Parasite is probably the best movie of the entire year, but the only way you should experience it is by going in completely cold. The less you know beforehand, the better. That said, if you at least want to know a tiny bit about it, and if you wanna see how I finally manage to sneak in my love for Linkin Park into one of my reviews, read on. This thing is a masterpiece.
Read MoreThe Lighthouse - A Haunting and Surreal Descent into Madness→
/Two of my absolute favorite actors, Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, stuck in a lighthouse together for weeks on end. Watching the two of them succumb to boredom, madness, and delusions would be completely grueling if it wasn’t also pretty damn funny at points. The Lighthouse is about as auteur as it gets - it’s grand, hallucinatory, and heavily metaphorical - and it’s certainly not gonna be for everyone.
Read MoreDolemite is My Name - A Hilarious Comeback for Eddie Murphy→
/I didn’t realize just how much I missed Eddie Murphy until this movie. He makes a triumphant return in Dolemite is my Name, one of the funniest movies of the past few years. Don’t miss it when it drops on Netflix tomorrow.
Read MoreMaleficent: Mistress of Evil - A Gorgeous but Dull Waste of Potential→
/Angelina Jolie is as perfect in the role as she can possibly be, and Mistress of Evil is certainly offered more freedom than any other recent live-action Disney movie, but Maleficent is barely given anything to do here until the very end of the messy third act. Which is a problem, because pretty much every other character is dreadfully boring.
Read MoreJojo Rabbit - Emotionally Investing and Politically Relevant→
/I have never seen a movie quite like Jojo Rabbit, and I doubt I ever will again. Wildly hilarious, whimsical and sweet, and devastatingly poignant, it’s a film that resonates especially strong in today’s world. I consider it downright necessary viewing. It’s probably my favorite movie of the entire year.
Read MoreGemini Man - A Technological Feat→
/If you’re lucky / privileged enough to be able to view Gemini Man in its preferred format, it’s a really worthwhile experience. It’s the first major blockbuster to be presented in 3D 4K at 120 frames per second, and it makes for some wild and intense action sequences, among other things. If your local movie theater isn’t able to project the film this way though (most aren’t), then it will be far more apparent that, besides some interesting concepts, the script is sadly lackluster.
Read MoreIn the Tall Grass - Lures You into Its Maze and Doesn't Let Go→
/In the Tall Grass is the third of four Stephen King movies released this year (much to my joy), and it’s just as solid as all the others we’ve been getting over the past couple of years. Seven people and a dog find themselves trapped in an endless maze consisting of nothing but rows and rows of tall grass somewhere in rural Kansas. What unfolds is a tale of terror, weird time loops, and an ancient evil that’s hidden deep within the field. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s streaming right now on Netflix.
Read MoreJoker - The Joke's On Us→
/For better or worse, Joker is, surprisingly, not the incendiary embrace of violent incel culture and all the problematic ideology that goes with it that people feared, nor is it the richly layered, gritty, tragic take on an iconic character that writer and director Todd Phillips and fans seem to think it is. Instead, the film is just hollow and devoid of anything that might make it truly interesting.
Read MoreBetween Two Ferns: The Movie - Zach Galifianakis Sits Down with Celebrities Galore→
/“I notice you’re wearing a shirt. Is everything okay?” is just one of the zingers Zach Galifianakis shoots at Matthew McConaughey and countless other celebrities is this feature length adaptation of the hilarious web series. This movie knows that all you want to see are the interviews, so it races through its flimsy narrative to get to the good parts. In that respect, Between Two Ferns: The Movie 100% delivers the kind of dry, cringe-inducing comedy that we’ve come to except from Galifianakis. Just don’t expect anything more than that.
Read MoreAbominable - DreamWorks Still Has Some Magic→
/Abominable overcomes its bland and generic story with gorgeous animation and a sense of true wonder, magic, and sweetness, making it one of DreamWorks’ better efforts in recent years.
Read MoreHustlers - A Glitzy Showstopper of a Crime Story→
/Hustlers is a wild and entertaining true story that’s easily the best thing Jennifer Lopez has done in years. It helps to have a director that knows her strengths and how to cater to them, but more than that it’s just a damn good movie.
Read MoreIt Chapter 2 Lacks the Bite but Still Has the Heart
/It Chapter Two hits all the right notes about childhood friendship, fears, and traumas, and how those things go on to mold us well into our adult lives. It’s missing the genuine terror that the first film was so great at (not enough Pennywise!), and at almost three hours it still manages to feel rushed, but the themes and soul of the story is still there. And the cast is perfect.
Read MoreThe Farewell - The Different Ways We Say Goodbye→
/The Farewell is both somber and joyous; a melancholy reflection and an uplifting look ahead. It’s about the ways we attempt to accept and understand death and process our grief, and how those ways differ from culture to culture and person to person. I’m giving it my second perfect score of the year - it’s a masterpiece.
Read MoreReady or Not Says It's Time to Bring Out the Guillotines→
/Ready or Not is crisp and to the point. A wedding gown-clad Samara Weaving hacks her way through evil rich people who want to hunt her for sport, and it’s a bloody and entertaining time at the movies. Very surface level stuff, but it’s not trying to be anything more than some fun escapism.
Read MoreGood Boys - A Hilarious Portrait of 6th Grade→
/Good Boys is basically Superbad (it’s literally produced by the same people) but with tweens instead of teens. The clever and side-splitting raunchiness is there, but wisely scaled back in favor of a story that has a surprising amount of sweetness to it, most likely due to its core cast being made up of 11 and 12 year olds. It’s a tribute to the friends we all had when we were little, and the fact that even though we may drift apart as we grow older, those memories and that bond are forever.
Read MoreInvader Zim: Enter the Florpus Feels Like the Series Never Left→
/It’s a genuine miracle that this movie exists at all. Nearly twenty years since getting yanked off the airways before it was even two seasons in, Invader Zim has endured as a cult classic for a variety of reasons. Every single one of those reasons are on full display in Enter the Florpus, so much that the movie makes it feel like the beloved series was never cancelled to begin with. It was impossible for me to stop smiling through the whole thing.
Read MoreOnce Upon a Time...in Hollywood is Tarantino's Sweet Goodbye to the Golden Age→
/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.
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