In 1989, two teenage doofuses from San Dimas were handed a most prodigious destiny: their music would save our bitterly divided world, uniting it once and for all in righteous, heavy-metal harmony. They possessed no actual musical skill and couldn’t guess the difference between Mongol emperor Bob Genghis Khan and Greek philosopher “So-crates.” Continue reading “Review: ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ is an Excellent Finale to the ‘Bill & Ted’ Trilogy”
Content Warning: This review discusses some topics that might be triggering to some audiences. Read at your own discretion.
The world of social media influencers vying for clicks, looks, retweets, and fans is a sick one, and that’s never been more apparent than it is now, during the COVID-19 pandemic. People are stuck inside their homes, and anyone with even the smallest bit of celebrity status is desperate for attention, scrambling to create content with quantifiable impact. Continue reading “Review: ‘Spree’ is a Hilarious Yet Horrifying Character Study”
When I was a kid, I loved magic. Both the spells in the fantasy worlds of J. R. R. Tolkein and Dungeons & Dragons and the more “real” form, particularly tricks and illusions. Unfortunately, it is a skill that requires effort, practice, and commitment – things I really suck at. In contrast, the motivated kids in Disney’s Magic Camp all have a better trick up their sleeves. They attend the “Institute of Magic,” a summer camp to learn the art of illusions, stage magic, and close-up magic. Continue reading “Review: ‘Magic Camp’ is Magically Mediocre”
An American Pickle is a film about two lookalike relatives who are separated by a hundred years andcan’t resolve their generational differences. This seems like a fun time, right? These kinds of films – ones where a person from the past finds themselves adrift in modern society like Encino Man and The Visitors – are usually great. An American Pickle is unfortunately not. Adapted by Simon Rich, the creator of TBS’s comedy anthology Miracle Workers, from his own short story “Sell Out,” and directed by Brandon Trost, who is a rather good cinematographer, An American Pickle has some fine moments tucked into its uneven structure, even if its conflicted tone holds it back from true greatness.
Continue reading “Review: Like Its Namesake, ‘An American Pickle’ is Just Fine”
Imagine the queen herself, Beyoncé Knowles Carter, telling millions of people around the world that they’re beautiful and everything for an hour and twenty-five minutes. That’s Black is King, a beacon of light and reprieve from the apocalyptic never-ending existential terror of 2020. Continue reading “Review: ‘Black is King’ Proves That Beyoncé Is Still A Goddess”
I love high school comedy films, and I have no shame in saying so. I probably love them more than the average person does. In fact, when I’m not watching new 2020 releases, I’ve spent these last few months binge-watching late ’90s/early 2000s teen comedies on a quest for the best (But I’m a Cheerleader is currently winning), all of them being first watches for me. Continue reading “Review: Somehow, ‘The Kissing Booth 2’ is Worse Than the First Film”
Groundhog Day walked so Palm Springs could run. That saying is, at the very least, plastered to the comment section strung along with the latter’s social media posts and YouTube presence. Indeed, it is hard to watch Palm Springs without making a connection between the two films. In 1993, Groundhog Day popularized the ‘single-day repeating’ story that has come to repeat itself in a variety of genres, including sci-fi action (Edge of Tomorrow) and horror (Happy Death Day). Continue reading “Review: ‘Palm Springs’ Is Both the Escape and Introspection We Need During Quarantine”
As a queer person, I love it when we are given visibility in narratives, and love it even more when our queerness isn’t just the only characteristic we have. The Old Guard, Netflix’s new film based on Greg Rucka’s fantastic graphic novels, is very satisfying in that regard, especially because queer visibility is important in every genre. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s combination of the comic’s gritty atmosphere and the common tropes in today’s superhero films, while good, still leaves a lot to be desired. Continue reading “Review: ‘The Old Guard’ is a Decent Adaptation with Some Great Representation”
For people who are experiencing Hamilton for the first time, Hamilton is a recording of a 2016 Broadway performance of the popular musical of the same name. Hamilton itself is a string of musical numbers written by Lin Manuel Miranda; There is little spoken dialogue in the play. Continue reading “Review: ‘Hamilton’ Adds a New Dimension to Its Musical”
It makes me very sad when bad movies happen to have good actors. Nasim Pedrad, a former SNL star who is highly talented in many ways, hasn’t really had her big break yet. It would seem, in theory, that landing the lead role in a comedy would be a step up from being the saving grace of Guy Ritchie’s atrocious Aladdin remake. Unfortunately, I don’t think Desperados is going to contribute much to her stardom. Continue reading “Review: ‘Desperados’ is a Hot Mess with a Good Message”