Tag: Adria Arjona

Blink Twice (2024) | REVIEW

(L-R) Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum in Zoë Kravitz’s BLINK TWICE — PHOTO: Amazon MGM Studios / Warners Bros. International (Still image from the trailers).

Directed by Zoë Kravitz — Screenplay by Zoë Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum.

When I saw the directorial feature debut from actress-turned-filmmaker Zoë Kravitz, Blink Twice, the other night, the very last thing on the movie theater screen prior to the film starting was a relatively long statement meant to function as a trigger warning for the audience to prepare them for the potentially distressing themes and violence discussed and depicted in the film. Before I had sat down to watch the film, I had noticed that said trigger warning had gone viral on social media for how rare it is for a new release to feature such a warning in addition to the MPA rating. It’s certainly a modern addition, which is befitting of this film, as it is a very modern #MeToo-psychological thriller that mixes elements from so many recent films, such as Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, and, perhaps even, Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion. Though I, ultimately, thought the film was a relatively good directorial debut, I only really feel that it is as good or better than the first of those three films, with it not really holding a candle to the remaining two. 

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Hit Man (2024) | REVIEW

Glen Powell as Gary Johnson in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man — Photo: Brian Roedel / AGC Studios.

Directed by Richard Linklater — Screenplay by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell.

Loosely based on a Skip Hollandsworth magazine article from Texas Monthly, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man follows Gary Johnson (played by Glen Powell), a professor of psychology and philosophy who moonlights for the New Orleans police department during sting operations. While out on his second job, Gary is asked to step into a suspended colleague’s role as a fake hitman. It turns out that Gary, a slightly dorky professor with little-to-no social life, is a natural at pretending to be someone he is not, to improvise, and to get the criminals who had sought out the services of a hitman to confess to him that they want to order a murder from him. Not only is Gary a natural at it, but he also appears to love the thrill of it, as well as the ways he can come up with outfits and hitman-looks tailored to the ‘clients.’ As he becomes more and more comfortable being someone else, he, too, becomes a different person, and soon he becomes both sympathetic and attracted to one of his clients.

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REVIEW: 6 Underground (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of 6 Underground — Directed by Michael Bay.

If you think the Netflix film-catalog merely consists of Oscar bait and shoddy romantic-comedies, then Michael Bay’s 6 Underground is here to disprove that notion. While Netflix is releasing this year’s batch of awards-worthy dramas — like Marriage Story and The Irishman — they also have their complete antithesis, 6 Underground, ready for quick consumption. Its star, Ryan Reynolds, has been seen in marketing describing the film as the ‘most Michael Bay movie in the history of Michael Bay,’ thus promising an explosion-heavy, no-holds-barred modern action movie from one of the most commercially successful filmmakers in history. Reynolds’ description is apt, however, 6 Underground just isn’t a very good movie. Continue reading “REVIEW: 6 Underground (2019)” →