Tag: Michael Cera

‘A Minecraft Movie,’ ‘The Phoenician Scheme,’ ‘After the Hunt,’ ‘F1,’ and ‘Jay Kelly’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures); The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features / Universal); After the Hunt (Amazon MGM / Sony Pictures Releasing).
Bottom Row (L-R): F1 (Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple TV+); Jay Kelly (Netflix).

Oh my, we’re back again! In this edition of additional bite-sized reviews – my recurring blog post series highlighting films that I want to share my thoughts on, but that I, crucially, don’t have time enough to cover in a more lengthy full review — I’ll tell you what I think about 1) one of the biggest theater hits of the year, 2) Wes Anderson’s latest flick, 3) Guadagnino’s most recent feature film, 4) Brad Pitt’s racing movie, and 5) Noah Baumbach’s big George Clooney-vehicle. As is often the case, most, if not all, of these bite-sized reviews may have been seen early on my Letterboxd account, so do note that you can get a sneak peek at my future reviews over there. Let’s get to it!

Continue reading “‘A Minecraft Movie,’ ‘The Phoenician Scheme,’ ‘After the Hunt,’ ‘F1,’ and ‘Jay Kelly’ | Bite-Sized Reviews” →

The Running Man (2025) | REVIEW

Glen Powell (as Ben Richards) in disguise in THE RUNNING MAN — PHOTO: Paramount Pictures (still image from trailers).

Directed by Edgar Wright — Screenplay by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright.

The British writer-director Edgar Wright has a fairly significant fanbase, and I think of myself as part of that fanbase. Ever since he burst onto the scene with his second feature, Shaun of the Dead, the first film in his Cornetto trilogy, Wright has been widely praised for his distinctive brand of comedy and his distinctive visual inventiveness that has seen his film stand out for their comedically fast and/or precise editing or the way the films sometimes are paired extraordinarily well with music, with Baby Driver being his best example of that. His latest effort as a director is an adaptation of Stephen King’s sci-fi novel (written under a pseudonym), The Running Man, which was previously adapted into an Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action vehicle (despite being a product of its time, it does have its moments, as well as a very good performance from Richard Dawson). It is a story that I can totally understand why it is being put on the big screen again, because that Schwarzenegger flick can be improved upon. Does Wright succeed with that challenge? Well, I’d say that he mostly does, but not by as much as I imagined he would. This is not as smooth a film as the ones Wright has become known for. 

Continue reading “The Running Man (2025) | REVIEW” →

REVIEW: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of The LEGO Batman Movie – Directed by Chris McKay.

Everything, indeed, was awesome about Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s fantastic The LEGO Movie. It was one of the biggest surprise hits of 2014, and so, obviously, we were going to get more big LEGO films. The first of these is a spin-off of The LEGO Movie, in which Will Arnett’s take on Batman was one of the highlights.

Now, with The LEGO Batman Movie, the Warner Bros. Animation Group has made sure that someone like me will be looking forward to each and every big LEGO film, because The LEGO Batman Movie is terrific. Continue reading “REVIEW: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)” →