Category: Movie Reviews

REVIEW: Tully (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster — Focus Features

The following is a review of Tully — Directed by Jason Reitman.

I think none of us truly understand how hard it is to be a full-time mother, at least not before our friends, close relatives, or ourselves become parents. In a way, full-time mothers are the strongest of us, and sometimes they even exhaust themselves without asking for help — something they absolutely should be able to ask for, just like husbands should be expected to take on more responsibilities than is the norm. Continue reading “REVIEW: Tully (2018)” →

REVIEW: Deadpool 2 (2018)

Release poster — 20th Century Fox

The following is a review of Deadpool 2 — Directed by David Leitch.

I was a big fan of Tim Miller’s Deadpool. Miller’s directorial debut somehow exceeded my expectations. It was an immature but hilarious superhero movie that found a lot of success in poking fun at its own subgenre, even though it still suffered from some of the same problems as the lesser films in its subgenre. What made me love the film, however, was the central love story, which was the driving force of the origin story. Continue reading “REVIEW: Deadpool 2 (2018)” →

RETRO REVIEW: Before Sunset (2004)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Independent Pictures

The following is a retro review of Before Sunset — Directed by Richard Linklater.

There is a quote in this movie that sort of explains very well the differences between the outlook of Before Sunrise and the worldview of Before Sunset. Very late in the film, Celine tells Jesse that “reality and love are almost contradictory to me.” In Before Sunset, one character has absorbed the romance that another had previously exuded but now is almost absent of. 

Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: Before Sunset (2004)” →

RETRO REVIEW: Before Sunrise (1995)

Theatrical Release Poster – Columbia Pictures

The following is a retro review of Before Sunrise — Directed by Richard Linklater.

For the longest time, I had wanted to finally watch Richard Linklater’s critically acclaimed Before Trilogy, but I somehow never found the time — until now. This week, I watched the trilogy from start to finish over the course of maybe 30 hours. One of the greatest surprises about this Before Trilogy marathon was how hard I fell in love with the elegant young love story that Linklater presented in the first film about the unlikely lovers, Celine and Jesse.

Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: Before Sunrise (1995)” →

REVIEW: Utøya 22. Juli (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Nordisk Film

The following is a review of Utøya 22. Juli — Directed by Erik Poppe.

On July 22nd 2011, Norway was attacked by the terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. He began by detonating a bomb in Norway’s capital, before he went to the island Utøya and shot and killed dozens of young men and women from a political youth organization. Now, almost seven years later, Norwegian director Erik Poppe has made a film about the Utøya massacre. Continue reading “REVIEW: Utøya 22. Juli (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Week Of (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of The Week Of — Directed by Robert Smigel.

Although Adam Sandler is in (and is great in) Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Limited), which is a film that Netflix acquired the distribution rights to, the straight-to-Netflix Adam Sandler films — the true Netflix productions — haven’t exactly been great. When I saw the first trailer for The Week Of — his latest Netflix original film — I was convinced that this would be an improvement on films like The Do-Over and The Ridiculous Six. I was wrong.
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REVIEW: Kodachrome (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Kodachrome — Directed by Mark Raso.

Kodachrome is a road trip drama film based on a New York Times-article. The film follows record executive Matt Ryder (played by Jason Sudeikis) who has fallen out of favor with his boss, but to keep his job Matt has promised his boss that he will manage to sign the band Spare Sevens, even though that is probably never happening. Continue reading “REVIEW: Kodachrome (2018)” →

REVIEW: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

The following is a review of Avengers: Infinity War — Directed by The Russo Brothers.

“To challenge them is to court death,” the Other, a servant, said to the ‘Mad Titan’ Thanos in the mid-credits scene of 2012’s The Avengers, which was the culmination of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Four years earlier, at the end of 2008’s Iron Man, the mysterious Nick Fury kicked-off the cinematic universe by telling Tony Stark about the ‘Avengers Initiative.’ A lot has happened since then — misfits and unlikely heroes have teamed up to save foreign worlds, a teenage wall-crawler has protected his neighborhood, and long-lasting friendships have been torn apart by the actions of a brainwashed super-soldier. Continue reading “REVIEW: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Director and the Jedi (2018 – Documentary)

The following is a review of The Director and the Jedi — Directed by Anthony Wonke.

You can’t talk about Star Wars right now. I mean, sure, you have the ability to talk about the franchise, but the vocal minority of the Star Wars fandom has become rather toxic. As someone once put it, no one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans. As a big Star Wars fan, I had always disagreed with that notion, but the first fan reaction that made me realize the truth in that phrase was the reaction to Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Director and the Jedi (2018 – Documentary)” →

REVIEW: Rampage (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of Rampage — Directed by Brad Peyton.

Rampage is an action film based on the video game series of the same name that re-teams star Dwayne Johnson with director Brad Peyton, with whom Johnson made 2012’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and the 2015 disaster film San Andreas. Continue reading “REVIEW: Rampage (2018)” →