Film 2458 - Scream 7

Intro: I was really excited to see this movie after the big success of the previous new entries. So we got to the cinema as soon as we could because we didn't want to miss it.

Film 2458: "Scream 7" (2026), Kevin Williamson
Watched: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: I'm a massive fan of this saga, even when it's bad, but this time I wasn't pleased: "Scream 7" is too bad to be enjoyable.
Too many new details in the story come from things we never actually see happen on screen: Sydney has a new life, a new family, and even a teenage daughter who was never mentioned before (or at least I don't think she was? Did I miss something?). I understand that this is fiction and the story doesn't always have to be completely grounded in reality, but your main character can't suddenly become a different person from who they were in the past, and a teenage daughter can't just be added to someone's life whenever it's convenient for the plot. I don't know, it felt sloppy to me, like a choice made only to serve the story now that the characters from the previous two movies have been written out because of the controversies following Melissa Barrera's public statement against the genocide in Palestine (and the subsequent exit of Jenna Ortega from the franchise in support of Barrera being let go).
I understand it must have been complicated to basically reboot the whole story in order to shift the focus back to Sydney, change the location, and introduce new killers, but it all feels barely connected, and Ghostface's motivation here is so stretched that it completely ruins the surprise at the end when you find out who's behind the mask. It all feels really anticlimactic. Not to mention that all the cameos feel more like fan service than actual parts of the plot.
All in all, an extremely weak new outing for this slasher saga, a movie that tries to continue the legacy of the franchise but misses the mark entirely. "Scream 7" feels empty and in desperate need of new ideas that, clearly, haven't been found yet.
Film 1123 - Scream
Film 2057 - Scream
Film 2184 - Scream
Film 2414 - Scream
Film 1249 - Scream 3
Film 326 - Scream 4
Film 2091 - Scream
Film 2178 - Scream
Film 2179 - Scream VI
Film 2458 - Scream 7
Cast: Neve Campbell, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, David Arquette, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O'Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Tim Simons, Ethan Embry, Matthew Lillard, Joel McHale, Courteney Cox.
Box Office: $214 million
Worth a watch?: A horror movie that mimics its predecessors but never quite captures the same highs the series reached in the past. A misstep for the franchise, although I'm sure this isn't the last we see of Ghostface considering this is already the highest-grossing film in the series so far.
Awards: /
Key word: Deepfake.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 2412 - The Conjuring: Last Rites

Intro: Not your classic Valentine's Day movie, yet a perfect depiction of my current love life.

Film 2412: "The Conjuring: Last Rites" (2025), Michael Chaves
Watched: At the movies
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: Honestly? Not the best outing of the franchise.
I'm a huge fan of the "The Conjuring" saga and all its spin-offs, but it’s been a while since they released a truly good film. This isn’t terrible by any means, but like its predecessor, it isn’t great either. I’ll still go see any new installments they decide to produce — which seems likely, considering this was supposed to be the final chapter of the saga and yet became the highest-grossing at the box office — but I do think the series could use a breather.
That said, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are, as always, perfect as Lorraine and Ed Warren, and they carry the entire movie. I was hoping the story would be a bit scarier or more unsettling. By now, the Conjuring films seem to lean more into conventional horror tropes and jump scares rather than creating their own distinct world or continuing to build upon it. While watching it, at times "The Conjuring: Last Rites" reminded me of "The Exorcist" at times.
Film 578 - L'evocazione - The Conjuring
Film 1179 - L'evocazione - The Conjuring
Film 1190 - The Conjuring - Il caso Enfield
Film 1450 - The Conjuring 2
Film 2029 - The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Film 2412 - The Conjuring: Last Rites
Film 804 - Annabelle
Film 1157 - Annabelle
Film 1405 - Annabelle: Creation
Film 1657 - Annabelle: Creation
Film 1782 - Annabelle Comes Home
Film 1673 - The Nun
Film 2216 - The Nun II
Film 1774 - The Curse of La Llorona
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy.
Box Office: $499.2 million
Worth a watch?: Not the strongest of the four films available, yet there’s something comforting about seeing Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson step back into the roles of the Warrens once again. If you’re a fan of this saga or the horror genre in general, "The Conjuring: Last Rites" is still a solid option for an evening of chills.
Awards: /
Key word: Mirror.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 2410 - Abducted in Plain Sight

Intro: Debbi arrives to Corfu and the first thing we do at dinner the next day? We watch another documentary on Netflix because why not?

Film 2410: "Abducted in Plain Sight" (2017), Skye Borgman
Watched: From my laptop
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh, Debbi
Thoughts: This story is crazy and the fact that it's real is even crazier. I'm not sure how is Jan Broberg still in touch with her parents after all they did. And it isn't just speculations or 'he said, she said' scenario: the two parents are featured in this film and they corroborate, admit and describe the facts narrated here. It's insane.
I don't want to give too much away about this story, so I'm just going to say that a poor 12-year-old girl gets kidnapped TWICE by her neighbor, the parents know about it, they both have a sexual relationship with the kidnapper - who also abuses the girl, while the parents suspect it but chose not to believe the girl - and all they do is questioning if they were too naïve about it. And if you think I'm giving too much away... Watch this documentary and check how much I left out from the story.
Cast: Jan Broberg, Mary Ann Broberg, Bob Broberg, Karen Campbell, Susan Broberg.
Box Office: /
Worth a watch?: From Skye Borgman, the same director of "Unknown Number: The High School Catfish", this documentary covers a story that is so insane, it almost feels impossible. And yet it happened back in the 70s, it is true and you better believe aliens are involved too. Entertaining for sure, but extremely unsettling and disturbing.
Awards: /
Key word: The mission.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 2378 - The Last Showgirl

Intro: There was so much excitement around this movie - even a possible Oscar nomination for Lead Actress - that we couldn't miss it. I mean, we missed it at the movies, but caught it in streaming eventually.

Film 2378: "The Last Showgirl" (2024), Gia Coppola
Watched on: From the projector
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh, Sarah
Thoughts: Is it Pamela Anderson's best performance on screen? Absolutely. Is "The Last Showgirl" one of the best movies recently made? No, but it's a great comeback vehicle for Anderson and, even just for that, I think is great.
I honestly don't think Pamela Anderson could have found a better movie to reedem herself as an actrees and come back to the scene than "The Last Showgirl": a story about appearence, showbiz, loneliness, and a career in a business that has no mercy for women. All of thise combined together are hard to separate from Anderson's real life story at times, especially knowing what we know about it (too much, indeed). But specifically because we know about her, her past, and what she used to stand for and now stands for instead that "The Last Showgirl" works so well: not only Pamela Anderson gives the best performance of her career - before this movie it didn't necessarily mean much considering her filmografy, to be honest tho - but carries to movie perfectly because it's so easy to identify her with the main character, but she does it in a way that isn't in your face, it works because how understated is her performance at times (which is the very opposite of how her public persona used to be). It works well and she is the movie.
Other characters are there of course - most notably Jamie Lee Curtis is there, another actress that is having quite the resurgence lately - but in a way are less impacful or, to better phrase it, serves Shelly (Anderson) more than anything else.
All in all, a good enough movie. I admit that I was expecting something a bit more 'iconic' (along the line of "The Substance"), but it's a wonderful feeling to see Pamela Anderson leading a movie that is getting rave reviews (and "The Naked Gun" now!).
Cast: Pamela Anderson, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd, Dave Bautista, Jamie Lee Curtis.
Box Office: $7.1 million
Worth a watch?: It reminded me "Hustlers" and "Anora" at times, but it's definitely a way quieter movie. Not for everybody, but for those who enjoy arthouse film, definitely a good film to watch.
Awards: 2 Golden Globes nominations for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (Pamela Anderson) and Best Original Song ("Beautiful That Way" – Miley Cyrus). 1 BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jamie Lee Curtis) and 1 Razzie Award win for Razzie Redeemer Award (Anderson).
Key word: Last show.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 2359 - Trap

Intro: Niamh and I have a list of film we want to watch. She doesn't necessarily remembers them all, but I do. This is one of the movies on the list that we didn't manage to watch at the movies whe it came out.

Film 2359: "Trap" (2024), M. Night Shyamalan
Watched on: The projector
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: I've been saying it for ages now regarding M. Night Shyamalan's movies: great concept, poor execution.
I think we can all agree that Shyamalan has been trying to channel that plot twist from the ending of "The Sixth Sense" ever since, it's there in all of his movies. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn't, because in order to convey the crazy unexpect turn, he has to sacrifice part of his idea, or the audience trust, or in general the believability of the story he's telling.
In this case, as i said, "Trap" has an interesting starting point: there's a serial killer on the loose, yet he's trapped in a concert venue with his daughter. No one knows he's the killer, so there's room for him to try to escape which, obviously he tries to do. And that's when the story starts to crumble.
Although on paper the idea is interesting, in reality too many elements of this story are barely glued together. As audience, you really, really have to suspend your disbelief to allow the story to continue. A concert venue for one of the biggest stars out there, there's people everywhere, police everywhere, cameras everywhere... but no one is minding the fact that this man is going wherever he wants, to the point that he ventures backstage through a trapdoor while the performance of a song is happening... like, how?!
Anyway, the story being too stretched aside, I'll admit that "Trap" isn't necessarily a bad ride. Josh Hartnett is one of the most underrated actors out there and it's sad, because he delivers a solid performance here and carries the whole movie (together with Jonathan Langdon, who's performance reminded me a bit of Lil Rel Howery in "Get Out"). Yes, everything is crazy here and barely make sense, but overall I've seen worse, especially coming from M. Night Shyamalan.
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, Jonathan Langdon, Alison Pill.
Box Office: $83.6 million
Worth a watch?: More than a horror movie, a thriller. The story doesn't always work, but it reminded me a little bit of "Smile 2", although this once isn't as good.
Lady Raven is played by Night Shyamalan's daughter Saleka and, though she doesn't have much screen time in the first part of the movie, she kinda steals the show towards the end.
Awards: /
Key word: Concert ticket.
Trailer
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Bengi