Tag: Movie Review

REVIEW: Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ is a poignant, eloquently made film

Similar movies have come out close to each other before, à la “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact.” Usually they aren’t two award contending dramas, though. But here we are with “Elvis” in 2022 and “Priscilla” in 2023.

In the titular role is Cailee Spaeny, who portrays Priscilla from her teenage years living in Germany to when she ended her marriage to Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). The movie dramatizes how the two met, Priscilla moving to the Graceland mansion, the extended courtship and eventual deterioration of the relationship.

In addition to exploring the relationship, director and writer Sofia Coppola follows Priscilla’s personal journey of having to go through high school and enter adulthood in such a situation.

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REVIEW: ‘American Fiction’ is astute and immensely funny

Truth is often stranger than fiction, but in “American Fiction,” the tale made-up by the protagonist is far more outlandish than his reality.

Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious Ellison in the film, although many just call him by his nickname, Monk. A writer and college professor, Monk finds himself in a bit of a career rut, with little interest coming from publishers in his new novel. At the same time, he sees other black writers getting a ton of success by writing stories about African American trauma and hardships.

Wanting to make a statement, Monk writes his own book in the same style, hoping that it will be taken as a satirical jab on the genre. Instead, it’s taken seriously and becomes a success. As he needs money because of a personal tragedy, Monk plays along.

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REVIEW: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ squanders fun concept

It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as the early 90s. A concept works quite well as a video game, but doesn’t quite translate well to film.

The latest example is “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a horror game franchise with a lot of popularity that has been made into a movie. The film stars Josh Hutcherson as Mike, who has to spend his nights at Freddy’s, a defunct brand similar to Chuck E Cheese, known for its animatronic mascots.

His stay there is out of desperation, as the security guard role at the dilapidated family restaurant is the only job he can get, and he needs it to continue being a guardian to his sister Abby (Piper Rubio). As Mike soon learns, working at the property can be rather creepy, as it has a dark history that lives on through the seemingly shut down animatronic animals.

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REVIEW: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is a powerful, meticulously made historic epic

Martin Scorsese has once again returned to the crime drama genre, focusing on a series of murders known as the “Reign of Terror.”

“Killers of the Flower Moon” centers on a conspiracy to murder members of the Osage Nation and steal their wealth and land. In Osage County, Oklahoma, members on the reservation received rights to royalties from oil production that was taking place on their land. The finances they inherited, unfortunately, made those with rights targets to others.

Scorsese’s film centers on these events, mainly through the eyes of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio). A World War I veteran, Ernest arrives in Osage to work with his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro) as the murders are picking up. During this time, Ernest himself marries a woman with rights to oil wealth herself, Mollie (Lily Gladstone).

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REVIEW: Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ is a funny, emotional winner

This just in, Paul Giamatti continues to be a national treasure.

The Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee portrays Paul Hunham in “The Holdovers.” A teacher at a private boys high school in the 1970s, Paul has earned himself a reputation as a notoriously tough teacher and not the most pleasant to chat with.

Unfortunately for some students who have to stay at the school during the holiday break, they have to spend their days with Paul, who’s the designated the chaperone. One student in particular, Angus (Dominic Sessa) has to spend an extended time there. But as time goes on, he finds himself bonding with both Paul and the school’s head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph)

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REVIEW: Sans dialogue, ‘No One Will Save You’ succeeds with suspense

Those who’ve played Nintendo games where protagonists are speechless other than grunts should find themselves in familiar territory with this mostly dialogue-free film.

Kaitlyn Dever stars in the picture, now on Hulu, as Brynn, a young woman living in a rural house near a small community. Brynn lives a simple, quiet life, appearing to be trying to recover from a trauma in her past.

After a fairly typical day, she goes to sleep, but is woken up by noise in and around her home. The intruder, though, is no burglar, but rather an extra-terrestrial, and there’s not just one that Brynn has to escape from.

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REVIEW: Poor narrative breaks ‘Exorcist: Believer’

Keep those tubular bells ringin’, “The Exorcist” series is back. However, unfortunately, the quality of the original film is not.

In this entry to the franchise, Leslie Odom Jr. plays Victor, a single father whose wife died during child birth due to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. In the ensuing years, Victor loses his faith, but appears to be doing alright as a dad to his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett).

His world gets turned upside down, though, when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) go missing. They’re eventually found, much to their parents’ relief. As time goes on though, it appears something sinister has latched on to the two girls. Continue reading “REVIEW: Poor narrative breaks ‘Exorcist: Believer’”

REVIEW: Fourth ‘Expendables’ is an empty experience

The Expendables are back… Well, a few of them are. A lot of the cast from previous movies didn’t come back for this one, probably with good reason.

Still helmed by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), the elite group of expendable mercenaries  are still taking on dangerous missions, but their latest adventure might have the highest stakes yet. The team is informed by the CIA that several nuclear weapons have fallen into the wrong hands.

To prevent any bombs from going off, the Expendables are hired to recover them and take out those behind the scheme. As part of the mission, they’re joined by some new mercenaries who offer additional combat skills.

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REVIEW: Spooky season setting boosts ‘A Haunting in Venice’

After two underwhelming films, the third time appears to have been the charm for the modern Hercule Poirot series.

Based on another one of Agatha Christie’s stories, “A Haunting in Venice” finds inspector Poirot retired from detective work. Played by Kenneth Branagh, who also directs, Poirot is now living in the titular city a few years removed from investigating. That is until he he meets up with friend and author Ariadne (Tina Fey).

A mystery author, Ariadne is planning to attend a séance to gather some inspiration for future works, and she invites Poirot to come along. The inspector is skeptical at first about the whole situation, but decides to tag along. During the event, a mysterious death takes place, and it forces Poirot to exit his retirement on a spooky Halloween night.

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REVIEW: Latest ‘Equalizer’ offers adequate entertainment

Antoine Fuqua made the “Equalizer” trilogy. I watched the “Equalizer” trilogy. I guess the situation has been… equalized.

So sorry about that.

Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall in “The Equalizer 3.” This time around, the semi-retired super agent finds himself wrapping up the takedown of a crime syndicate based in Sicily. While he’s successful in his bloody endeavor, he does get himself injured with a shot to the back. Eventually, as he’s leaving the area he falls unconscious.

Fortunately, he’s rescued by a passerby who takes McCall to a doctor in a small coastal village. The doctor cleans Robert’s wounds and helps him recover. During his time there, Robert finds peace in the charming town, but is troubled by the occasional presence of mafia members who harass local business owners.

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