Office Christmas Party is one of those comedies where it is all about the cast. The plot and story are all irrelevant, the love stories are useless and lame, and the movie runs too long. But God damn, if this isn’t a cast of comedic all-stars that make this movie a blast. When an uptight CEO (Jennifer Aniston) threatens to shut down his branch, a branch manager (T.J. Miller) throws an epic Christmas party to…
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I first saw Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was towards the end of the festival and the hype around the film was through the roof. The film ended up being one of my favorites of the festival and was one I was constantly thinking about for months after. I decided check the movie out again when it finally got a wide release, a rarity for me, as I would…
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The Eyes of My Mother is a truly disturbing and horrifying film, yet one of the most beautifully shot and made films of the year. The film looks at the life of Francisca, a lonely girl who witnesses a horrible tragedy the skewers her way of life. We see as young Francisca (Olivia Bond) learns how to do facial surgery using dead animals, and we watch the questionable parenting techniques of her parents, until tragedy…
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I skipped this piece last month because other than Boyhood (2014) and the new Gilmore Girls season, November was a very light month. But, December offers a number of great movies ranging from sports movies, comedy, gangster, and one of the best movies of 2016. Here are my picks for the best movies coming to Netflix in December. You can see the full list of all movies and T.V. shows coming out this month right here. …
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Well, here we are, the final month of 2016. It is amazing how fast the year has gone. But, we’re here, and we are ending the year with a bang. There are so many great movies coming out in December, narrowing it down to five was nearly impossible. This month is so loaded, I had to leave off anticipated titles like Sing, Assassins Creed, Passengers, A Monster Calls, and Why Him?. But, of all the movies coming out this month,…
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Loving tells one of the most important moments in the history of the United State. It is the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), an interracial couple in the 1950’s who fight for their right be married in Virginia after being banned from the state for getting married in Washington D.C. The film looks at their lives as they struggle to get the banned lifted while attempting to keep…
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In 1946, Hollywood mogul and aviation tycoon Howard Hughes got into a horrific plane crash in Beverly Hills, California. The crash demolished three houses, blew up the plane Hughes was in, and nearly killed Hughes, causing him a number of injuries, including a crushed collar bone, multiple cracked ribs, crushed chest with collapsed left lung, shifting his heart to the right side of the chest cavity, and numerous third-degree burns. This crash pales in comparison to the…
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The Chicago International Film Festival is officially over. Over the past two weeks, I saw 22 movies (17 festival and five wide releases). It was an exhausting two weeks, but an awesome two weeks. I saw so many movies from all different countries and all different genres and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Here is a look at the best movies and performances I saw while attending the festival. I’m including all…
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Bad Santa 2 continues Hollywood’s idiotic trend of making sequels to great 2000’s comedies. They got lucky with Anchorman 2 (2013), but have since missed at every single attempt after than, most notably with this year’s horrendous Zoolander 2. Now, Bad Santa 2 isn’t the debacle that Zoolander 2 is. It is just an unnecessary sequel with sporadic laughs and a predictable plot. Bad Santa 2 brings back to the boozing, cursing, sex-crazed Willie (Billy Bob Thornton). When Willie is at…
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Disney has done it again. Moana is simply dazzling. A sweet, funny, heartfelt film with beautiful animation and spectacular voice work. Moana is about a young girl named Moana (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho), the destined princess of her tribe, though she feels there is more to her life than following in her father’s footsteps. When her tribe and island are in danger, Moana adventures out to save them, by sailing the high seas in search of…
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