Final Destination Bloodlines (what to expect)

Scorecard, Life of Chuck, New Pod Drop

The internet has been BUZZIN about Tom Cruise and the world premiere of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning at Cannes Film Festival (Next week’s Scorecard movie btw). People say he’s the last true movie star. People say he’s saving cinema.

People are saying a lot of things about Tom and his stunts (no shade, they are super impressive), but not enough about DIE, MY LOVE—also premiering at Cannes, also has life-saving potential.

Robert Pattinson delivered a generational-level performance in Mickey 17, and Jennifer Lawrence playing characters on the brink of insanity is a top-tier movie genre.

Anywho, this is what we got for you this week:

Concession Stand Scorecard: Final Destination Bloodlines
Watchlist Worthy: TIM HIDDLESTON AND STEPHEN KING
New Pod Drop: Long Live Cinemas!

We go to the movies every week to let you know if the latest films are worth the price of admission and what you can expect. Always spoiler free.

This week’s movie - Final Destination Bloodlines

Letterboxd Description:

Death runs in the family.

Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

Best Watched With

Final Destination fans and anyone who avoids driving behind log-hauling trucks for very specific, trauma-induced reasons.

End credit thoughts

There’s something comforting about knowing exactly what you're in for, and Final Destination: Bloodlines delivers just that. It’s got all the goods of previous installments, like unassuming objects becoming weapons of mass death and music that foreshadows the character's death. It’s familiar, messy, and occasionally hilarious in the goriest of ways (is goriest a word? We don't know).

Here’s the thing from us old heads: this one leans hard on CGI. A lamppost falls on someone? Their skull bursts like a piñata full of brains. Is it shocking? Sure. Necessary? Probably not. The earlier films (1-3) found a sweet spot between practical effects and CGI, and that balance is missed here if we're being honest. The more recent entries of FD (4 and 5) seem obsessed with making every death a cartoonishly exaggerated spectacle. Bloodlines is no different.

Still, fans of the franchise will find plenty to enjoy. The deaths are creative (aren't they all), and there’s a knowing wink throughout that suggests the filmmakers know it’s all a little much. This is popcorn horror, not high art from NEON or A24.

The film also offers a nice lil moment with the late, great Tony Todd. His monologue feels like a curtain call for a character (and the actor). RIP Candyman.

One other fun note is Richard Harmon. His character, Eric, is the exact type of unhinged, sarcastic energy this movie needed to keep us engaged. He steals every scene he’s in, and injects some fun charisma into this bloody mess of a movie.

Final thoughts: This isn’t breaking any new ground, and it's really a remix of what we’ve seen before. But if you’re in it for the chaos, it’s a fun time.

Watch in theaters if you’re a FD lifer, stream it later if you’re just curious.

Follow us on Letterboxd for our individual movie ratings:
@justjoshperez
@ericharrison
@kellyharrison
@newmexicodrew

A movie one of us added to our Letterboxd watchlist this week.

The Life of Chuck 2024 Directed by Mike Flanagan

Can Tom Hiddleston do wrong? No. I don’t think he can.

This movie has been on my watchlist since last September when we had it on Watchlist Worthy, but we there is a trailer now, and we’re about three weeks away from it’s release (June 6th). The trailer has me hyped. I love when artists who normally stay in a partially genre lane and decide to switch it up. In this case, Stephen King and Mike Flanagan who are known for horror, seem to change into the far left carpool lane at speeds risking a ticket. This fantasy, sci-fi drama trailer is giving existential vibes; balancing the purpose and meaning of life on a knife’s edge but doing so with preciseness, making life feel more than worth it. Let’s risk the heartbreak of loss to expand our capacity to grieve and dare to love again and come to the realization that we don’t have to reduce ourselves to a singularity—we are more, we are multitudes—and learn what Charlie Kelmeckis meant when we he said, “we are infinite.”

Added to my watchlist.

-jp :)

Letterboxd Description:

Every life is a universe all its own.

Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.

Also Directed by Mike Flanagan:

Doctor Sleep (2019)
Hush (2016)

Movie Theater Experiences | Keep Cinemas Alive! #55

🎧 Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube

Eric and Josh discuss various topics centered around their experiences with movies and movie theaters. They touch on the excitement and nostalgia associated with midnight premieres, particularly reflecting on films like 'The Dark Knight' and 'Titanic'.

They also discuss their favorite movie theater experiences, including memorable screenings during travel, such as 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' watched in a Brussels theater.

The conversation meanders through various movie genres, the importance of theater atmospheres, and upcoming films they're excited about, highlighting the irreplaceable magic of cinema.

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Tune in next week for | Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning

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