Tag: Review

REVIEW: Latest ‘Chainsaw Massacre’ is a total mess

This franchise has really only had one good sequel and that one had someone dual-wielding chainsaws. Something this movie, among other things, lacks.

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is supposed to be a direct sequel to the 1974 horror classic, ignoring all of the other pictures in the series. The film is set nearly 50 years after the original picture, and picks up with a group of young adults moving to a small, rural Texas town.

There, they plan to invite several other young professionals to revitalize a dilapidated community. Unfortunately, their presence ends up disturbing the fearsome killer Leatherface, who’s been in hiding since the conclusion of the first movie.

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REVIEW: ‘Worst Person in the World’ is a well-made Norwegian feature

“The Worst Person in the World” is far from the worst movie in the world.

This film, from Norway, stars Renate Reinsve as Julie, a young woman who’s having trouble deciding what to do in life. The movie starts with Julie studying to become a doctor, before switching majors to psychology. Early on in the movie, she does this again, deciding to pursue a career in photography.

Her romantic life is fairly similar. Early in the picture, she meets and begins a relationship with Aksel, a successful comic artist. As their relationship is humming along, though, she meets another man, Eivind (Herbert Nordrum). Like her academic career, Julie feels herself being pulled in more than one direction romantically.

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REVIEW: ‘Cyrano’ is a sensational musical

Peter Dinklage should’ve been an Oscar contender.

Based on a 2018 stage musical, which itself was based on the 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” the film “Cyrano” tells the story of the titular character portrayed by Dinklage. Cyrano is a writer, poet, performer and even a cunning swordsman. Despite his talents, though, he can’t bring himself to confess his love for his friend from childhood, Roxanne (Haley Bennett). This is because of his own self doubt related to his appearance.

His complicated romantic situation is only compounded when Roxanne, who’s expected to marry the duke De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), announces her love for a soldier named Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Wanting to make his love happy, Cyrano decides to help Christian write letters to Roxanne, as the solider is also in love with her.

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REVIEW: ‘Scream’ doesn’t surpass recent horror counterparts, but still satisfies

Nearly a decade after Wes Craven directed his final “Scream” movie, the late filmmaker’s legacy lives on with a fifth installment for the franchise.

Audiences take a trip back to Woodsboro in “Scream,” set 25 years after the first movie that had the same title. This film starts out much like the original did, with a teenager, Tara (Jenna Ortega), being terrorized by a villainous character in a Ghostface mask.

Unlike the first movie, though, Tara survives and is hospitalized. This captures the attention of not only her sister Sam (Melissa Barrera), but the familiar trio of Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette) as well. These characters converge on Woodsboro with the goal of uncovering who the new Ghostface is as attacks continue.

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REVIEW: Star cast unable to salvage below average ‘355’

If you like McGuffin hunts, then “The 355” might be the perfect movie for you.

Jessica Chastain stars as Mace in “The 355,” a CIA agent tracking the location of a device that can practically hack any computer system in the world, from transportation programs to weapon launches. After the death of her field partner, Mace doubles down on her efforts to recover the device.

Those efforts bring her in contact with other agents from several intelligence organizations. The agents include Graciela (Penelope Cruz) from Columbia, Lin (Fan Bingbing) from China, Marie (Diane Kruger) from Germany and Khadijah from England (Lupita Nyong’o). While they are at odds to begin, the agents eventually decide to work together.

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REVIEW: Meta-filled ‘Matrix’ sequel stumbles despite good ideas

Birth, life and death was the course of the original “Matrix” trilogy, so a “Resurrection” nearly 20 years later is a logical step.

Familiar faces return in the latest “Matrix” feature, including the series hero Neo (Keanu Reeves), although now he appears to be living a normal life as Thomas Anderson in a regular office job. The audience soon learns, through a few new characters, that Neo is actually back in a version of the Matrix.

It turns out some events happened in the real world since the end of the third film, “Matrix Revolutions,” which resulted in the Matrix system continuing on in a new capacity. The film follows how the new characters interact with Neo and begin showing him his past, which results in him wanting a different future.

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REVIEW: Technically sound ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’ too inaccessible at times

I felt like I was drinking a 40 oz in the auditorium, because this film has a whole lot of Olde English.

Based on William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth,” “Tragedy” was written and directed by Joel Coen, with Denzel Washington playing the titular character. The film is a fairly straightforward retelling of the story, with Washington’s Lord Macbeth having a vision of ascending to the throne of Scotland.

That prophecy becomes fulfilled, and as the story goes, Macbeth’s reign turns out to be a difficult one. Soon after he takes the crown, he becomes paranoid and begins taking actions that only lead to more trouble.

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REVIEW: ‘Mass’ is an emotionally charged film with a great ensemble

While “Mass” is simply a film with four people in a room having a conversation, it has more tension than most of the other movies released in 2021.

“Mass” is about a meeting between two sets of parents whose children were involved in a school shooting. Jay (Jason Isaacs) and Gail (Martha Plimpton) are parents who lost their son in the incident.

Linda (Ann Dowd) and Richard (Reed Birney), meanwhile, are the parents of the shooter, who also died during the event. Over the course of the film, the two discuss what led to the school shooting and how it has impacted them.

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REVIEW: Cage shines in truffle trouble drama ‘Pig’

Nicholas Cage has had ups and downs in his career over the last decade, with some real lows in there (“Season of the Witch”), but he shows in this movie that he still has the acting prowess that won him an Oscar in the 90s.

Cage stars as Rob in “Pig,” a man who lives a secluded life in the Pacific northwest. He spends his days hunting for truffles with his foraging pig, and sells his finds to a single buyer, Amir (Alex Wolff), for simple supplies.

His day-to-day routine is shattered, though, when his pig is stolen in the middle of the night. With a reluctant Amir providing assistance, Rob sets out to get his pig back by any means necessary. However, his journey takes him back to a world he left behind, digging up his past in the process.

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REVIEW: ‘C’mon C’mon’ is moving, heartfelt cinema

Can we pretend Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar was for this movie instead of “Joker?”

Phoenix stars in “C’mon, C’mon,” the new film from writer/director Mike Mills. In the film, Phoenix plays Johnny, a podcaster whose show centers on opinions of the youth. Johnny is often traveling across the country because of his job to interview students about their outlook on the world.

His career is interrupted, though, when his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) asks for help. Viv is needing to take care of her husband, who’s going through a difficult time with mental health. As a result, she needs Johnny to help look after her son, Jesse (Woody Norman).

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