Horror films have different effects on different people. Personally, I'm a challenging cinephile to shock, but I still have an infinite respect for material that can clearly be recognized as frightening and well made. That in mind, director Andres Muschietti's IT made me feel something that I haven't felt since probably when I first saw The Witch. As I watched Bill Skarsgard's wholly disturbing clown, Pennywise, simultaneously terrorize on-screen children and the audience around me, I was filled with a juxtaposing, wonderful joy. It's not only exciting to see a movie that can elicit such an impressive visceral reaction, but also create a rich, cinematic world that somehow manages to be both terrifying and inviting...
Read moreWar For The Planet Of The Apes Review
With WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, as the title suggest, war is the status quo. Director Matt Reeves returns (co-writing this film, along with Mark Bomback, who also had a hand in scripting DAWN) in what is hands down the boldest and bleakest APES entry yet, once again shifting the focus further into the world of the apes...
Read moreWonder Woman Review
Simply put, Wonder Woman is magnificent, epic storytelling on a grand scale, but turns intimate in a heartbeat, swelling with emotion and vigor, and graced with a performance by Gal Gadot that has no comparison, except perhaps to the iconic work of Christopher Reeve in the original Superman: The Movie...
Read morePirates Of The Carribean: Dean Men Tell No Tales (mini review)
Like the ocean it takes place on, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has had plenty of ups and downs. These metaphorical seas have been so rough, in fact, that some people don’t even remember there was a fourth film in 2011, On Stranger Tides, even though it grossed a billion dollars worldwide. I’m happy to say the fifth film, Dead Men Tell No Tales, is probably the best film in the franchise since the very first movie... even though that’s not a particularly high bar. This film definitely reminded me why I both love and HATE these movies...
Read moreAlien Covenant Review
Roaring back into multiplexes at age 79 like he’s got something to prove, Ridley Scott has handed down to us the goriest, and what’s more, the largest chapter of the Alien saga yet. The original remains the franchise’s most fastidiously orchestrated work of craft, and James Cameron’s Aliens gave the series its most cathartic action showstoppers. Covenant, to its credit and detriment, is simply the most...
Read moreLOGAN: A Love Letter
I was expecting the movie to be well-made and badass just by virtue of director James Mangold's involvement, but I wasn't expecting it to be so emotionally compelling...
Read moreJOHN WICK: Chapter 2 Review
Walking in to see Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter 2, I had one principal concern. Great as the first film had been, I was worried that the filmmakers -- many of them part of the stunt community -- would use the follow-up to further emphasize the amazing action and downplay the detailed world of assassins that had been designed in the original movie. Because I know others will share this concern, I will address this directly: that is absolutely not the kind of sequel that audiences are being delivered in John Wick: Chapter Two, as we have instead received a movie that blissfully accentuates everything that is excellent about its predecessor...
Read moreBest Films Of 2016
I’m the damned fool who waits until the year actually ends before rolling out my Best Of… list every year, and that’s because I’m often able to squeeze in about a dozen or more films in the last few weeks of December, mostly stuff that others have told me is worth checking out that I either o or things that simply never came out locally. I also tend to do a great deal of re-watching in that timeframe, mostly in an effort to solidify my top 10...
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