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.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is a charming, insightful romcom”

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.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Mile 22’ is an awful action picture to end the summer”

Monday Movie Report: A24 picks up Julianne Moore movie before Toronto film fest

The movie company A24 has acquired rights to release the film “Gloria Bell” in the United States.

According to Variety, the company’s deal comes just before its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Variety reports that the movie is one of the more high-profile pictures set to debut at the fest.

Continue reading “Monday Movie Report: A24 picks up Julianne Moore movie before Toronto film fest”

REVIEW: ‘The Meg’ needed more bite

You hated “Alien Vs Predator.”

You tolerated “Freddy vs Jason.”

You were disappointed by “Batman v Superman.”

So, how will you handle Jason Statham vs a giant shark?

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘The Meg’ needed more bite”

REVIEW: ‘Eighth Grade’ is a top tier coming-of-age film

Even though the only social media platforms I had in grade school was MSN Messenger and MySpace, I was still able to relate to much of what was going on in this feature. I think that will be the same for many people who watch this picture.

As one might guess, the movie is about the eighth grade. More specifically, it’s about Kayla (Elsie Fisher), a young girl going through the final days of her eighth grade year. She has her own Youtube channel where she gives out advice and often acts confident in front of the camera. However, in reality Kayla is much more of a shy and awkward person who appears to be an introvert.

As the days go by, Kayla experiences what most middle-schoolers go through, from school drills to dealing with other students. Through those experiences, the audience gets to know quite a bit about what the character is living through, both emotionally and mentally.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Eighth Grade’ is a top tier coming-of-age film”

REVIEW: Weak second half, poor chemistry drag down ‘Spy Who Dumped Me’

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” is a movie that seemed fine, for a while. Then it kept going, and kept going.

Before getting into what didn’t work, though, a recap of the story. “The Spy Who Dumped Me” starts off with the main character Audrey (Mila Kunis) celebrating her birthday with her best friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon). However, the celebration is soured by the fact that Morgan’s boyfriend Drew just ended their relationship.

Because of her phone conversations with Drew, though, Audrey soon finds out that her ex-boyfriend is actually a spy working on a significantly important mission. As a result of her discovery, Audrey and Morgan are forced to go on the run, as they’ve become tied into the espionage world.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Weak second half, poor chemistry drag down ‘Spy Who Dumped Me’”

REVIEW: ‘Teen Titans’ on the big screen is plenty of fun

It’s no secret that Hollywood today is mostly dominated by films adapted from comic books featuring superheroes. And while most of the films in the genre have been above average lately, it remains a category of movies ripe for comedy.

Enter “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies,” which spends nearly its entire hour and 30 minute runtime taking aim at superhero films, mostly under the DC Comics banner. For the most part, it ends up being a success.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Teen Titans’ on the big screen is plenty of fun”

Monday Movie Report: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ cast backs Gunn

Cast members from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series from Marvel are standing in support of director James Gunn. The announcement from the combined cast comes roughly a week after Disney fired him from directing the third film.

Continue reading “Monday Movie Report: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ cast backs Gunn”

REVIEW: Latest ‘Mission Impossible’ delivers where it counts: the action

I’m very happy to report that there’s some Grade A Tom Cruise running in this movie.

Cruise is once again running through city streets because his character Ethan Hunt must once again save the world. In his latest (impossible) mission, Hunt and his crew are tasked with recovering three containers with nuclear materials that, in the right hands, can create weapons of mass destruction.

This time, though, Hunt has some baggage. Because the CIA has issues with his methods, they send one of their own agents, August Walker (Henry Cavill). Hunt begrudgingly begins working with Walker, but the mission becomes more complicated when aspects of his past start showing up, too.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Latest ‘Mission Impossible’ delivers where it counts: the action”

Godzilla sequel will be the de facto finale of a decade-long buildup

Twenty years ago, following the release of the American adaptation of “Godzilla,” few probably would have guessed that we’d be seeing a film like “King of the Monsters” coming out someday.

Continue reading “Godzilla sequel will be the de facto finale of a decade-long buildup”