Movie Reviews

      I saw Darren Aronofsky’s mother! a week ago.  Usually, I am pretty good about reviewing movies right after I see them or within a couple days, but mother! was different.  This was a movie that had me thinking before, during, and after, and I am still thinking about it a week later.  I don’t exactly know what to think about this movie.  I will say that my opinion has shifted slightly, which why the…

      American Assassin is a mindless movie, but not your typical mindless movie.  When I say mindless, you probably think of a movie like Transformers (2007), where it requires the audience to barely use their brains because of the little to no substance in the film.  American Assassin is a movie that craves substance and wants to you to think but doesn’t require you to because it treats the audience like infants and spoon-feeds us everything…

    It is my favorite kind of horror movie in that it is a horror movie that doesn’t rely on it’s scares to be a good movie.  Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of scares in this movie, but that isn’t what warrants the high rating.  What drives It to horror excellence is the coming of age story hidden beneath the terror.  This is a movie about love, friendship and conquering your fears. In…

      Director Steven Soderbergh returns to the big screen after a short retirement with Logan Lucky, a film that can best be described as hillbilly Ocean’s 11 (2001), or, as one character says in the movie, “Ocean’s 7-11“.  Soderbergh shows why he is a legend with a wildly entertaining, twisty, fun movie that proves Soderbergh is still at the top of his game. After getting fired from his construction job for liability reasons, Jimmy…

    I don’t know if I have had a better time at the movies this year than I did during The Hitman’s Bodyguard.  Sure, we’ve seen this story before, but with two mega-stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds leading the way, tear-inducing comedy, and badass action, this is the summer comedy I have been waiting for all summer. Reynolds stars as Michael Bryce, a bodyguard who was, at one time, the best in…

    I hated, HATED the first Annabelle (2014).  It was incredibly boring, had absolutely zero scares, and felt like a cash grab riding on the coattails of the success of The Conjuring (2013).  But with Annabelle: Creation, we have a rare occurrence on our hands where a horror sequel, or in this case, a prequel, is better than the original.  This isn’t just an improvement on the first film, this is a complete 180.  Director David S. Sandberg…

    Look, guys, it’s The Emoji Movie.  It is a movie that is based on a keyboard on our cell phones.  What were we honestly expecting from this?  Would you be excited for The Home Row Movie?  I am all about going into a movie with an open mind and not judging the movie until I see the final product, but when the movie is based on a keyboard, it’s kind of tough.  However, the…

    After taking a five year break after the sensational Zero Dark Thirty (2012), director Kathryn Bigelow is back and better than ever with Detroit.  This is an absolute knockout.  A hot-blooded, intense, gut-wrenching, socially relevant masterpiece about one of America’s darkest hidden secrets. Detroit takes us to July of 1967, where race riots are raging in the streets of Detroit, Michigan, throwing the city into complete chaos.  On one fateful night, an incident between the…

      In Atomic Blonde, the Blonde in question is Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron), a sexy, badass M:I6 agent with a love for vodka.  Like most cinematic spies, like James Bond or Jason Bourne, she is stealthy with a gun, quick with the hands, and leaves no henchmen left behind.  However, unlike those two, Broughton is far from perfect at her job, but gets things done by being a pure badass.  The movie is much like…

    Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is an experience unlike any I have ever had at the movies.  I am writing this review three days after seeing the movie and I still can’t fully grasp what I witnessed.  I can’t tell if Valerian is a groundbreaking masterpiece, a campy classic, or a complete disaster. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is set in the 28th century and follows Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline…