‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Review: The Divergent Finale Is Here… Wait…
After four years and hundreds of millions of dollars spent, the ‘Maze Runner’ trilogy has finally come to a close. And yet, there’s a very good chance that you didn’t notice any of it. Why? Well,...
View Article‘Fifty Shades Freed’ Review: Why Must It End?!
Three years and millions of swooning hearts later, the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ trilogy is finally complete. It’s hard to imagine life without this remarkable tale of love, devotion, and light bondage....
View Article‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ Review: The Apocalypse Has Been Uncanceled
The original ‘Pacific Rim’ had no right to be any good, but in the hands of a strong filmmaker (who now has an Oscar to back him up), it ended up being a very satisfying and all-around entertaining...
View Article‘Super Troopers 2’ Review: Criminally Unfunny
I broke a couple of my rules when I screened ‘Super Troopers 2’. Normally for a sequel, I’d hunt down the original so that I wouldn’t miss any of the callbacks or subtlety of character development....
View Article‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Review: The Dark Is Rising
It’s been a long ride bringing us to ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. A dozen or so films have served as puzzle pieces leading us here, with disparate characters from all over the galaxy uniting to confront...
View Article‘Ocean’s 8’ Review: Eight Isn’t Enough
The latest addition to the ‘Ocean’s’ film franchise shows that adding a massive dose of estrogen to an established formula can ultimately produce a disengaged crime caper. Rather than rebooting with a...
View Article‘Deadpool 2’ Belated Review: Wade on In, the Water’s Fine
‘Deadpool 2’ is the rare but welcome sequel that not only lives up to expectations, but does so by not completely rehashing the first film. Let’s be clear, there is plenty of rehashing. ‘Deadpool 2’...
View Article‘Incredibles 2’ Review: More Like Just “The Pretty Goods” This Time
A whiz-bang romp with a 1960s aesthetic and clever dialogue, Pixar’s 2004 blockbuster ‘The Incredibles’ was as fun as it was thrilling, a beautifully elegant family comedy wrapped in spandex superhero...
View Article‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Review: Dino Flick a Fine Hybrid of Old and New
It doesn’t take much for a film like ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ to work given what seems to be the universal, visceral thrill one gets just seeing dinosaurs cavorting on screen (Terrence Malick’s...
View Article‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Review: Buggy Sequel Fails to Fly
It’s inevitable that some 20 films into the Marvel Cinematic Universe things are starting to feel a bit rote. We know that between the big explosions of the ‘Avengers’ films, standalone works will move...
View Article‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ Review: Una Continuación Satisfactoria
It was inevitable that ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ would pale in comparison to the masterpiece it’s a sequel to. Under the direction of Stefano Sollima (best known for helping translate ‘Gomorrah’ to...
View Article‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ Review: Vamping It Up Again
Vampires and summer cruises do not seem like they’d be compatible, but somehow these disparate pieces come together to form a fun family film for these long summer days. The third entry into the ‘Hotel...
View Article‘The Equalizer 2’ Review: Dumb Sequel = Waste of Denzel’s Talents
I half hoped that Denzel Washington’s decision to do his first sequel, teaming up yet again with director Antoine Fuqua, would somehow result in something brilliant. One never knows, we could be...
View ArticleWeekend Roundtable: Unnecessary Sequels
As much as Hollywood loves to franchise anything successful, not every movie needs or even calls out for a sequel. This week’s Roundtable isn’t just about bad sequels, necessarily, but specifically...
View ArticleMamma Mia! Here We Go Again Review: Wishing Every Show Was the Last Show
Let’s take it as fact that ABBA is one of the greatest, most infectious musical groups ever assembled, a brilliant ray of Scandinavian sunshine pop that thumps its disco beats into one’s heart. Let’s...
View ArticleMission: Impossible – Fallout Review: Go Ahead and Accept
Like The NeverEnding Story before it, Mission: Impossible continues to dominate the field of inaccurately named movies. Unlike The NeverEnding Story, Mission: Impossible keeps its high quality...
View ArticleThe Predator Review: Get to Your Choppa, Poppa Predator Returns
When it was announced that Shane Black would bring the Predator franchise back from the dead, it didn’t face nearly the same level of hype or skepticism as the return of the Alien series. The Predator...
View ArticleTIFF Journal: Halloween (2018)
It may be heresy to say, but David Gordon Green’s version of Halloween isn’t just better than the (overpraised) original, it’d work perfectly well if it were a standalone film that toyed with general...
View ArticleGoosebumps 2 Review: Halloweentown Lite
Against all odds, 2015’s Goosebumps was a fun little family movie. It combined a collective affection for R.L. Stine and an interest in quirky characters, and somehow everything clicked into place....
View ArticleHalloween (2018) Review: One, Two, Laurie’s Coming for You…
The current trend in toxic fandom is to hold certain films and media as precious, and think it’s blasphemy to consider reimagining them. While I understand, but do not share, this territorial ownership...
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