Movie & TV Reviews, Lists, and Appreciation
Adam McKay's follow-up to his acclaimed drama about the 2008 financial crisis, The Big Short, takes aim at most liberals' personal Voldermort from this century's first decade: Vice President Dick Cheney. Vice is far from a traditional biopic and embraces the idiosyncrasies that made McKay's The Big Short such a stand-out. Unfortunately, a little style … Continue reading Review: Vice
James Wan unleashes an underwater fantasy of epic proportions with a film that is overlong, overloaded, unabashedly over-the-top, and filled with enough spectacle for five movies. It feels like the filmmakers were worried they may never get another chance at this and threw everything they had into the mix. The design and effects of this … Continue reading Review: Aquaman
Barry Jenkins' follow-up to his Oscar-winning film Moonlight, is based off the James Baldwin novel of the same name, and finds the director further refining his style to create a piece that feels more like a free-form jazz composition or a long-form poem than a narrative. Exquisitely shot and wonderfully performed, If Beale Street Could … Continue reading Review: If Beale Street Could Talk
Anchored by two terrific performances from Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, Green Book excels as both a fun buddy road movie and an examination on racial divides that stretches from its 1960's setting to today. Mortensen displays an incredible knack for comic timing we never knew he had while Ali continues his streak of fascinating … Continue reading Review: Green Book
Steve McQueen's follow-up to his Best Picture-winning 12 Years a Slave is an impressively ambitious heist film that cares more about its characters and their world they inhabit than pulling off a flashy caper. Viola Davis leads a tremendous ensemble that includes Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya, and breakouts Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia … Continue reading Review: Widows
After years of turmoil, which for a long time had Sacha Baron Cohen attached to play Freddie Mercury, the Queen biopic has finally landed but seems to largely have been more trouble than it was worth. The behind-the-scenes drama and firing of director Bryan Singer is well-documented for a litany of alleged indiscretions and purported … Continue reading Review: Bohemian Rhapsody
Damien Chazelle's third major feature, the follow-up to his Oscar-winning La La Land, attempts to take us to the moon while also providing a portrait of one of America's most iconic heroes -- Neil Armstrong. The results unfortunately are a very mixed bag. While the flight sequences themselves are frenetic and impressive, the human drama … Continue reading Review: First Man
I've long been a fan of Drew Goddard's work, from his days as a writer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Lost to the ingenious Cabin in the Woods. So when his follow-up to one of the best horror films of the past 20 years landed, a Tarantino-esque ensemble of bad souls all stuck together … Continue reading Review: Bad Times at the El Royale
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
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
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