Film Reviews

[rating=4.00] Whatever bad I have to say about Vacation—and there’s a lot—I want to acknowledge that it sure did try its best. That may not count for much, overall, but it counts for something; they could have easily just not tried and relied on the same jokes and the same bits as its predecessors, but […]

[rating=5.00] Assume, for the moment, you know nothing about Southpaw. That’s probably a pretty safe bet, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have found yourself here, but roll with me for a moment. You know nothing about Southpaw, and I tell you, “It’s a boxing movie.” Using this as your jumping off point, I now want you […]

[rating=3.00] A good idea is a good idea, and there’s a certain amount of credit due towards it for being a good idea. And, for this, I will credit Pixels. As a premise, it’s not that bad. The 2010 short film of the same name proved this when it first hit, showcasing, in under three […]

[rating=6.00] I’ve never much been a fan of Amy Schumer’s pretty woman with a foul mouth shtick upon which she’s built her career, at least as it pertains to her stand up. I’ve seen a few of her acts, and they were okay, I guess, but her whole “I get drunk and have sex” persona […]

[rating=8.00] As much as I’ve made no bones about my love and appreciation for all things Marvel, the experience of Age of Ultron left much to be desired in my mind. It seemed, then, that the franchise was at a tipping point, where the unending cross-media saturation that Marvel has perfected over the last seven […]

[rating=8.00] I never hopped onto the Amy Winehouse train. To my cynical mind she was merely the singer who they tried to tell to go to rehab, to which she said no with devastating effects. I never gave her a second thought, never lingered on her artistry. In fact, up until I saw Amy, I […]

[rating=1.00] Congratulations are in order for horror producer Jason Blum, of Blumhouse—the people who brought you Paranormal Activity and Insidious, as every ad campaign of every movie they release is quick to remind you—as well as the writing and directing duo of Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing and everyone involved with the making of The […]

[rating=5.00] I am of two entirely disparate, irreconcilable minds when it comes to Terminator Genisys. It’s pointless and it’s necessary. It’s dumb and it’s amazing. It’s contrived and it’s original. It’s spineless and it has balls of steel. I’m left only to conclude that the fate of Genisys lies strictly in the choices of its […]

[rating=7.00] I’ve never really been a big fan of the mumblecore movement. Granted, I’ve not necessarily been a detractor, per se, as occasionally mumblecore has achieved some interesting moments in modern movie making. But for the most part, I’ve found the entire movement to be cloying and chock full of hipster pseudo-intellectualism masquerading as highbrow […]

[rating=10.00] In the midst of the summer movie blockbuster extravaganza, it can be easy to forget what it is that makes movies so special. Between all the slow motion explosions, the epic hero shots, and the damsels in distress, no one would blame you if a sense of jaded ambivalence settled into your brain and […]

[rating=6.00] There’s a great movie somewhere in Dope—Rick Famuyiwa’s latest exploration of African-American life in the United States and critical darling of this year’s Sundance Film Festival—and as much as I want to judge it as the great film it nearly is, I’m forced to look only at what I’ve been given. Unfortunately, what I’ve […]

[rating=7.00] Like so many franchises, the universe of Jurassic Park went from groundbreaking work of cinematic genius to pale imitation in just a few short movies. As stunning as that initial, Spielberg-helmed film was, its two sequels were a quick descent into the tar pits of mediocrity. The act of creating a movie worthy of […]

[rating=3.00] It just wouldn’t be the summer movie season without a disaster movie, would it? There’s something about the blockbuster months that inspires the teeming masses to show up to theaters in droves to witness yet another round of mindless destruction porn masquerading as escapism. In recent years, this niche has been filled by the […]

We might risk the journey to shed our baggage, but we’ll simply just gain new baggage along the way.

[rating=5.00] Tomorrowland feels less like a cohesive movie than it does a mish mash of decent ideas desperately in search of a story. Wild and fun concepts are thrown into a blender and spun around until mixed well, and while the resulting concoction looks rather appealing, it doesn’t quite leave you satisfied, and the aftertaste […]

[rating=3.00] It’s heartening to know that movies today still have the ability to meet or exceed one’s expectations. I expected Poltergeist to be a terrible movie, and it did not disappoint. The only thing impressive about this remake is its staggering mediocrity. I’m not the type of critic who will dismiss the concept of a […]

[rating=10.00] First things first, just so that I am absolutely clear: Mad Max: Fury Road is a work of unmitigated genius, the likes of which you’ve never seen before. It’s rare these days for a film of any sort to transcend the limitations of its genre to become a work of art. Rarer, still, for […]

[rating=8.00] Far From the Madding Crowd is an adaptation you never asked for of a book you’ve never read, but under no circumstances should you let that dissuade you from seeing this magnificent, romantic drama. There’s no doubt that there’s a vast swath of you out there who’re quick to turn your nose up at […]

[rating=7.00] The D Train is a lowbrow, screwball comedy that successfully masquerades itself as highbrow festival fodder. It’s a fine line to walk, to be sure—the slightest misstep would prove disastrous, destroying the very concept upon which the film rests. But writer-directors Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel take that walk, and they take it well. […]

[rating=7.00] The question I keep asking myself is whether or not it’s possible for a bar to be set too high. I’ve made no secret in the past about my love for all things Marvel; as a comic book geek in high school, I longed for a day when studios would give us something that […]