Matthew Liedke

REVIEW: ‘The Sun is also a Star’ is only a two star movie

“The Sun is Also a Star.” The North Star is also a star. And now I just miss the North Stars.

Anyway, there’s a movie to review. “The Sun is Also a Star” is the latest romance film based on a young adult novel. Of course, the movie follows two young adults, Natasha (Yara Shahidi) and Daniel (Charles Melton). Natasha is a Jamaican whose family is about to be deported back to Jamaica by the U.S. Government, while Daniel, whose family immigrated from Korea, is preparing to apply for college.

One day, through a chance encounter, the two meet and after talking, find out that they have differing opinions. Daniel believes in fate, destiny, and thinks that the universe brought them together. Natasha is much more of a skeptic, to the point where she doesn’t believe in fate or love. To convince her, Daniel suggests they spend the day together to prove who’s right and see if they fall in love.

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REVIEW: ‘John Wick 3’ thrills with top tier action

Mr. Wick is back and as the Latin phrase in this movie’s title implies, he’s going to war.

“John Wick: Chapter 3” picks off right after the events of the second film, so seeing that one is probably a good idea before checking this out. Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a man now on the run. After breaking the rules of the criminal underworld in part two, every assassin in New York City, and basically the world, are after him for a multi-million dollar bounty.

As a result, Wick searches for a way to reverse his predicament and atone for his transgressions. His journey brings him to Sofia (Halle Barry), a person from his past who decides to help him find someway to make amends. The quest remains a difficult one, though, as the group running crime at a worldwide scale want Wick, and anyone who’s helped him, eliminated.

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REVIEW: Don’t let this flick ‘Hustle’ your time or money

When a comedy film isn’t funny, sitting through it can be a major chore. “The Hustle” is one of those movies.

Rebel Wilson plays Penny in “Hustle,” a woman who often runs small-scale scams, hustles and cons in the United States. With people catching on to her actions, though, Penny decides to leave the country and head to Europe to continue her operations.

There, through a chance meeting and a series of events, Penny meets a top class con-artist named Josephine (Anne Hathaway). Not only are the two at different levels in skills, but they’re also on the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of personality. Their differences eventually evolve into a rivalry and they decide to see who can pull off the largest swindle on a rich tech developer named Thomas (Alex Sharp).

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REVIEW: ‘Detective Pikachu’ doesn’t have the most interesting case file

I was at one point a Poke-expert. I watched the never-ending anime, read any of the manga I could get my hands on, and of course played Pocket Monsters on my Gameboy, the Yellow-Pikachu edition.

So “Detective Pikachu” was a film where I was able to pick up a lot of what’s going on and enjoyed some of the Easter Eggs for fans thrown in here and there. However, the question of whether or not it’s a good movie is a whole other story.

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Monday Movie Report: Russo Bros. to produce Hemsworth pic, other casting news

Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed “Avengers: Endgame” are teaming up with “Thor” star Chris Hemsworth again for a new film, according to The Wrap.

The Wrap reports that the Russos have agreed to produce a buddy cop film which will feature Hemsworth and Tiffany Haddish. The Wrap also notes that the project is being introduced at the Cannes Film Festival.

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REVIEW: Chemistry with leads boosts ‘Long Shot’

What? No general or midterm election this year? Well let’s have a political film to fill that gap. At least it’s a comedy.

“Long Shot” tells the story of Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), the Secretary of State for a fictional president, who’s looking to run in the 2020 presidential race. She has a good amount of experience under her belt, but her campaign staff sees opportunities to improve her speeches and become more personable.

Enter Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen), a loose cannon investigative journalist who recently found himself unemployed. However, because he knows Field, Fred comes to work as a speech assistant for Field, especially with helping punch up the statements. However, on top of working together, Frank and Charlotte find themselves falling for each other.

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Monday Movie Report: Cannes Festival introduces closing film

One of the world’s most prominent film festivals is taking place this month, and organizers have selected the final movie to screen for the event.

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Evaluating the Avengers roster post ‘Endgame’ SPOILERS

Here we are. “Avengers: Endgame” is out and it’s truly the end of an era. It’s the same in real life, with many actor contracts reaching their end. As a result, new characters have been introduced recently, as the Marvel universe is scheduled to continue.

With that in mind, here’s my guess on who will make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward. Also, this is only covering film. While the MCU films and TV shows have had connections, they usually seem pretty loose.

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Monday Movie Report: ‘Endgame’ smashes box office records

Last week in the movie report I shared predictions for “Avengers: Endgame’s” box office results in its first weekend. The predictions came in between $250 million and $300 million, and I more or less agreed with the consensus.

How wrong that turned out to be.

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REVIEW: Imperfect ‘Endgame’ still enthralls

Like a big rack of ribs or a plate piled with Buffalo wings, “Avengers: Endgame” is pretty messy, but still real good and satisfying.

Just to make things a little easier, here’s a roster list of the main characters in the film: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, AKA Hulk. Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson, King of Asgard. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow. Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye. Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, AKA War Machine. Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, AKA Ant-Man. Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel. Karen Gillan as Nebula. Josh Brolin as the Titan Thanos.

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