Review: ‘Thunder Force’ Can’t Be Saved From its Mediocrity

There’s always been something fun about superheroes, both the idea of abruptly gaining special abilities and becoming superior to everyone else and the idea of celebrating that specialness by putting on colorful spandex and running around saving people from evil. Despite this, the pure superhero comedy is comparatively rare. While we have shows and movies making fun of power fantasies, this can sometimes make them less thrilling, usually looping back to a straightforward approach in the end. Continue reading “Review: ‘Thunder Force’ Can’t Be Saved From its Mediocrity” →

Review: ‘Bad Trip’ is One Big Oddly Wholesome Prank

I’m not gonna lie – I absolutely love Adult Swim’s cult absurdist comedy series The Eric Andre Show. There’s just something magical about some guy pretending to have a talk show and trolling both celebrities and normal people, and the iconic memes he spawned are even better. When I heard he was producing a film that was one long version of one of his prank segments, I got extremely excited. Continue reading “Review: ‘Bad Trip’ is One Big Oddly Wholesome Prank” →

Review: ‘I Care a Lot’ Struggles to Keep Up With Rosamund Pike’s Performance

When I first watched Rosamund Pike’s performance as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl, I was blown away. Amy is a villain who is so distinctly feminine, who is horrible and manipulative, yet oddly enthralling. The “cool girl monologue,” as the internet has affectionally named, is a moment. Rosamund Pike embodies Amy Dunne until there’s no distinction between Pike and Dunne’s marrow. The dew-eyed Pike of 2005’s Pride & Prejudice is no more, just Amy’s blunt bob and hardened heart. Continue reading “Review: ‘I Care a Lot’ Struggles to Keep Up With Rosamund Pike’s Performance” →

Review: Can ‘Malcolm and Marie’ be the Quintessential Quarantine Movie?

Conceived in the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdown in Spring 2020, Sam Levison’s Malcolm and Marie builds its narrative upon the relationship of a director (John David Washington) and his girlfriend (Zendaya) after the premiere of his directorial debut. Filmed all in one modern, spacious house in L.A., their relationship begins to unravel as they decompress from the event. Continue reading “Review: Can ‘Malcolm and Marie’ be the Quintessential Quarantine Movie?” →

Review: ‘The Dig’ is a Moving Story of Grief and History

The Dig, as its title indicates, is a film revolving around an archaeological dig. But, as blunt as its title is, the film itself is far more complex, delicate, and emotional. The Dig revolves around Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes), an experienced excavator, and Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), the woman who has hired him to excavate the burial mounds on her land. What follows is a meditation on grief, time, mortality, catastrophe, and history. Continue reading “Review: ‘The Dig’ is a Moving Story of Grief and History” →

Review: ‘Mank’ Offers an Escape to the Glitz of 1930’s Hollywood

One of modern cinema’s most celebrated directors has made a triumphant return with a story 80 years in the making. David Fincher’s newest feature, Mank, hit Netflix in the early hours of December 4th, bringing Christmas early for many Fincher fanatics (such as myself). It had been six years since the release of 2014’s acclaimed Gone Girl and the extended gap (in terms of how frequently Fincher has historically released his films) left much riding on these 132 minutes. Continue reading “Review: ‘Mank’ Offers an Escape to the Glitz of 1930’s Hollywood” →

Review: ‘Cadaver’ Bites Off More Than It Can Chew

This Halloween season, the market for spooky escapism is bigger than ever. Cadaver is not escapism, but rather about escapism. In this Norwegian direct-to-Netflix horror/thriller, former actress Leonora (Gitte Witt) and her family embark on a night out at a mysterious hotel/theater. Lured by the promise of a free meal and show in the middle of a war-induced famine, Leo and her family become immersed in the strange world of the hotel. As the night continues, and audience members begin to disappear, Leo finds herself in a fight for her life, where nothing is as it first appears. Continue reading “Review: ‘Cadaver’ Bites Off More Than It Can Chew” →

Review: ‘The 40 Year Old Version’ beautifully mixes comedy with an exploration of success

Radha Blank writes, directs, and stars as herself in her first film, The 40-Year-Old Version. She plays a struggling playwright aiming to reinvent herself as a rapper at 40. The film draws from Blank’s own experiences; Her apartment is used in the film along with her late mother’s artwork and her father’s jazz. Even her stage name in the film, RadhaMUSprime, is the same label under which Blank created her own mixtape.

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Review: ‘Hubie Halloween’ Has No Real Tricks, But Many Treats

Last year, while being interviewed by Howard Stern, Adam Sandler said if he didn’t get a Best Actor nomination for Uncut Gems, he would make a film that was bad on purpose. Hubie Halloween is Sandler’s first film since not getting nominated, so it would appear this is the promised revenge movie, but I am “pleased,” for lack of a better word, to report that this film is not terrible. It isn’t great, but for a Sandler comedy, this is notably good. Continue reading “Review: ‘Hubie Halloween’ Has No Real Tricks, But Many Treats” →

Review: ‘Enola Holmes’ is Far Beyond Elementary, My Dear

We’ve seen a million of adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books. From Jeremy Brett and Robert Downey, Jr. on the big screen to Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance in the iconic BBC series Sherlock, this film, adapted from Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes YA novels, is slightly different – rather than focusing on the famous detective, this focuses on his younger sister Enola, and the result is a cool revolutionary tale about rejecting the status quo and choosing your own destiny. Continue reading “Review: ‘Enola Holmes’ is Far Beyond Elementary, My Dear” →