2nd watch : Spider-Man: No Way Home: Written and directed by Chris Mckenna and Jon Watts.

Overview: As people everywhere watched the cliffhanger of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, Jon Watts brings us one of the best Marvel movies of the year in Spider-Man:No Way Home. With a romantic yet action-packed film, we watch Peter Parker’s life as a high school student and watch him save the world yet again. 

Summary: The beginning of the movie pans into the city of Gotham. All over the news is the reveal of the real Peter Parker, AKA, Spider-Man. Peter struggles through surprised and angered crowds with his girlfriend, MJ. We see Peter trying to adjust to life with the whole world knowing he’s Spider-Man. When Peter and his friends MJ and Ned are rejected from admission to their dream school, MIT, Peter looks to the most powerful source in his town, Doctor Strange. This is where things take a turn for the worst not only for Peter but for everyone and everything around him. Peter’s wish for Strange is that only he and a few other people would know he is Spider-Man to prevent controversy. When this goes wrong, the multiverse opens, exposing Peter and the world to heroes and more importantly villains of the other universes in the galaxy. As Peter fights off the villains, he sends them to Dr. Strange’s basement, where they are in cages to prevent their powers from being exposed. Dr. Strange’s idea is to send them back to their dimension, but Peter being more loving and selfless, he decides to send Dr. Strange into his own dimension and attempts to save the villains. With the death of his Aunt May, caused by the estranged villain Dr. Osbourn, the other villains revolt, and chaos takes over the town of Gotham. The most memorable and empowering moment of the film is when the current spiderman, played by Tom Holland, meets previous versions of spiderman, played by Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield; and together they find the cures to humanizing the villains, and send them home safely. With the multiverse continuing to open, Peter gives Dr. Strange permission to make everyone, including Peter’s girlfriend, and best friends forget that he is Spider-Man. This would change Peter’s life, but bring peace back, and most importantly close the multiverse. After Peter and the other Peters cure the villains, we see Peter’s final battle with Dr. Osbourn. With the success of the multiverse closing, Peter is forced to leave his loved ones and let them forget about him. Although every story can’t end happily, in some ways this was a happy ending. With no more controversy over Peter Parker’s identity, MJ and Ned are admitted to MIT. Despite this, one of the final scenes is Peter visiting his friends in their workplace, the bakery. With Peter unrecognizable, this is the final moment of Peter and MJ being together. This tear-jerker moment brought audiences to wanting more and seeing how this change affects the world. The final scene shows Peter moving into his own apartment, and breaking in his spider suit around the snowy town. 

Final Summary: Spider-Man: No Way Home was a huge turning point for future Marvel movies and Marvel fans. Not only was this the introduction to the multiverse and its powers, but the future for the newest Marvel movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This isn’t the end for Peter Parker, as we see a preview of Venom and Spider-Man together in the post-credit scenes, once again leaving the audience with a cliffhanger.

3rd watch: Nope written and directed by Jordan Peele

Overview: Jordan Peele, a famous writer and producer for popular movies like Get Out, and Us brings us his first physiological thriller of 2022 with Nope. Peele’s films have consistent themes of questioning reality, which is just what audiences love from Nope. 

Summary: The opening scene foreshadows some of the plot, and tells the story of chimpanzee Gordy, who is alone, covered in blood, and slowly staring at the camera. Gordy is the main character of his own sitcom called Gordy’s Home. The start to this movie leaves audiences in shock, but everything will be explained and told through Jupe, one of the main characters further into the movie. We meet horse wranglers OJ and his father Otis. When Otis is struck by a coin from the sky, his horse runs off and leaves Otis to die. Six months later we pan into OJ and his sister, Emerald who are struggling to seek profit and keep up the family name. They meet former carnivalist Ricky (Jupe) Park. Jupe is the child star of the sitcom Gordy’s Home, as told in the beginning, and was the only crew member to survive. As strange things start to occur in the sky, OJ and Emerald turn to Fry’s Electronics to purchase cameras and hopefully catch what is going on. They meet Angel, a quiet but charismatic IT member. Angel, also curious as to the mysteriousness of the sky, helps the main characters set up their cameras and in hope to catch the “alien” terrorizing their small farm. As the plot moves forward, the characters come up with the conclusion that the “alien” is an unknown UFO made of organic matter and devouring parts of the farm. We see this UFO come into play when a gold coin falls from the sky, kills Otis, and his horse that appears in the sky. This alien represents much more than just a land-eating monster, and really has a connection to the black community and police brutality. With OJ, Emerald, and their family being people of color, we see a resemblance to oppressed people in the black community and how with little to no recognition, law enforcement and police officers abuse their power. Although this resemblance is not self-explanatory, Jordan Peele is known to include metaphors and allegories for even the smallest things. The audience can see this analogy through the city people not taking notice of the alien, and their land going to pieces without acknowledgment. As we near the end of the film, a TMZ reporter on a motorbike terrorizes OJ and is blatantly rude. As the reporter goes into the spawn point of the alien, we see him crash in his motorcycle, and be taken by the alien, who characters now refer to as “The Jean Jacket ”. As the UFO travels in masses and begins to expand, we see terror in the faces of many main characters as they believe them and their town will be taken over. In the final scene, we see Emerald take the TMZ reporter’s motorcycle and drive to a coin-operated photo booth, to have proof of the alien, referring to when no one would believe there was anything wrong. As the pictures disperse, a giant balloon released from the carnival’s tents flies into the air and destroys the UFO. These final moments of the film and the most suspenseful and on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments that Jordan Peele uses to bring in the audience and end the movie on a bang.

Final Summary: It goes to show that the mastermind of Jordan Peele continues to make a stand in the film world with his in-depth and meaningful films. Nope is another one of these films, being such a relevant and amazing watch.

4th watch : The Menu : Directed by Mark Myloyd and written by Will Tracy

The Menu, being published towards the end of November, ended 2022 with a bang. This mystery/thriller can be compared to movies like “Knives Out”, “Don’t Worry Darling”, and “The Banshees of Inisheerin”. Not only does this movie have a fantastic cast with actors like Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Finneas, and Nicholas Hoult, but it has an intense and satirical tone. Director Mark Mylod draws the audience in with a yin and yang couple Margot and Tyler. The couple, or more so Tyler himself is immersed in fine-dining and culinary arts. As the couple boards a ferry, they meet eclectic washed up celebrities, social media influencers, and high-end “food critics”. This ferry will take our characters to Chef Slowiks own private island “Hawthorne”, and laboratory of a kitchen. Chef Slowik, played by Ralph Finneas is a meditative and hostile chef and opens each dish with a singular clap, in an effort to get everyone’s attention. The staff of the island are hair-raising and unsettling characters, for reasons unknown. As the couple walks towards the host stand, Margot is unrecognized because Tyler was planning on bringing his now ex-girlfriend but brought Margot instead. The characters are greeted by Chef Slowiks’ right hand woman, Elsa. Slowkis’ perspective of food isn’t just about eating, but about every singular detail making food an art form. This is shown in the kitchen’s first course called “The Island”. Each course has its own story and its list of ingredients help tell a tale of past-tense and foreshadow. Elsa and Slowik are clearly distraught over Margot’s presence, almost like she knows that something isn’t right. The next course is called “Breadless Bread Plate”, which consists of a wooden board with multiple different sauces and no bread. As each guest becomes more and more unsettled with the idiosyncrasies of the restaurant, traits of hostility from the kitchen and Elsa arise. The next course is called “Memory”. The camera pans to Slowik with a lone woman in the corner, his mother. Slowik tells a story of his trauma and the relationship between him, his father and his mother. This then leads to the course of chicken thighs al pastor and freshly made corn tortillas. Each tortilla sphere given to each guest contains a picture of their secrets, and some of their deepest and most hidden memories. Margot’s doubts about the restaurant continue when she gets up to leave but is stopped in her tracks and is escorted to the ladies room. As she lights a cigarette Chef Slowik creeps his way into the stall, catching Margot. Slowik responds to her actions by saying “you’re not supposed to be here” as aforementioned when she was not originally invited to the trip. When Margot and Slowik return from the restroom, the fourth course is presented as “The Mess”. Two servers roll tarp over the floor and windows and decorate with edible flowers and plants. Slowik introduces sous-chef Jeremy, clearly shaken up and nervous. Jeremy sees Slowik as an inspiration but struggles with finding individuality. After Slowik interrogates Jeremy, he pulls a shotgun out of his back and shoots himself in the head. The course states, “THE MESS – Pressure-cooked beef, bone broth, heirloom carrots and potatoes. R.I.P. Jeremy Loucks, 1988-2020.” As each guest panics, they are met with hostile staff members and violence, as one of the servers cuts a guest’s finger off for trying to leave. As they get to the final course, Margot decides to pretend to join Chef Slowik in an attempt to escape the island.  We see Margot go to fetch for help and call off a coast guard nearby to save herself and the guests. This not only backfires completely, but was a setup so Chef Slowik knew if any guest attempted to leave. Later on in this scene, we see Margot touring Slowiks room, and sees a picture of Slowiks first ever cook job, at a good old-fashioned hamburger restaurant. This photo not only sparks up an idea for Margot, but in the end saves her life. As the final course approaches, Margot states she is not hungry and simply asks for Slowik to cook her a cheeseburger. This can be explained simply, being that Margot knew if she could connect solemn Slowik to his childhood, she would have a chance of escaping. Slowik lets Margot go, but without a place to hide she sits on the edge of the boat dock, eats her cheeseburger, and watches as Hawthorn slowly burns down. This finale represents the “final woman” idea, being that with enough smarts Margot can escape even death. With any other ending to the movie, the audience wouldn’t have felt the same relief, as we watch the protagonist survive.

The mastermind of Will Tracy portrays each character in such a way that only few can understand. Although the antagonist, Slowik, is clearly a sadistic character, the final scene shows a side of him that we have not seen. His gentle and kind words almost make the audience feel pity for his actions, despite the slow burn end to the movie. Overall, The Menu was an incredible way to close the year of 2022, and captured the essence of physiological thrillers throughout the year.