Movie Reviews

    Joker has been a character on the silver screen for over fifty years, dating back to 1966 where the character was played by Cesar Romero in the Adam West-starring Batman.  Since then, we’ve had four other interpretations of the character. We had Jack Nicholson’s clown mobster in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, Mark Hamill’s legendary voice-work on Batman: The Animated Series and the subsequent movies tied to that show, Heath Ledger’s award-winning interpretation that is arguably one…

      Renée Zellweger had one of the most prolific 2000’s of any actress.  She was nominated for three Oscars and won one in 2004 for Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain.  Along with her nominated films, Zellweger starred in critical and box office hits, ranging from smaller dramas like White Oleander to animated kids hits like Shark Tale and Bee Movie. Yet the 2010’s have been the opposite for Zellweger.  With only five films and…

      In the opening scene of Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, we are introduced to Destiny (Constance Wu), a new stripper at a high-level strip club in New York City.  For being in a loud and colorful strip club with a lot of commotion going on, this is a relatively quiet scene, as we watch as Destiny’s conservative attitude and way of dancing doesn’t get her a lot of clients, therefore not getting her a lot…

      In the summer of 1989 in the small Maine town called Derry, Bill, Ben, Beverly, Richie, Mike, Eddie, and Stanley, also known as the Losers Club, banded together to destroy a shape-shifting monster that disguises itself as a clown named Pennywise and preys on the children of Derry by turning into their worst nightmares.  After defeating Pennywise, the Losers believe it is gone forever and make a pact that if it were…

          The first time I saw Anton Yelchin on screen was in 2007’s Alpha Dog.  In an ensemble of with a number of young, up-and-coming talent like Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, and Amanda Seyfried, Yelchin was one of the true standouts of the film, giving an honest performance that would immediately put him on my radar.  Watching Yelchin grow as an actor was a true treat.  He was an actor who did…

        Angel Has Fallen, the third installment of the Gerard Butler-led Has Fallen trilogy, following Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, is a film I would refer to as a “Lazy Sunday Dad Movie”. Imagine your dad comes home from shooting a mediocre round of eighteen in the morning.  He plops himself down on the couch with a sandwich and a cold beverage.  He turns on the T.V. and begins to scroll the channels, not…

      “Fuckin’ rich people.”   Ready or Not is an absolute blast.  A film that looks at what is supposed to be the happiest day in ones life that actually turns into a nightmarish hell.  It’s a creepy, exciting, bloody good time with tons of humor, a great ensemble, and an absolutely insane finale. Grace (Samara Weaving), a girl who came from nothing and grew up in foster homes, is getting married to…

      Sixth grade is a weird time.  You’re out of elementary school, you’re almost in high school, and you begin to notice things.  You begin to notice girls.  You begin to realize what you like, which makes you realize who your true friends are.  Good Boys shows us just how weird this time in life, giving us a wild, rambunctious, hilarious journey of three sixth graders. Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams),…

          There are some movies that would have been better off as a mini-series on HBO of FX.  Movies like Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines and Lee Daniels’ The Butler are two that come to mind.  Two movies that are very good, but have such rich, deep stories and characters that is impossible to flesh all of it into a two or two and a half hour long movie.  These stories would have…

        Anybody who goes into Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark expecting a horrifying film-going experience that will keep you up for days on end has clearly never read the original 1981 book.  The book wasn’t made for adults.  It wasn’t an epic Stephen King novel that dealt with death, trauma, and gave you enough scares to haunt you everyday for the rest of your life.  Scary Stories to Tell in the…