Tag: film

REVIEW: Mildly amusing ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ never fully takes off

Scarlett Johansson makes it two in a row with space-themed films, following up her appearance in 2023’s “Asteroid City” with this summer’s “Fly Me to the Moon.”

This time around, Johansson plays an advertising ace named Kelly. Because of her record of success in marketing, Kelly is recruited by a mysterious government agent named Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) to bolster the public’s perception of NASA.

It comes at a time when NASA is looking to forge ahead on its Moon mission, despite losing the loss of public interest. Kelly starts turning that around, much to the chagrin of by-the-books launch director Cole (Channing Tatum). However, Kelly starts winning him over, too.

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REVIEW: ‘Day One’ shows diminishing returns for ‘Quiet Place’ series

“A Quiet Place: Day One” turns out to be quite the bargain, since the movie shows day two and day three as well.

What the title really implies, though, is that this is a spin-off prequel showing how the conflict at play in the previous “Quiet Place” films from 2018 and 2020 started. Set in New York, the film centers on Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a terminal cancer patient and poet who, emotionally, is barely getting by.

On a day where she decides to go out in the city with others from a hospice center, the sight-by-sound aliens from previous installments begin dropping from the sky. The sudden alien attack pushes her into an effort for survival, and she’s joined along the way by another individual trying to stay alive.

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REVIEW: ‘Kinds of Kindness’ is a constantly fascinating anthology

The guy who made the new film “kinds of Kindness” is kind of a good director.

Obviously that’s not true, as Yorgos Lanthimos is a great director and once again shows off his abilities to make a bizarre, amusing and insightful picture. His latest film is an anthology with three stories full of dark comedy and absurd moments.

Each story features the same set of actors, but they’re all standalone tales and the cast play different characters.  That cast includes Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and more.

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REVIEW: Journey of ‘The Bikeriders’ is interesting, but not genre defining

Here we are, the best motorcycle film to hit theaters since “Wild Hogs.” Kidding of course.

The latest movie featuring motorcycle riders rumbling down the open road is a period piece drama centered on a Chicago-based club called the Vandals. The film is told from the perspective of Kathy (Jodie Comer), a woman narrates her experience marrying one of the club members and being around the group as it gained membership and began more illegal activity.

Her husband, Benny (Austin Butler), was one of the higher-ups in the group, behind its leader Johnny (Tom Hardy). The film explores how they and other core club members started the group and where it took their lives.

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REVIEW: ‘Ghostlight’ is an endearing dramedy about the impact of art

Despite the name, “Ghostlight” is a film more about stage fright, and less about a fear of apparitions.

The film stars Keith Kupferer as Dan, a man who is at wit’s end at the movie’s outset. His son died roughly a year ago, he’s dealing with a wrongful death lawsuit he filed in the aftermath, and his daughter Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) has been having disciplinary issues.

The stress gets to him during his construction job and it leads to a blow-up. The moment is witnessed by an actress named Rita (Dolly de Leon), who invites Dan to participate in a community theater presentation of “Romeo and Juliet.” As he becomes part of the production, he starts being able to process his grief. Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Ghostlight’ is an endearing dramedy about the impact of art”

REVIEW: ‘Treasure’ is largely tedious

Sometimes film adaptations work better when they’re a bit different than the source material. But after learning about the book “Treasure” was based on, I wish it would have been more faithful.

Set in 1991, “Treasure” stars Lena Dunham as Ruth, a journalist from New York City who’s visiting Poland to learn about where her parents grew up before being taken to concentration camps by Germans during World War II.  

She’s accompanied by her father Edek (Stephen Fry) on the trip and the two set out on visiting a few of the towns he was familiar with. However, the situation is strained because Ruth is still getting over a difficult divorce and both she and her father are mourning the loss of the family matriarch.

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REVIEW: ‘Tuesday’ is a turbulent, pretentious disappointment

Didn’t have death appearing as a bird that talks like Caesar from “Planet of the Apes” on the bingo card.

Voiced by Arinze Kene, Death comes in the form of a size-shifting parrot in “Tuesday,” and visits people across Earth in their final moments before they pass away. As the movie gets underway, the bird’s latest task is visiting the terminally ill teenage girl Tuesday (Lola Petticrew).

Tuesday speaks with Death though and the two form a sort of understanding, leading to an arrangement where the girl will be allowed to stay alive until her mother Zora (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gets home to say goodbye. From there, the film presents a journey all about mortality for the characters.

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REVIEW: Family follow-up ‘Inside Out 2’ mostly succeeds

“Inside Out 2,” AKA the third film in Pixar’s coming-of-age trilogy after “Luca” and “Turning Red.”

This animated sequel picks up about a year after the events of the first film, released in 2015. Riley is now 13, she’s enjoying hockey, about to enter high school and her emotions seem to be in a good place. The film picks up with her being recruited to a hockey camp after her JV squad wins a title.

That’s where things go haywire in Riley’s mind, as new emotions, including Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos) suddenly show up. Worried about Riley’s future, Anxiety takes the lead from Joy (Amy Poehler) and ends up making the hockey camp into an emotional roller coaster.

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REVIEW: While not perfect, ‘Bad Boys 4’ is bad ass

It really sucks that P Diddy turned out to be awful and this film couldn’t have “Shake Ya Tailfeather” or “Bad Boys for Life” playing, but the movie still manages to be a good time.

The fourth film in the franchise starts out with Mike (Will Smith) getting married to a new character, Christine (Melanie Liburd). The celebration is great until his longtime friend and police partner Marcus (Martin Lawrence) has a heart attack. After a near death experience, though, Marcus walks away with a new found confidence and a positive outlook on life.

It’s certainly needed as the detectives’ late captain is framed for major crimes by the cartel. As they begin to investigate, the cops themselves are framed and are not only sought by the cartel, but other law enforcement as well.

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REVIEW: Raunchy script of ‘Babes’ is out of sync with dramedy vibe

Sometimes a film can have its heart completely in the right place, but still not be as enjoyable as one would hope. Such is the case with the new comedy “Babes.”

At the beginning of the film the audience is introduced to Eden (Ilana Glazer), a single woman who’s spending Thanksgiving with her pregnant friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau) at a movie theater, which is their tradition. It’s interrupted, though, when Dawn goes into labor.

While Dawn has experience being a mother, with this being her second child, Eden is on the opposite side as a single woman who doesn’t intend on being a parent. That is until she has a one-night stand and ends up getting pregnant herself. After some consideration, she decides to have the baby and become a single mother.

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