It really is a glorious time to be a horror fan. Once relegated to midnight broadcasts on cable channels and the whole of October at your local Cineplex, now it’s a whole new ballgame. In 2017 alone audiences had Get… Read More ›
Powerful documentary “The Judge” sheds light on the first female Shari’a court judge.
A well-executed documentary works on multiple levels. There’s the central story the director explores, but then there’s some other aspect that finds its way on in, often by surprise. Sometimes these elements overshadow the central story, others they enhance –… 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 ›
Welcome to ‘The Party’ where hell is people.
Imagine yourself in a confined space. There are two ways in, yet it feels like there’s no way out. You’re surrounded by life-long friends who adore you, until they don’t and then all bets are off. As French philosopher Jean-Paul… Read More ›
The broken bloom in ‘Flower’.
Describing Flower, the second feature film by Max Winkler as idiosyncratic would be the tip of the iceberg. The trailer centers on sexually promiscuous 17-year-old Erica (played by the versatile Zoey Deutch), a teen who spends her free time scouting… Read More ›
Director James Demo Shines a Light on an Unsung Hero in ‘The Peacemaker’.
Documentarian James Demo picked a heck of a subject for his first full-feature subject: Padraig O’Malley. O’Malley is a brilliant man who has written several books on his experiences working with various world leaders, who gathered together a group of… Read More ›
Nerds rule on ‘Game Night’.
Everyone knows that one super-competitive person. The one who will bury your nose in their victory or flip over the table in defeat. Yet we love them because they’re family and it’s usually only during game night that their inner… Read More ›
Duncan Jones latest film ‘Mute’ is a perfect fit for Netflix’s Instant offerings.
Writer/director Duncan Jones broke onto the scene with the 2009 underground hit Moon, which tracked lunar engineer Sam Bell’s (Sam Rockwell) last days of his three-year mission as his solitary life finally begins to take its toll. Unfortunately, Jones’s follow-ups… 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 ›
Liu Jian’s ‘Have A Nice Day’ is an odd mix of peace and violence.
An odd, animated film, Liu Jian’s ‘Have a Nice Day’ is a mixture of meditative imagery, thoughtful dialogue, and creative characters resulting in an unique cinematic experience when a driver who decides to rob the money courier sets off a… Read More ›
“Saturday Church” is a quasi-musical journey of self-acceptance.
Audiences will quickly compare Saturday Church to Moonlight, the 2017 Best Picture Oscar winner which also tells a personal, character-driven story about a boy’s search for self at the intersection of sexual identity and race. While both excel at telling… Read More ›
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ makes for surprising holiday fun.
In 1995 audiences were taken on a fantastical adventure when two young children began to play the board game Jumanji, a magical game which, once started, cannot be stopped until the end is reached. The film, titled after the game,… 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 ›