Movie Reviews

During most movies that I see, I take notes.  I do this to remember key scenes, performances, quotes, etc.  While watching Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, there was a moment where I stopped taking notes.  Not because the movie was bad or because I got everything that I needed, but because I was so invested in the movie.  I didn’t want to miss a single moment of what was going on.  My eyes were glued to the screen…

I went into Snatched with mixed expectations.  Part of me thought the movie looked unfunny and lame.  Another part of me looked at the credentials of the film, Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Wanda Sykes, and director Jonathon Levine, and thought that the movie had too much talent to be bad. Much to my pleasure, it is the latter.  Snatched is a blast that perfectly balances raunchy humor with sweet mother-daughter family bonding. Schumer plays Emily, a social…

The Wall is a very simple, yet effective movie.  It revolves around two American solders (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and John Cena) in Iraq who, while scouting out the scene of a violent incident, become the target of an expert Iraqi sniper.  With both men wounded and with limited resources, they must outsmart the sniper while trying not to get killed in the process. Majority of the movie is Taylor-Johnson’s character Isaac conversing with the sniper over…

The legend of King Arthur gets the Guy Ritchie treatment in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, a boring, dumb, CGI heavy bomb that tells us nothing about new about Arthur and Excalibur. In this re-invention of the classic tale, Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city, living in a brothel and learning how to fight and survive on his own.  When his uncle Vortigern (Jude Law) summons…

The Circle is the best movie of 2012.  What do I mean by that?  It’s a movie that has come out five years to late.  Director James Ponsoldt has created a technological thriller that was tailor made for the pre-Snowden era.  The film features some great performances and an interesting overall premise, but loses it towards the end due to it’s overall message missing completely. When Mae (Emma Watson) lands a dream job at a powerful tech…

Our favorite group of a-holes are back in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which marks the fifteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  This sequel to the surprise 2014 smash is sure to be another hit for Marvel as Vol. 2 is once again a funny, exciting, eye-popping crowd pleaser. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 brings the whole gang of Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and…

Director Marc Webb bursted onto the cinematic scene in 2009 with (500) Days of Summer, which, for my money, is one of the best romantic comedies I have ever seen.  With great indie success comes blockbuster opportunities and Webb was given the reigns as the director of the new Spider-Man franchise starring Andrew Garfield.  Even though I am a fan of those films, audiences and other critics weren’t too kind to them, giving the film poor reviews and…

The Fate of the Furious is the eighth installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, which is an incredible feat.  Who would have thought a small budgeted, Point Break (1991) rehash about street racing would turn into one of the best action series ever put on film?  You would think at some point the series would run out of gas and turn in a bad movie.  But with The Fate of the Furious, the franchise is stronger than…

Going in Style is Ocean’s 11 for people in the AARP crowd.  It is an amusing, quirky, lighthearted film with a stellar cast that is incredibly predictable, yet mildly enjoyable. Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals, Joe (Michael Caine), Albert (Alan Arkin), and Willie (Morgan Freeman), risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that is taking their money. The dynamic trio of…

I never really got into anime.  I’ve dabbled in some Dragonball Z and seen some Hayao Miyazaki films, but that’s really it.  I’ve heard of the beloved titles, like Akira and Cowboy Bebop, but again, never watched them.  I heard about Ghost in the Shell and knew that it was one of the most beloved anime’s out there.  No anime had been adapted into a live-action American film since the debacle that was Dragonball: Evolution (2009), so this was quite a gamble…