Capsule Reviews: Scream IV, Your Place or Mine, The Quiet Girl, Sick & I Love You You Hate Me4/25/2023 by Philip Price Scream IV  Photo: Paramount Pictures “Scream VI” zips with the energy of an earlier installment while being the most acute “meta” entry since “Scream 2” and the weakest story since “Scream 3.” I was slightly underwhelmed by the reveals, but the execution and character development are solid. It balances the tone perfectly and was incredibly fun/suspenseful. “Scream VI” is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+. Your Place or Mine  Photo: Netflix For a movie about reluctant writers and avid readers, “Your Place or Mine” is one of the laziest romantic comedies I’ve seen in a while … even by Netflix’s standards. Not to mention neither Reese Witherspoon nor Ashton Kutcher are good in it. In fact, Witherspoon is kind of - and it pains me to say this – terrible. It’s a miracle I finished this thing. “Your Place or Mine” is streaming on Netflix. The Quiet Girl  Photo: Break Out Pictures It is so, so difficult to do the whole “show, don’t tell” thing as effectively as first-time feature director Colm Bairéad has done here with “The Quiet Girl.” The simple on the surface, but emotionally deep scenes resonate both with such tenderness and power that by the time it builds to its final frames you will be weeping along with Andrew Bennett‘s character. It’s hugely impressive how it conveys so much despite the characters speaking little. I was incredibly moved. “The Quiet Girl” can be rented on Amazon Prime Video for $5.99. Sick  Photo: Peacock “Sick” is largely screenwriter Kevin Williamson playing the hits, but as groan-inducing as the Covid framework might seem it actually works really well to both ratchet up the uncertainty and the tension of each encounter while the genre exercise this ultimately is also serves as a clever metaphor for the virus itself. The pairing of Williamson’s sharp tongue with the unrelenting force of John Hyams’s direction is also really inspired and results in a sleek, lean thriller where every blow lands with impact even if the film itself fails to leave much of one. “Sick” is streaming on Peacock. I Love You, You Hate Me  Photo: Peacock As a kid who grew up loving Barney with nothing but fond memories of the show this was interesting from the perspective of a peak behind the curtain, but from a more cynical "serialized docudramas are all the rage" perspective this often feels like it's trying to make something from not enough in order to conjure that "shock value" so many of these true-life documentaries rely on.
The extent of the backlash was certainly news to me and certainly deserves its own cultural analysis but withholding what eventually happened to the members of the Leach family felt like more of a crass decision; designed more to perpetuate "scandal" than genuinely trying to understand how something with such good and humble intent could have ramifications that were both hateful and tragic. “I Love You, You Hate Me” is streaming on Peacock.
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