A happy couple (played by Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto) find their lives forever changed when their daughter, Annabelle, dies a horrible, violent death. Twelve years pass and the late Annabelle’s parents have converted their home into an orphanage. It houses a cluster of girls, including Linda, the youngest (played by Lulu Wilson) and her […]
THE DARK TOWER New Movie Review
A boy named Jake (well played by Tom Taylor) has a tortured home life and is known in school for his troubling behavior. Jake dreams of a place called Mid-World, where a supernatural gunslinger named Roland of Gilead (played by Idris Elba) pursues Walter, a vile magician (played by Matthew McConaughey). Known as “The Man […]
ATOMIC BLONDE New Movie Review
Atomic Blonde stars Charlize Theron as Lorraine, a well-trained spy who kills a lot of bad men in 1989 Berlin. Her latest mission, set around the fall of the Berlin Wall, involves joining up with her sketchy colleague Percival (played by James McAvoy). How tough is Lorraine? After each bad guy tussle, she ends her day in […]
Paradise Video: What it’s like to run Maui’s last video store
The video rental store is dead… mostly. Bi-monthly reports surface that the few remaining movie rental stores (which now loan out DVDs and Blu-rays instead of videocassettes) are either gone or struggling for survival. Although a handful of legendary, vast, fan-favorite shops like Scarecrow Video in Seattle are still going strong, the multi-leveled The Video […]
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Old Movie Review
I loved almost every minute of my high school experience (particularly my senior year) but know I’m in the minority. Most movies about high school aren’t about what really happened but a fantasy of what we wish it were like. On the other hand, there’s Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Jennifer Jason Leigh […]
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES New Movie Review
Too many movies released this summer are best described as being almost-good, which is hardly enough to get excited about. On the other hand, while Matt Reeves’ War For the Planet of the Apes overreaches in the final stretch, it comes this-close to being a masterpiece. The third in a trilogy that started with Rupert […]
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING New Movie Review
Spider-Man: Homecoming begins awkwardly, as white collar bureaucrats undermine a group of blue collar workers who are cleaning post-battle superhero rubble. We meet Michael Keaton’s central villain, who takes advantage of the position by stealing alien technology. What follows is “a film by Peter Parker,” showing the young Parker/Spider-Man meeting Tony Stark (played by an […]
BABY DRIVER New Movie Review
Ansel Elgort stars as Baby, a getaway driver who works for a wealthy slimeball (Kevin Spacey). Baby is the best there is, as no cop can catch him and he’s never blown an assignment. His hearing impairment, a “hum in the drum,” makes him reliant on music to keep his rhythm sharp and daily life […]
ALL EYEZ ON ME New Movie Review
I’ve been waiting years for a definitive Tupac Shakur movie. After watching All Eyez on Me, it’s clear I’ll have to keep waiting. Shakur, my pick for the greatest rap artist who ever lived, died at 25. His cadence was fierce and aggressive, while his lyrics were hard hitting but often playful and clever (“And […]
‘Kuleana’ filmmaker Brian Kohne talks about his film’s Maui Film Festival premiere
When I met up with filmmaker Brian Kohne for lunch in the conference room of Tasty Crust in Wailuku, he admitted it was his first time ever being in that room. “Kathy Collins and I come here for lunch to talk story, but I’ve never been in here,” he said. It filled me with pride to […]
KULEANA New Movie Review
Brian Kohne’s eagerly awaited Kuleana is a film island audiences deserve but might not be expecting. The only quality this has in common with Get a Job, Kohne’s goofball, debut 2011 indie comedy is a wealth of cameo appearances by local Maui celebrities and personalities. Otherwise, everything in Kohne’s sophomore effort is far more polished […]
THE MUMMY New Movie Review
Tom Cruise is the king of summer movies. Just look at Risky Business, Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Far & Away, The Firm, Minority Report, Collateral, War of the Worlds, Tropic Thunder and Mission Impossible 1-5 if you don’t believe me. His image as an action hero movie star has overshadowed what a great, risk-taking […]
WONDER WOMAN New Movie Review
Early into Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, a tell-all photograph surfaces, introducing us to Wonder Woman. More specifically, it’s a picture found by Bruce Wayne, proving the mystery woman he encountered, Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot) is not only ageless but an Amazonian warrior who once had an adventure during World War I. […]
THE GODFATHER Old Movie Review
The opening moments of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather are like a dream coming into focus, as we’re pulled into another world and drawn in with rich, enticing storytelling. A man named Bonasera is addressing Don Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando), the elderly “Godfather” mob boss whose daughter, Connie (Talia Shire), is having an […]
ALIEN: COVENANT New Movie Review
It’s been about a decade since filmmaker Ridley Scott made the unguarded comment about making an Alien prequel. He was reflecting on Alien, only his second movie in a career marked with milestones, and thinking aloud what a prequel would be like. He imagined a focus on the Alien planet, going back to that mysterious spaceship […]
SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT Old Movie Review
At one point in U.S. pop culture, redneck mania was all the rage. During the late 1970s, C.W. McCall’s “Convoy” was the number one song in America, The Dukes of Hazzard became the most popular TV show on the airwaves and Burt Reynolds’ Smokey and the Bandit emerged a gigantic hit. How big? After Star […]
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