Matthew Liedke

REVIEW: ‘Cars 3’ Ends The Series On A High Note, But Continues To Fall Behind The Rest Of Pixar

The “Cars” universe has always confused the hell out of me and the latest entry is no exception. Like, why do the cars have doors and handles if there are no people? Why are there faster, more advanced cars? Are they built by other cars or is it cars evolving?

Those questions certainly came up with me from start to finish here, but the real important question is ‘was the movie any good?’

Well, not really, it more falls into the category of being just OK.

The movie once again follows the franchise’s protagonist Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). A car who’s won multiple racing championships, McQueen is still competing and remains confident in doing so. However, as he enters his latest race, he finds himself falling behind the younger cars that appear to be far more advanced.

As a result, McQueen is always playing catch-up and this ultimately leads to an accident where he gets severely injured. What follows is McQueen’s quest for redemption and to regain his status as one of the best racers in the world. To do so, McQueen eventually finds help in professional trainer Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo).

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REVIEW: Universal’s Attempt At New Monster Series Crashes With ‘the Mummy’

Ever since Marvel made the prospect of a shared universe successful, allowing for numerous crossovers, many other studios have been trying to jump on the bandwagon. The latest attempt is the Dark Universe by Universal, which is trying to recreate its 1940s classic monsters with a new series.

Unfortunately, its debut in “The Mummy” is awful.

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REVIEW: ‘Wonder Woman’ Joins The Greats In The Superhero Genre

After a few strikeouts, DC Comics has hit it out of the park with its latest cinematic endeavor, “Wonder Woman.”

While the titular character had already been introduced in last year’s “Batman V Superman,” this film goes in depth to show how Wonder Woman became who she is. The film starts with the superhero, named Diana (Gal Gadot) growing up on an isolated island of Amazons, where she’s trains to prepare for the possible return of the God of War, Ares.

One day on the island, war comes to her, though, as an American pilot crashes in the surrounding waters. The pilot, named Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), informs the Amazons of World War I and his mission to help stop a doomsday weapon that could kill many more people. Diana, believing the war to be the work of Ares, decides to join Steve on his mission and help put a stop to the Great War.

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REVIEW: Second ‘Alien’ Prequel Hampered By Foolish Characters, Faux-Intellectualism

Director Ridley Scott has once again ventured into “Alien” prequel territory, but like the 2012 picture “Prometheus,” his new sci-fi “Covenant” has too many flaws and doesn’t come close to the level of the 1979 horror film.

Scott’s latest endeavor in the genre tells the tale of a colony star ship on course to set up a society on a remote planet. Their trip to this new planet, which has been properly vetted and researched to ensure that it’s completely safe, hits a snag, though, when a space phenomenon causes a malfunction.

Not only does this result in awakening the crew from their hyper sleep, it also causes the death of their initial captain. In the immediate aftermath while the crew is checking the status of the ship, which is carrying roughly 2,000 passengers, they discover a signal being sent from a remote planet that’s closer than the one they’re going to that has breathable air and water.

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REVIEW: ‘Snatched’ Earns Some Laughs, But Not Every Attempt At Comedy Works

Comedic actresses Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn partner up in this flick and on occasion they’re able to deliver some solid humor. However, both have been in better projects in the past.

In “Snatched,” Schumer plays a young woman who’s more or less hit rock bottom. She’s been just dumped by her boyfriend and fired from a rather dead-end job. Making matters worse, her breakup came just as her and her boyfriend were about to go on an exotic vacation to South America.

Because she still wants to go on the trip, though, she invites her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) to go along. The two eventually make their way to the resort to begin their vacation, yet the two are somewhat at odds in how to spend their time. The two have to reconnect and repair their somewhat strained relationship in quick fashion, though, when they are abducted by a criminal enterprise.

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REVIEW: A Wonderful Sequel, ‘Guardians 2’ Kicks Off Summer The Right Way

For a few years, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” had been the best sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That movie got some competition this weekend, though, with the release of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”

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REVIEW: ‘The Circle’ Is A Directionless Waste Of Talented Performers

It’s always surprising and disappointing seeing a film squander a plethora of talent in its cast. “The Circle” is one of those types of movies.

The picture centers on a young woman named Mae (Emma Watson) who gets a job at the world’s leading computer technology/social networking company, the Circle. Headed by a pair by the names of Bailey (Tom Hanks) and Stenton (Patton Oswalt), the Circle operates at a massive facility that largely provides anything that a person could really want.

As Mae settles into her new role, though, she starts to notice some things that seem off. This thought process is only increased when she comes into contact with a lead developer named Ty (John Boyega), who informs her of some shady operations. At the same time, though, Mae also becomes a person of interest as she starts coming up with new ideas that actually benefit the company.

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REVIEW: ‘Phoenix Forgotten’ Had A Nice Premise, Poor Execution

UFOs, aliens and government cover-ups can all be pretty entertaining stuff. When a film just uses that premise for a rather generic found footage flick, though, it can be rather dull.

“Phoenix Forgotten” is such a film.

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REVIEW: A Compelling Look At A Historic Tragedy In ‘the Promise’ Held Back By Romantic Subplot

“The Promise” is a picture that acts as both a historical period piece and a romantic drama. Unfortunately, the latter becomes a weakness to the overall film.

The movie sets itself up at the onset of the first World War in the Ottoman Empire and mainly follows three characters, a medical student named Mikael (Oscar Isaac), an American reporter with the Associated Press named Chris (Christian Bale) and his fiance Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). After the three meet, a romantic triangle begins to develop between them causing some expected friction.

However, the real drama of the film comes as the war deepens and the Armenian Genocide begins. This poses immediate danger to Mikael and Ana as they both have Armenian backgrounds and are forced out of their normal lives. Meanwhile, Chris begins to document both the war and the genocide for the AP.

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REVIEW: There’s Nothing Memorable About ‘Unforgettable’

This movie’s Internet Movie Database page says that it’s a thriller, but as it was screening, “Unforgettable” seemed to be more of a comedy.

The film follows the character Julia (Rosario Dawson), who’s moving from San Francisco to a smaller community to live with her fiancé David (Geoff Stults) and his daughter. While it takes some time for to fit in, Julia does eventually start to get a bit used to living in her new home.

An immediate problem starts to come forward in the character Tessa (Katherine Heigl), though. Tessa is David’s ex and isn’t too much of a fan of Julia getting close with her former family and it doesn’t take long for the jealousy to turn into complete hatred. As time goes on, Tessa begins working to ruin Julia’s life.

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