I’m the damned fool who waits until the year actually ends before rolling out my Best Of… list every year, and that’s because I’m often able to squeeze in about a dozen or more films in the last few weeks of December, mostly stuff that others have told me is worth checking out that I either didn't have time to see in the theater or things that simply never came out locally. I also tend to do a great deal of re-watching in that timeframe, mostly in an effort to solidify my top 10...
Read moreJustice League Review
In 2012, Marvel released The Avengers and fundamentally changed the idea of what's possible in blockbuster filmmaking. Five years later, DC has finally managed to bring its own superhero team to life with Zack Snyder's Justice League, and while the result is enjoyable, it also could be better. While it's nowhere near as innovative as its Marvel counterpart, and kind of a hot mess in a few fundamental ways, Justice League is also an insanely fun time as it absolutely nails these DC heroes, offers up some phenomenal fan service, and promises a ton of hope for the future of the DCEU...
Read moreBlade Runner 2049 (non spoiler) Review
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is arguably the biggest and best cult movie ever made. Its original form was famously dismissed by critics and general audiences alike, but subsequent re-edits and the persistent fluorescent and rainy vision of futurist Syd Mead which has been used constantly in both old and modern anime, have allowed it to stay relevant in pop culture to the point where it's now viewed as a sci-fi masterpiece. The film took the long road in establishing its legacy -- but director Denis Villeneuve's(Sicario, Arrival) new sequel, Blade Runner 2049, won't be taking that same path. It won't take 35 years to view it as a sci-fi masterpiece because this time around, people are going to recognize it immediately...
Read moreIT Review
Horror films have different effects on different people. Personally, I'm a challenging cinephile to shock, but I still have an infinite respect for material that can clearly be recognized as frightening and well made. That in mind, director Andres Muschietti's IT made me feel something that I haven't felt since probably when I first saw The Witch. As I watched Bill Skarsgard's wholly disturbing clown, Pennywise, simultaneously terrorize on-screen children and the audience around me, I was filled with a juxtaposing, wonderful joy. It's not only exciting to see a movie that can elicit such an impressive visceral reaction, but also create a rich, cinematic world that somehow manages to be both terrifying and inviting...
Read moreWar For The Planet Of The Apes Review
With WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, as the title suggest, war is the status quo. Director Matt Reeves returns (co-writing this film, along with Mark Bomback, who also had a hand in scripting DAWN) in what is hands down the boldest and bleakest APES entry yet, once again shifting the focus further into the world of the apes...
Read moreSpiderman: Homecoming Review
While technically this isn’t an origin story, Peter Parker has been established as a formidable contender in battle in Civil War. His innate powers are relatively established and honed. However, the fresh perspective crafted by Watts and the films eight writers (if you don’t count Stan Lee and Steve Ditko) make it feel that way. Homecoming offers audiences Peter’s emotional origin story. He isn’t really Spider-Man when the movie starts, he’s Spider-Boy. His personal story arc is what gives the film richness and depth, allowing the audience to relate to Peter and see his character, as more than an amusing teen with cool powers...
Read moreTransformers The Last Knight.....rant (because fuck it)
This film has so much story in it, so much fucking useless nonsenical information pummeled into every single scene, that there is no room for anything else. There’s no room for nuance, no room for character development, no room for logic, emotion, or even true excitement (admittedly, Bay has never excelled at putting any of these things on camera, at least during the Transformers movies). It’s a non-stop, pedal-to-the-metal, overstuffed symphony of exposition filled with more bad moments than good. And the whole thing is executed with such a staggering over-seriousness that would make the new DC universe blush, fuck even when it attempts moments of levity, they almost always fall flat...
Read moreWonder Woman Review
Simply put, Wonder Woman is magnificent, epic storytelling on a grand scale, but turns intimate in a heartbeat, swelling with emotion and vigor, and graced with a performance by Gal Gadot that has no comparison, except perhaps to the iconic work of Christopher Reeve in the original Superman: The Movie...
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