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 […]
RAMPAGE New Movie Review
Early into Peter Berg’s still-fantastic 2003 action/comedy The Rundown, Dwayne Johnson walks into a bar (stop me if you’ve heard this one) and bumps into Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ah-Nuld taps Johnson on the shoulder, says, “Have fun in there” and literally walks out of Johnson’s movie. The moment is a symbolic gesture on Schwarzenegger’s part, as […]
A QUIET PLACE New Movie Review
The introductory scenes of A Quiet Place allow the audience to enter a world so intriguing that many will find themselves obeying the film’s core rule to remain silent. The film opens on “Day 89” of a world where humankind appears to have either gone missing or become mostly extinct. As a man (played by […]
READY PLAYER ONE New Movie Review
In 2045, Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan) escapes from his dreary reality by entering a virtual reality world called The Oasis. While everyone living in Watt’s home of The Stacks (with living quarters of trailers and junk piled high and tight) plays in this digital world, Watts is attempting to uncover a puzzle within […]
PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING New Movie Review
Following the events of Pacific Rim, Guillermo Del Toro’s charmless, bloated 2013 film, the world has been rid of the gigantic Kaiju monsters and the massive Jaeger robots are no longer needed. At least, that’s how it is for a few minutes of Pacific Rim: Uprising, in which John Boyega stars as the son of […]
TOMB RAIDER New Movie Review
Does anyone really want to see Lara Croft’s origin story? Specifically, do we really care about the life of one of the all-time most famous video game characters, before she was super-cool? Think about this for a moment. If you imagine Croft as intelligent, attractive and fierce, wearing shorts and a tank top while scaling […]
THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT New Movie Review
Ten years later, somebody finally made a sequel to the horror hit The Strangers and proved that, once again, some movies absolutely do not need a sequel. Here, a family of four (led by Mad Men star Christina Hendricks and Martin Henderson, the lead in the Ice Cube-led fiasco Torque) go on a road trip […]
RED SPARROW New Movie Review
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Dominika, a Russian Bolshoi Ballet dancer whose promising career is cut painfully short. An onstage injury redirects Dominika into a life of spying, as her uncle (played by Matthias Schoenaerts) enlists her in the Russian intelligence-sponsored “Sparrow” program. Dominika must endure living in a remote location, where she is trained to […]
ANNIHILATION New Movie Review
Writer/director Alex Garland’s Annihilation is about duality, specifically the uncomfortable contrast between suicide and self-destruction. Because it’s a such a predictable, lumbering and thoroughly unpleasant film, it seems to have much less on its mind. Natalie Portman portrays Lena, a soldier turned biologist who’s abducted and forced to take part in a bizarre mission. Three […]
THE DARK CRYSTAL Old Movie Review
Jim Henson had nothing to prove when he made The Dark Crystal. In fact, as legacies go, his was already staggering. At that point in his career, having been the creative force behind Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and the still-magical The Muppet Movie, Henson came across like the cuddlier, wilder Walt Disney. Henson’s works […]
FIFTY SHADES FREED New Movie Review
So here we are, the third film based on the publishing sensation, created by E.L. James as Twilight fan fiction, which she transformed into a trio of hilariously crappy “books.” Hearing my wife read me aloud passages of those unfathomable bestsellers was such a riot that we’ve gone to every one of these movies on […]
The Main Event: First Responders, The Special Olympics and Casey Gamiao’s Journey
On a warm February evening in Wailuku, a group of teenagers and a few scattered adults are sitting on the floor of an open garage. They’re preparing for battle. Many are dressed in martial arts gis and listen attentively as Clyde Holokai reads a Bible verse–James 2:17–which explores the subject of “faith without works.” Following […]
WINCHESTER New Movie Review
My wife Julia first told me about the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. She told me how, as a child, her mother took her and her siblings there, which has 160 rooms, trap doors and passages and stairs leading nowhere. The massive house, full of random, puzzling touches meant to confuse ghosts, is […]
PHANTOM THREAD New Movie Review
Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread is set in post-World War II London and centers around an upscale clothing designer named Reynolds Woodcock (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). While Woodcock’s clothing is gorgeous, lush and exquisite, his life has a hermetically sealed quality, as his daily schedule, work habits and tolerance for anyone outside his home is […]
HOSTILES New Movie Review
The opening scene of Scott Cooper’s Hostiles is so unflinchingly harsh and violent, it may cause some audience members to check out early. In the establishing moments, we meet Rosalie Quaid (played by Rosamund Pike), as she’s homeschooling her children while her husband sits close by. Since the setting is 1892 and their home is […]
I, TONYA New Movie Review
I remember vividly watching the 1994 Olympic figure skating competition, if only because it presented a match the whole world was eager to witness. After overcoming a mysterious assailant who clubbed her in the knee cap, Nancy Kerrigan returned to the ice and skated her heart out. Competing against her was Tonya Harding, who many […]
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