Tag: Movie Review

REVIEW: ‘Hotel Artemis’ has its moments, but is weighed down by the story

Normally, I love staying at hotels. However, I’m not sure I’d like staying in the “hotel” featured in this picture.

“Hotel Artemis” takes place in the not-too-distant future and is set in Los Angeles. We pick up in a riot-torn city, with residents upset over rising water prices. In the middle of all the chaos, a criminal named Waikiki (Sterling Brown) and his brother go to the Hotel Artemis after a job goes bad.

The audience soon learns that the Hotel Artemis is sort of combo, with overnight rooms as well as a medical staff, making it somewhat of a hospital. The facility is run by a character who just goes by Nurse (Jodie Foster) and the building is rather secure, with no weapons or violence allowed. However, with rioting in the streets and one of LA’s top gangsters headed to the Artemis, tensions rise.

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REVIEW: ‘Hereditary’ is top notch horror

Even if you walk into “Hereditary” thinking you’re prepared for what you see, chances are, you aren’t.

The film, a first-time feature length picture from Director Ari Aster, tells the story of the Graham family, particularly the mother, Annie (Toni Collette). The movie opens on the day of the funeral for Annie’s mother. From the start, it’s not only evident that Annie had an estranged relationship with her mother, but that there are also some dysfunctions with the rest of her family as well.

As the film moves on, the family is met with a traumatic event that triggers terrifying situations.

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REVIEW: Learning everything about ‘Solo’ didn’t make for compelling cinema

Audiences get to see the backstory of the legendary space cowboy in “Solo,” but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing with this feature.

As the title implies, “Solo” is about the outlaw, this time played by Alden Ehrenreich. The film details how Han went from an orphan on a dilapidated planet to a pilot academy dropout and then to a man surviving in the criminal underworld.

The latter comes about when Han begins working with a man named Beckett (Woody Harrelson), who needs a crew for a heist mission. Through a series of events, the crew becomes rounded out with Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), his childhood friend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) and Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

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REVIEW: ‘Book Club’ powered by talented cast

Academy Award winners Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen, along with Golden Globe winner Candice Bergen unite in this feature about four women who read “50 Shades of Grey” at their Book Club.

That’s the premise of the aptly named “Book Club,” with four professional, older women named Diane (Keaton), Vivian (Fonda), Carol (Steenburgen) and Sharon (Bergen) all taking a break from their usual novels to see what all the fuss is about with the best seller. As one might guess, comedic hijinks ensue as Diane, Vivian and Sharon are inspired by the book to get back into the dating game while Carol attempts to reconnect with her husband Bruce (Craig T. Nelson).

As the film develops, Diane starts a relationship with a pilot named Mitchell (Andy Garcia), Sharon begins using a dating app and Vivian has the first meaningful relationship she’s had in years with Arthur (Don Johnson).

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REVIEW: ‘Show Dogs’ is a passionless canine caper

I don’t know if anyone was asking for a version of “Miss Congeniality” with dogs, but it was made anyway.

“Show Dogs” tells the story of Max, a Rottweiler voiced by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges who works as a police dog in New York City. The film picks up with him working on a case of panda theft. I know, stick with me. So, because of the case, Max has to team up with an FBI agent named Frank (Will Arnett) to go undercover at a dog show.

So, the dog and dude duo set out to Las Vegas for a prestigious dog show where they suspect the panda thieves will be. While there, Max meets some new friends and discovers that dog shows are more meaningful than he first thought.

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REVIEW: ‘Life of the Party’

Melissa McCarthy is a talented individual but there’s no doubt her track record with movies hasn’t been perfect. As a result, there is only cautious optimism when I walk into one of her features, such as “Life of the Party.” Fortunately, this one was actually a pleasant surprise.

McCarthy’s latest starring role is playing Deanna, a housewife who didn’t finish her college degree and is suddenly met with divorce papers from her husband. As she weighs her options, Deanna sees this life-changing event as an opportunity to go back to college and complete her archaeology degree.

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REVIEW: ‘Isle Of Dogs’ Is A Witty, Funny Stop-Motion Animation Venture

Nearly a decade after producing the stop-motion feature “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Director Wes Anderson is back with another film using the same animation style, this time with “Isle of Dogs.” Like his previous animated feature as well as his other live action films, Anderson adds his own flair in both the visuals and writing.

“Isle of Dogs” takes place in a completely fantastical world. The movie is set in the city of Megasaki, located in Japan. The city seems to be a thriving metropolis except for one problem, the canines living there are infected with “dog flu” and have become a nuisance for their owners.

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REVIEW: Third ‘Avengers’ Is A Stunningly Well Made Feature

In 2012, the folks behind Marvel managed to put together numerous superheroes in one film and made it all work in “The Avengers.” This time around, in “Infinity War,” they use a lot of that same formula on a much bigger scale and even though there’s so much more going on, it still fires on all cylinders.

The latest “Avengers” takes place directly after the events of last year’s movie “Thor: Ragnarok.” In fact, the opening of “Infinity War” was even teased in “Ragnarok.” We soon find out that Thor (Chris Hemsworth), along with his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are under siege by the powerful character Thanos (Josh Brolin).

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REVIEW: ‘Rampage’ As A Whole Isn’t Saved By Monster Spectacle

There are two aspects with “Rampage,” one is the giant monster battles and the other is everything else. The giant fights are entertaining, the rest is forgettable.

The story behind the giant monsters in “Rampage” starts in space. A shady corporation turns out to be doing biological experiments high above Earth and after something goes wrong, three canisters are dropped from a space station containing genetic altering substances. One of those canisters falls in a San Diego wildlife center, where the protagonist Davis (Dwayne Johnson) works. The canister comes in contact with a gorilla Davis works with, named George, and it ends up making the primate grow to a massive size.

The other canisters land in North America, too, and have the same effect on two other animals. Meanwhile the (basically outright evil) corporation decides to lure the animals to Chicago, meaning it’s up to Davis, a former employee of the corp., Kate (Naomie Harris) and a government agent named Harvey (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to stop them, as Davis has worked with George before.

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About REVIEW: ‘Blockers’ Is Funny As Both An Adult And Teen Movie

I’ve been burned by comedies before, by those that have been marketed to teens as well as the ones for adults. It was quite a pleasant surprise, then, that “Blockers” ended up being so good, having laughs come from both aspects.

The title should make the general concept here pretty apparent. The film takes place on prom night and follows three teen girls, Julie (Kathryn Newton), Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan) and Sam (Gideon Adlon). The three want to have a memorable prom experience, but their parents, Lisa (Leslie Mann), Mitchell (John Cena) and Hunter (Ike Barinholtz) are worried about them potentially having sex.

As a result, while the teens are having their own adventures at the prom parties, the trio of parents set off on a crazy mission to prevent any sexual activity from taking place.

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