Drew Chavez

Monsters Univeristy is without question the less superior of the Monster counterparts; However, this college focused prequel is still quite a redeeming film. One of my favorite traits from the original are missing from Monsters U, which is mainly the endearing realization of “surprising fatherhood” for Sully. Monsters University did however continue to focus on Mike Wadowski‘s identity crisis by showing the audiences how it developed.  My biggest issue with Monsters University that Pixar relies heavily upon the defining Pixar moment of this film. The tournament style frat games used to be one of my favorite aspects throughout any Pixar film growing up, but now I can’t help but see it as slightly weak, or slightly immature/cheesy. I think as a whole the over dramatic approach to being a University student left a sour taste in my mouth, and just felt cliche. However, I’d be lying to you if I didn’t mention that the final act is as good as anything Pixar has done. The build up during the first two acts just felt more like a drag than Pixar films usually do.  ***69/100***

***“If you’re truly wild at heart, you’ll fight for your dreams.” … “Don’t turn away from love, Sailor.” ***- David Lynch delivers unnerving controlled chaos with Wild At Heart, while also staying perfectly true to his otherworldly approach to film. Wild At Heart truly showcases every brilliant central feature that defines David Lynch’s generational career, which to me leaves major question around why this is one of his least appreciated films. I see Wild at Heart as the most unique romance film I’ve ever seen, fueled by characters driven by this almost rebellious passion.  Everything about David Lynch’s first work of the 1990s stands out to me as a masterpiece, and fits my film taste nearly perfectly. Wild at Heart is undoubtedly filled with obsessive characters that blur the lines of reality, almost to the point of seeming hyperreal. Lynch goes for exaggerated romance, nightmare like crime, delirious mental states, and disturbing gore intense enough to match these characters that are truly wild at heart.  However, Wild at Hearts controlled chaos works perfectly for me, and truly just continues to show me why David Lynch will always be considered one of the greatest to ever do it. Not only that, but why David Lynch is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors of all time.  Lynch doesn’t fail to impress when it comes to his soundtracks and scores, every project of his I’ve seen is musically unforgettable. Wild At Heart is right next to Blue Velvet, which both stand atop my list of masterful Lynch soundtracks. Wild At Heart may be my favorite so far throughout my first chronological Lynch watch-through. I would quickly and confidently say that Wild at Heart has an S tier soundtrack, and nearly leaves me floating with all of his fitting song choices. The score also blew my socks off, even with such simple technical choices. For example, when we cut back and forth between the bubbly road trip, and the psychotic mother in crisis. Each cut cues a haunting beat in the score. It’s such a simple, but effective trick in signaling a tone beat that leaves an audience stunned.  The entirety of Wild at Heart stands out as highly technically sound, and maybe what I see as Lynch’s most technical that I’ve seen so far. He’s impressed me throughout each film with incredible direction, but here his collaboration with his cinematographer, Frederick Elmes, allowed for some innovative and ingenious transitions. Some of the transitions in Wild at Heart were smooth enough to evoke a genuine physical reaction from me. Think step back, game winning three, double teamed, green type reaction.  Going into Wild at Heart I set expectations a bit lower than I should have considering my fondness for Lynch’s ambition, but I truly wasn’t ecstatic about the cast. I couldn’t have been more wrong, because Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern give two explosive performances carried by expressive love, igniting personalities, and unforgettable passion. Everything about this cast is bleeding the exact same passion that David Lynch allows to seep through the film, not many films manage to feel so alive with such dark tones.  Willem Defoe swoops in and maybe steals the show with the most outrageous role I’ve ever seen him play. Willem Defoe is truly an unappreciated, and generational character actor; because what in the world was this haunting, but slightly comedic performance as Bobby Peru.  ***96/100*** *** ***Notes:  -the cast made me nervous as I’m usually not a huge Cage fan, but this film he impressed me heavily. His goofy “cool guy” performance was top of the line, and really made this film what it is outside of the masterful direction, cinematics, and sound production.  -Laura Dern also impressed me heavily here, and was huge in Lynch successfully achieving the almost satirical steamy underlying sexual fire throughout the whole film.  -maybe Willem Defoes career role, what a wild character -The story really snuck up on me here and managed to blow me away. The satirical aproach to both romance and crime as a genre here really went a long way in how well it all blended with the Wizard of Oz metaphors.  -I truly think this is a masterpiece, and Lynch’s most underrated, because this is a perfect film.

Im most definitely much higher than most on Brave, so I must note that I see this film as heavily under appreciated. Something about it has always spoken so deeply to me. Full review tomorrow. No denying it’s my vote for Pixar’s most under appreciated film.  ***81/100***

Project Hail Mary is an undeniable visual spectacle when viewing it in IMAX, but truthfully, it’s so much more than that. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller managed to adapt one of the greatest contemporary literate Space Odyssey’s faithfully, while also allowing audiences to feel emotions all over the spectrum. As a non book reader, the heartwarming dynamic offered by alien life form discovery, turning into an undeniable tale of friendship, was an overall redeeming surprise. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by basically every aspect of this film, but was especially blown away by the technical brilliance and the dominant Gosling performance. The slowly growing connection between Rocky and Grace won me over quite fast, and is truly the primary focus of this unique character study. The sheer curiosity from both ends paired for two deeply lonely souls to connect in countless ways you just wouldn’t expect. The friendship dynamic is perfectly charming, humorous, and emotionally delicate; which truly offered me a one of a kind cinema experience. After pondering on Project Hail Mary for a while, I’ve come to realize that my personal highlight aspect for my two highest rated films of 2026, so far, is two almost surreal friendships with a foreign beings. Rocky and Grace, and Dr. Kelson and Samson.  As someone who had major doubts about this project prior to release, I seriously highly encourage y’all to go see this masterful space journey in IMAX as soon as you can. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Really did something special with this adaptation, the film blew me away.  ***92/100***