Walt Disney Pictures released two sequels this year after years since the release of two beloved modern classics. One was an interesting meditation on friendship and the toxicities that can creep into even the most well-intentioned people, and how that can lead to, not only the friendship, but the entire ...
Steve McQueen may very well be the most underrated filmmaker currently working. That sounds like his films receive little to no press, but quite the contrary. His past three films, “Hunger,” “Shame” and “12 Years A Slave” have all received critical praise and awards recognition. Even that ...
Credit where credit is due, “The Crimes of Grindelwald” accomplishes a feat that no prior “Wizarding World” film has been able to do: be a bad film. Even with that, the film faces a fate closely comparable to other blockbuster films, regardless of the quality, fans will still flock to the theatres ...
Some filmmakers have put so much effort into their craft and turned out such quality work, that every time a film from them is announced, it’s a celebratory occasion. Even when that film is a Netflix movie. Thus, is the case here, as “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is written and directed by Joel ...
You are not prepared for “Overlord.” No matter what the trailers have shown you, the posters have promised or what other reviews have said. Know this right here and right now: this film is a shock to every sense and a visceral powerhouse of terror, violence and pulse pounding thrills. It accomplishes ...
Illumination's ninth film, and their second Seuss adaptation, has a bizarre behind the scenes situation behind it. This is the last Seuss movie Universal made before Audrey Geisel, Seuss’ widow, jumped ship to Warner Animation Group with the Seuss licenses, which doesn't bode well. It has a set of ...
At one point about a third of the way through “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the new biopic about Freddie Mercury and Queen, a record producer, upset at the band trying to push the film’s title track, states “Mark my words, no one will play Queen!” Now this is a line that the producer probably didn’t ...
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” could have easily been called “The Four Realms”, “The Four Realms of Christmas” or anything other than “The Nutcracker” because it isn’t about the Nutcracker or the story of the Nutcracker. It loosely references past events, but not even in a cohesive ...
After 40 years of lackluster sequels (“H20”, “Halloween: Resurrection”), bizarre reinterpretations (“Halloween (2007)”) and good films marred by franchise association (“Halloween III: Season of the Witch”), Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter are back, along with writer/director David ...
“The Hate U Give,” based on the 2017 book of the same name, is a film that’s difficult to introduce. Make no mistake; this is not a comment on the film’s quality. How does one craft a light intro paragraph to a film that tackles such difficult subjects with such grace? Like the job of adapting ...
Despite being the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong is a relatively quiet person. You’d think with his monumental achievement that fundamentally changed history, he would be more boastful about it. But no, he’s a calm and reserved person, unlike what most would likely think. Damien Chazelle’s ...
What makes a mystery? Some think it's creating a world where audiences know something just isn’t right. Some think it's creating a place, not a person, that holds some evil to it. Some think it’s the sense of inescapable dread, that no matter what happens, something worse is on its way. Writer/Director ...
With Spider-Man now fully entrusted (more like en-dusted) to the MCU, Sony is forced to rely on its other spider characters to start a cinematic universe of their own. And none could be better than the liquid, alien, prone-to-violence-and-chomping-people’s-heads-off antihero that is Venom. Tom Hardy ...
“Music is just the same 12 notes followed by an octave. Over and over. It’s how each musician hears it that makes it different.” That line said by one of the supporting characters of "A Star Is Born" (2018) could easily describe the film itself. The fourth version of this story, following the ...
“Night School” is a film about someone who covers up their unfavorable past in order to put the focus on their successful present, before being exposed to the world. Funny then that, while the film is being marketed as the follow up from the director of “Girl’s Trip,” a very well made comedy, ...
Warner Animation Group’s latest CGI family feature is here, arriving amongst a storm of memes featuring Zendaya and a much-maligned advertising campaign. With a star studded cast and animation veteran Karey Kirkpatrick (“Over the Hedge,” “Madagascar,” “James and the Giant Peach”) directing, ...
Quite a few famous directors have made their way into more family friendly fare after making a name for themselves in more mature genres. Danny Boyle, Sam Raimi, Martin Scorsese and Robert Rodriguez all started in the hard R department before venturing into kiddy fare. Now horror director Eli Roth (“Knock ...
In 1987, audiences were wowed by the original “Predator” film. Not because it was anything truly groundbreaking, more so because it seemed like something could actually kill Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, the original film is remembered fondly as a big, brash and gory action blockbuster. But as the ...
Somber and coated in shades of white and brown, “White Boy Rick” is the latest in the based on a true story genre to cover the life of a drug kingpin. The angle of this story however, is the fact that Rick was sentenced to life in prison after running a cocaine ring in Detroit in excess of eight ...
If your film contains cursing, blood, explosions, gunfights, screaming, and all about every ten minutes, then it says a lot that it still manages to be so boring and monotonous that it could put audiences to sleep. That’s the reality for “Peppermint”, a new revenge thriller with all the style ...
