After nearly four years of waiting for it to return, Fear Street: Prom Queen has brought the franchise back, and I have mixed feelings overall. As a slasher, it's a broadly fun time, and I do love the cast in the movie. Ultimately, though, my biggest problem is how disconnected it feels from the previous trilogy. Its visual design feels so different to the point of looking bland, especially when flashbacks to the other movies are used, and the lack of references to Sarah Fier really left me underwhelmed, given how the original trilogy really highlighted that Shadyside's problems stem from her and the Goode family. Plus, the attempt to tie it back in with the creation of a new witch's mark in the mid-credits feels kind of lazy more than intriguing. I hope that if another movie is made, they bring it back to the cliffhanger teased in Part 3: 1666's post-credits.

When they announced Cobra Bubbles would be played by Courtney B. Vance in lieu of Ving Rhames in the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie, I can't deny I had mixed opinions, as I love Vance as an actor, but the role felt so tailor-made for Rhames, and he still looks just like the character that I was a bit disappointed. Having now seen the film, I think the decision to swap out the actors does kind of work, as Vance's version of Cobra feels less suave and just as duty-focused as he is curious and sympathetic that, while Rhames could still have captured these layers, it would have been just as odd for me to see him reprise his character with a completely different personality.

There are certainly plenty of characters, be they in the action or horror genres, who find themselves meeting quite brutal fates, despite not necessarily deserving such. Zara in Jurassic World remains a popular choice for characters who had unnecessarily cruel and brutal deaths, though there's one more recent that sticks out to me, that being Sunita Mani's Dr. Bhatia in Death of a Unicorn. Though she did technically take part in studying the baby unicorn, she was far more of a kindhearted, and morally good, character that the fact she was torn in half by both unicorn parents felt unfair.

There are plenty of movies out there that have left me befuddled by the time the end credits get rolling, be it because of a final twist, or a surreal atmosphere that preceded it. For me, a recent example of a movie that left me wondering "what on earth did I just watch" was Beau is Afraid, as every time I started to feel like I had a handle on the plot, or its deeper themes, it pulled the rug out from under me and left me again wondering what was going on. It's hard to say if I loved it because of that, or hated it, as it walks a really narrow tightrope with its ambitious-yet-overlong tone and runtime.

The Shining is about to celebrate its 45th anniversary, which led to me going back and revisiting the film, and while I used to be more forgiving of its changes from Stephen King's book, I'm certainly starting to be worn down by them. Jack really never feels like the loving family man he is at the start of the book, and changing everything from Dick's fate to the cause of Jack's mental deterioration just feel like lackluster choices.

The Monsterverse thus far has pitted both Godzilla and Kong against a number of exciting foes, both new and classic, and while I wish they would get separate movies again, I am certainly excited for Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. While plot details are under wraps, I did see a theory that the recently revealed title treatment for the movie looks to have pointed to Gigan being its main villain, and I absolutely love the idea. To begin with, this would continue the franchise's embracing of not taking itself too seriously, but would also finally give the franchise a more Godzilla-focused story, something I've felt has been missing after focusing more on Kong the past three movies.