Movie & TV Reviews, Lists, and Appreciation
A classic showbiz tale gets a modern retelling and proves that some stories never lose their emotional resonance. After many false starts, that at one time included Clint Eastwood directing Beyonce, Bradley Cooper decided to step behind the camera for his directorial debut and what a debut it is. Cooper does sensational, career-best work in … Continue reading Review: A Star Is Born
Spike Lee's latest feature film, BlacKkKlansman, tells the story of the first African-American police officer in Colorado Springs during the 1970's and his efforts to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. What follows is a brilliantly constructed, often hilarious, and scathing juxtaposition of race relations then and now. The film hits you like a sledge hammer … Continue reading Review: BlacKkKlansman
After 22 years, with the exception of John Woo's stylish but silly second installment, the Mission: Impossible series has consistently topped itself and become one one of Hollywood's most dependable and exciting franchises. Fallout not only raises the bar, but it makes every other action franchise look like child's play. The action sequences here are … Continue reading Review: Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Accomplished writer and rapper Boots Riley arrives on the filmmaking scene with a supernova-sized bang with his Sundance hit Sorry To Bother You -- which was also produced out of the Sundance Lab. Riley weaves a twisted and scathing tale of corporate greed and racial identity that is so expressionist and darkly hilarious that it … Continue reading Review: Sorry To Bother You
Where I continue to catch up on this summer's big would-be blockbusters and am left feeling mostly ambivalent towards them all except for a pair of smaller-stature heroes. But let's go ahead and dig into them regardless. Ocean's 8 While it refreshingly plays as a straight sequel with new characters and is a great showcase … Continue reading Summer Catch-Up: Part 2
This summer movie season hasn't necessarily been churning out a host of must-see entertainment. In fact, it's one of the weaker seasons I can remember. With that in mind, it felt like a great opportunity to flex this whole MoviePass business and take it for a drive, which has allowed me to catch up on … Continue reading Summer Catch-Up: Part 1
First-time writer/director Ari Aster brilliantly fuses horror metaphor and classic scares into a powerfully unsettling and disturbing depiction of familial collapse. Toni Collette gives a powerhouse performance in a film that is densely packed with big and frightening ideas. It's a slow burn of unnerving atmosphere and palpable dread that escalates toward a descent into … Continue reading Review: Hereditary
Star Wars has been a cultural touchstone for over 40 years now. George Lucas, with help from his pal Steven Spielberg, created the modern blockbuster and changed the way Hollywood made movies. For 90's kids like yours truly, the Original Trilogy is all the Star Wars we ever thought we would get - and that … Continue reading Rankings: The Star Wars Saga
Set some 10-13 years before the events of A New Hope, Solo finds our favorite smuggler scraping by as a street-rat before embarking on an adventure that will connect him with a certain Wookie, smooth-talking frenemies, and the fastest ship in the galaxy. The production behind Disney's second spin-off film in this franchise is more … Continue reading Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story
Avengers: Infinity War is a whole 'lotta movie - for better and for worse. It starts with a bang and never lets up over the course of its 2 1/2 hour running time. The time flies by as we jump from one gigantic action set-piece to the next. The Russo brothers deserve an enormous amount … Continue reading Review: Avengers: Infinity War
