2023 felt like the year that movies were finally BACK. After several years of COVID delays, moviegoers finally got a full year of uninterrupted cinematic releases. And genuinely most of these releases were incredible feats of cinema and storytelling. Emphasis on most, as there definitely were some stinkers.
Singer-songwriter Taylor Alison Swift is no doubt a global icon. Her rise to stardom has seen her constantly shifting her identity as a musician and as a celebrity. Bursting onto the music scene with her self-titled debut album, Taylor has grown from a teenage country singer to a woman confident in her talents and her voice. Never afraid to reinvent herself, never afraid to stand up for what she believes in, Taylor is more than a pop star, she is an inspiration for her millions of fans.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ is Sparkling, Don’t You Let it Go”
“Godhood is just like girlhood: a begging to be believed” -Kristin Chang
“Always an angel, never a god” -boygenius
Continue reading “Review: Like Life in Plastic, ‘Barbie’ is Fantastic”
2022 was the greatest year for cinema since COVID, and that has a lot to do with the fact theaters stayed open the full 12 months. Despite worries from top theater chains, it seems that a few years of at-home streaming has not led to the downfall of the classic cinema experience. I mean, Avatar: The Way of Water made $2 billion worldwide, people are clearly still spending money on movie tickets.
For the first full year of releases uninterrupted by shutdowns, Hollywood delivered. Many long-awaited sequels came out this year, as well as some unexpected original gems. Once again, seeing the Oscar nominations list only serves as a reminder to how much I missed, but I really tried this year. Between my newfound appreciation for indie and arthouse cinema, and my Regal Unlimited subscription, I swear 2023 will be the year I finally see a majority of the new releases. But for now, here’s 10 of the movies I did manage to see last year, and thoroughly enjoy.
Set in the aftermath of the tumultuous events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the third installment of the Ant-Man franchise, and the beginning of Marvel Studios’ Phase Five, wastes no time getting to the heart of the action, and more importantly, a proper introduction to the new “big bad.” Unfortunately, Phase Five starts not with a bang, but with a mess of characterization, pacing, and green-screen level CGI. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania loses sight of its characters, and in the process delivers a final product devoid of meaningful stakes and filled with lackluster action.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is Full of Holes”
Actress Olivia Wilde was on track to be one of the next great filmmakers. Her directorial debut, Booksmart (2019), received favorable reviews from critics and audiences alike. Her sophomore directorial endeavor led to a bidding war between eighteen studios, and with a star-studded cast, many believed Don’t Worry Darling would be another hit.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ is 120 Minutes of Wasted Potential”
Mainstream movie-goers have embraced the superhero film as a genre of its own. Besides the regular offerings from major studios Marvel and DC, other studios have dipped their toes into the genre, spinning tales of characters with spectacular abilities on a mission to save the world. The major studios, Marvel in particular, have spent years creating an ever-expanding universe that builds to a blockbuster team-up movie. But, by now, fans and casual viewers alike know what to expect from the modern superhero film. And really, how many times can one be exposed to the same story in which people with CGI superpowers fight a CGI villain? Where Marvel Studios in particular shines is when they strive to create another genre of film, and then just add the superheroes. The best example of this is 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which felt more like a spy thriller than a superhero sequel. And Marvel has done it again, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the studio’s first horror movie.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts film series, has been bogged down by controversy and the failures of its predecessor. It’s been nearly five years since the last installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald—which, besides being the lowest-grossing Wizarding World film to date, was panned by critics for its complicated and confusing plot. In the years since its release, the cast and creative team have faced a myriad of scandals, including J.K. Rowling’s hateful remarks concerning the transgender community. The biggest controversy, Johnny Depp’s legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard, forced the actor to bow out of the film completely. Most recently, star Ezra Miller was arrested for disorderly conduct and harassment at a bar in Hawaii.
Video game movies have a decades-long reputation of being less than stellar, to put it nicely. For the most part, it is difficult to translate the active experience of playing a video game to the passive experience of watching a movie. In this way the new film Uncharted, based on the PlayStation game franchise of the same name, does its best to create an immersive experience for the viewer but ultimately sacrifices plot in favor of action sequences.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Uncharted’ Proves That Video Game Movies Still Lack Originality”
I saw four movies in theaters in 2020, which is an impressive fact when you consider that theaters were only open three months that year. In 2021, thanks to widespread vaccination availability, I was so excited to be able to return to seeing movies on the big screen. Many highly anticipated releases that were delayed due to the pandemic finally got their moment to shine. Continue reading “Sarah Kelley’s Top 10 Films of 2021”