Matthew Liedke on Film

REVIEW: ‘Is God Is’ is pretty God damn good

What’s better than a roaring rampage of revenge? A roaring rampage of revenge with a two protagonists.

That’s what audiences can expect in “Is God Is.” The film is an adaptation of a play by the same name, penned by Aleshea Harris, who makes her feature film debut as the writer and director of the movie. The picture follows a pair of twins, Racine ( Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) who are on a mission.

As children, they were forced to witness their mother, Ruby, be burned in a murder attempt by their abusive father, known only as The Monster (Sterling K. Brown). They themselves were burned, too, and the Monster got off free in court. Because of her injuries, Ruby was unable to raise her kids, but now on her death bed, she asks her two daughters to get revenge.

REVIEW: Silly ‘Sheep Detectives’ will leave a smile on your face

Greg from “Succession” solving a murder with help from sheep wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card, but I’m not complaining.

Nicholas Braun, who earned Emmy nominations for his work in the HBO series, is part of an ensemble cast in this family feature. Braun stars as a police officer in a small town named Tim, who is suddenly tasked with looking into the mysterious death of a local shepherd, George Hardy (Hugh Jackman).

However, he’s not the only one investigating George’s demise. A murder mystery fan, George often read detective novels, and did so out loud to his flock of sheep. The group of animals, led primarily by Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), feel obligated to get justice for George as well, and try to help the case by relying on what they learned in stories.

REVIEW: High octane ‘In the Grey’ excites, but doesn’t fully engage

In terms of grey movies, this isn’t as good as 2011’s “The Grey,” about on par with 2020’s “Greyhound” and better than 2022’s “The Gray Man (I think that counts).” Take that for what you will.

When it comes to “In the Grey,” Eiza Gonzalez stars as high-powered attorney Rachel Wild. The title gives insight into Rachel’s profession, she works in-between the criminal underworld and major financial institutions, or as she calls it, the black and white of the fiscal world. The grey. Her latest effort involves trying to recover a loan from a crime lord for a major establishment.

In order to do so, she recruits her elite team, headlined by two black ops-level individuals, Sid Sensible (Henry Cavill) and Bronco Beauregard (Jake Gyllenhaal). The trio, along with others on the team, set up an elaborate scheme to not only hurt the crime lord’s wallet, but come prepared with firepower in case the situation gets out of hand.

REVIEW: ‘Obsession’ wastes interesting ‘Monkey’s Paw’ concept

I honestly wish I had just played “Yandere Simulator” for two hours instead.

For those unaware, yanderes are characters appearing in Japanese anime and manga who have a major obsession with their love interest, usually to a violent point. That sort of character is represented in Nikki over the course of “Obsession,” where she’s played by Inde Navarrette. However, the film centers on Baron “Bear” Bailey (Michael Johnston).

Bear has long been wanting to ask Nikki, his coworker at a music store, out on a date, but hasn’t worked up the courage. He finds a solution, though, in a small trinket that says it can grant any wish. He wishes for Nikki to fall completely in love with him, and expects it to do nothing. However, it works better than Bear could have imagined.

REVIEW: ‘Mortal Kombat’ is mostly poor filler between a few fun fights

Karl Urban is back in a video game adaptation and it’s certainly better than his last outing 20 years ago. Although, 2005’s “Doom” isn’t exactly a high bar.

Regardless, in this sequel to the 2021 “MK” film, Urban stars as Johnny Cage, a former martial artist turned action movie hero whose Hollywood career has declined. Now just attending fan conventions for money, he’s somewhat directionless in life. That is until he’s recruited to represent the realm of Earth in a tournament.

That tournament is one that will determine whether the empire of Outworld, ruled by the warlord Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), can conquer Earth. However, while the emperor’s forces are powerful, there is a dissenter in his daughter Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), whose own world was conquered by Outworld after her realm lost a similar tournament.

REVIEW: ‘Deep Water’ is a serviceable survival drama

Sharks. The Animal Kingdom’s gift to cinema that just keeps giving.

The latest film to feature the sharp-toothed creatures is “Deep Water,” which stars Golden Globe nominee Aaron Eckhart as Ben, the first officer of a flight going from Los Angeles to Shanghai. He is joined in the cockpit by the captain, Rich, played by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley.

While it’s a long flight, everything seems routine. That is until a device in the bag of one of the passengers causes a fire, leading to an explosion, resulting in a crash landing in the ocean. The plane breaks apart in the process, leaving survivors clinging to wreckage. As the crew works to help passengers, they learn the waters they’re in is full of sharks.

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REVIEW: ‘Prada 2’ succeeds with stars, news industry intrigue

When a sequel that’s not part of an ongoing series or trilogy comes out, it’s sometimes fair to feel trepidation. That’s not quite the case in a film like this, though, with such a strong cast.

One member of that cast is Anne Hathaway, who reprises her role of Andy Sachs. Now an established and respected journalist with two decades of experience, Andy is at what should be a good point in her career. That is until she learns that herself and the rest of the newsroom at the publication she works for have been laid off.

As luck would have it, the ownership of Runway, where she was once an assistant, needs some editorial guidance after a scandal breaks out. To help navigate things, ownership of the publication hires Sachs as the new features editor to help right the ship. However, the move isn’t warmly received by Runway’s Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep).

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REVIEW: Dizzying, absurd story causes ‘Fuze’ to fizzle out

The director of “Hell or High Water” being attached to this built some excitement, but the experience in this new crime drama from David Mackenzie isn’t on the same level without writer Taylor Sheridan.

Mackenzie’s new film centers on a World War II bomb being discovered in the London metro area by a construction crew. Following the discovery, the military is called in, with bomb defusing specialist Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) leading the examination of the explosive.

With threat of the bomb potentially going off, the police department, under the leadership of chief Zuzana (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) evacuates the nearby area. Meanwhile, a bank heist is taking place during the distraction including characters X (Sam Worthington) and Karalis (Theo James).

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REVIEW: ‘Michael’ movie can’t escape mediocrity

I mean, it’s cool to see the background of “Thriller.” But if I want to watch “Thriller,” I could just watch “Thriller?”

That’s a common thought during the course of “Micheal,” a biographical film about the King of Pop during roughly the first 35 years of his life. The picture begins when he was a boy, making waves in the music scene with his brothers as part of the Jackson 5. Under the guidance of their strict father Joseph (Colman Domingo), the group experiences great success.

Michael, played by the musician’s actual nephew Jaafar Jackson, later wants to go on a solo route. The film follows how this creates tension between him and his father, and how he pushed forward to make his notable hits, such as “Beat It.” The film also explores his isolation and difficulty building connections with others.

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REVIEW: ‘Normal’ goes big with action, humor with nominal impact

Bob Odenkirk has now starred in a trio of action flicks, but he still has a way to go before he matches the older grizzled action hero status Liam Neeson has.

In Odenkirk’s latest film, he portrays Ulysses Richardson, a law enforcement officer who’s taken the role of temporary Sheriff until the county of Normal can elect a new one. The county seat is also named Normal, and that’s where Ulysses finds himself trying his best to manage a smooth transition to a permanent replacement.

It’s the latest in a string of temporary jobs he’s taken since a traumatic experienced flipped his life and marriage upside down. But his latest stint starts to look less mundane than he first thought. As his law enforcement instincts kick in, he begins noticing suspicious things, and it leads to a thrilling ordeal he didn’t expect.

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