Movie Reviews
'Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank' Movie Review
'Paws of Fury' is an animated remake of 'Blazing Saddles,' without the laughs. Even with Mel Brooks involved, the movie fails to translate the classic comedy into a kids film but does feature a funny performance...
Read Full Review'Thor: Love and Thunder' Movie Review
Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, and Christian Bale shine in 'Thor: Love and Thunder,' which is a strong MCU sequel but not quite as entertaining as 'Ragnarok.' Director Taika Waititi goes to the well...
Read Full Review'Minions: The Rise of Gru' Movie Review
'Minions: The Rise of Gru' is a formulaic brand extension that will nonetheless please younger hardcore 'Despicable Me' fans. The little yellow creatures are back, though the film gives equal weight to...
Read Full Review'The Black Phone' Movie Review
'The Black Phone' is a touching coming-of-age story masquerading as a horror film. Director Scott Derrickson crafts a winning supernatural movie that is focused more on the characters and less on the horror.Opening...
Read Full Review'Elvis' Movie Review
Austin Butler gives a mesmerizing performance worthy of “The King” in 'Elvis'. Director Baz Luhrmann delivers a brilliant and captivating musical biopic, anchored by Butler's transformative and career-making...
Read Full Review'Lightyear' Movie Review
Chris Evans gives a strong voice performance as the title character, channeling his best Tim Allen, but is upstaged by the breakout star, Sox the Cat!The film begins by introducing us to Buzz Lightyear...
Read Full Review'Jurassic World Dominion' Movie Review
Jurassic World Dominion should mark the extinction of the popular dinosaur franchise. Even combining the casts of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World is not enough to save this prehistoric franchise from...
Read Full Review'Crimes of the Future' Movie Review
A combination of 'eXistenZ and 'Crash,' Cronenberg's latest film has fascinating characters and an interesting story but gets buried by its own deliberate weirdness.Opening in theaters on June 3rd is the...
Read Full Review'The Bob's Burgers Movie' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on May 27th is the big screen adaption of the popular animated series 'Bob's Burgers,' entitled 'The Bob's Burgers Movie.' Directed by Loren Bouchard and Bernard Derriman, the movie...
Read Full Review'Top Gun: Maverick' Movie Review
Director Joseph Kosinski delivers some of the best flying sequences ever filmed, which are anchored by Tom Cruise's commanding performance. Opening in theaters on May 27th is the long-awaited sequel to...
Read Full Review'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Movie Review
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' is superhero horror at its best! Director Sam Raimi delivers a scary superhero movie that has fun exploring Marvel's multiverse. The movie begins with Dr....
Read Full Review'The Northman' Movie Review
'The Northman' is brilliant, beautiful and bloody filmmaking at its best! An epic and ultra-realistic Viking movie that pulls influence from 'Braveheart,' 'Spartacus,' 'Conan the Barbarian,' and even William...
Read Full Review'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' Movie Review
Nicolas Cage is one of those actors who has built a mythology around himself - or in some cases, had one thrust upon them. His career is marked by huge highs: he won an Oscar for 'Leaving Las Vegas' and...
Read Full Review'Father Stu' Movie Review
Mark Wahlberg gives a strong performance in touching faith-based film 'Father Stu'. In addition to Wahlberg, the cast also includes Jacki Weaver, Mel Gibson, Malcolm McDowell, and Teresa Ruiz. The result...
Read Full Review'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' Movie Review
Once again directed by David Yates, the movie follows Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his friends as they aid Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) in stopping his former lover, Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen)...
Read Full Review'Ambulance' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on April 8th is the new action thriller 'Ambulance' from 'Transformers' and 'Armageddon' director Michael Bay. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal ('Spider-Man: Far From Home') and Yahya...
Read Full Review'Morbius' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on April 1st is the new superhero movie 'Morbius,' which is based on the classic vampire character from Marvel Comics. It's the third film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe following 'Venom,'...
Read Full Review'Deep Water' Movie Review
Premiering on Hulu beginning March 18th is 'Fatal Attraction' director Adrian Lyne's first new film in twenty years, the erotic thriller 'Deep Water.' The movie stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas as a...
Read Full Review'Umma' Movie Review
A well-made supernatural thriller masquerading as horror film with strong performances from its lead actresses but gets lost in its own exposition towards the movie's climax.Amanda (Oh) lives off-the-grid...
Read Full Review'Turning Red' Movie Review
Films using fantastical transformations to tell stories about awkward life and biological changes are not a new phenomenon. Famous examples have included 1985's 'Teen Wolf', in which Michael J. Fox always...
Read Full Review'The Adam Project' Movie Review
Premiering on Netflix beginning March 11th is the new time-traveling movie 'The Adam Project,' from 'Free Guy' director Shawn Levy. The film stars 'Free Guy' and 'Deadpool' actor Ryan Reynolds as a time-traveling...
Read Full Review'The Batman' Movie Review
A dark and brutal version of the character that perfectly captures many important elements of the mythos that have been missing from previous cinematic outings, but also fails to inject any of the humor...
Read Full Review'Studio 666' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on February 13th is the new horror comedy from the rock band the Foo Fighters called 'Studio 666.' The movie follows the band as they move into a haunted house to record their new album,...
Read Full Review'Uncharted' Movie Review
Let's start with what is good about the movie. The film begins with an incredible action sequence featuring Holland falling out of a plane, which is actually just a preview of the full sequence that actually...
Read Full Review'Death on the Nile' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on February 11th is 'Death on the Nile,' which is a sequel to 2017's 'Murder on the Orient Express.' Based on Agatha Christie's classic novel, the movie is once again directed by Kenneth...
Read Full Review'The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild' Movie Review
Simon Pegg returns as the voice of breakout character Buck Wild in this sequel that is closer in DNA to a Marvel movie than the 'Ice Age' franchise but should still please young fans of the series.Premiering...
Read Full Review'Cyrano' Movie Review
Director Joe Wright delivers a fun and romantic movie based on the 2018 stage musical with unforgettable songs from Aaron and Bryce Dessner. After a one-week run in Los Angeles beginning December 17th,...
Read Full Review'Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City' Movie Review
'Welcome to Raccoon City' is a serviceable zombie movie, but fans of the Resident Evil franchise will be disappointed. Let me start this by saying I am a huge fan of the Resident Evil game franchise. Like,...
Read Full Review'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Movie Review
The most anticipated film of the year is a cinematic extravaganza that not only acts as a brilliant end to Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man trilogy, but also pays homage to everything that has come before....
Read Full Review'The Tragedy of Macbeth' Movie Review
Acclaimed filmmaker Joel Coen’s solo directorial debut is a brilliant adaption of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with stunning cinematography and Oscar-worthy performances from its two leads. Opening...
Read Full Review'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' Movie Review
A prequel to ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ and ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle,’ the movie sets up a fun origin story but ultimately doesn’t recapture the magic of the franchise. Opening in theaters...
Read Full Review'Don't Look Up' Movie Review
Meryl Streep plays a female version of President Trump in an ‘Armageddon’ style-plot that mirrors the divisions in America created by the pandemic. Currently in theaters before streaming on Netflix...
Read Full Review'Being the Ricardos' Movie Review
Aaron Sorkin’s third directorial effort is truly his best, with remarkable Oscar-worthy performances from previous Academy Award winners Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, and J.K. Simmons. Currently, in...
Read Full Review'West Side Story' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on December 10th is the new musical remake ‘West Side Story,’ which is based on the Broadway play and the original 1961 film of the same name. Directed by Oscar winner Steven Spielberg...
Read Full Review'Nightmare Alley' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on December 17th is the new neo-noir thriller from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro entitled ‘Nightmare Alley,’ which is based on the novel of the same name by...
Read Full Review'C'mon C'mon' Movie Review
Currently playing in theaters is the new comedy-drama ‘C’mon C’mon’ from writer and director Mike Mills (‘Beginners’). Shot in black-and-white, the film stars Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix...
Read Full Review'House of Gucci' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on November 24th is Oscar winning director Ridley Scott’s latest film, ‘House of Gucci,’ which chronicles the rise and fall of the Gucci family and the empire they created and...
Read Full Review'Licorice Pizza' Movie Review
Opening in theaters on November 26th is acclaimed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson’s ninth feature film, ‘Licorice Pizza.’ The movie fallows the story of a teenage actor growing up in the San Fernando...
Read Full Review'King Richard' Movie Review
The performance is a breakthrough for Smith, playing a well-intended but flawed character, and he does it with all the charm and charisma we expect from the "Artist formerly known as the Fresh Prince."
Read Full Review'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' Movie Review
As the fourth installment of the franchise, it should win back hardcore fans who have become disinterested in the series, but it is basically beat-for-beat the same movie as the original.
Read Full Review'Belfast' Movie Review
Drawing on inspiration from his own life, writer and director Kenneth Branagh has truly made his greatest movie yet, which is a beautiful and touching film about growing up, contrasted with the backdrop...
Read Full Review'Eternals' Movie Review
Drowning in too many characters, convoluted plotting and disappointingly bad visuals, Chloé Zhao’s ‘Eternals,’ based on comic book characters created by Jack Kirby in 1976, follows a group of immortal...
Read Full Review'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' Movie Review
Early on in 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' alien symbiote Venom (Tom Hardy) laments to his partner Eddie Brock (also Hardy), "I'm sorry I can't mend a broken heart. Emotional pain lasts longer," cementing...
Read Full Review'The Suicide Squad' Movie Review
‘The Suicide Squad’ begins with our introduction to Savant (Michael Rooker), a criminal behind bars, with a talent for geometry and a mean streak when it comes to birds. He’s given the set-up for...
Read Full Review'Black Widow' Movie Review
It's a shame we didn't get this 'Black Widow' movie a few years ago, because it's hard to imagine that Marvel Studios wouldn't have found a different path for Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanov in 'Avengers:...
Read Full Review'F9' Movie Review
It's hard to look at the 20-year-old 'The Fast & the Furious' and see the beginnings of a blockbuster franchise, but here we are. And if the series has moved past illegal street races and into heist and...
Read Full Review'Port Authority' Movie Review
Port Authority opens with Paul (Fionn Whitehead) with a suitcase, walking through the titular New York bus terminal, calling someone that doesn’t pick up the phone. No one walking through the station...
Read Full Review'Taken 3' Movie Review
When "Taken" was first released, nobody thought that it would lead to anything, much less an insanely lucrative franchise. It was a modestly budgeted thriller ($25 million) that was first released overseas,...
Read Full Review'Blackhat' Movie Review
Movies about computers or computer hackers have never been particularly exciting, at least on the big screen. Maybe that's because the act of typing something on a keyboard while little words or hieroglyphics...
Read Full Review'Mortdecai' Movie Review
The ad campaign for "Mortdecai," the new Johnny Depp comic caper film, is so befuddling, both opaque and overbearing, that a recent Vulture article spent several hundred words trying to decode what, exactly,...
Read Full Review'Jupiter Ascending' Movie Review
Sometimes a movie can be doomed before it even opens.This happens when a film is discussed openly without anyone having firsthand knowledge of (or even having seen) it, and it becomes something of a self-fulfilling...
Read Full Review'Focus' Movie Review
"Wait, what is Focus again?" This is a question that is usually fired back at me, over the past few weeks, when people ask me what I've seen recently and really liked.Lately, when I run down the movies...
Read Full Review'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Movie Review
Joss Whedon returns to write and direct another massive Marvel spectacle with "Avengers: Age of Ultron," the sequel to "The Avengers," the third highest-grossing Marvel movie of all time. Iron Man, Thor,...
Read Full Review'The Gift' Movie Review
SPOILERS AHEAD! Don't read this unless you want the twist revealed."The Gift," a mystery-thriller released August 7, stars Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Joel Edgerton, who also steps in as first-time...
Read Full Review'The Perfect Guy' Movie Review
"The Perfect Guy" is the end-of-summer, edge-of-your-seat thriller that had grown men in the theater screaming and cowering in their seats. Starring Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy, and Morris Chesnut, the...
Read Full Review'The Martian' Movie Review
Last Friday night, local movie theaters were packed in anticipation for the space-thriller showing of Matt Damon's new film, "The Martian." The buzz was ridiculous. Regardless of the hype, I was planning...
Read Full Review'99 Homes' Movie Review
"99 Homes," starring Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon, and Laura Dern, is one thriller of a movie.Based on true events about the home foreclosure crisis, this movie will have your blood boiling and you...
Read Full Review'Venom' Movie Review
If, for some reason, you miss the superhero adaptations of the 1990s and early 2000s, “Venom” might be right for you.It feels like a movie that is largely unaware of the progress that has been made...
Read Full Review'Halloween' Movie Review
Nostalgia, a friend once told me, is paralysis. But moviegoers live in the era of the “legacyquel,” when filmmakers pay tribute to the franchises that inspired them by revisiting (and in some cases...
Read Full Review'First Man' Movie Review
There have been many movies about the space race, from “The Right Stuff” to “Apollo 13,” but none have felt as visceral, and intimate, as “First Man.”Director Damien Chazelle puts audiences...
Read Full Review'mid90s' Movie Review
A film so committed to accurately portraying the lifestyle and community that it depicts that you wouldn’t be surprised if the crew wore Airwalks and skinned their knees in solidarity with the cast,...
Read Full Review'Boy Erased' Movie Review
“Quietly exasperating” is the only note I took during “Boy Erased,” but it encapsulates much about what makes Joel Edgerton’s latest film such a unique and unexpected emotional journey.Extraordinary,...
Read Full Review'Widows' Movie Review
Heist movies are often compelling because of their mechanics -- the thrill (and spectacle) of watching crooks dismantle a system, outsmart the law and escape with their lives, and bounty, intact. Steve...
Read Full Review'Ralph Breaks the Internet' Movie Review
The long-awaited sequel to “Wreck-It Ralph” is titled “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” but it’s probably more accurate to say that the internet breaks him.After years of gameplay in the 8-bit world...
Read Full Review'Creed II' Movie Review
After six “Rocky” films, “Creed” was a remarkable triumph -- what seemed superfluous at best became essential.The first "Creed" movie is not just a great entertainment, but it is also a catharsis...
Read Full Review'Green Book' Movie Review
Every time I see a movie like “Green Book,” I wonder how many more stories about overcoming racism Hollywood needs to tell. And then I glance at the news and realize it’s apparently a lesson that...
Read Full Review'Roma' Movie Review
As a director, writer, producer -- and sometimes documentarian -- Alfonso Cuarón seems like he's been a fixture of the cinema for years. Indeed, it's surprising to realize he's only directed eight films...
Read Full Review'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Movie Review
"Into the Spider-Verse" is unlike any "Spider-Man" movie or almost any superhero movie you've ever seen.Rendered like a four-color comic book and featuring spectacle that unfolds like the most abstract...
Read Full Review'If Beale Street Could Talk' Movie Review
"If Beale Street Could Talk" is, profoundly, what happens when people of color get the opportunity to be authors of their own stories, fiction or fact, from the page to the screen.Barry Jenkins, director...
Read Full Review'Bumblebee' Movie Review
The posters and promotional materials for "Bumblebee" all feature the computer-generated title character more prominently than any of the film's human actors, which is an important reminder how much of...
Read Full Review'Aquaman' Movie Review
For all those superhero fans who miss Chris Hemsworth's earliest iteration of Thor, DC has delivered unto them "Aquaman," the story of a hard-drinking, roguish hero unprepared and reluctant to assume the...
Read Full Review'Mary Poppins Returns' Movie Review
If "Saving Mr. Banks" changed the way that you look at "Mary Poppins," not only chronicling the contentious process of adapting P. L. Travers character for the screen, but exposing the deep-rooted motivations...
Read Full Review'The Mule' Movie Review
A lot of aging actors try to persist with or recapture their youth, but Clint Eastwood isn't one of them.The actor-director's "Unforgiven" reflected on and eulogized a bygone way of life, era and genre...
Read Full Review'Glass' Movie Review
There is a good film to be made about superheroes existing in the "real" world, and the phenomenon, or perhaps disorder, where ordinary people believe they possess extraordinary abilities. "Glass" is not...
Read Full Review'The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part' Movie Review
Five years ago, the notion of a movie about Legos seemed ridiculous, but after $500 million in box office receipts and two successful spin-offs, "The Lego Movie 2" is a highly- and understandably-anticipated...
Read Full Review'Alita: Battle Angel' Movie Review
"Alita: Battle Angel" first went into development by James Cameron in 2000, and Robert Rodriguez signed on to direct his script in 2016, but the themes of their adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's 1990 manga...
Read Full Review'What Men Want' Movie Review
In 2000's "What Women Want" it might have been snarkily revolutionary, if way late even then, to suggest that members of the so-called "fairer sex" are complex, fierce and formidable. But 20 years and...
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