Tag: Movie Review

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: 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)” →

REVIEW: A Quiet Place (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Paramount Pictures

The following is a review of A Quiet Place — Directed by John Krasinski.

Actor-turned-director John Krasinski’s third feature film as a director is the horror-thriller film A Quiet Place, which follows the Abbott family in the dystopian near-future wherein the entire world seems abandoned and empty due to the existence of blind, mysterious, and violent creatures that hide and wait for something as harmless as the sound of a pin drop to pounce on any pray alive to be taken. Continue reading “REVIEW: A Quiet Place (2018)” →

REVIEW: Ready Player One (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of Ready Player One — Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg — you won’t find many directors as skilled as he is, and you probably won’t ever find a filmmaker with as good an eye for entertainment as he has. His name is etched into the world of film and pop culture, and there really are not many like him. It is pretty perfect for the director behind such films as Jurassic Park, the Indiana Jones-films, and E. T.: The Extra-Terrestrial to make Ready Player One — a film so drenched in nostalgia and popular nerd culture that it might as well have been called ‘Easter Egg: The Movie.’ Continue reading “REVIEW: Ready Player One (2018)” →

REVIEW: You Were Never Really Here (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – StudioCanal / Amazon Studios

The following is a review of You Were Never Really Here — Directed by Lynne Ramsay.

After I saw Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here the day before yesterday, I decided to reread one of Roger Ebert’s excellent reviews of Taxi Driver — the Scorsese classic which this Lynne Ramsay film, rightly, has been compared to a lot. In the review, Ebert smartly noted that Travis Bickle’s response to his own iconic line “Are you talking to me?” — “Well, I’m the only one here,” — was the truest line in a film about loneliness and alienation. Continue reading “REVIEW: You Were Never Really Here (2018)” →

REVIEW: Tomb Raider (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of Tomb Raider — Directed by Roar Uthaug.

After winning her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Girl, Interrupted, Angelina Jolie went on to play smart female adventurous archaeologist Lara Croft in the first film based on the popular series of video games Tomb Raider. Neither of the two Jolie-led Tomb Raider-films were at all memorable, to me. Continue reading “REVIEW: Tomb Raider (2018)” →

REVIEW: ANNIHILATION (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of ANNIHILATION — Directed by Alex Garland.

There is this really sad quote about daring cinema that I once found as I was searching the Web for some interesting thoughts on the film industry. Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn reportedly once said that “if you put three thoughts into a movie, you’ve broken the law and no one will come [see it].” It is a quote that I’ve used before to describe cerebral cinema that was rejected by audiences. But I think the quote’s best companion piece is Alex Garland’s ANNIHILATION, a smart science-fiction film that was literally cast aside by a major studio because the film ‘broke that law.’
Continue reading “REVIEW: ANNIHILATION (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Outsider (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of The Outsider — Directed by Martin Zandvliet.

Winning an Oscar used to mean an actor would get a bigger push. It used to really mean something. But in the case of Jared Leto, who won an Oscar for his transformative performance in the mostly forgotten biopic Dallas Buyers Club, it hasn’t really meant that much, other than the fact that films like The Outsider can put ‘Academy Award winner’ on its poster.  Continue reading “REVIEW: The Outsider (2018)” →

REVIEW: Så Længe Jeg Lever (2018)

Danish Theatrical Release Poster – Nordisk Film

The following is a review of Så Længe Jeg Lever — Directed by Ole Bornedal.

Ole Bornedal’s Så Længe Jeg Lever is a Danish biographical film about John Mogensen (played by Rasmus Bjerg), a Danish musician whose immensely popular songs turned him into somewhat of a cult figure in his native country. The film is a dramatization of Mogensen’s entire life that takes us from his childhood, through his days as a member of the vocal quartet group ‘Four Jacks,’ onto his breakthrough as a solo artist, and up until the last days of his life where he drank himself to death.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Så Længe Jeg Lever (2018)” →

REVIEW: Red Sparrow (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – 20th Century Fox

The following is a review of Red Sparrow — Directed by Francis Lawrence.

In a talk show interview with Stephen Colbert, Jennifer Lawrence — the star of Red Sparrow — asked her haters not to see her psychological spy thriller. “If you’re, like, a typical ‘hater’ and you have a blog, don’t go. You’re officially totally uninvited,” Lawrence laughed. Although I would not call myself a ‘typical’ hater, or even a Lawrence-hater, I am, on the other hand, not a die-hard fan. I have been intrigued by her choices of late, though. With intriguing films like mother! and, now, Red Sparrow — two audience-unfriendly thrillers — Lawrence is starting to reframe the way she is perceived. Continue reading “REVIEW: Red Sparrow (2018)” →