Category: Reviews

REVIEW: ‘Boy Erased’ is a powerful look at a tragic subject

The horrific, despicable practice of gay conversion “therapy” is depicted in this film, based on the true story of Garrard Conley, who wrote a memoir with the same name.

The film tells a version of the true story through the character Jared (Lucas Hedges). The son of a Baptist preacher, Jared is a young man who just after starting college is forced to go to a gay conversion establishment.

The movie opens with Jared starting his time at the conversion facility, and from there, showcases a series of flashbacks where it details how Jared was forcibly outed and why his parents Marshall (Russell Crowe) and Nancy (Nicole Kidman) reacted the way they did.

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REVIEW: ‘Widows’ is a disappointing time at the theater.

A trio of women going through grief are quickly forced into action in this new heist flick.

“Widows” takes place in an area of Chicago and follows a group of women, Veronica (Viola Davis), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki). At the movie’s onset, the three have never met each other, but their husbands all work closely. However, their work includes pulling off criminal heists.

The film picks up with one of these jobs, helmed by Veronica’s husband Harry (Liam Neeson), going wrong and the whole crew getting killed. Not only does this put the three women in the grieving process, but the job their husbands attempted has left a sort of trail, putting them in danger. As a result, they decide to go through with a plan originally written up by Harry and pull off the heist to begin new lives.

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REVIEW: ‘Beasts’ sequel isn’t all that fantastic

It’s safe to say that the magic is gone.

For the uninitiated, “Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” series, which is a spinoff of the “Harry Potter” movies. The series is set decades before the “Harry Potter” events and follows a wizard named Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who’s an expert when it comes to dealing with various creatures.

In this installment, Scamander is tasked by a younger Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) to keep track of a situation in France that’s related to the fearsome antagonist of the series, Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). Like its predecessor from 2016, “Crimes” has Newt team up with his friends from New York, Jacob (Dan Fogler), Tina (Katherine Waterston) and Queenie (Alison Sudol).

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REVIEW: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a bland band biopic

The pacing in this movie was so fast. Maybe that would work for, I dunno, a biopic about the band Rush, but not Queen.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” tells the tale of the band Queen, with a significant focus on the life of Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek). The picture follows Mercury during his time in college where he discovers the band, all the way to his performance during the Live Aid concert.

As it goes on, the film covers Mercury’s sexual orientation, his creation of the song that shares the same name of the movie, his struggle with drugs and disagreements he had with other members of Queen.

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REVIEW: ‘Hate U Give,’ while not perfect, still has impact

A novel with subject matter quite relevant to what’s happened in the United States over the past several years was adapted to the big screen in fairly convincing fashion.

The Hate U Give,” originally a book, is a film telling the story of Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), who lives in a mostly African American neighborhood, but attends a predominantly white private institution. The film picks up with Starr heading into a weekend, where she eventually attends a house party. There, she meets a childhood friend named Khalil (Algee Smith), who offers to drive her home.

Along the drive back home, Khalil is pulled over by a white police officer and, while leaning in the car to check on Starr, is shot and killed. What follows is a situation where Starr has to deal with speaking about the incident with law enforcement, the press, and her friends and relatives. As a result, the situation creates a lot of stress for the high schooler.

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REVIEW: New ‘Halloween’ doesn’t surpass original, but is arguably the best one since

This is a “Halloween” film that is a direct sequel to the original picture from the 1970s, meaning that it forgets about all of the other movies in the franchise. So fortunately, it’s as if that whole ordeal with Busta Rhymes no longer exists.

Because it’s a direct sequel, the film revolves around a now adult Laurie Strode  (Jamie Lee Curtis). Since the events of the original ordeal, S has retreated to an extremely secure home to prepare for a day where Michael Myers escapes. Her constant fear of Myers breaking out, though, has led to an alienation with her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), and her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak).

Her fears are realized, though, as something goes wrong during a transportation of Myers from one security facility to another. As a result, Myers is out for blood again, meaning S, and Sheriff Hawkins (Will Patton) who was there to apprehend Michael that night so long ago, have to prevent a murder spree.

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REVIEW: It’s really ‘Meh’ times at the ‘El Royale’

“Bad Times at the El Royale” is a film that juggles a lot of ideas, and some of them are good. However, director Drew Goddard and company weren’t able to bring everything together, and this feature suffers for it.

The picture takes place at a unique setting. The El Royale is a hotel located with two sections, one half is in California and the other is in Nevada. The film features a group of characters, including a priest named Daniel (Jeff Bridges), a singer named Darlene (Cynthia Erivo), a salesman by the name of Laramie (Jon Hamm) and a young woman who keeps to herself in Emily (Dakota Johnson), who all check into the El Royale on the same afternoon.

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REVIEW: ‘First Man’ provides incredible snapshots of history and humanity

Political capital, time, money and lives. All of these were spent and sacrificed to push mankind out of the atmosphere and travel to the Moon. In “First Man,” all of these sacrifices weigh on Neil Armstrong, played here by Ryan Gosling.

As the name and the main real life character implies, “First Man” is about the lead up and mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to successfully land on the Moon. Director Damien Chazelle, known for his work helming “Whiplash” and “La La Land” takes audiences on a biographical tour this time around, documenting Armstrong’s training and following the astronaut’s journey to becoming the lead man on Apollo 11.

The picture covers both the continuous work at NASA, while also showcasing the lives of the agency’s workers in their home life. Specifically, the movie documents Armstrong’s relationship with his family, including his wife Janet (Claire Foy).

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REVIEW: Deeply flawed ‘Venom’ still manages to offer some fun

For those of you who don’t know, this “Venom” movie has basically nothing to do with Spider-Man or the Marvel universe. Sad face.

“Venom” tells the story of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), a broadcast news reporter who’s had good, consistent success in the journalism industry. His latest story, though, brings him into contact with a powerful pharma exec named Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). Because he asks too many questions in his interview, Drake manages to end Brock’s career.

As Brock struggles to get back on his feet, Drake’s company does unethical experiments, culminating with the forcing of a sentient alien substance to interact with humans. When Brock finds out, he decides to try his hand at investigative journalism again, but this lands him in more trouble when he becomes attached to one of the aliens named Venom. While the two begin at odds, they eventually form a deal to take Drake down.

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REVIEW: ‘A Star is Born’ will hook you in with passionate musical scenes

I’ll admit, when I hear the title, I think of the song at the end of the Disney “Hercules” movie.

In all seriousness, “A Star is Born” is actually a remake of a 1937 film with the same name. In fact, along with this most recent adaptation, that 1937 movie has been remade two other times in 1954 and 1976. This newest version was directed and co-written by Bradley Cooper, who also stars in the film as the lead character Jack.

Jack is a successful musician with plenty of hits, but also faces problems. Not only does one of his ears have a medical issue, but he’s also suffering from alcoholism. Despite, this, though, he meets a talented singer named Ally (Lady Gaga) who’s been overlooked her whole life. Not only do the two strike up a relationship, but Jack also helps Ally get her talent noticed. A strain remains, though, because of Jack’s health.

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