original comedies. Comedies that also manage to clock in around 90 minutes, AKA the perfect runtime for a movie!

In her directorial debut Adele Lim fashions a movie that masterfully balances between being an all out laugh-riot and a surprisingly poignant and heartfelt look at the Asian American experience. I say “surprising” only because you wouldn’t expect such thought-provoking and moving conversations to be featured in a movie that also includes vomit sight gags, cocaine being hidden in the most uncomfortable of places and a full frontal vaginal tattoo. “Joy Ride” is anchored by rapid-fire jokes that are sure to have audiences enjoying the movie, but the heart is what’s going to make them fall in love with it.

Each cast member delivers a fantastically funny performance but the standout is undoubtedly Stephanie Hsu. Her performance is not only a clear indictator that she’s destined to have a long career playing a variety of uniquely different characters, but is so hilarious that she’s worthy of another Oscar nomination.

“Joy Ride” is a movie that you and your friends are going to want to watch again and again. This R-rated comedy goes all out, never holding back or letting up on the jokes. This is a ride well with taking.

3/5

Review by: Luke Elisio

#toronto #movie #film #comedy #review #1streviews

Boss Level Film Review

Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation. Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...

Godzilla vs. Kong Film Review

Godzilla versus Kong is the action movie we have been longing for since all major blockbuster films pushed back their release dates. After three solo films between Kong and Godzilla, we finally see the two titans clash on film for the first time in what is the culmination of the Universal Monsterverse. The story is split nicely in two as team Kong and team Godzilla each have their own mission. Team Kong is on a secret mission to the center of the earth to uncover the mystery of the titans. This team consists of Dr. Nathan, Dr. Ilene, Maia, and the Youngest character in the film, Jia. Team Godzilla consists of Madison, Josh, and Bernie who are also on a secret mission, to infiltrate Apex Cybernetics with the theory that they are up to no good and are the reason why Godzilla has been acting up recently. The dynamics of the teams are well balanced as the Kong story provides us with serious and more action-heavy bits in contrast to the Apex team story that ...

Inside Out 2 | Review by: Stefano Bove

Nine years ago, Pixar introduced us to Riley, a young girl who is trying to grow with change happening with herself and her family. Her emotions; joy, anger, sadness, fear and disgust help her through these difficult times. Now two years, Riley is 13 and is going through new life changes physically and emotionally as she tries to grip with the reality that the rest of her life relies on how the next weekend goes. All of these changes spark new emotions to grow inside of her. It is a tough time for Riley that she must overcome. It is a snapshot in time that is probably a big emotional trigger for audiences as well as we go on this journey with Riley. Taking the incredibly intricate memory world that was established in the first film, the sequel makes a few minor additions that allow it to feel familiar but still fresh enough to keep us engaged. Many of these new additions are some of the funniest moments in the entire series. With more emotions and human charact...

1st Reviews

Search This Blog