Watched Orphan: First Kill (2022) by an author from letterboxd.com
After escaping from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Leena Klammer travels to America by impersonating Esther, the missing daughter of a wealthy family. But when her mask starts to slip, she is put against a mother who will protect her family from the murderous “child” at any cost.

You’d think having a 26 yo reprise their role as a 12 yo would be doomed to failure but it actually works incredibly well. I was impressed.

Sadly, there is little else to recommend this. It’s barely even a thriller. Until a welcome pivot in the second act, you seriously wonder why Julia Stiles is here…

★★½

My review

Watched https://letterboxd.com/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2/1/ from letterboxd.com

Mercifully improved by the third film, Cate Blanchett’s TERRIBLE accent continues to ruin the best parts of this. It is Russell Crowe in Robin Hood bad.

Also, this time round, I’m starting to give the villain a bit of side-eye on the “woke” scale. Black voice actor, dreadlocks, darker skin, bodily difference…

★★★★

My review

You know that scene in Scott Pilgrim where Scott tricks Todd into drinking half-and-half just by “thinking real hard” about which cup he put it in? Well, this morning, I thought real hard about taking my medication on time and now I don’t know if I took it or not.

Watched Scream (2022) by an author from letterboxd.com
Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.

Considering the complexity of what this film needs to achieve, I thought they had a really good stab at it.

Some of the meta stuff seemed a bit hammy and on the nose but I’m not sure that wasn’t intentional.

There were some excellent kills too. Top drawer stuff.

Not sure it really works as a whodunnit, though. Had it in the first act… but, again, I’m not sure if THAT wasn’t intentional too.

★★★★

My review