Movie Review: Haunted Mansion (2023)

3/5 Reviewed July 28, 2023 Disney once again trying to create a franchise based on one of their theme park rides. About 20 years ago they tried this exact movie, then starring Eddie Murphy, and it was…bad. This time around they use rising star LaKeith Stanfield to slightly better results. It’s a passable film, family

Movie Review: Barbie (2023)

4.75/5 Reviewed July 28, 2023 It feels like Mattel asked Greta Gerwig to make a Barbie universe themed version of the Lego movie, and she delivered. Barbie is about “Stereotypical Barbie”, living among her Barbie friends and their attached Kens, who starts to experience very un-Barbie-like situations and feelings, and must venture to the Real

Movie Review: Tango and Cash (1989)

3/5 Reviewed July 26, 2023 A Lethal Weapon knock-off starring Kurt Russell and Sly Stallone, this one is about two supercops, after being framed for murder by a crime lord, who have to team up to survive a diabolical prison sentence and exact justice. It’s every 80s cop trope put together….and yet there’s some charm

Movie Review: Oppenheimer (2023)

4.75/5 Reviewed July 23, 2023 I had a long review but computer crashed and ate it, so here’s the short, non-spoiler version: it’s fantastic. The acting is Oscar-worthy from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey, Jr, the music has incredible vibes, Nolan once again uses multiple perspectives (like Dunkirk) to tell an overarching tale about possibly

Movie Review: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)

4/5 This franchise just keeps going and going…and yet it’s still fun, even after a multi-year release delay and cost overruns due to Covid. The quality since MI4 has held steady; interesting mcguffins, menacing villains intent on destroying the world in different ways, exotic locations and dynamic chase sequences, and Tom Cruise running, and running,

Movie Review: Asteroid City (2023)

3.5/5 Reviewed July 12, 2023 The newest Wes Anderson film is very like his past films: wacky characters, pastels as far as the eye can see, visually very interesting with dollhouse-style sets and intricately crafted details, monotone voices delivering quickfire lines with little energy, a cast that’s more stacked than the books in Ghostbusters, symmetry

Movie Review: No Hard Feelings (2023)

3.25/5 Reviewed July 9, 2023 Jennifer Lawrence R-rated raunchy rom-com about a woman, desperate to save her house in a rich seaside community, who decides to assist wealthy helicopter parents by “dating” their 19-year old son and bringing him out of his shell – in exchange for a sedan. It’s got some pretty wild stuff

Movie Review: The Maltese Falcon (1941)

4.5/5 Reviewed July 6, 2023 The granddaddy of gritty detective film noir, this one sees private eye Sam Spade get entangled with the death of his partner and a number of lying crooks, all of whom are after a mysterious valuable statue. This was legendary filmmaker John Huston’s first movie, and what an introduction! It’s

Movie Review: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

3.25/5 Reviewed July 2, 2023 Fun, neon-filled animated movie about a family of Kraken secretly living amongst the locals in a seaside town, hiding their legacy…and the women’s ability to turn into giant, superpowered Kraken. Ruby is trying to live her life and fit in, with a crew of wacky friends (one has heterochromea!) and

Movie Review: Godzilla (Gojira) (1954)

4/5 Reviewed July 2, 2023 Recently got my hands on the original Japanese version of the film, and hoo boy was it a fun watch. By today’s standards it looks childish and hokey at parts, but you have to picture it seventy years ago: it changed Japanese, and later American, cinema forever. Ships start mysteriously