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 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 […]
Special Bonus Wonder Woman Review
[Editor’s note: Because of the importance the new movie Wonder Woman holds for women, we decided to publish a second review of the movie, this time written from the female perspective (you can read MauiTime movie critic Barry Wurst II’s original review here).] During the Oscars earlier this year, GE ran an ad that imagined […]
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 […]
Maui Filmmaker Kenneth K. Martinez Burgmaier to premiere his new film ‘2307: Winter’s Dream’
Imagine the year 2307. The Earth is frozen solid. The surface is uninhabitable. Life has moved underground. There, humanoid robots, originally built as slaves, are organizing a rebellion, and life hangs in the balance for a young kidnapped girl. Can a drugged-out, washed-up cop save her? Welcome to 2307: Winter’s Dream, a new science fiction […]
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 […]
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 New Movie Review
I knew Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was going to work from the first scene, which somehow gives audiences exactly what they want but offers a sly twist. The film opens with an intergalactic crew of space adventurers, led by Starlord (Chris Pratt, former Bubba Gump Shrimp Company server in Lahaina). Along with the […]
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Movie Review
The best reason to see Saturday Night Fever, either again or the first time, is that it’s probably not the movie you remember. When I bring up the disco-themed 1977 blockbuster, people immediately remember John Travolta tearing up the dance floor and little else. This is understandable, as Travolta’s thrilling, graceful dance moves, the Bee […]
MauiTime Summer Movie Preview 2017
A critic recently stated that movie theaters are overloaded with examples of “Corporate Cinema” and little else. There’s truth to that, especially in the thrill-seeking summer movie season. Between now and September, I’m not looking forward to catching the dueling look-how-hip-and-ultra-violent-we-are Baby Driver and Atomic Blonde. Nor the desperate, dueling Girls Gone Wild farces Girls Trip […]
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS New Movie Review
I found myself seeing the latest sequel to The Fast and the Furious on Easter Sunday, sitting next to Shea, my high school buddy. Shea loves to remind me that I took him to an early preview screening of the first movie in this series back in 2001. We were both living in Colorado at […]
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