I remember once, when I was a boy, sitting with my Grandma as she flipped the dial and channel surfed her way into Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It was a warm afternoon in her Florida condo and she had a tendency to suck me into watching whatever program she settled on (in fact, this was how I […]
SICARIO: DAY OF SOLDADO New Movie Review
It didn’t seem like we needed a sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 Sicario, in which Emily Blunt’s FBI agent takes on Mexican cartels alongside federal agents (played by Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin) who seem every bit as shady as the drug lords they were taking down. We especially didn’t need a sequel in […]
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM New Movie Review
One of the key elements missing from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the audience’s vicarious exploration of a fantastic theme park. The unbeatable 1993 original and 2015’s Jurassic World offered a sense of awe, not only towards reanimated dinosaurs, but also in its depiction of a lavish, fascinating science lab and family-friendly ride that shows […]
SUPERFLY New Movie Review
This remake of the 1970s blaxploitation classic is neither super nor fly Two Stars Rated R / 116 Min. Trevor Jackson takes on the role of Priest, a slick drug dealer in Atlanta, Georgia with plans to step away after “one last, big score.” His best friend Eddie, played by Jason Mitchell, doesn’t believe Priest […]
Of Mice and Manliness: Talking story with Maui business owner, bodybuilder, actor and director Jim Oxborrow
At Ox Pro-Fitness, the sleek and enticing new supplements store in Kihei, you’ll find a telling comic book ad, framed and sitting by itself on a shelf. It’s the Charles Atlas classic, in which a cheerful muscleman asks a bullied wimp, “Hey kid, are you tired of getting sand kicked in your face?” The genie-like […]
HEREDITARY New Movie Review
‘Hereditary’ Inherits Too Much Stick with the Maui Film Festival if you want something fresh Toni Collette stars as Annie, an artist and mother who is introduced attending her mother’s funeral. Annie has an outgoing, teenaged stoner son (played by a very good Alex Wolff), a younger, introverted, socially awkward daughter (played by a mesmerizing […]
‘Passionately Created, Intelligently Designed and Endlessly Inspiring’ – Talking story with Maui Film Festival’s Founder, Barry Rivers
Explaining the appeal of the Maui Film Festival is as easy as selling a double scoop chocolate ice cream cone to a child. It’s all about that first night at the Celestial Cinema: the audience sits outside on a warm night, surrounded by hundreds of filmgoers, taking part in a cinematic Woodstock. Although the event […]
UPGRADE New Movie Review
‘Upgrade’ is Undone The mindless violence feels like watching your roommate play ‘Call of Duty’ Logan Marshall-Green stars in Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade, playing Grey, a quadriplegic who is given the opportunity to walk again. Not only is the protagonist granted mobility, but the microchip implanted in his spine – named STEM – gives him amazing […]
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY New Movie Review
Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story had more obstacles to avoid than the Millennium Falcon flying through an asteroid field. Here is the inevitable Han Solo prequel adventure, sans Harrison Ford, with promising newcomer Alden Ehrenreich (the scene stealer of Hail Caesar!) taking over the role of the “scruffy lookin’ nerf herder,” scoundrel-pilot. In […]
DEADPOOL 2 New Movie Review
The opening credits of Deadpool 2, which come late into the film, are accompanied by imagery out of a James Bond opening and set to a Celine Dion song. The new Dion tune, “Ashes,” is really good and sincere, which is what makes the sequence even funnier. Despite a new director (the talented David Leitch […]
Summer Movie Preview 2018
Let’s talk box office. The amount of money a movie makes doesn’t always mean the film is good (case in point, the wretched $300 million-grossing Suicide Squad). Summer movies tend to draw more attention to their typically massive opening weekend gross than their quality. On occasion, the movies are as good as the money we […]
TULLY New Movie Review
The early scenes of Jason Reitman’s Tully are so convincing that they will create anxiety for the new parents in the audience. We observe Marlo (played by Charlize Theron) struggling to raise her troubled son, give attention to her older daughter, survive the final months of her third pregnancy and please Drew, her barely-there husband […]
‘Go For Broke’ on Maui: We talk story with Stacey Hayashi
Oahu filmmaker’s Stacey Hayashi’s lifelong dream to tell the story of the 442nd, the WWII Regimental Combat Team made up of Nisei Japanese-American soldiers, began with a comic book. In 2012, Hayashi and illustrate Damon Wong published Journey of Heroes. Hayashi’s initial achievement led to a far more ambitious plan, in which her 45-page graphic novel […]
GO FOR BROKE New Movie Review
The ever-growing definition of a “comic book movie” expands in a deeply meaningful way with the creation of Go For Broke. Directed by Alexander Bocchieri (a helmer of short films, making his feature length debut) and written/produced by Stacey Hayashi, this made-in-Hawai‘i, World War II drama depicts the lives of young Japanese-American men living in […]
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR New Movie Review
Disney/Marvel is releasing their Avengers: Infinity War on the 10th anniversary of their lavish, mammoth successful experiment, the creation of the Marvel Comic Universe. It began a decade ago with the still-wonderful Iron Man and now concludes with this new phase. While the films themselves are hit and miss, the overall goal of the MCU […]
LABYRINTH Old Movie Review
Jim Henson’s 1986 musical/fantasy Labyrinth is a cult film in the purest sense. There’s nothing contrived or expected about the Renaissance this film has experienced. Like all great movies that acquire belated devotion after their disastrous initial release, this one began its film life as a crushing failure. Despite being produced by George Lucas, directed […]
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