Movie Reviews

I think I saw Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).  I think.  I can’t be 100% certain.  Obviously it didn’t make that big of an impression on me if I can’t remember seeing it, but it made a ton of money, so obviously it was going to get a second film, though I doubt it needed one.  The Huntsman: Winter’s War is a sprequel, part prequel, part sequel, and a middle of the road film that…

I really liked the first Barbershop (2002).  It’s a very sweet, funny movie with good messages about family and friendship.  Did it deserve a sequel?  Probably not.  Did it deserve to be a trilogy?  Definitely not.  But here we are with Barbershop: The Next Cut, the third film in the Barbershop series and, even though it didn’t deserve a trilogy, it is arguably the best film of the three. With the rise in gang violence surrounding the neighborhood, Calvin…

Hardcore Henry follows Henry, a man who was in some horrific accident and put back together using robotics and turned into a killing machine.  He sets out to get his wife (Haley Bennett) back from a Magneto-like villain Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) before he creates super solders similar to Henry to take over the world. The entire movie is shot in the first person from the perspective of Henry, something that has never been done in the action…

Jon Favreau’s live-action version of The Jungle Book had my jaw on the floor for the entire 105 minute run time.  This movie is spectacular in every way.  The visuals are astoundingly beautiful with great use of 3-D, the action is exciting, and the story is better and darker than the original animated film, yet still keeps the films spirit perfectly. Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub living amongst the wolves, tries to flee the jungle after a threat…

I’ve been attending the Sundance Film Festival since 2011.  Every year before the festival begins, I make a list of my most anticipated movies of the festival.  This list is based on a combination of the who the director is, who the actors are, and the film’s synopsis, because none of the films have trailers.  I usually end up seeing my top five choices because I make the time for those, but there are always…

The Boss is a combination of the best and worst of Melissa McCarthy.  On the one hand, it’s more over the top annoyance from McCarthy that we’ve seen in films like Identity Thief (2013) and Tammy (2014).  On the other hand, we get some great comedic moments and McCarthy once again owning her character like she has in Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), and Spy (2015).  Fortunately, The Boss is more of the later than the former, which makes for a mildly entertaining, yet sometimes ridiculous…

Sometimes you see a movie that just hits you.  Whether it’s because you can relate to the story, relate to a character, or just connect with a performance, there are certain movies that just resonate with you.  For some reason, Demolition was one of those movies for me.  I was watching this movie and as the it was going I kept thinking, “I totally get that.” I don’t know why either.  I can’t relate to the plot,…

I’ll admit, I have a slight soft spot for Jeff Nichols.  My first year at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2011, his film, Take Shelter, was the first film that I saw at the festival that blew me away and set the standard for what a good Sundance movie was and still is for me.  From that point on, I’ve loved him as a filmmaker.  He has elevated his talents and grown as a writer…

I’ve seen a lot of movies in my life.  I’ve seen good movies, bad movies, funny movies, sad movies, scary movies, all sorts of movies.  Movies today rarely surprise me or show me something new.  Sure, we get movies like Gravity (2013) and Birdman (2014) that blow us all away and push the boundaries of filmmaking to another level, but for a majority of films, whatever they’re trying to do has already been done.  Not saying that’s a bad thing, it…

Director Richard Linkater called his latest film a spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused (1993).  Seeing as Dazed and Confused is one of my favorite movies all-time, the bar was set extremely high for Everybody Wants Some!!.  It gives me great pleasure to say that Everybody Wants Some! hits that bar.  This is a funny, sweet, heartfelt nostalgia piece and another great Linklater moment. Everybody Wants Some!! follows a college baseball team in Texas the weekend before classes start.  We watch…