In May 2008, a small, newly-formed, independent studio laid everything they had on a director whose greatest success was 2003’s Elf and an actor who was considered a washed-up has-been and was looking to make a comeback to tell the… Read More ›
CLTure
Save your quarters, folks. You’re not going to want next on ‘Rampage’.
Adapting video games for film tends to underwhelm at the box office. It either takes a straight-forward premise and mucks it up (poor besmirched Super Mario Bros) or largely misunderstands what made the game fun (this includes you Street Fighter)…. Read More ›
‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ looks the part, but lacks heart.
There’s something about watching a monster fight that really packs people into the theater. Whether it’s classic creatures like King Kong and Godzilla or newer fare like those seen in 2006’s The Host or any glimpsed in the Cloverfield series,… Read More ›
‘Love, Simon’ is a modern John Hughes film with a twist.
There’s been a wonderful resurgence in the teen dramedy subgenre in the last few years that’s given audiences films like The Edge of Seventeen and Saturday Church. Films that take an honest look at teens in a period of crisis… Read More ›
‘Fifty Shades Freed’ from Reality
The Fifty Shades book series by E.L. James never personally struck a chord despite its global appeal. So when I got the opportunity to review Fifty Shades Freed, the climactic chapter of the noteworthy series, I did my due-diligence and… Read More ›
“12 Strong” – an imperfect, yet surprising biopic.
An alternate version of this review was published by CLTure on their site on January 19, 2018. September 11th, 2001 is a day that everyone in the U.S. remembers; a day of great pain and sorrow which inspired men and… Read More ›
Come one, come all! ‘The Greatest Showman’ celebrates the rebels and outcasts.
December ushers in two types of films: the prestige pictures (The Post, The Disaster Artist) and the family-friendly pictures (Pitch Perfect 3, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle). Then there’s The Greatest Showman, a film that offers an anthemicly-infused look into… Read More ›
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ is the spark of hope long-time fans have waited for.
Star Wars fans are a tricky bunch to please. They’re excited at the prospect of something new, something that delves further into the mythos of the Force, but when presented with something as half-baked as midichlorians, they riot. That was… Read More ›
Breaking conventions and expectations only begin to explain the delight of ‘Wonder’.
Right now, it feels like the world is falling apart and any reminder of the little joys, the little victories are a boon. That is the gift of Wonder, the Stephen Chbosky-directed adaptation of the R.J. Palacio novel. Performing a… Read More ›
Director Taika Waititi’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ completely reinvigorates the superhero film.
Marvel Studio’s run of 17 films impressively introduces new characters, new worlds, and new adventures, all while building toward every Marvel nerd’s greatest dream: the Infinity War Saga. Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a central character in this film run, never seems… Read More ›
‘Blade Runner 2049’ is a deserving sequel to a divisive series.
Written by Michael Green and, one of the original Blade Runner screenwriters, Hampton Fancher, and directed by Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049 wonderfully captures the essence of the original, then builds upon it with something utterly new. For those unaware,… Read More ›
‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ brings the crazy action we love and little else.
2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service took audiences by surprise when the spry spy satire proved to have more going on under the hood. As much as it made fun of the outlandish nature recent spy films – even acknowledging the… Read More ›
‘It’ terrifies by making the old new again.
For many, the 1990 television mini-series event It, even with all of its pitfalls, remains a cinematic classic. In what’s become a remake/reboot-centric Hollywood, audiences are primed and ready to be (re)introduced to the terror that is the interdimensional creature… Read More ›
‘Menashe’ delivers one of the most unique films of the year.
Some stories take time to be told properly. They require cultivation and care. They require patience. In the case of Menashe, it took director Joshua Z Weinstein seven years to develop this a quiet, family-focused story centered on a widowed… Read More ›
There’s no redemption when you have a ‘Good Time’.
There’s something about watching a film where the main character is scrambling, always on the move, trying to survive in a world that feels like it’s crashing down on them; a world that is out to get them. Sometimes it’s… Read More ›
Rejoice True Believers, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is a joyous return for our favorite friendly neighborhood wall-crawler. [Extended Review]
Rest assured, dear reader, that Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have prepared the most delicious of summer cinematic treats with their fun, effulgent, airy, and oh-so-scrumptious Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man: Homecoming. This is the Spider-Man movie audiences have wanted since Sam Raimi’s 2004 Spider-Man 2. Ladies and gentlemen, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is back!
Who can you trust when ‘It Comes At Night’?
From A24, the studio that brought you the tragicomedy The Lobster and the delightfully morbid Swiss Army Man, comes psychological mystery It Comes At Night, helmed by director Trey Edward Shults (Krishna). Though it starts with all the hallmarks of… Read More ›
If audiences are lucky, Jack Sparrow’s fifth outing, ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’, will put all future stories to rest.
An alternate, shorter take of this review was originally published for CLTure on their site on May 26th, 2017. As the latest, and hopefully last, film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Dead Men Tell No Tales attempts to go back to its roots,… Read More ›
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ may be a mature and poignant sophomore outing, but it’ll still kick your butt. (Extended Cut)
In 2014, Marvel Studios unveiled Guardians of the Galaxy, a rock-centric space oddity unlike anything Marvel had released before. Through the direction of James Gunn (Slither/The Belko Experiment), Marvel introduced the world to a rag-tag group of miscreants and killers… Read More ›
‘The Promise’ tells the story of the oft-forgotten Armenian Genocide amid a distracting romance subplot.
There are moments in history – true tragedies – that are difficult to process and understand. These moments must not be allowed to disappear from our collective global memories. One such horrific event is the Armenian Genocide, an event that… Read More ›