Category: 2016

REVIEW: Suspenseful Filmmaking And Great Performances Help ‘Sully’ Soar

Clint Eastwood’s directing chops are once again on display here in “Sully,” making for some of the most tense movie sequences put to screen so far in 2016.

This picture follows the story of Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), a pilot who landed a commercial airliner on the Hudson River in January 2009. The film picks up in the immediate aftermath of the landing, with Sully still in New York City and meeting with safety and transportation officials for a review of what happened.

As the days go on, the movie explores Sully’s reaction to his sudden fame, his questioning of whether or not he did the right thing and his response to panels of flight officials who are investigating the landing.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Suspenseful Filmmaking And Great Performances Help ‘Sully’ Soar”

The Top 10 Tom Hanks Movie Performances (Written pre ‘Sully’)

The dramatic landing on the Hudson River by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger will be recreated on the big screen this weekend with the release of a movie about the famous pilot. Playing the captain who made the daring landing is one of Hollywood’s best, Tom Hanks. With that in mind, it’s a good chance to look back at the actor’s significant career.

Continue reading “The Top 10 Tom Hanks Movie Performances (Written pre ‘Sully’)”

2016 Summer Movie Awards

Sometimes the summer provides some of the best movie moments of the year, but they often go overlooked during award season. So, to make up for it, I’ve come up with the Summer Movie Awards, giving credit to flicks that come out in the warmest months.

Continue reading “2016 Summer Movie Awards”

REVIEW: Despite Unlikable Characters, ‘Don’t Breathe’ Has Edge Of Your Seat Thrills

Take note horror characters, never go in a creepy looking house.

“Don’t Breathe” tells the tale of three home robbers trying to make enough money to get out of a dilapidated area of Detroit. The trio, including Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette) and Money (Daniel Zovatto), get a major opportunity for a big score when they are tipped off about a blind man who is sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The three eventually begin their plan to break in and pull off the heist, but they don’t get very far. It’s not long before the would-be robbers find out that the person their stealing from, despite being blind, has complete control over his senses. On top of this, they also find out that the Blind Man (Stephen Lang) is aggressive and ready to kill all of the trespassers without mercy.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Despite Unlikable Characters, ‘Don’t Breathe’ Has Edge Of Your Seat Thrills”

REVIEW: “The Mechanic’ Franchise Didn’t Need A Resurrection

Arthur Bishop has returned for some more assassination attempts, albeit being more reluctant this time around.

In this follow-up to the 2011 picture, “The Mechanic Resurrection” carries on the story of Bishop (Jason Statham) who now lives in isolation in Brazil.

His peace is shattered, though, when he’s forced into a job by an old nemesis named Crain (Sam Hazeldine). The main reason why he’s forced to do more assassinations is because Crain is holding Bishop’s new girlfriend Gina (Jessica Alba) hostage.

Continue reading “REVIEW: “The Mechanic’ Franchise Didn’t Need A Resurrection”

REVIEW: Streep, Grant Shine In The Fantastic ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

Meryl Streep could very well get some award attention again for her performance but Hugh Grant shouldn’t be overlooked in this picture.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” follows the story of a real life New York City woman who was heavily involved in the area’s musical scene. While she knew and was on largely good terms with many of NYC’s musicians, artists and composers, though, she herself didn’t have the best singing talent.

The film picks up with her taking singing lessons in 1944 with help from her husband St Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) and a young composer named Cosme McMoon (Simon Helberg). Despite her continued practice, though, Jenkins doesn’t particularly improve over time. However, Jenkins believes she’s a world class singer and it’s up to the film’s other character to help her continue to believe the product she’s putting out.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Streep, Grant Shine In The Fantastic ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’”

REVIEW: The Political Satire In ‘Sausage Party’ Works, Everything Else Not So Much

Director Greg Tiernan and actor Seth Rogen take animated pictures to a whole new level with this feature, mixing ideas of a raunchy comedy and a Pixar-like adventure.

The film takes place in a supermarket like any other and shows that all of the food and items in the store are sentient. Additionally, the products view humans as gods, meaning that when they are bought and taken out of the store they’re going to a sort of heaven.

Much of the flick revolves around the characters Franks (Rogen), a sausage and Brenda (Kristen Wiig) a bun. The movie picks up with them getting lost with other foods in the store when a mishap happens preventing them from being purchased. In the process, they start to learn some of the truth behind what the humans do.

Continue reading “REVIEW: The Political Satire In ‘Sausage Party’ Works, Everything Else Not So Much”

REVIEW: ‘War Dogs’ Is High On Excitement, Low On Depth

If there’s anything movies based on real events have taught us, it’s that truth is stranger than fiction. Once again, this is the case with “War Dogs.”

In this film from Director Todd Phillips, Miles Teller plays David Packouz, a young man who’s trying to make a living to support his wife by way of being a massage therapist. Unfortunately, this isn’t going very well. He gets a lucky break, though, when he meets up with his friend from high school Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill), who’s become an arms dealer for the United States.

Taking place during the early stages of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Efraim is having plenty of success and he pulls David along for the ride as a business partner. As the two get deeper into the industry, though, they soon start to get a bit in over their heads.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘War Dogs’ Is High On Excitement, Low On Depth”

REVIEW: ‘Hell Or High Water,’ A Modern Western And An Instant Classic

There’s been many good films released in 2016, but “Hell or High Water” is the first I can really call great.

The movie follows the Howard brothers, an ex-convict/roughneck Tanner (Ben Foster) and a divorced dad, Toby (Chris Pine). While the two are on good terms, they don’t exactly have the same way of doing things. However, the two decide to work together in a bank-robbing scheme to save their family’s ranch in Texas.

As a result, a duo of Texas Rangers are sent after the brothers. The pair includes Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) who’s about to retire and Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham), who has to put up with Marcus’ rough personality.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Hell Or High Water,’ A Modern Western And An Instant Classic”

REVIEW: Great Storytelling, Characters Make ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’ One Of The Summer’s Best

“Zootopia” might just have competition during award season from this flick.

“Kubo and the Two Strings” follows the story of the titular character. Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who lives near a small village with his mother, who was forced to flee from her family because her marriage was viewed as a betrayal. In her escape, though, Kubo’s mother was injured, resulting in her dealing with memory loss.

Despite this, she still has magic powers and those powers were passed on to Kubo. The main conflict launching Kubo on his adventure begins when his mother is killed by her sisters. To protect himself from his mother’s family, Kubo is sent to find a magical suit of armor.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Great Storytelling, Characters Make ‘Kubo And The Two Strings’ One Of The Summer’s Best”