Category: Reviews

REVIEW: Black and Blanchett elevate otherwise forgettable ‘House with Clocks’

I can’t say that I ever expected Jack Black and Cate Blanchett to make a good onscreen duo, but here we are.

The two performers appear on the big screen in this fantasy film, directed by Eli Roth. While they headline the picture, though, the main character of the picture is Lewis, played by Owen Vaccaro. The film’s opening finds Lewis moving to Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan (Black) after the death of his parents. Not long after Lewis moves in, he soon finds out that both his uncle and his uncle’s friend Florence (Blanchett) are warlocks.

As he begins to learn about the world of magic, Lewis not only finds out that sorcery exists, but that the house he’s living in contains an evil clock with nefarious designs.

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REVIEW: While entertaining, latest ‘Predator’ doesn’t top others in the series

I don’t get why they couldn’t just call this “Predator 4” and forget the “Alien vs Predator” movies exist. That’s what I do.

The latest entry in this series, directed by Shane Black, mainly follows the character Quinn (Boyd Holbrook). Quinn is a sniper specialist for an elite military unit who sees a UFO crash during one of his missions.

As one might guess, Quinn encounters a Predator. However, those higher on the pay grade decide that  they should cover up the experience and put Quinn with a group of other soldiers who’ve been classified as needing mental health treatment. Because Quinn, and his family, are targeted by the Predator, though, he has to team up with the group to defeat the alien.

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REVIEW: ‘White Boy Rick’ dragged down by story, characters

The latest gang/crime drama has released to theaters, but this one comes with a bit of a twist.

“White Boy Rick,” based on a true story, follows Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merritt). Rick lives in Detroit with his father Richard (Matthew McConaughey), who sells firearms in poor neighborhoods. As this process continues, local and federal law enforcement agencies become aware of Richard’s dealings and look to put an end to it.

However, instead of arresting him, the FBI and local detectives give Richard an out by giving Rick the opportunity to be an undercover informant and make controlled drug deals. Rick takes the offer and begins to work undercover, but soon comes to terms with the dangers associated with the role.

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REVIEW: ‘The Nun’ is a generic, one note picture that you can skip

I wasn’t sure if “The Nun” would be all that scary. But what I really didn’t expect was for it to be so boring.

“The Nun” is part of the “Conjuring” cinematic universe and actually takes place decades before the original movie came out. The story follows Father Burke (Demian Bichir) and a young nun in training, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga).

The two are sent to Romania by the Vatican to investigate the death of another nun at an old abbey. As they begin their investigation with the help of a local farmer (Jonas Bloquet), though, they soon learn that they have to face a horrifying entity.

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REVIEW: Cho’s performance, effective storytelling create a fantastic thriller in ‘Searching’

Talk about dad reflexes. John Cho’s character is definitely Father of the Year material in this flick.

Cho plays David in “Searching,” a single father raising his teenage daughter Magot (Michelle La). While he is a caring dad, though, the father-daughter relationship has been strained, since the death of David’s wife Pam (Sara Sohn).

Any argument over the small things in life go away quickly, though, when Margot disappears and becomes a missing person. While the local police department begins a thorough investigation into Margot’s status, David relentlessly continues to do research on his own to find his daughter.

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REVIEW: ‘Peppermint’ brings very little to the table and is ultimately forgettable

After many years in other genres, Jennifer Garner has returned to the world of action films. However, her latest picture isn’t the best she’s starred in.

In “Peppermint,” Garner plays Riley, who lives in a lower-middle class household with her husband Chris (Jeff Hephner) and daughter Carly (Cailey Fleming). Her day-to-day life is shattered, though, when a gang murders Chris and Carly in a drive-by shooting.

While Riley is able to identify those who did it, the corrupt law system provides no justice. As a result Riley decides to take the law into her hands and launch a mission of revenge.

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REVIEW: While flawed, ‘BlacKkKlansman’ is an engaging take on a wild true story

Legendary filmmaker Spike Lee has returned to the directors chair, this time to helm a crime/cop drama that’s actually based on a true story.

Taking place in the 1970s, “BlacKkKlansman” follows Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), a recent addition to a police department in Colorado. As a rookie in the department, Ron initially works in the records division. However, he eventually convinces the chief to get a chance in undercover detective work.

After a short time in the new division, Ron ends up taking a chance by phone to call a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. In doing so, Ron is able to keep track of the local Klan’s strategies and if they’re seeking to do anything violent. To make the investigation even more effective, Ron works with Flip (Adam Driver), a fellow detective who takes Ron’s place during in-person meetings with the Klan.

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REVIEW: ‘Happytime Murders’ is a contender for worst of 2018

The concept of “The Happy Time Murders” was introduced around 2008 and over the next decade, the movie idea wandered in development hell. With its release this weekend, maybe it should’ve stayed there.

“The Happytime Murders” takes place in a world where puppets exist and live among humans. The film focuses on Phil, a puppet who after leaving the Los Angeles Police Department, became a private detective. In his latest investigation, he comes across a larger case than he expected.

Phil (Bill Barretta) soon learns that there are murders taking place, with the victims being cast members of a popular TV show. Even more significant is that Phil was very close with some of the cast. As he starts investigating, he’s forced to work with his former police partner, Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy).

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REVIEW: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is a charming, insightful romcom

Subjects such as wealth, power and differences in the social hierarchy based on income are all packaged and put before audiences in this summer romcom.

As the name implies, the film centers around very affluent Asian individuals. However, the main protagonist Rachel (Constance Wu), isn’t one of them. Rachel is an economics professor living in New York City and is in a relationship with Nick Young (Henry Golding). The two are a happy couple, yet when Nick invites Rachel to his best friend’s wedding, she finds out that he’s been hiding something.

It turns out that Nick’s family is extremely wealthy and holds great influence in Singapore. Upon arriving in Singapore, Rachel experiences some of the perks of her boyfriend’s wealth, but at the same time, their relationship becomes strained. This is mainly because Rachel isn’t remotely close to being a rich person, and some of the individuals close to Nick look down on her for it.

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REVIEW: ‘Mile 22’ is an awful action picture to end the summer

Collaborations between Director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg have been OK. But this latest one… Oof.

In their new team-up, Mark Wahlberg plays James Silva, the head of a special operations unit under the leadership of the CIA. The story picks up with the team at United States embassy in a country that is never specified throughout this feature. The audience soon learns that the unit is there because there is an informant named Li Noor who has a computer drive with the location of nuclear weapon materials.

That informant, played by Iko Uwais, wants something in return, though: asylum in the United States. As a result, the team take the informant on a 22 mile trip to an airfield to get him out of the country and reveal where the materials may be. However, Noor is a target in the country, making the journey dangerous for the CIA team.

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