Director Michael Bay made his filmmaking debut with Bad Boys 25 years ago and, with that medium-sized but exhilarating sleeper and the enjoyable The Rock, looked like a Tony Scott clone to watch for. Instead, with the release of Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and four rancid Transformers abominations, Bay solidified his reputation as America’s worst filmmaker. […]
Film Critique
Early 2020 Movie Preview: New Year, Not-So-New Movies
The 2020 movie year begins with The Grudge. That’s right, we’re starting a new decade of cinema with a remake of a hit movie from 2004, itself a remake of a great Japanese film from 2002. So much for original ideas. In fact, too many movies opening this year are remakes, sequels, prequels, and reboots, […]
‘Just Mercy’ New Movie Review: It leaves a haunting impact
Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy portrays the true story of how Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights attorney (played by Michael B. Jordan), began his career representing prisoners on death row. One of his clients, Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx) is awaiting his death sentence and has been locked up on dubious charges that the community around […]
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Bonus Movie Review: Something’s off, and it isn’t a Force disturbance
As with every Star Wars review I write, this will be mostly spoiler-free, though I’ve rarely composed a critique of an installment from this franchise that is also so enthusiasm-free. Speaking of spoilers, the opening crawl (the BIG WORDS that slowly inch up the screen, filling us in on the story, while John Williams’ glorious […]
Best of the Wurst 2019: The top films of the year
The year that Paradise Video, the last video store on Maui, finally closed is the same year everyone got addicted to Disney Plus. A sign of the times. Someone once sang that “Video Killed the Radio Star” and it seems, at the moment, that streaming online has taken over the leave-your-home, mingle-with-filmgoers experience…except it hasn’t. Not […]
‘1917’ New Movie Review: It has great cinematography, but not much else
During World War I, two soldiers (played by George Mackay and Dean-Charles Chapman) are assigned to notify 1,600 fellow servicemen across enemy lines that they are about to step into a trap in which they will be massacred. By now, everyone and their tutu knows that 1917, director Sam Mendes’ World War I epic, was […]
‘Richard Jewell’ New Movie Review: It’s a near-masterpiece
In a very short amount of time, director Clint Eastwood’s new film, Richard Jewell, has gone from being one of the year’s eagerly anticipated adult dramas to the most controversial film of 2019. To get right to the point, the controversy is merited, as the film is imperfect in some ways – but don’t let […]
‘Knives Out’ Movie Review: It’s a forgettable whodunit
At the start of writer/director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, a famed mystery novelist (played by Christopher Plummer) has been murdered and everyone in his family is a suspect. A pair of detectives (played by LaKeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) and a wild card crime solver (played by Daniel Craig) interrogate each family member and learn […]
‘Jojo Rabbit’ Bonus New Movie Review
One of the great stories in cinema lore is Jerry Lewis’ 1972 The Day the Clown Cried, in which the comic legend and actor/director helmed a World War II internment comedy that has never been released. It stars Lewis as Helmut, a clown who is arrested by the S.S. and mistakenly placed in the Auschwitz […]
‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ New Movie Review: It’s a film for all of us
In the new film from director Marielle Heller (whose Can You Ever Forgive Me? was a sleeper last year), Matthew Rhys stars as Lloyd, an Esquire Magazine writer assigned to cover Fred Rogers (played by Tom Hanks). Lloyd’s volatile relationship with his father (played by Chris Cooper, in a vivid turn) has made him a […]
‘Frozen II’ New Movie Review: The songs are duds
If you’re 12 years old or younger, then you’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Frozen II. Of course, that doesn’t mean adults won’t show up, too: I sat in a packed theater on opening day, visibly the only solo grown-up in a sea of kids and their parents. Yes, I have a little girl […]
‘Charlie’s Angel’s’ New Movie Review: It has an identity crisis
Back when Gerald Ford was president and people drank something out of a carton called Tang, there was once a TV series called “Charlie’s Angels.” It entailed the adventures of three gorgeous agents, played by Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith, who fought crime and answered to a mysterious benefactor named Charlie (voiced by […]
‘Doctor Sleep’ New Movie Review: It may be divisive among “shine-hards,” but it’s an impressive film
Danny Torrance, the little boy from The Shining, is a grown man (and now played by Ewan McGregor). Like his father, Danny is an alcoholic with a frightening temper. A harrowing mistake leads him adrift from one state to another, though Danny can neither outrun his past nor his psychic ability to “shine.” He meets […]
‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ New Movie Review: James Cameron, the Governator, and Sarah Connor are back!
At the start of Terminator: Dark Fate, old and new come crashing together. The former comes in familiar doses of clips, both vintage (we once again get Linda Hamilton’s terrifying monologue about the end of the world) and reconfigured (a beach provides a Normandy-like robot invasion). The latter is served in a startling introductory scene, […]
‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ New Movie Review: Never make a sequel to a comedy classic
The last time we were in Zombieland, it was a decade ago and our group of heroes had survived a massive zombie attack in an amusement park. Now, the gun-toting, Twinkie-loving Tallahassee (played by Woody Harrelson), brainy and neurotic Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg), stern Wichita (played by Emma Stone), and fed-up Little Rock (played […]
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil New Movie Review – Another unjustified sequel
I don’t see movies more than once in the theater and usually avoid repeat viewings of the films I like for a few years. I do this because I want the repeat experiences to feel fresh and also, I see so many movies that I don’t really have the time to watch the same ones […]