September was a big month for movies, as you’ll soon see, with The Long Walk and a few others helping make this a fantastic month for media. Not only was it a big month for new film and other media (big shoutout to One Battle After Another), but for myself as well. I finally got to check some big ones off the watch list, which is something that never happens. Without further ado, here’s what should be on your journey (pun intended right below this), including The Long Walk, The Bear, and Swamp Story.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is not big enough, bold enough, or beautiful enough. The colors are bright and the film looks really good, but it’s simultaneously overly sappy and not deep enough. It seems to think it has a lot more to say than it does, and it never really lets our characters or the audience feel deeply enough. The longer I get away from watching it, the more disappointed I am, because it has the formula to be something special. It’s just not, although it’s definitely not a bad movie. The full review is here.

Score: 3/5

Him

Him has a lot to say, perhaps too much. There’s some really clever metaphor and symbolism at play in this football allegory, and the acting performances, as well as the visual style and flair of director Justin Tipping (not Jordan Peele), shine. It’s just trying to do way too much and not diving deep enough into those themes and metaphors. It also features a pretty bad finale that I think undermines the point of the movie. The full review can be found here.

Score: 3.25/5

Swamp Story

Swamp Story is a comedy book from Dave Barry that just isn’t ever that funny. It’s good for a few laughs and has some entertaining story beats. Everything comes together really well, but a lot of the characters are really annoying. That said, this is a very easy read that’s far from unenjoyable.

Score: 3.5/5

The Whale

The Whale features an absolute powerhouse of a performance by Brendan Fraser, with Hong Chau and Sadie Sink also putting in really strong supporting roles. Where this movie shines is showcasing Charlie’s genuine love and compassion for others and highlighting the difficult circumstances of his life. Where it falls short is in plenty of moments that feel cruel and hurtful just for the sake of bullying somebody overweight. I’m also not sold on the ending, but it does feel poetic. It just also feels like the culmination of Darren Aronofsky never allowing any positive growth or even a shred of favor for Charlie the entire time. It’s bleak, which is his trademark, but it sometimes feels bleak for the sake of being bleak.

Score: 3.5/5

Fair Play

Fair Play is a sexy thriller starring Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor of Bridgerton fame. Both actors are doing nice work here, although Dynevor’s accent slips from time to time. The writing is solid, as is the direction, it just never really reaches a shining high. The characters go on a journey to nearly unrecognizable by the end thanks to the clever premise elevating what would otherwise be a normal, straightforward movie.

Score: 3.75/5

Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread plays with the idea of control within a relationship. How it can negatively impact the relationship, how far some parties are willing to go to get it, and how it ultimately makes everything toxic for everyone around. Paul Thomas Anderson (who has three movies in this month’s media binge) crafts a subtle but effective narrative that quietly builds into a fitting conclusion.

Score: 4/5

Silo

Silo is adapted from a series of books under the same title, though they’re called Wool, Shift, and Dust. It does a really good job of not being a copy but an adaptation, which I think is generally a good idea. I’ve read the books, I don’t need a one-to-one retelling. But when you do change things, it does hurt the overall product, especially when adapting one of the best books (Wool) of all time. Nothing is drastically different in terms of themes and characterization, but there’s a much wider loop being taken to get from point A to point B to point C. That’s sometimes good and sometimes bad. It ends on such an incredible high note, though, that I’m very excited to see what’s next even though I already know what’s next.

Score: 4/5

The Master

The Master features two heavyweight performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix. It’s a pointed take on how cults can form and how they prey on people just struggling and looking for a place to fit in, but it does not do so without making clear how ridiculous and foolhardy everyone involved in running it is. It’s a shockingly good-looking movie, too.

Score: 4/5

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale is definitely not relevant today in our current society and definitely isn’t something the world is dangerously shifting towards. What strikes me about this book is how relevant it is and how modern it feels. It’s a sad indictment of the world, but it’s also a testament to the writing style. It ends rather abruptly, but it does a great job at illustrating how damaging this type of world would be for everyone.

Score: 4/5

The Bear Season 4

The Bear is one of the best shows on television right now, and Season 4 does not change that. It is absolutely retreading familiar ground (how will the restaurant ever survive?), but it does so while pushing things forward for our characters. Finally, most major characters actually grew and evolved past one of the biggest issues they were facing.

Score 4.25/5

The Long Walk

It’s been quite the year for Stephen King adaptations. I would still give the edge to The Life of Chuck, but The Long Walk is a really excellent movie. It follows the source material really well, making subtle changes to remove some of the dated aspects and modernize it before pulling the rug out with a stunning but immaculate ending. It completely inverts The Long Walk‘s source material, but it’s the rare switch that actually emphasizes the story’s broader message much better than the book does. It also features dynamite performances across the board, so it holds up as a great movie even without its connection to an iconic book. Full review here.

Score: 4.5/5

One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another has officially roared into the Best Picture conversation. As phenomenal as Sinners was, the battle (one after another, if you will) between them this awards season will be legendary. What makes this movie so special is how it’s timely and thematically effective. Where Eddington (a movie I loathe) failed in simply holding up a mirror to point and laugh at how wild these days are politically, One Battle After Another seeks to provide a way forward through the youth. It’s a standout in most aspects of film, from stellar acting performances, incredible music, and really great cinematography, too.

Score: 5/5