March 18
After a drive from Bemidji, Minn., through the rain and snow yesterday, I finally arrived in Fargo for the city’s 16th annual Film Festival.
Thursday marked the first time since 2012, during my last semester at Minnesota State University in Moorhead right across the Red River from Fargo, that I had gone to the festival and it was great to be back.
This is part two in a series where I rank the films of both Batman and Superman before the movie “Dawn of Justice” hits theaters this weekend. having already done Superman, it’s time to move on to the caped crusader.
Continue reading “Before Dawn Of Justice: Ranking The Batman Films”
What’s being billed as the “greatest gladiator match in the history of the world” is just around the corner. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opens this week, but before it does, I figured I would put together a short series ranking the Superman and Batman movies.
Continue reading “Before Dawn Of Justice: Ranking The Superman Films”
Since it’s right in the title, I’ll address the elephant in the room first. For those thinking this might be a sequel to the 2008 giant monster movie “Cloverfield,” you’re out of luck. The J.J. Abrams produced “10 Cloverfield Lane” has nothing to do with the creature that attacked New York City and does not serve as a sequel.
Instead, this film acts as a sort of anthology successor, maintaining the same mysterious tone of other Abrams’ pictures while still being its own film.
The movie starts off with a quick introduction of the protagonist, Michelle, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has decided to leave her fiance. On the way out of town, though, she is caught in a car accident on the highway.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ Highlighted By Acting, Claustrophobic Atmosphere”
“Olympus Has Fallen,” released in 2013, was actually an enjoyable action flick. Of course it was an obvious take on the “Die Hard” idea of one man being in a building against a whole group of baddies, but it was still a fun time at the theater.
The action was intense with a solid R rating and the “Die Hard” set up of being trapped in a single location always makes for suspense. Another strength the movie had going for it was the use of a cast that included Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo and Angela Bassett, similar in a way to “Air Force One.”
Unfortunately, because of the first film’s box office performance, a sequel had to get made, and this time things didn’t come together very well.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘London Has Fallen’ Doesn’t Live Up To Olympus”
Since John Lasseter took over Walt Disney Animation Studio, the company has continuously put out good material. “The Princess and the Frog,” “Tangled” and “Wreck it Ralph” were all well crafted features and “Frozen” and “Big Hero 6” were downright great. I’m very happy to report that “Zootopia” may be a film that tops them all.
In the movie, Zootopia is actually a major metropolis populated by all sorts of mammals. The film follows Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny who becomes the first of her kind to join the Zootopia Police Department but is immediately given parking meter duty. She gets a big break, though, when she manages to work her way onto a missing persons case.
In doing so, she teams up with a Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a cynical con-artist who has a few clues as to what happened.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Disney’s Win Streak Continues With The Fantastic ‘Zootopia’”
The cast of “Triple 9” includes Oscar winner Kate Winslet, Academy Award nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck and Woodey Harrelson, Golden Globe Nominee Aaron Paul and Independent Spirit Award nominee Anthony Mackie.
Simply put, this film was loaded with talent, and unfortunately it squanders it. The film follows a group of criminals who also happen to be corrupt police officers in Atlanta. The gang, which includes Michael (Ejiofor) and Marcus (Mackie) seem like they want to get out of the lifestyle they’ve fallen into, yet because they’re on the hook for the Russian mafia, led by Irina Vlaslov (Winslet), they’re forced into more heists.
Meanwhile Detective Jeffrey Allen (Harrelson) is investigating the recent heists and trying to solve who on the police force may be crooked.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Triple 9 Squanders Talented Cast With Disastrous Story”
At the end of the ceremony it was “Spotlight” left standing in a stacked Best Picture category. Beating out Producers Guild Award winner “The Big Short” and Directors Guild Award winner “The Revenant,” “Spotlight” took Best Picture as its second victory of the night, the first being Best Original Screenplay.
Likely the biggest story from the ceremony, though, was Mark Rylance of “Bridge of Spies” winning a huge upset over Sylvester Stallone who starred in “Creed.” Stallone had won plenty of hardware and momentum going into the evening but it was Rylance who took the trophy.
Another upset from the night was “Til it Happens to You” from the documentary “The Hunting Ground” losing to “Writing’s on the Wall” from the latest James Bond flick “Spectre.” Both upsets were a shock from my perspective and each announcement made the Twitter-verse explode.
Continue reading “Movie Report: ‘Spotlight’ Wins Top Prize, Stallone Upset By Rylance”
“Eddie the Eagle” is the latest film that captures the Olympics and the second one that tells an underdog story at the 1988 games, with the other being “Cool Running.”
The film’s first half hour follows the titular character, Eddie Edwards (Taron Egerton), through childhood. Edwards is completely obsessed with going to the Olympics and much of his youth is spent trying out a selection of different sports, with them all ending in failure.
That is until he comes across skiing, which he is actually pretty good at. Unfortunately, the British Olympic officials decide to not take Edwards with to the 88 games in Calgary, which spurs the protagonist to find another route to the event. His solution is ski jumping and he finds help in a washed up, former champion named Bronson Peary (played by Hugh Jackman).
Continue reading “REVIEW: While Not Perfect, ‘Eddie The Eagle’ Still Pulls Off The Landing”
I’m not sure where it all went wrong, but the career of Director Alex Proyas has crashed. It’s really a shame, because in 1994 Proyas directed one of my favorites “The Crow” and 10 years later helmed a solid sci-fi film in “I, Robot.”
But then in 2009, Proyas directed the mess that was “Knowing” and just last week, his latest film “Gods of Egypt” hit the screens and it was a train wreck.
“Gods of Egypt” follows, as you may have guessed, Gods who live in Egypt. More specifically, it’s about the king of Egypt, Osiris (Bryan Brown), who is about to pass the crown to his son, Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). The ceremony is interrupted, though, when Osiris’ brother Set (Butler) shows up. Set, who was banished, kills Osiris out of jealousy and takes the crown for himself. In the process, Set steals the eyes of Horus to take his power away.
Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Gods Of Egypt’ Is 2016’s First Disaster At The Cinema”
Matthew Liedke on Film 