Category: 2017

REVIEW: ‘Coco’ Works Thanks To Heartfelt Story About Family, Memorable Music

When it comes to musicals, Pixar has usually left the genre to its counterpart Disney Animation Studios. With its latest endeavor, though, Pixar has taken a page out of the Mouse House’s playbook, creating a musical experience with “Coco.”

Keep in mind, “Coco” isn’t a traditional animated musical. However, it’s a movie very much about music and includes numerous songs.

The movie’s protagonist is Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a boy who dreams of becoming a singer and guitarist like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). His family, though, is completely against music and musicians of any sort, finding it to be a curse on their family that began generations ago.

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REVIEW: ‘Justice League’ Never Rises Above Average

If “Justice League” had come out roughly 10 to 15 years ago, it may be considered a better super hero film.

However, with the existence of the Marvel series, the Nolan “Batman” films and even attempts such as what FOX has done with “Logan” and “Deadpool,” “Justice League” largely pales in comparison.

For a bit of a refresher, “Justice League” comes after the events of “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Superman is now dead and as a result, Batman (Ben Affleck) begins noticing an uptick in strange creatures causing havoc. It’s soon discovered that these creatures are appearing because of Steppenwolf, an ancient alien with conquest on his mind.

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REVIEW: Inconsistent Tone Derails ‘Orient Express’

Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in this most recent adaptation of the 1934 Agatha Christie novel.

The film opens with the story’s protagonist, Hercule Poirot (Branagh) investigating a mystery in Jerusalem. After Poirot solves the mystery in quick, convincing fashion, he’s invited to ride on the luxurious Orient Express by his friend Buoc (Tom Bateman) to get a break from all the detective work.

While on board, Poirot meets a number of characters on the fully booked Orient Express, including a sneaky business man named Edward Ratchett (Johnny Depp). After a night where the train is halted because of a blocked railroad, Poirot discovers that Ratchett has been murdered. As a result, Poirot must now solve the murder and uncover clues about Ratchett and the other passengers.

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REVIEW: ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Rocks!

It’s no secret, I wasn’t really a fan of the first two “Thor” movies. That’s not the case with the latest installment, though, as “Thor: Ragnarok” fires on all cylinders.

“Ragnarok” begins with the titular character Thor (Chris Hemsworth) searching for the mystical Infinity Stones and defeating monsters that have been rising up across the galaxy lately. The reason for the monsters returning is that Thor’s father is no longer in control of his homeland Asgard. Instead, it’s Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddlleston) who took charge of the land.

After Thor calls out Loki for what he’s done, the two agree to find their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Unfortunately, Odin dies shortly after the two brothers find him. Making matters worse, Odin’s death allows his daughter Hela (Cate Blanchett) to escape an ancient prison and seek the throne of Asgard for herself.

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Halloween Horror Fest 2017: Honoring Wes Craven

The horror genre has lived on largely thanks to innovation. Whenever something started to get stale, new directors stepped in to offer something different.

Director Wes Craven (Aug. 2, 1939-Aug. 30, 2015) was one of them. This aspect was most notable in 1984, when his picture “A Nightmare on Elm Street” came out and threw in a new twist on the newly formed slasher sub-genre.

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REVIEW: While Flawed In Areas, ‘Only The Brave’ Is Largely An Endearing Tale Of Heroism

Many dramatizations of heroic actions follow a certain pattern and “Only the Brave” is no different. However, this flick does contain some great features that put it above others.

The film tells the tale of a group of elite firefighters called the Granite Mountain Hotshots. As the movie describes early on, Hotshots are normally federal level firefighting units. However, because the Granite Mountain crew lived in an area prone to wildfires, they were able to become the first municipal unit to get the Hotshot title.

Leading the crew of Hotshots is Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin), who’s the classic tough but fair supervisor. This is very true with the newest recruit Brendan (Miles Teller), a recovering drug addict who’s trying to turn his life around and gets a chance to do so by Marsh. As the movie goes along, it explores the Hotshots earning their title and facing extremely dangerous wildfires in the process.

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REVIEW: Despite A Lack Of R-Rated Slasher Moments, ‘Happy Death Day’ Is Still Plenty Of Fun

Did the film “Groundhog Day” start a genre? With films like “Edge of Tomorrow” and now “Happy Death Day,” it’s starting to seem so.

The latter was just released this past weekend and follows the story of Theresa (Jessica Rothe), who goes by the nickname Tree. A college student and a sorority member, Tree is a very much a partier and enjoys living life rather promiscuously.

Her life comes to a screeching halt, though, when she’s murdered on campus on the night of her birthday. However, instead of dying, Tree wakes up on the morning of her birthday and relives it all over until she’s once again murdered. After waking up again on that same morning, it becomes apparent to her that she’s reliving the same day and sets out to solve her own murder.

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Halloween Horror Fest 2017: Honoring George A. Romero

The concept of zombies existed long before 1968.

The first known film related to zombies was actually released in 1932, which was “White Zombie.” However, the zombies at that time were more related to magic and voodoo and it wasn’t until the late 60s that the modern zombie movie was created.

It was all thanks to George A. Romero (Feb. 4, 1940-July 16, 2017) who came along and thrust the genre in a whole new direction with the film “Night of the Living Dead.” Romero’s indie film, which introduced the concept of a plague that turns people into flesh eating zombies, didn’t just create a new idea for filmmakers to use, though.

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REVIEW: Solid Acting Isn’t Enough To Save Melodramtic “Mountain Between Us”

Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are both talented performers and they bring their abilities to the table in “The Mountain Between Us.” However, the movie surrounding them is largely weak.

The film introduces Elba’s and Winslet’s characters at an Idaho airport where most of the planes have been grounded because of poor weather. Because the two need to get out of the area quick, though, with Alex (Winslet) needing to get to her wedding and Ben (Elba) having to get to a surgery, they are rather desperate to get in the air.

That’s when Alex comes up with the idea of taking a smaller charter plane from the airport and invites Ben to come along. At first the flight seems to be going well enough, but that soon flips as a series of events causes the plane to go down. The pilot dies in the accident and the rest of the film follows the two protagonists having to work together to get through a cold, harsh part of the country.

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REVIEW: ‘Blade Runner’s’ Return Is Remarkable

There have been a lot of sequels lately that have revisited properties that were long left dormant, including “Jurassic World,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Creed.” This sequel to the 80s cult classic “Blade Runner,” though, might be the best one yet.

The new “Blade Runner” takes place 30 years after the original, hence the title. Replicants, the bioengineered humans that were featured in the original, are once again present in the movie and this time more integrated into society. The main example of this is the movie’s protagonist, K (Ryan Gosling). K is a replicant who works for the Los Angeles Police Department and is tasked with hunting down older replicant models.

In his latest investigation, K discovers a clue that relates to events in the first film. As a result, K is sent down a rabbit hole where he finds out information that could change the entire world.

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