Tag: Studio Film Review
Body Cam | Review
Ghost Protocol: Vitthal Gets Supernatural with Hot Topic Horror
Genre has always been a formidable platform to explore significant social ills in creative ways, often...
Blue Story | Review
Enemies, a Love Story: Rapman Rides the Waves of a Street War in Familiar Fashion
Although it’s not quite West Side Story (1961), either in...
Valley Girl | Review
A Boho in Noho: Goldenberg Slathers a Classic in Nostalgic Reminisces
Feeling nostalgic is akin to wearing rose-color glasses, distorting our tender reminiscing of bygone...
Extraction | Review
Contrary Mercenary: Hargrave’s Debut Holds Steady with Routinely Staged Action
There’s a rich, albeit somewhat underappreciated tradition of notable stuntmen who segue into the director’s...
The Hunt | Review
The Most Capitalist Game: Zobel Skewers Class Consciousness with Ribald Satire
Social satire is perhaps the only conducive way to narratively navigate the ills...
The Way Back | Review
Whisky Galore: Affleck Shines in Character Study on Regret & Retribution
Reception theory often dictates a morbid confluence when consuming entertainment which reflects a kernel...
Underwater | Review
A Time to Drill: Eubank Delves into Derivative with Studio Sci-Fi
As above, so below seems to be the theme of William Eubank’s third feature,...
The Grudge (2020) | Review
Curse Strings: Pesce Reawakens J-horror Cornerstone with Studio Reboot
Director Nicolas Pesce becomes the first Borderline Film alum to enter studio filmmaking with his reboot...
Richard Jewell | Video Review
The Secret in Their Lies: Eastwood Explores Media Martyrdom in Shallow Expose
To be certain, Richard Jewell, the latest offering from Clint Eastwood in his...
Bombshell | Review
All the Network Allows: Roach Gets Righteous with Topical Melodrama
They’re mad as hell and they just might not take it anymore. So could...
The Irishman | Review
Benjamin Button-Man: Scorsese's Oldfellas Still Got It
A spiritual sequel to Goodfellas—with the black humor of The Wolf of Wall Street and the moral...
Eli | Review
Devil May Care: Foy Falters with Campy Horror Flick
Director Ciarán Foy continues with genre in third narrative feature, Eli, a B-grade horror film...
Joker | 2019 Toronto Intl. Film Festival Review
The Day the Clown Cried: Phillips Tries to Provoke the Herd in Adult Comic Book Origin Story
As another cinematic iteration of the eponymous Joker...
Ad Astra | Review
All Alone in the World: Gray Elegantly Propels Trademark Themes & Style into Outer Space
The curiosity of witnessing James Gray try his hand at...
47 Meters Down: Uncaged | Review
Shark in the Dark: Roberts Returns to Aquatic Terror in Slapdash Sequel
The terror inspired by nature’s apex predators remains alive and well in a...
The Kitchen | Review
The Kitchen, God’s Wife: Berloff Doesn’t Bring the Heat in Halting Melodrama
Hell may as yet have no fury like a woman scorned, but the...
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Review
California Dreamin’: Tarantino Dons Nostalgic Pastiche of Doomed Decadence
The lurid fascination and mildewed devotion for the transitional glory days of late 1960s Hollywood, informed...
Yesterday | Review
Never Underestimate Beatlemania: Boyle Is The Walrus
Like McCartney without Lennon, Danny Boyle’s Yesterday is long on whimsy, short on content—but it works. An entertaining one-note fantasy rom-com...
Ma | Review
Misery Loves Company: Spencer Reigns Supreme in Bizarre Portrait of Madness
“Hell hath no fury like a (black) woman scorned,” could have been a...
Long Shot | Review
It Happened One Election: Levine Finds Levity in Winning Political Rom-Com
While it arguably doesn’t go for broke and can’t quite shake the well-grooved...
Us | Review
Seeing Double: Peele Turns his Camera on Us
In the best possible way, Us feels like a Jordan Peele movie -- his sophomore feature offers...
Close | Review
But No Cigar: Jewson’s Bodyguard Thriller Nary Skirts the Surface of Female Agency
Director Vicky Jewson continues to mine the role of women working in...
Glass | Review
Walking on Broken Glass: Shyamalan Completes Superhero Trilogy with Chatty, Diagnostic Denouement
For a film nineteen years in the making, M. Night Shyamalan’s highly anticipated...
Criterion Collection: Forty Guns (1957) | Blu-ray Review
Samuel Fuller’s formidably feminist, embracingly revisionist 1957 western Forty Guns announces its boldness in an opening sequence whereby a ferocious Barbara Stanwyck stampedes and...
The Mule | Review
Two Kilos for Sister Sara: Eastwood Delivers Drugs and Good Deeds in Character Drama
In a role perfectly suited for him, and in what may...
Halloween | Review
To Grandmother’s House We Go: Green Succeeds with Obedient Resurrection of the Carpenter Classic
The original tagline for John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic Halloween, which...
The Oath | Review
We Will Never Be Loyals: Barinholtz Gets Guignol in Acerbic Political Satire
Actor/comedian Ike Barinholtz uses gleeful absurdity to provide some food for thought on...
The House with a Clock in Its Walls | Review
Clockwatchers: Roth Goes YA Route with Surprisingly Sweet Results
It goes without saying, horror director Eli Roth, once part of the perversely coined Splat Pack...
The Meg | Review
Tonight, She Chums: Turteltaub Unleashes Somnambulistic Creature Feature
Fans of Deep Blue Sea or one of the various Jaws sequels may have their pleasure sensors...
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Review
Thy Will Be Done: Bayona Burps a Blip in the Ongoing Dinosaur Franchise
Looking back, Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton had already marred the magic...
I Feel Pretty | Review
More Than a Feeling: Kohn & Silverstein Compose Meaningful, Imprecise Satire on Body Shaming
Screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, known for adolescent minded portraits...
A Quiet Place | Review
The Parent Trap: Krasinski Explores a World on a Wire in Tense, Derivative Monster Movie
“If they hear you, they hunt you,” declares the tagline...
Tomb Raider | Review
A Tomb of One’s Own: Uthuag Cracks a Croft Pot with Video Game Reboot
Norwegian helmer Roar Uthaug, who scored an international breakthrough with his...
Red Sparrow | Review
Bird of Prey: Lawrence Tries a Red Scare with Gritty Espionage Thriller
Like the Marquis de Sade outfitted for a contemporaneous tangent of the...
Death Wish | Review
Wish in One Hand…: Roth Revamps Urban Terror for the Neo-Privileged
Vigilantism isn’t perhaps the best narrative thrust for American audiences during the early days...
Black Panther | Review
Black Cat, Nine Lives: Coogler Clocks a Milestone with Exemplary Marvel
Rare is the opportunity to be surprised by anything studio related in mainstream American...
The 15:17 to Paris | Review
Terror Train: Eastwood Monotonously Mulls an Act of Heroism in Failed Experiment
For evidence of why narrative filmmaking is generally assisted by the designation of...
The Commuter | Review
Herrings on a Train: Neeson Fights the Good Fight in Half-Baked Transportation Thriller
You can see him in Berlin (Unknown, 2011), or see his...
Insidious: The Last Key | Review
Back to Basics: Two Prequels Forward Equals Another Step Back for the B-Horror Franchise
When James Wan premiered his wonderfully effective 2010 supernatural thriller...
All the Money in the World | Review
A Buck or a Pound: Greed is Good Cinema in Scott’s Perverse Portrait of Capitalist Dysfunction
Perhaps it was ABBA, Sweden’s 1970s pop sensation,...
The Shape of Water | Review
Creature from the Red Lagoon: Del Toro Gets Sentimental in Cold War Monster Drama
Monsters return as metaphors in Guillermo Del Toro’s latest, The Shape...
Blade Runner 2049 | Review
A Time to Brood: Villeneuve Delivers Sleek, Stylized Mood Noir with Sci-Fi Sequel
Do androids dream of electric sheep? It’s a question never completely answered,...
mother! | Review
Portrait of the Artist: Aronofsky Thrashes Wildly with Art-house Freak Show
Three years since his Biblical studio effort Noah, Darren Aronofsky is back in the...
It | Review
The Right Stuff: Muschietti’s Floats to the Top with a Crack at King
Often, cinema has not proven to be a kind vessel for the...
Dunkirk | Review
The Art of War: Nolan Wages War of the Senses in Visceral Reenactment
On all accounts as noble a cinematic endeavor as it is sheer...
The Mummy | Review
You’ll Like My Mummy: Cruise Tastes an Ancient Curse in Lackluster Reboot
Casting immediate aspersions over the likely success of a newly recalibrated franchise (coined...
Alien: Covenant | Review
This Time It’s More: Scott Repeats the Beats of Initial Sci-Fi Classic for Sequel Prequel
There comes a time when too much tinkering with one...
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | Review
Le Morte d’Arthur: Ritchie Bastardizes another Icon
In the same punchy tradition in which he usurped Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for two studio Sherlock Holmes...
Snatched | Review
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Trainwreck: Levine Streamlines the Diffident Return of Hawn into So-So Mother-Daughter Comedy
More often than note, notable actresses...
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Review
A surprise hit when it surpassed expectations back in 2014, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy raked in over 700 million at the box...
