Author: Matthew Liedke

Journalist and film critic in Minnesota. Graduate of Rainy River College and Minnesota State University in Moorhead. Outside of movies I also enjoy sports, craft beers and the occasional video game.

REVIEW: A True Delight, ‘La La Land’ Is 2016’s Most Charming Film

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, who’ve co-starred before, reunite on screen for “La La Land,” which is arguably the best movie of their careers.

A true love letter to old Hollywood, “La La Land” kicks off by telling the story of Mia (Stone), an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. The key word is aspiring, as Mia is unable to catch attention in her auditions. Gosling, meanwhile, plays Sebastian who’s also a hopeful artist.

Sebastian is a pianist who’s all about jazz music and has a goal of opening a jazz club. Eventually, the two characters meet, a relationship develops and the film explores the effect it has on their dreams.

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REVIEW: Superb Acting From Portman Creates A Haunting Portrait Of American Tragedy In ‘Jackie’

Pablo Larrain directs and Natalie Portman stars as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in this in depth look at one of America’s darkest days and the aftermath.

The picture largely takes place in the days after the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, but other time periods are explored, too. While a majority of the picture shows Jackie planning the funeral in the days after the assassination as well her conversations about the events with others, the movie also shows the First Lady’s famous TV tour of the White House and when the Kennedys first arrived in Texas.

As the film unravels, it explores Jackie needing to be a mother, continue being a public figure and take efforts to preserve her husbands legacy.

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REVIEW: Award Caliber Performances From Washington, Davis Make ‘Fences’ Worth A Watch

The award winning play “Fences” has come to the big screen thanks to Denzel Washington, who both starred in and directed this feature.

Washington’s role in this picture is the lead character Troy Maxson, an African-American man working a tough job in the 1950s to provide for his wife and son.

As the film progresses, it explores more of Troy’s relationships, his goals and his failures. Especially detailed here, though, is his strained relationship with his son, Cory (Jovan Adepo).

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REVIEW: ‘Sing’ Largely Forgettable Besides Fun Musical Numbers

The makers of “Minions” took a different direction in their latest animated film, “Sing.”

The picture tells the story of numerous characters living in a big city, all having dreams of being a performer. However, the film especially shines a spotlight on Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), the owner of a theater that’s fallen on hard times.

In order to save the theater and turn around his entire business model, Moon decides to have a signing competition. As a result, many different people from unique backgrounds come out to compete.

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REVIEW: From Story To Characters, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Misses The Mark

The formula to make a good video game movie still hasn’t been discovered yet.

“Assassin’s Creed,” based on the gaming franchise of the same name, follows the character Cal Lynch (Michael Fassbender). After a brief flashback, Lynch’s story starts on death row where he gets lethal injection. Instead of dying, though, Lynch instead wakes up in a scientific facility run by a Templar organization.

Upon waking up, Lynch meets a scientist named Sofia (Marion Cotillard) who’s working for the Templars to discover the location of a precious, world-changing artifact. To do so, she hooks up Lynch to a machine where he can look at and interact with the memories of his ancestor, who was a member of an assassin society.

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REVIEW: Story Twist In ‘Passengers’ Causes Space Romance To Crash

“Passengers” could have been a good movie, but a lot went wrong here.

In “Passengers,” Chris Pratt plays the character Jim Preston, an engineer and mechanic who’s taking a voyage on the space ship Avalon. The craft, filled with 5,259 people, isn’t making just a day trip, though, as its entire journey from Earth to a new colony is 120 years long. Everyone on the ship are in a state of hibernation, but unfortunately, Jim’s sleeping chamber malfunctions and he wakes up 90 years early.

As a result of this, Jim tries to fix his pod to get back to sleep, but it proves unsuccessful and his efforts to contact any of the crew, also in hibernation, prove futile. His crisis is only deepened by the intense loneliness he feels as the months aboard the ship drag on. That is until he comes in contact with another passenger, Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) through a series of events.

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REVIEW: ‘Manchester By The Sea’ Is An Emotionally Compelling Cinematic Triumph

No other film in 2016 may be as gutting as “Manchester by the Sea.”

The Kenneth Lonergan-directed feature tells the story of Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a man who just gets by on a day-to-day basis, working maintenance at a Boston suburb apartment building he also lives in.

He is called back to his home town, though, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., when he finds out that his brother passed away. As a result, Lee has to return to a city filled with painful memories and also be the guardian of his nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges).

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REVIEW: ‘Loving’ Lives Up To Its Title Thanks To Heartfelt Lead Performances

The strength and conviction of a couple’s love is put on full display in “Loving.”

The picture tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, two residents of Virginia who were married in Washington D.C. However, because of Virginia state laws, their marriage was not just declared void because it was interracial, they were also put in jail.

The result was a nearly decade long legal battle that eventually found its way in front of the United States Supreme Court. The majority of the flick, though, is spent with Richard and Mildred, who make the best of their situation in any way they can. Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Loving’ Lives Up To Its Title Thanks To Heartfelt Lead Performances”

REVIEW: One Of 2016’s Best, ‘Moonlight’ Fires On All Cylinders

“Moonlight” is both one of the year’s best films and also one of the greatest coming of age stories put on screen.

The picture follows the story of a character named Chiron as he navigates his way through life in Miami. The flick is split up into three sections of Chiron’s life, his youth where he’s played by Alex Hibbert, his teenage years, portrayed by Ashton Sanders and his adult period, acted by Trevante Rhodes.

As the film develops, it puts on display Chiron coming to terms with his sexuality, his struggles living in a poverty-stricken area of Miami and his strained relationship with his mother.

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