I went in to the advance screening of Ben-Hur expecting a disaster. While the trailers weren’t brilliant, they showed both some promise and the possibility of a total bleep-up. Instead, it was neither the film of that promise nor the Golden Raspberry contender it could have been. It was a technically proficient film that had […]
Category: Movie Reviews
Sausage Party – Groceries Learn the Ugly Truth!
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Sausage Party is the harrowing tale of the difference between the stories groceries tell themselves in the supermarket and what really happens to them when the ‘gods’ take them home. Inside the abundant f-bombs and salacious humor, there are moments of nuanced thought and some scary depictions of human beings […]
Mel Gibson Gives Blood Father an Unexpected Poignancy!
‘…but you can’t be a prick all your life and then just say never mind. I can’t fix everything I broke… all I can do is not drink, so I won’t do that today.’ Mel Gibson’s John Link says these words at the beginning of Blood Father, but the conviction with which he says them […]
Florence Foster Jenkins Sings – Even If She Can’t!
Florence Foster Jenkins is a film that is based on the last few months of the title character’s life. Jenkins was a fierce music lover – she supported the music scene in New York and eventually decided that she had to sing. It was not the smartest move she could have made – she is […]
Pete’s Dragon Is Magical!
The original Pete’s Dragon was a hybrid live-action/animated film with an animated dragon that attempted to recapture the vibe of Disney’s big hit Mary Poppins. It didn’t quite make it and so it’s joined the ranks of the charming but slight Disney family films that Mary Poppins moved above. As the choice for a remake, […]
Movie Review: The Suicide Squad. Characters & Audience Deserve Better
Even though Suicide Squad turned out to be a mess of a film, Warner Brothers should be applauded for going off script in their latest failure. I’ve been vocal about how I hate the entire idea of every DC film being dark and grim just because for some reason the folks in charge think it’s […]
Suicide Squad Tops Batman v Superman!
After the disappointment of Batman v. Superman – it was merely okay – Suicide Squad is a definite step in the right direction. Despite having too many characters to give any but a handful more than the sketchiest of backgrounds, it’s smarter and more fun than BvS (though not the mad romp the last few trailers […]
Suicide Squad Kills It with Characters; Almost Dies of Incoherence
Suicide Squad is a story of anti-heroes. “The worst of the worst” as director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) describes them—a woman who self-admittedly specializes in “getting people to act against their own self-interests.” When Waller perceives a gap in her nation’s ability to address threats from meta-humans (i.e. individuals with extraordinary abilities like being able […]
Jason Bourne Almost Makes It!
He knows everything. He remembers everything. It’s just that the everything he remembers isn’t the everything that there is to know. Couple that with the changes in the world since the last Jason Bourne film (WikiLeaks, Snowden, etc.) and the potential is there for a really terrific movie.
Bad Moms: When Good Moms Go Weird!
Bad Moms plays like some demented fusion of Mean Girls and a look at the Bridesmaids ten-to-fifteen years later – with just a dash of Three Stooges. Oddly enough, that peculiar hybrid really rocks!
Captain Fantastic Posits Great Ideas Inside a Predictable Plot!
Ben Cash is raising his family to a Platonian ideal. In the forest of Oregon, they live off the land – growing their own fruits and vegetables; hunting their own meat, and learning art, science and philosophy. When a tragedy forces them to enter the ‘real world,’ things get dicey.