Nineteen years later, filmmaker M Night Shyamalan has finally closed his Unbreakable trilogy. Sam Jackson and Bruce Willis do not skip a beat, re-entering their seminal early 00s characters while James McAvoy expands upon his already career-high performance as The Horde. Shyamalan’s final entry to the journey of David Dunn, Elijah Price, and Kevin Wendell…
A bit too long-winded but still quite entertaining and definitely constructed with considerable narrative skill and cinematic style, Bad Times at the El Royale is a stylish neo-noir mystery that benefits from a great soundtrack, terrific production design (Marin Whist), and slick cinematography (Seamus McGarvey), with strong performances from a cool ensemble. The less you…
Karyn Kusama’s hardcore police drama Destroyer, from a jumbled yet effective script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, allowed Nicole Kidman to get down and dirty as she’s never been on-screen, with the veteran actress dropping a studied performance that fits right in line with the demands of the cynical, modern day, cop movie formula,…
Vice, the spectacular new film from writer/director Adam McKay, is such a sucker-punch that you can feel the sly presence of everyone involved who collaborated on this motion picture, in every frame. It’s big, it’s sprawling, it’s wickedly clever, and it’s extremely funny. But, what’s most disturbing is that at no point should you ever…
James Wan’s Aquaman is the precise injection that Warner Brothers needed after their inconsistent handling of the DCEU; it is an incredibly fun adventure film stocked full of fantastical world building, an interwoven storyline, and a great ensemble that delivers with colorful performances. Aquaman is everything a comic book movie should be and is one…
Sylvester Stallone has lived a dual life in 2018. He gave us Creed II while also completing filming on Rambo: The Last Blood, but he also has starred in a few direct to VOD flicks. The first, Escape Plan 2, was a monumental disappointment, especially for those who enjoyed the first film, and his latest,…
If Beale Street Could Talk, which serves as Barry Jenkins’ confident follow-up to his Oscar winning Moonlight, is a bittersweet romantic drama that further underscores the racial divide in America, whether it be from decades previous, or right now in the moment. The film takes a perceptive (and saddening) look at how race defines everything…
John Huston’s The Man Who Would be King is a cinematic feat. It is a remarkable fable, tracking two con men as well as adventures who trek deep into a dangerous land with the design of ruling a region where white men have not set foot since Alexander the Great. The film encompasses engrossing performances,…
I’m always intrigued by the prospect of a new film from Gus Van Sant, and his darkly comedic 2018 indie Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot is a further reminder of how natural and versatile he is as a storyteller. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, the film is based on the life of John Callahan,…
Let’s just imagine for a second that The Inbetweeners left Joe Thomas who plays Simon alone at a music festival for a bit and we have the movie The Festival. Full of shit, piss and all sorts of childish jokes I still had a big grin on my face like a little child throughout this…
Take all the action of The Raid and throw it into the confines of a fighting ring and you have Undisputed Fight for Freedom! Infamous Russian MMA fighter Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins) returns to the ring this winter to fight for the highest stakes yet. When an accidental death makes Boyka question everything he stands…
Juliet, Naked is the sort of traditional and appealing romantic comedy that has been entertaining audiences for years. We’ve seen the formula before and we roughly know the ultimate outcome; it’s the journey of getting there that has to be unique enough to make it all worthwhile, and that’s why this movie succeeds. Directed by…
If there was ever a film that demanded to be seen by as many people as possible, it would be Blindspotting, the absolutely ferocious debut from director Carlos Lopez Estrada and the supremely talented writing and acting team of Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, who have teamed up to create something strikingly alive and volatile,…
Some will say that Lars von Trier’s latest film, The House that Jack Built is an overly self-indulgent ego stroke, sprinkled throughout with self-gratifying homages. Others will say that the film is a unique and important work of art. Both are right. Lars von Trier does what he does best, taking the audience through a…
Creed II was able to achieve something that Rocky II was unable to do; parlay all the emotion and success from the first film and create a sequel that surpasses the first. The next installment of the Rocky franchise is a surreal experience. The emotional linchpin of the film is the father and son story…
Five years after the tragic death of Paul Walker a brand new feature-length documentary sheds some light on the actor’s private life and his unwanted (for the most part) rise to fame. I Am Paul Walker combines interviews with family and friends of Paul with never-before-seen footage including audio, photos and home video from his…
