Tag: Review

REVIEW: ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ is frankly not good at all

There’s an old meme out there that would describe any trashy romance as “still being better than ‘Twilight.’” That can’t be said about “Lisa Frankenstein.”

As one might guess, this film centers on a character named Lisa. A teenager, Lisa (Kathryn Newton) is a goth girl who is trying to move on with her life after her mother’s murder. In the present, she lives with her father, insufferable stepmother and her kind stepsister.

With her annoying stepmother at home and a lack of enjoyment at school, Lisa’s only joy comes from spending time at a small cemetery. That cemetery happens to be the  resting place of a Victorian era pianist, and, through a strike of magic lightning, that musician (Cole Sprouse) comes back to life, and seeks out Lisa.

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REVIEW: I met the real agent ‘Argylle,’ I wish I hadn’t

“Argylle” is a film that could have spent more time on the drawing board, because on the big screen, it’s just wasting other peoples’ time.

In the film, Argylle is the titular character of a spy novel series written by the introverted Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard). The author is working on her latest book, but is running into a bit of writer’s block.

A bigger problem comes along in the form of a group of men trying to capture Elly, though, as the books she’s written have actually been rather prophetic when it comes to real world espionage. Her only protection is a secret agent, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who defends Elly and leads her to where she can uncover the truth about the real Argylle.

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REVIEW: ‘Miller’s Girl’ is a trashy thriller that goes off the rails

Lester from the “Fargo” series meets Wednesday Addams. Hijinx ensue.

To go a bit more in depth, “Miller’s Girl” is a film set in a small Tennessee community that follows a literature teacher. Jonathan Miller (Martin Freeman), who’s also an author, though he hasn’t written in a few years, is just getting started on a new semester.

One of the first students he meets is Cairo (Jenna Ortega), a high schooler who lives alone as her wealthy parents are abroad. Cairo shows promise and it leads Miller to assign her a special writing project to help her with college admissions. The two end up growing closer, but the situation begins to take a dark turn.

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REVIEW: ‘The Beekeeper’ is a B-movie (in more ways than one) that delivers

The entire script of “Bee Movie,” but it’s just a review of the 2024 action film “The Beekeeper.”

Jason Statham stars as Adam Clay in this new film from director David Ayer. A simple man leading a quiet life, Clay keeps bees and lives on a farm owned by retired schoolteacher and charity organizer Eloise. Things get kicked off in the film when Eloise’s computer is hacked and she’s lured into a scam.

She not only loses her life savings, but the $2 million her charity managed. The situation causes her to take her own life and in the aftermath, Clay, who turns out to be a retired agent of an elite organization, sets out for revenge. During his quest, he learns the scamming system is run by powerful people with government ties.

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REVIEW: ‘I.S.S.’ has some suspense but execution is clunky

The International Space Station may bring astronauts to the final frontier, but as this film shows, they are still very much tied to what’s happening down on Earth.

“I.S.S.” centers on six characters aboard the station in Earth’s orbit. There are three American astronauts: Kira (Ariana DeBose), Gordon (Chris Messina) and Christian (John Gallagher Jr.), as well as three Russian cosmonauts: Weronika (Masha Mashkova), Nicholai (Costa Ronin) and Alexey (Pilou Asbæk).

Kiras is the newest to the station and is still adjusting, but she finds everything going smoothly on board as the crew gets along and stays busy. That is until they all witness massive explosions and find out that a major war has started. Each group then receives notice from their nations to take over the station.

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REVIEW: ‘The Color Purple’ powered by cast, weakened by script

“The Color Purple” makes sense as a title, because the hardships the main character goes through will have someone feeling blue and seeing red.

Based on the stage musical, which itself was an adaptation of a 1982 novel, “Color Purple” is a film centered around the character Celie Harris-Johnson (Fantasia Barrino). As a teenager, Celine is raped by her father and gives birth to two children, who are taken from her and given to the church for adoption.

The cruelty doesn’t stop there, as he then arranges Celie to be married to an abusive farmer named Albert (Colman Domingo). During this time, she’s also separated from her sister, Nettie (Halle Bailey). Celie goes through many hardships, but finds some kindness and encouragement from other women, including Sofia (Danielle Brooks) and a singer named Shug (Taraji P. Henson).

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REVIEW: Despite strong filmmaking, ‘Ferrari’ is largely unfocused

Sometimes even the most meticulously-made movies fall short.

That’s the case with director Michael Mann’s new biographical film centered on Italian car-maker Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver). The movie is set in 1957, with Ferrari gearing up for the annual Mile Miglia, or Thousand Miles. The Italian race event is another opportunity to show off his brand.

While this is happening, Ferrari’s company is  is in a difficult situation financially. To turn things around, a suggestion is made to merge  with another company, but it’s complicated because Ferrari’s estranged wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) owns half the shares. Their relationship has been strained since their son’s death and is even more so lately as Ferrari is having an affair.

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REVIEW: ‘Boys in the Boat’ bores more than it excites

It feels kind of bad to pile on Washington after they just lost the football national championship, but the review must go on.

“The Boys in the Boat” is set in the mid 30s, right in the middle of the Great Depression. The film begins by introducing Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), a student at the University of Washington who’s homeless and is having difficulty paying for his tuition. While looking for work, he finds he can make money for the semester by making the school’s rowing team.

After a grueling selection process, Rantz and seven others are picked for the JV team. Their coach, Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) puts them to work right away and soon learns they’re able to compete well with the varsity team. Because of their talent, the coach begins considering the JV squad to compete for a spot in the 1936 Olympics.

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REVIEW: ‘Nyad’ sinks more than it swims

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are known for their documentaries chronicling individuals who do incredible physical feats. Maybe they should have just done a documentary with this subject, too.

The duo’s latest film is a narrative feature centered on distance swimmer Diana Nyad. In the late 70s, Nyad (Annette Bening) participated in several open water attempts, swimming around the island of Manhattan and from the Bahamas to Florida.

What she wasn’t able to do at that time, though, was conquer a swim from Cuba to Florida. The film picks up with Nyad in the early 2010s, now in her 60s, with a fiery desire to try the swim again. The movie chronicles her attempts with help from her coach and friend Bonnie (Jodie Foster).

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REVIEW: While moving, ‘Memory’ often feels distant

When there’s hardships aplenty, sometimes a human connection is what can get a person through.

Writer and director Michel Franco’s new film “Memory” shows just that, as two broken people find each other and form a relationship. The film opens by introducing Sylvia, a single mother and recovering alcoholic who works in an adult care home. While she’s been sober for years and able to manage her daily life, she still deals from trauma in her past.

The movie picks up with her meeting a man, Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), who has early onset dementia. This leads to their first encounters being difficult, but as time goes on, they grow closer. While the relationship brings them some happiness, though, there are still struggles for both.

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