Tag Archives: MADRES (2021)

Worst Movies of 2021

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Welcome back! As promised, here is my list of the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2021.

As I did with my Best Movies List, I’m placing an asterisk next to this one, as once again, the pandemic has prevented trips to the movie theaters from being a safe activity, and so with this in mind, I know we haven’t all seen the same movies since we are not all heading out to the movie theaters to see the same national releases. I know there are plenty of movies I missed this year.

Okay, let’s get on with it. Without further hesitation, here is my list of the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2021:

10. CRY MACHO – probably the dullest movie I watched all year. Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this tale of a former rodeo star (Eastwood) who goes to Mexico to bring back his boss’s teenage son to the States, and along the way, the two form a bond in this underwhelming buddy movie. While I am in awe of Clint Eastwood, who at 91 years old, is still making quality movies, the story here in CRY MACHO doesn’t do him any favors. The storytelling is muddled, and Eastwood seems to be playing a character who is much younger than 91, although the script never makes this clear. Not much to like about this one, even for Eastwood fans.

9. FEAR STREET: PART TWO – 1978 – Yeah, I know. For a lot of folks, this second installment in the Netflix FEAR STREET horror movie trilogy was the best of the lot, but for me, it was the worst. Each part served as an homage to a particular horror movie genre, and here in FEAR STREET: PART TWO – 1978 that genre is the FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH movies. I’m going to ruffle more feathers here as well when I say honestly that I’ve never liked the FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH movies and have found them all to be particularly bad. FEAR STREET: PART TWO does a nice job capturing the feel of these movies, but at the end of the day, it’s yet another variation of teenagers at a summer camp being slaughtered in the most unrealistically gruesome of ways. If that’s your cup of tea, you probably love this movie. But it’s not mine. I prefer intelligence in my horror.

8. GODZILLA VS. KONG – Again, this is one that a lot of people really liked, but for me, even as a fan of giant monster movies, especially King Kong movies, and Godzilla movies as well, this one was simply bad. I find it difficult to understand why this movie has so many fans when its script is so weak. The human characters are all forgettable, the situations unrealistic and uninspiring, and the dialogue is pretty poor. So, all you have left are the giant monsters in combat. And even those scenes didn’t do much for me. I know the argument is out there that that’s how the old Toho Godzilla movies all were. That’s a fair argument, up to a point. What always saved the Toho films was that Godzilla and his friends all had personality. The monsters in these modern-day versions do not. Plus, movies like KING KONG (1933) and THEM! (1954) did have superior scripts. These new giant monster movies do not. Instead, the modern-day giant monster movie (mostly Godzilla and Kong these days) has been reduced to special effects only, without any interest in creating any kind of a story worth telling.

7. COMING 2 AMERICA – the original COMING TO AMERICA (1988) starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall was very funny. This sequel, in spite of the return of Murphy and Hall, is not. Next movie…

6. TYGER TYGER – this was a movie that I fully expected to like, because it was so different and quirky, with a sense of style that I thought would make it a winner. But this tale of a pair of selfless robbers who kidnap a drug addict before they all find themselves hiding out in a bizarre psychedelic city is probably better enjoyed when you’re high! Seriously! The longer this one went on, the less sense it made, and by the time it was all over, it largely had become a wasted opportunity. No pun intended!

5. THE LITTLE THINGS – in spite of the presence of Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto this one just doesn’t work. Washington plays a former detective who’s called in to help with a serial killer case, and the character he plays is known for spotting the little things others miss in these cases. Trouble is, the script barely shows him doing this. Malek plays the hotshot detective who calls in Washington for help, but the choices he makes throughout the movie make him seen anything but a hotshot detective. And Leto plays the man they suspect is the serial killer. This one should have been awesome. Instead, it’s a muddled meandering tale that gets worse as it goes along with a particularly weak ending.

4. WITHOUT REMORSE- With a script by one of my favorite screenwriters, Taylor Sheridan, I fully expected to like this adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel, but instead it proved to be Sheridan’s first real misfire. Michael B. Jordan plays an elite Navy Seal who’s gone rogue to solve the murder of his wife, only to find— of course— that it’s all part of a larger conspiracy. What. A. Surprise. Yawn.

And now, the drum roll please. Here are my Top 3 Worst Movies from 2021:

3. SWEET GIRL -Hands down, the worst action movie of the year. Jason Momoa plays a man who vows revenge against a pharmaceutical company after its “business decision” pulled a drug from the market which could have saved his terminally ill wife. So, hubby goes insane and plots to kill the heads of this company, who, while they are undesirable, probably don’t deserve to be killed. So, there’s that initial problem. But wait, there’s more! There’s a larger conspiracy! Of course, there always is. Plus, Momoa’s character against his better judgement is constantly bringing his teenage daughter with him and training her to protect herself and be an assassin vigilante like him… and then, thanks to a bizarre plot twist, his character disappears from the second half of the movie. So, yes, you have an action film headlined by Jason Momoa, that halfway through ditches its star. Ugh.

2. MADRES – the worst horror movie of the year. This tale of a Mexican American couple who move to a new community in 1970s California that seems to have a weird sinister secret involving pregnant women, doesn’t know how to get out of its own way. The film aims for a ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) and THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975) vibe but fails on both counts. This one is based on true events, and its reveal at the end is actually very good, but the problem is the film tries so hard to hide this reveal with a supernatural tale that is so lame it makes the movie completely ineffective. Had the filmmakers chosen to focus on what this film is ultimately about, it would have been a far darker, more memorable movie.

And now, drum roll please, the Worst Movie of 2021:

1. THUNDER FORCE – by far, the worst comedy of the year. Melissa McCarthy plays a woman who inherits superpowers thanks to her scientist friend played by Octavia Spencer. They then take on the world’s supervillains. Should have been funny. But it’s not. Jason Bateman fares the best as a supervillain known as The Crab. Written and directed by McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone.

And there you have it. My picks for the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2021. Now, let’s move on to 2022.

As always, thanks for reading!

—Michael

MADRES (2021) – Powerful Reveal Doesn’t Save Tepid Horror Tale

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MADRES (2021), a new Amazon Original movie, is a tepid horror movie that concludes with some powerful, important social commentary which sadly belongs in another movie.

In other words, the message from MADRES is a good one, but the horror movie which precedes the message is not. Not by a long shot.

MADRES is based on true events, and takes place in the 1970s. A young Mexican/American couple Diana (Ariana Guerra) and Beto (Tenoch Huerta) move to a new ranch home in California because Beto is beginning a new job as manager at a farm, and he got the job because most of the workers there share his Mexican heritage. Diana is pregnant with their first child.

It soon becomes apparent that something is not quite right in their new town, specifically with the mothers and babies, as the women there have an unusually high rate of miscarriages. Diana begins to feel ill as well. She learns that the farm has been using pesticides for years which might be causing the miscarriages. However, the locals believe in something more supernatural, that there is a curse on the town and that Diana needs supernatural help to protect herself. Of course, Diana thinks that idea is ridiculous, until she begins to see strange horrific apparitions in her house, which she attributes to hallucinations because of her new mysterious illness.

Eventually, Diana and Beto discover that the truth is far more sinister than either one of these situations which leads to a disturbing ending, by far the best part of an otherwise weak horror movie.

The big reveal is a good one and is powerfully disturbing as well. But the problem is the rest of this movie isn’t about the big reveal. MADRES would have been a far more effective movie had it been marketed as a straight drama than as a horror movie. The subject matter uncovered in the film’s conclusion is what this entire film should have been about.

The horror movie elements here are pretty bad. The film isn’t scary, and its supposed shock scenes featuring Diana and the ghosts are pretty tame and tepid. Director Ryan Zaragoza could have at least tried to scare the audience.

The screenplay by Mario Miscione and Marcella Ochoa misses the mark entirely. With few supernatural sequences, and fewer scares, it fails as a horror movie, and since the big reveal doesn’t appear until the final reel, it doesn’t work as social commentary either.

My favorite performance belongs to Tenoch Huerta as hubby Beto. He comes off as a real person, he’s got a great sense of humor, and he remains a stand-up guy throughout. No cliche detours into two-timing or secretly-sinister husbands.

Ariana Guerra, on the other hand, as Diana, didn’t wow me as much. Actually, her performance is fine, but Diana is such a sour, negative person throughout that every time she’s on screen, which is a lot, I found myself not enjoying this one. For example, she finds fault with the locals even before they start acting weird and creepy. When Beto tries to socialize with the new townsfolk and his workers, Diana frowns, claiming they’re his friends, not hers.

Kerry Cahill enjoys a few chilling moments as Nurse Carol, making the most of her brief screen time as the latest in a long line of evil nurse tropes. Cahill’s very good though.

Joseph Garcia is solid as Beto’s boss Tomas. He exudes sincerity which makes his later transition all the more dramatic.

At first, it looked like MADRES was going for the same vibe as a couple of horror classics, ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) and THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975), but it never comes close to capturing the feel of those chillers.

In spite of a worthwhile reveal in the final reel, MADRES is a weak and largely forgettable horror movie that struggled to hold my interest for its brief 83 minutes running time.

Which is too bad because what happened to the mothers in this movie is horrible, and their story deserves to be told, but it will need to be told in a different movie because MADRES did a terrible job telling it.

The mothers deserve better.

—END—