Movies

Movies

Tue
26
Jun

Jack Reacher on 4K Still Exciting, Still Puzzling

Jack Reacher on 4K

When a former soldier is set up for a heinous crime so well that even he thinks he committed it, the district attorney (RICHARD JENKINS) is assured he has an open-and-shut death penalty case. But when the case makes national news, it comes to the attention of Jack Reacher (TOM CRUISE), an off-the-grid veteran who makes his way across the country to see that justice is done -- and the man is buried. Reacher knew the man in the service, and knows he got away with a horrific crime there.

So it's something of a mystery that the accused killer would ask for Reacher in the first place. Alas, that's the elephant in the room that nobody asks about -- sort of like, if Charles Foster Kane died alone, then who heard him utter the word "Rosebud?" But I digress...

Fri
22
Jun

Dedicated fans or whiny bitches? What's with Remake the Last Jedi?

Apparently, a group of "fans" have decided to make an effort at remaking STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, a movie that has mixed reviews to say the least. 


On Twitter, they posted:

While this is silly for a variety of reasons I will get to, I do have to give these guys some credit...at least this is an attempt (a silly one, but still at attempt) to bring their grievances to Disney directly.  It's sure better than harassing and threatening actresses on social media.  

Mon
18
Jun

Incredibles 2 Crushes Opening Weekend Record

Good things really DO come to those who wait. Fourteen years between movies is a big gap, but it allows for nearly two generations of fans to build hype for a single movie.

When the first INCREDIBLES movie came out, back in 2004, you could still buy "fullscreen" format on DVD. Fourteen years ago, before the golden age of superhero movies began with IRON MAN and THE DARK KNIGHT, Disney's Pixar released a movie about a family of 'supers' who have been forced into a life of mediocrity.

Now, with studios raking in billions of dollars with superhero properties, Pixar makes its return to the superhero genre with a long-awaited sequel.

Fri
15
Jun

Incredibles 2 Well-Acted, Expertly Crafted Tale Anyone Can Enjoy

Incredibles 2

Pixar’s latest animated instant classic, the long awaited The Incredibles 2, is incredible, despite what some of my hoity toity film critic brethren might think. It’s also a good place to start a discussion of the term “sequel.”

Fri
15
Jun

Sherlock Gnomes a Generic Sequel to More Clever Forerunner

Sherlock Gnomes

SHERLOCK GNOMES -- the sequel nobody asked for after GNOMEO & JULIET -- finds the Capulet and Montague gnomes being transported from Stratford on Avon to London, just in time to become the victims of an unnoticed crime spree of kidnapped garden gnomes. Unnoticed by all except one gnome, that is -- Sherlock Gnomes, sworn defender of all the garden gnomes of London.

Oh, and Watson.

Sherlock (JOHNNY DEPP) is in a slump in the days following the defeat of his arch-enemy, Moriarty (JAMIE DEMETRIOU) -- the mascot of Moriarty's Pies. As in "Moriarty's (s)Pies are everywhere." But when whole gardens of gnomes begin to go missing, Sherlock believes his enemy has returned, and sets out with his beleaguered and mistreated partner, Watson (CHIWETEL EJIOFOR) to solve the clues, left at each scene with Moriarty's traditional playing card motif.

Mon
11
Jun

Tomb Raider: Strong Female Still Needing Rescued by Men

Tomb Raider

Movie fans looking for something fronted by a strong, kick-ass female character will no doubt go into the reboot of TOMB RAIDER with high hopes. The video game character, Lara Croft, is resourceful, smart, cunning, and capable, so why would the movie version be any different?

Thu
07
Jun

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Trailer

Post-apocalyptic fun in the Lego Universe!  The events of Taco Tuesday have left the entire land in dire straits...but Emmet (voice by the always brilliant Chris Pratt) still seems pretty enthustiastic.

My family loved THE LEGO MOVIE, and it definitely looks like the second movie will be more of the same!  THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART is coming February 2019.


 

Wed
06
Jun

Unsettling Suspense Carries The Strangers: Prey at Night

The Strangers Prey at Night

BAILEE MADISON (ONCE UPON A TIME) headlines this unsettling slasher flick, alongside CATCH-22's LEWIS PULLMAN, GREY'S ANATOMY's MARTIN HENDERSON, and GOOD GIRLS' CHRISTINA HENDRICKS.

The film focuses on a nuclear family -- mother, father, brother, daughter -- who have been experiencing difficulties with the behavior of their daughter (MADISON) -- so much so that they've elected to send her to a boarding school for girls. The planned road trip will see them spending the night in a trailer park owned and operated by their uncle, who runs the place for vacationers.

The family arrives late at night to find the place entirely abandoned -- not unusual for the time of year, they think. They get the key from under the mat and begin to settle in for the night, only to find out there's a reason why the place is abandoned, beginning with finding their uncle slaughtered in his trailer.

Wed
06
Jun

How One Movie Caused a Tourism Shutdown

Maya Beach

The famous bay from “The Beach” will be closing to tourists for the first time. The bay will be closed every year for a short recovery period. 

Mon
04
Jun

New Trailer for Wreck-It Ralph 2

Disney posted up a new trailer for November's WRECK-IT RALPH 2: RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET!  The trailer is very funny, and I really liked the first WRECK-IT RALPH.  That said, I worry a bit about all the corporate synergy here.  Disney, Marvel, Star Wars...yeah, there is plenty of room for jokes here, but hopefully it just doesn't become one big Disney love fest.  Disney has always had a bit of a cult feel to me, aand even if they are laughing at themselves, I don't need 90 minutes of being reminded how much Disney owns me.  Hopefully, I am just being cynical.

I did love the bit at the end where Ralph says the movie should have been called "Wrecks the Internet." 


 

Sun
03
Jun

15:17 to Paris a Slow Train but Interesting Angle for a True Story

Have you ever played the game where you try to figure out who would play you in the movie of your life? If you're Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, or Spencer Stone, then you don't have to think about it any longer. The three were selected by Director Clint Eastwood to play themselves in the biographical picture 15:17 TO PARIS.

The film details the thwarted terrorist attack on a passenger train which was stopped by Skarlatos, Sadler and Stone. However, the film tries to do much more than that, as it reaches back into their childhoods to show how they became friends, became separated, and followed different life paths until meeting up again for a backpack tour of Europe that placed them in the right place at the right time.

Sun
03
Jun

Disney's A Wrinkle in Time Could Have Been Smoother

A Wrinkle in Time Blu-ray

Madeleine L'Engle's novel A WRINKLE IN TIME is a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. Ava DuVernay's version...not so much.

While the film boasts an all-star cast, including three young leads who are already accomplished, the film suffers from immersing itself too deeply in its presentation, with the angelic characters of Mrs. Which (OPRAH WINFREY), Mrs. Who (MINDY KALING) and Mrs. Whatsit (REESE WITHERSPOON) done up so intensely gaudy in both costuming and makeup that it comes across the screen as simply bad cosplay.

Wed
30
May

Jamie Foxx to play Spawn

From Variety:

Jamie Foxx is set to star in the latest “Spawn” from Todd McFarlane and Blumhouse Productions, sources confirm to Variety.

McFarlane, who created the original comic, is on board to write and direct the pic. He will also produce with Jason Blum.

Source: Variety

Tue
29
May

Annihilation Soporific Cinema with Psychedelics

Annihilation Blu-ray

Today I find myself tasked with trying to relate to you, dear reader, the plot and feelings involved in ALEX GARLAND's cinematic soporific, ANNIHILATION.

Slowly paced, quietly executed, chronologically splintered, ANNIHILATION addresses the self-destructive tendencies in people and magnifies that to an unexplainable alien event. I began to identify with the premise, as I started to wish I were dead myself as we plodded through quicksand toward the finish line, much like Lena (NATALIE PORTMAN) toward that iconic lighthouse where it all begins and ends.

Thu
24
May

Jinkies! It's Daphne & Velma in a Pre-Scooby Girl Power Adventure

Daphne & Velma

Before Mystery, Inc, there was Ridgely High -- where two students, Daphne Blake (SARAH JEFFERY, WAYWARD PINES) and Velma Dinkley (SARAH GILMAN, LAST MAN STANDING), first meet in real life after having been online BFFs.

Daphne has just transferred to Ridgely, a high-tech school that would make a Jetson's jaw drop. She's led a charmed life where everything has always worked out and good things come easily to her. She also believes in ghosts and aliens. But there's a secret behind Daphne's good luck that gets stripped away, leaving her to her own devices for the first time in her life.

Wed
23
May

Red Sparrow a Slow Burn with Satisfying Payoff

Red Sparrow

When ballerina Dominika Egorova (JENNIFER LAWRENCE) is injured during a sabotaged dance recital, her financial status is thrown into jeopardy. Needing the money to continue caring for her ailing mother, she allows her uncle, Vanya Egorov (MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS) to recruit her into Russian intelligence. As an attendee ast the so-called "Sparrow School" -- something Dominika later refers to, not wrongly, as "whore school" -- she learns to read people, determine what they want, and use her body to accomplish her goals.

Mon
21
May

Game Night Comes Up a Winner

Game Night on Blu-ray

JASON BATEMAN and RACHEL MCADAMS are a perfect pair in the Warner Brothers adventure-comedy, GAME NIGHT.

Max (Bateman) and Annie (McAdams) met over bar games. Both are sharp-minded, quick-witted, and competitive, and they continue their game night tradition with their friends into their marriage. But lately they've begun to exclude their neighbor, Gary (JESSE PLEMONS), following his divorce, which has left the police officer seeming a bit on the creepy side, so the friends have to do their game nights with less fanfare.

Complicating matters for Max is the arrival of his older, better-looking, and more successful brother, Brooks (KYLE CHANDLER), who opts to host the next game night at a house he's renting while in town. The game is a murder mystery, so when the house gets broken into and Brooks is kidnapped before their very eyes, the players all believe this is the beginning of the game. Except it's very real, and Brooks is in deadly danger.

Tue
15
May

Ms Marvel coming to big screen?

From BBC:

Marvel have a new film "in the works" in the shape of Muslim superhero Ms Marvel.

It won't be the studio's first female-led film - Brie Larson is already set to enter the franchise as Captain Marvel in 2019.

Avengers Infinity War producer Kevin Feige told the BBC: "Ms. Marvel... is definitely sort of in the works."

He explained she is "another character in the comic books, the Muslim hero who is inspired by Captain Marvel".

Mon
14
May

Deadpool 2 Is Twice As Dark, Funny And Flawed As Before

Deadpool 2 opened May 11, 2016

Honestly, I’m not sure why we, the movie going people, do it to ourselves. We see a movie that we really enjoy, say, Deadpool and immediately we jump on social media and say how great it was and how we want more. The studios see that and they green-light a sequel if not more likely a full three to five movie franchise, by the end of which the lead actor will have become disillusioned with the long commitment, the writers ran of things to say about the character two films back, the critics complain that the sequel doesn’t break new ground in the industry while also criticizing it for being more of the same, which is ultimately what we, the movie going people, demanded in the first place, right? So really, you have no one to blame but yourselves for Deadpool 2. It is exactly what you wanted, and the critics of course loved it. Hey, waitaminute, that can’t be right.

Mon
07
May

Fortnite to add "Thanos mode!"

From Entertainment Weekly:

The Mad Titan is coming for Fortnite.

This isn’t one of those fun fan-made mashups for the YouTube crowd. Epic Games and Marvel have an unprecedented crossover event in the works, and EW can exclusively give away the deets! Thanos, the villain of Avengers: Infinity War, will drop into Fortnite‘s Battle Royale mode for a limited time starting Tuesday, May 8

...

The “Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup” mode for Battle Royale will feel just like a standard slugfest — with one major difference: One hundred players will descend upon the map and fight until one player is left standing, as usual, but this time you’ll do so with the Infinity Gauntlet in play.

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