Tag: Movie Review

REVIEW: Hold the Dark (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a short review of Hold the Dark — Directed by Jeremy Saulnier.

In the last few years, director Jeremy Saulnier has started to become a household name with cinephiles. His last two films Blue Ruin and, especially, Green Room were both met with critical acclaim and a lot of support from the film community. So when it was announced that his next film — Netflix’s Hold the Dark — would be his most ambitious and most expensive project yet, I and many other cinephiles were, naturally, excited. Continue reading “REVIEW: Hold the Dark (2018)” →

REVIEW: First Reformed (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – A24

The following is a review of First Reformed — Directed by Paul Schrader.

There aren’t many screenwriters as iconic as Paul Schrader, who has written such classics as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. With his latest directorial effort, First Reformed, he has joined forces with Ethan Hawke, the critical favorite in the film’s leading role, to dissect despair and religious responsibilities with another trademark-Schrader ‘man in a room’ film. Continue reading “REVIEW: First Reformed (2018)” →

REVIEW: Hell Fest (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Lionsgate / CBS Films

The following is a review of Hell Fest — Directed by Gregory Plotkin.

Editor-director Gregory Plotkin’s Hell Fest is a horror-slasher film set almost entirely in a horror-themed carnival complete with various haunted mazes and scare zones. The film follows three couples as they are stalked through the horror carnival by a masked serial killer in street clothes posing as a normal parkgoer. Continue reading “REVIEW: Hell Fest (2018)” →

REVIEW: Thoroughbreds (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster — Focus Features / Universal Pictures

The following is a review of Thoroughbreds — Directed by Cory Finley.

Remember My Chemical Romance? It was a rock band that my sister loved back in the day. I really liked their album The Black Parade, and every now and then some of the band’s songs come to mind. When I was watching writer-director Cory Finley’s directorial debut Thoroughbreds, I started to think about their song “Teenagers” — more specifically about the line “All teenagers scare the living shit out of me. They could care less as long as someone will bleed.” The late-great acting talent Anton Yelchin, in what seems to be his final role on film, has a similar line in the film, but he manages to express himself in much fewer words: “fucking evil children.” Continue reading “REVIEW: Thoroughbreds (2018)” →

REVIEW: BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)

blackkklansmanpostr
Theatrical Release Poster – Focus Features

The following is a review of BlacKkKlansman — Directed by Spike Lee.

Director Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is based on the memoir of Ron Stallworth, the first African-American officer and detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department, and the film tells the story of how Ron (played by John David Washington) and his partner Detective Flip Zimmermann (played by Adam Driver) infiltrated the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan.  Continue reading “REVIEW: BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Nun (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of The Nun — Directed by Corin Hardy.

A funny thing happened when I sat down in a local movie theater room to watch The Nun — the newest The Conjuring spin-off film (this one having been inspired by a demon from James Wan’s The Conjuring 2). It was a packed theater full of people of all ages, shapes, and sizes, and right behind me, three young men sat and talked with one another. When the film opened with a scene from The Conjuring 2, I could hear one of them say: “wait, is this a Conjuring-movie?” Then another one said with his mouth full of popcorn: “oh, I haven’t seen the second one yet.” Continue reading “REVIEW: The Nun (2018)” →

REVIEW: Next Gen (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Netflix’s Next Gen — Directed by Kevin R. Adams & Joe Ksander.

You may be surprised when the first acting credit that pops on the screen in the relatively unpromoted Netflix animated film Next Gen is that of actor-director John Krasinski. At the very least, I was surprised to see names like Krasinski’s, but also other actors like Jason Sudeikis and Michael Peña. You start to ask yourself how this animated movie had managed to go relatively unnoticed with those names attached to it, and then you hope that you’ve found a new hidden gem. Next Gen isn’t quite that good, but I did enjoy it for what it was. Continue reading “REVIEW: Next Gen (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Rider (2018)

Release Poster – Sony Pictures Classics

The following is a review of Sony Pictures Classics’ The Rider — Directed by Chloe Zhao.

You may not be surprised to learn that, to my knowledge, the competitive sport of rodeo is not really a popular activity in coldish Scandinavia. Although it may have had its roots elsewhere (I, honestly, have no idea), I have always associated rodeo with America and the cultural fascination with thrill-seeking cowboys. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Rider (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Meg (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of The Meg – Directed by Jon Turteltaub.

Jon Turteltaub’s The Meg, short for Megalodon, is a film based a series of novels from author Steve Alten. The film follows Jonas Taylor (played by Jason Statham), a rescue diver who believes a giant sea creature was responsible for the destruction of a submarine, as well as the lives lost in the destruction.  Continue reading “REVIEW: The Meg (2018)” →

REVIEW: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Paramount Pictures

The following is a review of Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Directed by Christopher McQuarrie.

The first James Bond novel was published in 1953. Nine years later, Sean Connery first played the central character on the big screen. Since then we’ve seen twenty-five Eon Productions Bond-films. In those films, six different actors have played Agent 007 to varying success. So far, all spy franchises have lived in the shadow of Ian Fleming’s creation. Every actor who becomes a leading spy character has been compared to Connery, Moore, Brosnan, Craig, and so on and so forth. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)” →