Tag: Film Review

REVIEW: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The following is a review of Mary Poppins Returns — Directed by Rob Marshall.

Whether P. L. Travers liked it or not, Robert Stevenson’s Mary Poppins is a recognized children’s’ musical classic. Though not exactly timeless, I think it is remarkable that both my mother and my sister and I all grew up watching Stevenson’s film. When I rewatched Mary Poppins recently, I must admit that I did not love it like I’ve been told I did when I was a child. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)” →

REVIEW: Destroyer (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Annapurna Pictures

The following is a review of Destroyer — Directed by Karyn Kusama.

In the first scenes of Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer, a seemingly inebriated LAPD detective, Erin Bell (played by Nicole Kidman), walks onto the scene of a crime to investigate what colleagues of her’s think of what happened to a murder victim with three dots in the back of his neck. What follows is a labyrinthine narrative complete with twists and shoot-outs as we learn what events made Bell, a former undercover officer, into a disheveled and visibly weathered revenge-seeking rogue detective. Continue reading “REVIEW: Destroyer (2018)” →

REVIEW: Creed II (2018)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The following is a review of Creed II — Directed by Steven Caple, Jr.

Back in early July this year, I watched and reviewed the highly anticipated sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario. The sequel subtitled Day of the Soldado was directed by Stefano Sollima and his film provided us with a perfect example of just how wrong it can go when you make a change in the director’s chair for a sequel. Day of the Soldado was offensive and hollow, and it is one of the biggest film disappointments of the year for me. Continue reading “REVIEW: Creed II (2018)” →

REVIEW: Bird Box (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Bird Box — Directed by Susanne Bier.

The post-apocalyptic novel upon which Susanne Bier’s film of the same name, Bird Box, is based came out in 2014. So, let’s just get one thing out of the way, its ideas, though perhaps stale in a world where A Quiet Place just came out months ago, do not deserve to be cast aside just because Krasinski beat Bier to the punch. Besides, A Quiet Place isn’t even the film Bird Box resembles the most. Continue reading “REVIEW: Bird Box (2018)” →

REVIEW: Roma (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Roma — Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

There was something very nice and special about my experience of watching Alfonso Cuarón’s latest drama on Netflix, the sole distributor of this film. This is a streaming platform that hopes to be able to take this Mexican heartbreaker all the way to the Academy Awards. Netflix gets a lot of criticism from the film community and, for a lot of it, it is well-earned. Their logo is bright red-on-white, its logo’s sound effect is loud and intrusive, and once the film comes to an end you are yanked away by the service to watch the trailer for some other Netflix Original, thus rushing you out of the experience of sitting with a film, taking it in properly, during the final credits. Continue reading “REVIEW: Roma (2018)” →

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Sony Pictures Releasing

The following is a review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

The late, great, legendary film critic Roger Ebert opened his review of my favorite Spider-Man film, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, with the line: “Now this is what a superhero movie should be,” a sentence that feels pretty appropriate to use today when describing the first of, likely, many theatrically released Sony Pictures Animation Spider-Man-related films because Into the Spider-Verse is a special movie in virtually every way imaginable.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)” →

REVIEW: Aquaman (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of Aquaman — Directed by James Wan

If you are reading this as a die-hard Aquaman-fan, I’m sorry but I have to start off my review like this: I’ve never thought that highly of the character. I didn’t make dumb water-jokes about him, but, for the longest time, the first things I thought about when I heard someone mention ‘Aquaman’ was, first, Alan Ritchson in CW’s Smallville and, then, the fake James Cameron film from HBO’s Entourage. Continue reading “REVIEW: Aquaman (2018)” →

REVIEW: The House That Jack Built (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster (Director) — TrustNordisk / Zentropa / IFC Films

The following is a review of The House That Jack Built — Directed by Lars Von Trier.

I have in a previous review described Lars Von Trier, the controversial Danish auteur, as a ‘true auteur mad man,’ and I’ve thought of him as the devil on Danish director Jørgen Leth’s shoulder guiding his every move in the fascinating documentary The Five Obstructions. He has been accused of sexual harassment, some people think he is a misogynist, and he has made a fool of himself by joking about his own identity, Naziism, and Israel. I’m not sure he cares whether or not you like him, and I’m sure he’d say that he’s perfectly happy knowing that his films divide audiences.
Continue reading “REVIEW: The House That Jack Built (2018)” →

REVIEW: A Star is Born (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of A Star is Born — Directed by Bradley Cooper.

There is a scene towards the end of the film, where Sam Elliott’s character gives a speech about twelve notes, an octave, and the same story being told over and over again. This feels like first-time director Bradley Cooper’s attempt to justify remaking the A Star is Born story for the third time — the industry is cyclical and only the artists can make new attempts unique.
Continue reading “REVIEW: A Star is Born (2018)” →

REVIEW: Widows (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – 20th Century Fox

The following is a review of Widows — Directed by Steve McQueen.

Based on Linda La Plante’s 1980s crime drama of the same name, Widows is only the fourth feature film from Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and BFI Fellowship-winning film director Steve McQueen, who has now teamed up with crime writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl & Sharp Objects). After having made films about Irish history, sex addiction, and the American history of slavery, McQueen’s latest film tackles themes such as class, politics, and gender via an audience-pleasing genre. Continue reading “REVIEW: Widows (2018)” →