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WHITE
BOY RICK
(R) 
Diaries
of a teenage informant
WHITE BOY RICK
is a new fact based period crime drama that's painted in extremely
familiar gangster genre formulas (down on his luck hoodlum rises above his
station in life to become a major criminal player) and a somewhat rushed
tone that could have perhaps benefited from a mini-series or long form
documentary format. Yet, it's
potently and authentically acted throughout and contains a hook that's
most certainly fresh and worthy of cinematic exploration...
.
Posted
September
21, 2018
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PEPPERMINT
(R)  1/2
A
minty revenge thriller with a bad aftertaste
The
ridiculously titled PEPPERMINT - taken from, I kid you not, an ice cream
flavor - is the fourth revenge porn action thriller that I've seen in 2018
alone, proving that the lurid genre is all the current rage. It's also the
second one I've seen featuring a female protagonist, coming on the heels
of Coralie Fargeat's evocatively stylish REVENGE..
.
Posted
September
21, 2018
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|
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HEREDITARY
(R) 1/2
Be
careful what you pass on
HEREDITARY
is a new supernatural horror thriller that's a visceral masterpiece in
terms of generating nail biting tension, haunting atmosphere, and a
chillingly eerie vibe of intrigue throughout.
It contains moments of profoundly unsettling imagery that could
aptly be described as Kubrickian. Tonally and aesthetically, writer/director Ari Aster's
feature film debut is astonishingly well crafted,
and the manner that he maintains - throughout most of the film's running
time - a bona fide nerve wracking tone is to his rookie filmmaking
credit...
Posted
September
21, 2018
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|
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BLACKkKLANSMAN
(R) 
Going
undercover...the hard way
Writer/director
Spike Lee has made a career out of making racially charged dramas that
push all kinds of buttons with his unique brand of in-your-face bluntness.
BLACKkKLANSMAN boldly and proudly continues this trend for the
acclaimed filmmaker, which finds inspiration in a highly bizarre, yet
absolutely real story that's set forty years ago, but somehow manages to
hold up a mirror to our current divisive times...
Posted
September
11, 2018
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|
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THE
HAPPYTIME MURDERS
(R) 1/2
A
happy time at the movies...it ain't
In
my 43 years on the planet I've never required - nor have ever asked - for
any Muppet character to curse up a storm in order to be appealing and
funny in a movie. Not. Once. Part of what
made, for example, the late Jim Henson's iconic Muppet characters so
endlessly endearing was that they were all, in their own respective and
unique ways, as charming as any of the human characters that surrounded
them...
Posted
September
11, 2018
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UPGRADE
(R)
"Gentleman:
we can rebuild him...we have the
technology..."
The
futuristic science fiction thriller UPGRADE is made up of a considerable
number of regurgitated thematic parts from countless other past efforts in
the genre in terms of man's symbiotic, but strained relationship with
machines and AI technology. It
also contains obligatory elements of the revenge thriller thrown in for
good measure that we're all seen before...
Posted
September
11, 2018
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|
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SUMMER
OF '84
(R)
Stranger
things are afoot in small town Oregon
The
nostalgically titled SUMMER OF '84 conjures up memories for me of walking
to the local video store during my teen years and cruising through the
B-grade horror section and seeing a lot of box art that echoes this film's
poster. And I mean that
as a sincere compliment. This
Canadian/American production concerns a group of four suburban teens that
are amateur sleuths and believe - in their heart of hearts - that one of
their kindly neighbors is indeed a vile serial killer of children...
Posted
September
11, 2018
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|
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MILE
22
(R) 1/2
ESCORT
MISSION: THE MOVIE
The new espionage
action thriller MILE 22 is one of the most frustratingly over-directed and
hyperactively edited films that I've seen this year.
It's almost as if director Peter Berg was high on massive
quantities of speed while making it, seeing as the resulting film is so
headache inducing and eye straining that cinemas should be handing out
Aspirins to patrons after they exit their screenings of it...
Posted
August
30, 2018
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|
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THE
MEG
(PG-13)
Somewhere...beyond
the...deep blue sea
THE MEG takes its
name from the "Megaldon," a 75 foot long prehistoric shark the size of a whale.
It's an action thriller about of group of intrepid and courageous
scientists that take on this aquatic menace to ensure that it doesn't lay
waste to the rest of humanity that likes to reside on beachfront property.
It's also based, so I've been told by many, on the 1997 novel of the
same name by Steve Alten, and as to whether or not it's a faithful
appropriation of the source material I couldn't say...
Posted
August
30, 2018
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EIGHTH
GRADE (R)
Growing
pains
There have
seen
an awful lot of movies about high school life, but so very few that have
dealt with the awkward and sometimes anxiety plagued transition that kids
make while moving from elementary to high school, which is what makes
writer/director Bo Burnham's very specifically titled EIGHTH GRADE so
ultimately invigorating for an extremely over packed genre...
Posted
August
30, 2018
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|
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LIFE
OF THE PARTY (PG-13)
BACK
TO SCHOOL...redux
I'm literally
going to start my review of the new Melissa McCarthy led college comedy
LIFE OF THE PARTY in the exact same manner as I did when I opened my
review of her last comedy THE BOSS: I don’t hate
Melissa McCarthy.
I really don’t, contrary to what many of you may think.
She’s talented.
That much is clear...
Posted
August
30, 2018
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|
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CHRISTOPHER
ROBIN
(PG)
A
bear named Winnie
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
is the kind of sweet and good natured family film that are simply not made
in abundance anymore. Dripping
with good natured and infectious charm, the latest live action Disney
effort (seeking inspiration from one of their classic and iconic animated
films) reminds viewers of the enjoyable virtues of simply told fables, and
ones done without any semblance of annoying cynicism or forced edge...
Posted
August
17, 2018
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THREE
IDENTICAL STRANGERS
(PG-13) 1/2
You
couldn't possibly make this up
I want you all
to tap into the recesses of your imaginations to help me set up the new
documentary THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS. Close your eyes: Imagine, if you
would, that you're a bright and eager minded teenager about to attend your
very first day of college. As a brand new student for the academic year you enter into
post-secondary studies knowing...that you know nobody at this school...
Posted
August
17, 2018
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|
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THE
RIDER (R)
A
western drama from a different prerogative
I've
seen so many countless permutations of the western genre over the years
that I've frankly lost count, but THE RIDER is in a whole other ultra rare
breed altogether. Just how ultra rare, you may ask?
It's a genre
busting effort featuring indigenous cowboys from reservations starring
non-actors playing semi-fictionalized versions of themselves who are all
directed by a female Chinese filmmaker...
Posted
August
17, 2018
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MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT
(PG-13)
An
impossibly great sequel
This really, really
shouldn't be happening. Every fiber of my
film critic being is telling me otherwise, but this fifth MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE sequel - defying all odds and past cinematic precedents - has
triumphantly emerged as arguably the very best entry in twenty-plus year
old espionage series, something that I've been finding myself saying
rather inexplicably and somewhat impossibly when every new sequel hits
theaters...
Posted
August
8, 2018
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|
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THE
EQUALIZER 2 (R)
The
sequalizer
THE EQUALIZER 2
has a sensationally effective opening sequence.
During it we are re-introduced to ex-CIA agent turned big box store
employee turned revenge dispensing machine Robert McCall (Denzel
Washington) disguised as a devout Muslim traveling through Turkey via high
speed train. Don't
ask...just hear me out...
Posted
August
8, 2018
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|
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I
FEEL PRETTY (R) 1/2
I
feel cheated
I FEEL PRETTY is
a new comedy with awfully sweet and honorable intentions in terms of its
core message and themes, but the manner with which it executes them is
kind of maddeningly sloppy and counterproductive. Without question,
this latest Amy Schumer starring vehicle - via its somewhat high concept
narrative - advocates a message of believing in oneself and the overall
importance of having inner self confidence...
Posted
August
8, 2018
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|
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ANT-MAN
AND THE WASP
(PG-13) 1/2
Larger
scaled sequel nets tiny returns
Considering the
galactic solemnity and unfathomably dire stakes at the climax of the very
recently released AVENGERS:
INFINITY WAR, one could easily argue that a return to the frivolous merriment of the ANT-MAN films would feel like relative comfort
food right about now...
Posted
July
29, 2018
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|
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THE
FIRST PURGE (R) 1/2
A
prequel cleansing
I will never
feel bad - nor will I ever apologize - for enjoying a majority of THE
PURGE movies. No one should
ever confuse them with high art. They're
sleazy B-grade trash, but they're - in reasonable dosages - enjoyable and
competently made trash. Whereas
the first film in writer/director James DeMonaco's dystopian sci-fi horror
thriller series sort of stumbled out of the blocks as a semi-serious
social/political satire crossed morphed with a home invasion thriller...
Posted
July
29, 2018
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SKYSCRAPER
(PG-13)
Dying
hard in a towering inferno
I think one of
the essential problems with Dwayne Johnson's recent film career is that
he's favoring an aggressive paycheck grabbing quantity of films to quality of films
approach to selecting his projects. There's a reason
The Rock is the highest paid actor working in contemporary movies: It has
everything to do with the fact that he's taking just about any job given
to him...
Posted
July
29, 2018
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|
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WON'T
YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
(PG-13)
It's
a beautiful day in the cinema...
There's
a moment in the Morgan Neville's brilliant documentary WON'T YOU BE
MY NEIGHBOR? that brought me as close to tears as any other recent movie.
A depressed young
boy is relaying to Fred Rogers how his cat recently died.
Speaking to the child directly and sincerely through a feline
puppet, Rogers displays enormous empathy while consoling the grieving lad.
Within no time, the downtrodden boy eventually smiles...
Posted
July
16,
2018
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|
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FIRST
REFORMED (R)
Lost
enlightenment
Paul
Schrader's FIRST REFORMED is a faith-in-crisis drama about a man of the
cloth that's being thrust down a dark chasm of complete emotional and
spiritual breakdown. Calling
this a religious movie almost doesn't do it any justice,
seeing as Schrader has decidedly more up his sleeve than exploring his
character's belief in the almighty...
Posted
July
16,
2018
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|
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SICARIO:
DAY OF THE SOLDADO
(R)
A
complicated war on drugs
Upon
reflecting on 2015's SICARIO - which, at
the time of its release, I thought was one of the best films of its
respective year - I never once thought that it was a film with sequel
and/or franchise potential written all over it.
With the coldly calculating direction of Denis Villeneuve and
intense scripting by Taylor Sheridan, the first SICARIO was a pulse
pounding and compellingly layered war on drugs thriller with palpable real
world reverberations....
Posted
July
16,
2018
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|
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JURASSIC
WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
(PG-13) 1/2
Oh,
how a once mighty series has fallen
Remember what it
was like to see a living, breathing dinosaur come lovingly and thrillingly
to life for the first time in Steven Spielberg's original JURASSIC
PARK? It was a
legitimately awe inspiring moment that instilled in viewers a sense of
childlike wonder in ways that few films of its era could (that, and this
moment ushered in - for better or worse - a wide-sweeping computer
generated visual effects revolution whose ripple effects can still be felt
to this very day...
Posted
July
3,
2018
|
|
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THE
DEATH OF STALIN (R)
The
Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!
Somewhat
like Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE, Armando Iannucci's THE DEATH OF
STALIN is a hilariously macabre work of political satire that seems both
broadly divorced from reality while simultaneously holding up a mirror up to
it. This grim
historical farce - based on a French graphic novel - is hysterical, yes,
but it's also a work of unnerving bleakness that pains to show the
Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin for what he was - a brutal and cruel dictator...
Posted
July
3,
2018
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|
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INCREDIBLES
2
(PG)
Where...is...my...super
suit!?
Upon reflection,
the super hero movie genre was not at its peak
when Brad Bird's THE INCREDIBLES was released
back in 2004.
This was years before the first IRON MAN
was released and before the Marvel Cinematic
Universe was even a pop culture entity.
Hell, THE INCREDIBLES even predated
Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking DARK KNIGHT
Trilogy, which fundamentally altered the makeup
and landscape of the genre in incalculable and
influential ways...
Posted
June
29,
2018
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|
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TAG
(R) 1/2
You're
it!
Full
disclosure: I was never a big
Tag fan growing up. I never
felt that every player was on an equal playing field and it absolutely
favored the most dexterous and quick. Now, Hide and
Seek...oh boy... that was a great game, and far more democratic minded.
You could be absolutely athletically challenged and still succeed
at it, especially if you had good instincts and could disappear in
the most unlikely and difficult to find areas...
Posted
June
29,
2018
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|
|
GRINGO
(R) 1/2
A
south of the border crime comedy that goes south
really fast
The
new Amazon Studios production GRINGO is a crime comedy that's so
tonally schizophrenic throughout that I left my screening having no real
idea what kind of movie it was really trying to be. Disappointingly
directed by Australian filmmaker Nash Edgerton - the actor/stuntman turned
director that made one of the best least seen noir thrillers of the last
decade in 2008's THE SQUARE...
Posted
June
29,
2018
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|
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OCEAN'S
8 (PG-13)
Never
send a man to do a woman's job
Somewhat
confusingly, OCEAN'S 8 comes numerically before the previous OCEAN'S films
- comprised of Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake of the 1960s Rat Pack
fuelled heist flick, followed by two increasingly inferior sequels in
2004's OCEAN'S TWELVE and 2007's OCEAN'S
THIRTEEN. This may throw casually filmgoers for a loop...
Posted
June
20,
2018
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|
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THE
HURRICANE HEIST
(PG-13)
A
water logged crime thriller
The hilariously
named THE HURRICANE HEIST most definitely contains - ahem! - a heist
and a hurricane, so in terms of advertised promises this action
thriller wholeheartedly delivers. It's also a
spectacularly stupid movie, but one that regrettably never harnesses its
silliness like a badge of honor, nor does it really even engage in any
self-referential winking to the audience that it knows what kind of film
it is...
Posted
June
20,
2018
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|
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ADRIFT
(PG-13)
All
is lost...redux
ADRIFT is a new
fact based outdoor survival thriller that's cross morphed with a romance
drama, which immediately doesn't sound particularly enticing on paper. Yet, it tells the
harrowing true story of Tami Oldman, whom in September of 1983 sailed into
a rather powerful hurricane in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and came
out of it alive with a severely damaged boat, very little water and
rations and no radio support...
Posted
June
12,
2018
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|
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YOU
WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
(R)
You
talkin' to me?
Very few
vigilante thrillers are as unnervingly suspenseful, uncompromisingly
bleak, and thoroughly disturbing as Lynne Ramsay's YOU WERE NEVER REALLY
HERE, which is as brutally punishing to endure in its swift and
refreshingly economical running time of 90-plus-minutes as any I've seen. I mean that last
part as a sincere compliment. Based on the book
of the same name by Jonathan Ames, Ramsay's film bares a superficial
comparison to Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER...
Posted
June
12,
2018
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|
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SOLO:
A STAR WARS STORY
(PG-13)
I
got a very bad feeling about this...
I knew that SOLO:
A STAR WARS STORY was going to be creatively lethargic and uninspired within
my first 60 seconds of watching it. During that time
viewers are introduced to three stanzas worth of exposition heavy title
cards that are kind of blandly and lazily thrown up on screen.
Now, one of the most iconic and memorable images of the entire STAR
WARS franchise is the sight of the film's opening title cards migrating up
the screen...
Posted
June
3,
2018
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|
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WINCHESTER
(PG-13)
Guns
and ghosts
WINCHESTER
is a new historical horror thriller that's set in an infamous haunted
mansion in 1906 San Jose, just before the Great Earthquake that ravaged
during the same year. The
residence - located at 525 South Winchester Blvd - was renown for its
massive size and multiple architectural abnormalities.
It was also home to Sarah Winchester, the heiress to the Winchester
Rifle empire and fortune...
Posted
June 3,
2018
|
|
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DARK
CRIMES (R)
An
unpleasantly bleak thriller
DARK
CRIMES is one of the most repellently depressing films that I've seen in
recent memory, a would-be intoxicating murder-mystery thriller that's made
all the more unsettling because of its dicey subject matter handling and
because it represents a return to the silver screen by Jim Carrey, his
first film as a lead since starring in DUMB
AND DUMBER TO...
Posted
June 3,
2018
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|
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DEADPOOL
2
(R)
Maximum
sequel effort
The
first DEADPOOL movie gleefully - and
sometimes sadistically - turned comic book film genre conventions and
troupes upside on their heads. Ryan
Reynolds' fourth wall breaking "merc with the mouth" was just
the right kind of self-referential jolt to the heart that super hero films
needed, and the relatively cheap $58 million 2016 outing featured three
jokes per minute pacing in showcasing this unique titular character's
highly subversive wit and edge...
Posted
May
25,
2018
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|
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REVENGE
(R) 1/2
Best
served cold
I
usually don't really enjoy the subgenre of rape revenge
thrillers, mostly because they seem more heavily bent towards
sensationalism and less towards true feminine empowerment.
There is something to be said about the longstanding legacy (and not a
particularly honorable one) of exploitation films that have painted their
female characters as one note sex objects or, worse yet, one dimensional
victims...
Posted
May
25,
2018
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|
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CHAPPAQUIDDICK
(R)
The
man who would never be President
Controversy
has forever dogged Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy up until his
death in 2009, ostensibly stemming from the "Chappaquiddick
Incident," which the new historical drama CHAPPAQUIDDICK takes its
name. Back in the early
morning hours of July 18, 1969 the then 37-year-old Kennedy was driving
around with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne when he suddenly careened his
vehicle off the road on Chappaquiddick Island...
Posted
May
25,
2018
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TULLY
(R)
How
the better half lives
Being
a mother is a wonderful, life altering responsibility. It's also
tortuously difficult and can push the best of women to the point
of complete physical and mental implosion. I've seen so many
countless films in my days about what it means to be a life giver, but so very
few unflinchingly capture the worst aspects of being one in quite the same
manner as Jason Reitman's TULLY, which delves into the whirlwind of
contradictions that typifies the modern parental experience...
Posted
May
16,
2018
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|
|
THE
MIRACLE SEASON
(PG) 1/2
An
unhealthy serving of fact based sports film clichés
There's
a part of me that feels awfully bad reviewing and being critical of a film
like THE MIRACLE SEASON, seeing as it has awfully noble minded intentions
and is a fact based sports drama that's steeped in personal tragedy. The film takes
its true story narrative from the unbelievable winning streak of the Iowa
City West High School girl's volleyball team - the West High Trojans -
that back in 2011 persevered after the death of their star player to go on
an win their second state championship in a row...
Posted
May
16,
2018
|
|
|
FIFTY
SHADES FREED
(R) 1/2
Free
at last...free at last...thank God Almighty...
There
are two reasons why I think FIFTY SHADES FREED is the best entry in
the trilogy of films based on the inexplicably popular series of novels by
E.L. James. Seriously...hear
me out. Firstly, it's the
most mercifully short entry in this soft core drama franchise, which is a
major victory for all of those in attendance that will be anxiously staring
at the cinema exit sign while screening it...
Posted
May
16,
2018
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|
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AVENGERS:
INFINITY WAR
(PG-13)
Running
the gauntlet
If anyone would
have told me ten years ago that a super hero film featuring a B to C grade
level Marvel Comics character starring a then career-in-trouble Robert
Downey Jr. and directed by the man who made ELF would be a box office and
critical darling and launch one of the most financially lucrative and
respected franchises in motion picture history...I would have
incredulously laughed in your face...
Posted
May
7,
2018
|
|
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FOREVER
MY GIRL
(PG-13) 1/2
Possession
is not a good thing
FOREVER
MY GIRL is a walking cliché factory that's a nearly unendurable watch
checking bore simply by how utterly predictable the narrative becomes with
each waking moment. Based
on the
Heidi McLaughlin novel, the film seems like it's cherry picking the worst
elements of the most forgettable Nicholas Sparks film adaptations and
gathering them together to make something so dramatically bland and
lifeless that I had to constantly remind myself during my screening that I
had to care about what was going on...
Posted
May
7,
2018
|
|
|
SUPER
TROOPERS 2
(R)
More
high speed...shenanigans
Comedy sequels
are a very tricky business, especially when they come several years after
a cherished one that became a cult hit, leaving the makers with the
dubious creative task of trying to rekindle the first entry's lighting in
a bottle essence. When the original
SUPER TROOPERS opened way, way back in 2001 - one of the earliest feature
films from the comedy troupe Broken Lizard - it never emerged as a major
box office smash...
Posted
April
29,
2018
|
|
|
BORG
VS. McENROE
(R) 1/2
Dawn
of tennis justice
Everyone that's
familiar with the history of professional sports and tennis will
undoubtedly remember the outcome of the 1980 Wimbledon Championships,
which featured then four-time singles champ, the Swedish born Bjorn Borg
(the number 1 player in the world at the time), facing off against the up
and coming John McEnroe in hopes of attaining an unheard of fifth
consecutive title.
The new sports drama BORG VS. McENROE takes its name from that
iconic battle of tennis heavyweights, often considered one of the greatest
matches in the sport's history...
Posted
April
29,
2018
|
|
|
ISLES
OF DOGS
(PG-13) 1/2
Woof!
After finally
watching Wes Anderson’s ISLE OF DOGS last night I’ve concluded that
I’ll take his esoteric brand of joyously idiosyncratic stop motion
weirdness over any clean and polished Pixar or Disney animated film any
day of the week and twice on Sunday.
This is the
second stop motion animated film from the 48-year-old auteur (after 2009's
FANTASTIC MR. FOX), and it
proudly and masterfully represents yet another wondrously bizarre and
visually magnificent hodgepodge...
Posted
April
23,
2018
|
|
|
RAMPAGE
(PG-13)
Can
ya smell what the mutated ape is cookin'?
It's perhaps a
highly fitting thing that the new sci-fi action thriller RAMPAGE is
utterly brainless, seeing as it's ever-so-loosely based on a mid-1980's
video game series of the same name that involved massive monsters
decimating cities in the most basic button mashing form. Sacrasm aside,
the film
certainly coasts by on the sizable charisma and star presence of Dwayne
Johnson...
Posted
April
23,
2018
|
|
|
A
QUIET PLACE
(PG-13) 1/2
Silent
Movie
Something very
special happened to me during my screening of the new sci-fi horror
thriller A QUIET PLACE.
For the first
time in my twelve years as a film critic I was able to watch a movie in a
jam packed cinema with an audience that remained virtually silent
throughout its running time. That's a large
part of the ethereal power of director John Krasinski's mercilessly eerie
and uniquely potent film...
Posted
April
16,
2018
|
|
|
BLOCKERS
(R)
A
teen sex comedy that's cock of the walk
Based on the one
trailer that I saw for BLOCKERS beforehand, I had absolutely zero desire
to screen this film. On a pure surface
level, this teen sex comedy delves into material that's been so overdone
and has become pretty stale for the genre over the years - a group of
ultra horny high school students desperately try to become adults and lose
their virginity during prom night...
Posted
April
16,
2018
|
|
|
PROUD
MARY
(R) 1/2
Nothing
to be boastful of here
PROUD
MARY pulls an annoying game of bait and switch with audiences that's
tipped off as early as its opening credit sequence.
This
introductory montage has the look, sound, and feel of a 1970's
exploitation film, which initially had me hooked.
Unfortunately, and within a few minutes into the film, it becomes
abundantly clear that PROUD MARY is neither set in the 70's, nor does it
cheekily embrace its blaxploitation roots...
Posted
April
16,
2018
|
|
|
READY
PLAYER ONE
(PG-13) 1/2
Would
you like to play a game?
Steven
Spielberg's READY PLAYER ONE - adapted from the popular 2011 novel of the
same name by Ernest Cline - often feels like a video game with gloriously
and beautifully rendered cut scenes that regrettably has somewhat
lackluster gameplay. For the
uninitiated, it may feel like an odd analogy to use video games to
describe a movie, but READY PLAYER ONE - both in silver screen and book
antecedent form - is a massive homage filled love letter to both the games
and cinema of 1980's...
Posted
April
6,
2018
|
|
|
THOROUGHBREDS
(R) 1/2
A
pure bred black comedy/thriller
Cory Finley's
ultra black comedy thriller THOROUGHBREDS is about entitled women of
wealth and privilege that are so bored and lacking in empathy towards
other people around them that they begin to harbor murderous thoughts. The playwright
turned director has crafted a debut film that feels like a play
in terms of structure, tone, and pacing, not to mention that he allows
dialogue to propel scenes forward from one intriguing moment to the next...
Posted
April
6,
2018
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PACIFIC
RIM UPRISING
(PG-13) 1/2
It's
time to to cancel the apocalypse
PACIFIC RIM
UPRISING is a wholly unnecessary and carelessly unimaginative sequel to
the Guillermo del Toro 2013 directed post apocalyptic sci-fi thriller
involving giant man piloted robots that battle even larger monsters to
ensure the protection and survival of the human race. I thought that
the first film in this series embraced the lunacy of its wacky premise
while regrettably taking it all a bit too seriously...
Posted
March
31,
2018
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UNSANE
(R) 1/2
iNSANE
I’m
not sure what’s more fascinating and amazing
about UNSANE: (1) That a veteran A-list Oscar
winning filmmaker like Steven Soderbergh - fresh
out of self-imposed retirement - shot this film
using nothing but an iPhone or (2) that - in
spite of 1 - his film still packs a potent
visceral punch as a psychological thriller that
also has his esoteric fingerprints all over it.
Once
again, as he normally does, Soderbergh commits
triple duties here as director, director of
photography, and editor...
Posted
March
31,
2018
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TOMB
RAIDER
(PG-13) 1/2
Run,
Lara, Run!
I
think it’s important for film critics to use relative benchmarks when
rating films and not universal ones.
For example, when I give JOHN WICK a
4 star rating I'm not implying that it's as good as, say, a 4 star rated drama
like CITIZEN KANE; rather, that Keanu Reeves flick was a 4 star action
thriller...
Posted
March
23,
2018
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LOVE,
SIMON (PG-13) 1/2
A
love story for everyone
I've
been noticing that an awful lot of filmgoers and critics have been
comparing the new high school/coming of age comedy LOVE, SIMON to the
films of John Hughes. I find such
analogies to be somewhat odd and illogical. The film - based
on Becky Albertalli's SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA - is just as
shrewdly written, well acted, and crowd pleasingly funny as the best of
the Hughes' body of work, but, last I checked, the late director's most
iconic adolescent themed films never had homosexual protagonists...
Posted
March
23,
2018
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