Welcome back to Awards Buzz Weekly— with Emmy Voting now completed, there isn’t much that we can do besides wait for those nominations to be revealed on July 15th. While I always hope for variety and surprises in the Emmy nominations, the cynical side of me can’t help but expect a very predictable list of nominees.
In terms of the movies, I have been watching a lot of them and have caught up on almost all of the recent releases with the exception of Elio, a film that despite the great reviews including a pretty glowing review by Award Buzz’s very own Abe Friedtanzer, I still have no interest in seeing. However, I will probably end up seeing Elio sometime in this week because I already saw Superman and I Know What You Did Last Summer, both films I cannot talk about just yet, but will be allowed to soon. My reaction for Superman will be posted tonight on X at 9pm, with a full review coming to We Live Entertainment on Tuesday.
Until those reviews, please feel free to check out my thoughts on three of the latest films currently playing at a theater near you.
Jurassic World: Rebirth Review: The Jurassic Park sequel that with a better script could have been the best film since the original.
Plot Synopsis: A pharmaceutical representative (Rupert Friend) enlists covert operations expert Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) to assemble a specialized expedition team to travel to a remote island and extract the DNA from three dinosaurs, in hopes of developing a miracle drug that could save humanity.
Review: The original Jurassic Park has long been hailed as a cinematic masterpiece by many, including myself. When I first saw it in theaters back in 1993, I felt a sense of wonder and amazement unlike anything I had experienced before. It was like witnessing something truly magical, on par with seeing Back to the Future or E.T. for the first time. Since then, I’ve always craved more from the franchise. I can admit to enjoying The Lost World and Jurassic Park III to varying degrees, but the newer Jurassic World trilogy has been rather inconsistent. I was lukewarm on the first film, a big fan of the second, and absolutely despised the third.
So, when a fourth entry in the Jurassic World series was announced, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why?” But deep down, I already knew the answer. This franchise is a money-printing machine. With box office success, merchandise, and theme park attractions all tied to it, Universal simply couldn’t let something this profitable go extinct—especially now when the industry is bleeding cash.
Despite my reservations, the marketing campaign was undeniably effective. I still remember seeing the footage at CinemaCon—it made me feel like a kid again. I caught myself saying, “That looks awesome.” And with an all-star cast featuring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey, how could I not be excited?
By the time I walked into the theater two weeks ago, I had let go of most of my concerns. From the opening scene, I was engaged. I liked the simplicity of the setup and enjoyed watching the cast come together. I even turned to my friend and said, “This is already way better than the last one so maybe this one will actually be great.” I was all in.
And then…the family showed up.
Now, I understand the desire to reintroduce a family dynamic, to recapture some of the magic from the original. But in this case, it felt completely unnecessary. The family added nothing to the plot and seemed shoehorned in almost like someone said in a development meeting, “We should have a family in this,” and so they just added it. Their presence actively detracts from the story, pulling focus away from the far more compelling main characters—who I actually wanted to spend time with and learn more about.
Instead, we’re forced to follow a dull, uninteresting family, including a stoner boyfriend character who delivers some of the most cringeworthy and nonsensical dialogue imaginable. It was frustrating, because the film has real momentum and potential… until it doesn’t.
To make matters worse, the film relies too much on nostalgia and tries to recreate so many moments from previous films in the franchise. That sense of awe is not able to be recreated because we already seen it so having new characters experience something that most viewers have already seen before doesn’t really create the same movie magic that Gareth Edwards was hoping to accomplish.
This brings me to another major issue I had with the film which I think has consistently impacted the Jurassic World franchise as a whole: the insistence on creating fake dinosaurs. We don’t need or want them. There are already countless real dinosaur species, some of them are terrifying while others are cute and adorable. Dinosaurs have always been cool; there’s no need to engineer some ridiculous hybrid like a Xenomorph crossed with a T-Rex. It’s not just unnecessary and honestly kind of dumb. And when you slap on a name like Distortus Rex, it just feels like some bad direct to DVD parody. The franchise is at its best when it embraces the awe and terror of real prehistoric creatures—not when it tries to outdo nature with man-made inventions.
On the plus side of things, I do think that there are some bad ass dinosaur action sequences, and while the premise is pretty straightforward, I do think it works giving the lead trio a reason to go on this expedition. The lead cast, despite being undeveloped, is also quite good and likable. These are great actors playing undeveloped characters so they automatically bring those acting chops to the material despite their characters needing more backstory and depth.
The film is, at times, genuinely entertaining—which makes the overall experience all the more frustrating. You can see the potential for greatness, but some of the choices made by writer David Koepp and director Gareth Edwards are simply baffling. One moment you’re immersed in a thrilling set piece, and the next, a character is randomly announcing that he’s peeing. It’s jarring. What’s even more disappointing is that a better version of this movie already exists—hidden beneath unnecessary scenes and bland characters. With tighter editing and a more focused script, this could have been a shorter, sharper, and far more effective film.
I know that it sounds like I have been incredibly hard on this film but overall, I do give it a slight recommendation because when the film works, it really works. It does have elements of a great blockbuster and there are enough great scenes and set pieces to recommend fans of the franchise to seek this one out on the big screen. I do think that if you go into this with lukewarm expectations, you will enjoy a lot of it despite feeling frustrated by other aspects of it.
Grade: 6/10
Awards Buzz: With the exception of maybe an MTV Movie Award nomination, I don’t think Jurassic World: Rebirth will garner any type of award consideration. Normally, I would have said something like Visual Effects but with films like Avatar: Fire & Ash and Wicked: For Good being in the conversation this year, I can’t see a world where this gets in because there is nothing about the visuals that we haven’t already seen before.
M3GAN 2.0 Review: A Genre Swap Combined With A Summer Release Date Causes M3GAN 2.0 to Malfunction
Plot Synopsis: When a private military contractor repurposes M3GAN’s original data to create a combat-ready prototype named Amelia, things don’t go as planned. As Amelia begins to spiral out of control, the government is forced to seek help from Gemma (Allison Williams) who knows the code better than anyone. With no other options to stop Amelia, Gemma reluctantly reactivates M3GAN, who is now tasked with saving the world from Amelia.
Review: M3GAN was one of those horror comedies that shouldn’t have worked nearly as well as it did. The concept felt fresh at the time, and thanks to a perfectly timed release and a brilliant marketing campaign, the film became a surprise box office hit. But as we’ve seen with many recent successes, not every hit needs—or deserves—a sequel.
Don’t get me wrong: M3GAN 2.0 is certainly entertaining, and I appreciated the bold genre shift from horror to science fiction. The film swings big, and some of those swings do connect. However, it didn’t need to be as long as it was, and several new cast members gave performances that felt quite awkward and cringeworthy. The film’s biggest mistake, in my eyes, was the decision to shift the focus away from M3GAN and onto Amelia. Reducing M3GAN to a supporting role in her own movie was disappointing and, I believe, a massive turn off for audiences.
I couldn’t help but notice that several of the scenes showcased in the tv spots and trailers were not in the Final Cut of the film. This is something that I am noticing a lot more of lately and to be honest, really annoys me because I feel like studios are manipulating audiences by showing scenes that aren’t even part of the final product. I understand that things get cut from time to time but there are far too many films as of late that have done this and it’s become quite apparent and disappointing.
All that being said, whenever M3GAN, Gemma, and Cady are on screen together, the magic of the original returns. Their chemistry and witty banter are still so much fun to watch. Director Gerard Johnstone clearly wears his sci-fi influences on his sleeve—Terminator being the most obvious—and he injects that passion into the film and its script. Visually, M3GAN 2.0 is stunning. What Johnstone and the VFX team have accomplished on a modest $25 million budget is genuinely impressive, and other major studios should take note of how far a well-managed and talented VFX team can take a project even with a small budget.
M3GAN 2.0’s stance on AI is quite interesting, especially given the current climate surrounding the technology. Gerard Johnstone’s script thoughtfully explores the dangers of artificial intelligence while also acknowledging a crucial truth: AI isn’t going anywhere. Instead of leaning entirely into fear, the film suggests that we must learn to adapt and find ways to coexist with it. This is a refreshing perspective, especially in a time when much of Hollywood remains fearful of AI’s impact. As previously noted, the film draws inspiration from decades of sci-fi that have explored similar themes, and M3GAN 2.0 pays homage to many of those cinematic predecessors.
At the end of the day, M3GAN 2.0 is a serviceable sequel—but ultimately a fairly forgettable one. The first M3GAN was lightning in a bottle, a surprise hit that became a cultural phenomenon. In comparison, this follow-up arrived with almost no buzz. Moving the film from a January release to the crowded summer season was, in my opinion, a major misstep. More importantly, it never really felt like audiences were clamoring for a sequel in the first place.
Sequels like M3GAN 2.0 can end up hurting the legacy of the original. Even M3GAN 2.0‘s marketing campaign leaned into the gimmicks—most notably the viral dance—that made the first film iconic, without offering anything new. What once felt full of creativity now comes across as a glorified cash grab. I was initially sold on the absurdity of the sequel’s early marketing out of CinemaCon, but as the release date inched closer, the marketing team didn’t do much to help make the film stand out.
Grade: 6/10
Awards Buzz: I would have loved to see this film recognized for its outstanding visual effects, which are genuinely impressive given the budget. But realistically, that seems unlikely. Horror hybrids like M3GAN 2.0 are often overlooked by awards bodies, and its underwhelming box office performance certainly doesn’t help its chances.
‘F1’ Review: An Adrenaline Fueled Blockbuster That Delivers What It Promises
Plot Synopsis:
Review: Everyone says that Tom Cruise is our last remaining movie star, but I beg to differ. While Cruise is undoubtedly beloved—and one of the few actors universally recognized —I believe Brad Pitt belongs on that list as well. Pitt has been a fixture in the film industry for decades, and his on-screen presence continues to attract audiences. He brings a level of charisma, range, and star power that moviegoers gravitate towards and that is fully on-display with F1.
So many movies nowadays overpromise and underdeliver—Jurassic World: Rebirth and M3GAN 2.0 are two recent and perfect examples. But F1 delivers exactly what its marketing campaign promises: a true crowd-pleaser. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel; instead, it fully embraces what it is—a classic sports movie, and a damn good one at that. It features every cliché you’ve ever seen in the genre, yet somehow, director Joseph Kosinski, screenwriter Ehren Kruger, and a committed cast led by the incomparable Brad Pitt make it all work.
The characters in F1 are all incredibly likable and easy to root for. While Brad Pitt is undoubtedly the main draw, it’s impossible to overlook the strong supporting performances from Javier Bardem, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, and several others who help bring the film to life. While the trailers and TV spots give you a clear sense of where the film is going, that predictability doesn’t ultimately hurt the adrenaline that drives the movie. The race sequences are brought to life with remarkable precision and passion—they’re thrilling to watch and are sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. I can tell you from my screening, which was filled with filmmakers and other industry professionals, people were all in.
F1 is a difficult movie to review—not because it’s bad, but because there isn’t a whole lot to say about it that hasn’t been said before. And yet, somehow, the cast and crew manage to craft a blockbuster in the same spirit as a Top Gun: Maverick with a little something for everyone. It’s the kind of movie audiences crave: straightforward, engaging, and a genuine escape from reality. There’s something refreshing about a film that doesn’t lean heavily on visual effects but instead embraces a familiar, formulaic story elevated by strong performances and exhilarating set pieces. It is free of politics and heavy-handed messaging while being driven by pure popcorn entertainment with plenty of humor and heart.
Grade: 8/10
Awards Buzz: I can absolutely see a world where F1 not only becomes one of the biggest box office hits of the year, but also breaks into the awards conversation—much like Top Gun: Maverick did. While nominations for acting, screenplay, or direction may be a long shot, a Best Picture nod isn’t out of the question, especially if the fall festival lineup underwhelms like we’ve seen in the past few years. More realistically, F1 feels like a strong contender in technical categories such as Best Sound and Best Film Editing, where films like this tend to really shine.
