Look, man. It’s Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, and others. The Manson murders plays a big part. It’s good. It’s great. And it’s most obvious precursor is Inglorious Basterds. It’s not quite a masterpiece, but it gets real close.
Read MoreCrawl - A Tight, Tense Creature Feature in Dirty Florida Flood Water→
/It’s Jaws but set in Florida, with alligators, during a hurricane. And it’s the best surprise of the summer. Crawl is a tense, nail-biting thrill ride that pays obvious homage to the great B-movies that came before, and instantly earns its place among them.
Read MoreStuber - Does Not Earn a Five Star Rating→
/The pairing of Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani is a match made in comedy heaven, but their combined talents are mostly wasted in the bland and product-placement-heavy Stuber. There are some things to enjoy, but not nearly enough.
Read MoreMidsommar - A Bright and Sunny Nightmare
/Ari Aster has delivered another boundary-pushing horror masterpiece - Midsommar gives fans of the genre their fix of terrifying gruesomeness, and also carefully crafts a layered and dark fantasy about freeing yourself from toxic relationships.
Read MoreSpider-Man: Far From Home Proves That Spidey Still Reigns Supreme
/Far From Home is one of the more standalone movies in the Marvel Universe, and it’s all the better for it. Peter and MJ’s romance takes center stage, and it’s one of the sweetest and most compelling the MCU has had to offer - another great reminder, among many, that Peter is still a child, one that’s had an enormous amount of responsibility placed on him. Forever torn between superhero duties and just wanting to spend time with his friends and the girl he likes, Peter Parker once again shows why Spider-Man is the world’s favorite hero.
Read MoreToy Story 4 - An(other) Emotional End→
/If you’re like me, you didn’t want this movie at all. Toy Story 3 was the perfect ending to the series, there’s no doubt about that. But Toy Story 4 acts as a sort of epilogue to it all, and it justifies its existence by contemplating just that: Existence and purpose. I grew up with Toy Story and they seemingly grew up with me. The first movie came out when I was a baby (and you bet I had all those toys), and the third came out right before I went off to college. This movie, nine years later, is the most obvious one to be from the perspective of a parent, that parent being Woody. Andy was Woody’s whole world, so the question now is: What do you do, and where do you go, when your world has moved on? And can you find renewed purpose when you’ve seemingly served yours?
Read MoreDark Phoenix - The Death Rattle of the X-Men→
/Is Dark Phoenix the worst X-Men movie? Of course not, Apocalypse and Origins: Wolverine still exist. In fact, its first two acts might even trick you into believing that you’re watching a decent enough film. But the third act is a literal train wreck - a hodgepodge of fight scenes that mean nothing. In the end, this movie is an extraordinarily unsatisfying and lackluster finale to a franchise that should’ve ended with Days of Future Past and Logan.
Read MoreThe Flamboyant Flair of Rocketman Sets a New Bar for Music Biopics→
/Rocketman is a wonderful embrace of sexuality, self-discovery, and learning to love your past, present, and future self. It puts other films like it to shame, and Taron Egerton turns in an Oscar-worthy performance as an extravagant and emotionally tormented Elton John. Really impressed with this one.
Read MoreBesides a Nefarious Octavia Spencer Performance, Ma is a Bit of a Mess→
/Ma has a lot in it that could be really interesting, but every single element that it introduces is too unexplored, so the movie feels like it just abruptly ends without any sort of satisfying conclusion. Buuuuuuut, Octavia Spencer is having a blast and she’s, as always, a delight to watch.
Read MoreBrightburn is More of a Fizzle→
/Brightburn doesn’t ever offer a good explanation or reasoning behind its main character’s insane turn to evil, crippling an otherwise cool concept for a film (what if Superman was evil?).
Read MoreAladdin - Not Quite a Whole New World for Disney Remakes→
/It must be the end times because against all odds I actually...enjoyed this movie a good bit??? The Aladdin remake has some actual good changes from the original, the costumes(!) are amazing, the dancing is fun, but it’s the fact that this feels like it’s own separate entity instead of just a copy of the animated version that makes this thing work. Mostly. The second half drags.
Read MoreJohn Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Doesn't Horse Around→
/It doesn’t connect as much on an emotional level as the first two, but Chapter 3 of John Wick’s violent adventures feature him shooting people while riding a horse, dogs climbing walls and biting crotches, someone getting killed with a book, and a prominent non-binary character - a big win for representation.
Read MoreHer Smell - Elisabeth Moss Goes Off the Rails→
/Elisabeth Moss isn’t just good in literally everything she’s in - she’s downright phenomenal. Here, she plays a drug and booze fueled, narcissistic rock star that’s spiraling out of control. Watch it and tell me she shouldn’t be the next Joker. She should be. You’re wrong.
Read MoreThe Wandering Earth - The Biggest Movie You've Never Heard Of→
/A mix of Armageddon, Gravity, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Independence Day, The Wandering Earth was quietly dumped onto Netflix a couple of days ago. If you look it up, you’ll find it that it’s the third-highest grossing movie of 2019, only being beat by Marvel, and the second biggest non-English film of all time. Why hasn’t this behemoth gotten more fanfare? Couldn’t tell you, but I can tell you that the concept is insane and the movie is kinda amazing.
Read MoreAvengers: Endgame - Sacrifice, Worthiness, & Redemption
/Avengers: Endgame is an explosive victory. A stunning achievement in film history, it will go on to be remembered as one of the greats. The Marvel Cinematic Universe sticks the landing, and solidifies itself at one of the very greatest.
Read MoreThe Curse of La Llorona Clumsily Handles Mexican Folklore→
/The Curse of La Llorona takes one of the most iconic Mexican folktales and presents it from the perspective of a white lady. On top of that, its scares don’t amount to much due to a lack of emotion and substance behind them.
Read MoreUnicorn Store - Wonder, Magic, and Growing Up Without Losing Yourself→
/Unicorn Store, the directorial debut of Brie Larson, resonated with me a lot more personally than it might for others. It’s a surprisingly emotional story of failure, growing up, and staying true to who you are. I liked it a lot.
Read MorePet Sematary Falls Short of Its Potential→
/Pet Sematary is...fine. It feels a little phoned in, and when it comes to adapting Stephen King, mediocrity just doesn’t cut it.
Read More"The Best of Enemies" is This Year's Green Book, and That's Not Good→
/Aaaaand here we go again. Another movie that frames racism as if it were a thing of the past, makes the story about the white man instead of the black woman, and gives audiences the good ol’ “meet them halfway” argument. Bleagh. Enough.
Read More"Shazam!" Packs a Big Punch and a Bigger Heart→
/Shazam! is cheesy and silly, and that’s the whole point. It knows exactly what it is and embraces that, and it’s also just so darn sweet that I can’t help but love it. Zachary Levi has been way overdue for this kind of role. I want five more of these.
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