Tag: Studio Film Review
Krampus | Review
The Nightmare During Christmas: Doughtery’s Cutesy Morality Play on the Christmas Spirit
Exploring the adverse aspects of Christmas, one of the most cherished holidays...
Creed | Review
What’s in a Name?: Coogler’s Impressive Rocky Spinoff
After taking home the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013 with Fruitvale Station, director...
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 | Review
To Kill a Mockingjay: Lawrence Brings YA Franchise to Inevitable Denouement
The last tony gasp of Suzanne Collins’ celebrated Hunger Games franchise is steered, at...
The 33 | 2015 AFI Film Festival Review
Mountains May Depart: Riggen Reenacts Devastating Chilean Mining Collapse
Mexican director Patricia Riggen makes a curious departure with her third feature, The 33, a studio...
By the Sea | Review
The Sterile Cuckoo: Jolie’s Handsome Relationship Drama is Long in Tooth
Moving on from last year’s suffocatingly honorable POW reenactment drama Unbroken, Angelina Jolie returns...
Spectre | Review
The Legacy of Octopussy: Mendes Returns to 007 on Autopilot
A good act is hard to follow, and Spectre, the latest installment in the enduring...
Miss You Already | Review
Sisterhood of the Big C: Hardwicke and Case of the Dramatic Cancer Clause
Those who’ve been yearning for a remake of Garry Marshall’s beloved 1988...
Crimson Peak | Review
The Fall of the House of Cushing: Del Toro’s Haunted House Thriller Strangled by Frills
There’s much to admire within the crumbling facades of Guillermo...
Bridge of Spies | Review
A Bridge Too Far: Spielberg Gets Chilly with Cold War Curiosity
We’re used to seeing Steven Spielberg’s penchant for WWII recuperations, whether it be via...
Steve Jobs | Review
All About Steve: Boyle and Sorkin’s Backstage Swipe at the Tech Magnate
Though it successfully usurps the ungainly 2013 film starring a miscast Ashton...
The Walk | Review
Large Spectacle: Hollywood’s Answer to Petit’s Infamous Le Coup
A singular man with an impossible goal dealing with the ultimate stakes of life or death....
The Martian| Review
Stranger in a Bland Land: Scott’s Toilsome Return to Space
Ridley Scott, who is on the same annual cinematic trajectory as Woody Allen when it...
The Visit | Review
Home is Where the Hacker Is: Shyamalan’s Return to Entertaining Cinema
In many ways, The Visit, the latest film from once celebrated M. Night Shyamalan,...
No Escape | Review
American in Peril: Dowdle Bros. Play on Base Fears with Survival Drama
It’s unfortunate so many superficial elements are working against the objective consideration of...
Sinister 2 | Review
The Reusable Bughuul: Foy Marks a Franchise for Death
The only thing effectively murdered in the utterly unnecessary and awkwardly bungled sequel to Scott Derrickson’s...
Hitman: Agent 47 | Review
Hanna and Her Sisters: The Art of the Persistently Insipid Video Game Reboot
A tip of the hat to 20th Century Fox as they valiantly...
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Review
Say Uncle: Ritchie Continues String of Studio Pastiche
In a continuation of our culture’s insistence on plumbing the depths of past artifacts from the annals...
Straight Outta Compton | Review
Cruisin’ Down the Street: Gray Returns to Relevance with Biopic of Iconic Rap Group
Director F. Gary Gray will forever hold a seminal spot in...
Ricki and the Flash | Review
The Flash and How To Dull It: Demme and Streep Concoct Uneven Rock Cocktail
We’ve known the multifaceted Meryl Streep, amongst her many surprising and...
Big House, U.S.A. | Blu-ray Review
Famed producer Howard W. Koch directed a dozen or so motion pictures himself over the course of an illustrious career. None of his own...
Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation | Review
This Time, It’s Rogue: Cruise Continues Singing It Forever Just Because
Arriving nearly four years after the highly celebrated and significantly lauded fourth Mission Impossible...
Paper Towns | Review
Me and Earl and the Pixie Girl: Schreier Adapts Teen Schmaltz for Sophomore Effort
Director Jake Schreier takes on the saga of author John Green...
Pixels | Review
The King of Kong: Columbus Peddles Dopey Sandler Comedy
Hailing from some parallel universe where Never Never Land must be the capital is Pixels, a...
The Vatican Tapes | Review
Better the Devil You Show: Neveldine’s Solo Outing Can’t Quite Reach its Inner Demon
It’s hard to figure out who these religious themed horror films...
The Fabulous Baker Boys | Blu-ray Review
Twilight Time brings the famed musical romance The Fabulous Baker Boys to Blu-ray for the first time, the late 80’s classic which snagged a...
Ant-Man | Review
Can’t-Man: Reed’s Marvel Entry Positions Rudd as Dubious Franchise Tangent
Evidence of Marvel’s continuing imperviousness to even the most promising of fashionable script doctors is...
Trainwreck | Review
Who’ll Stop the Train?: Apatow Matures with Schumer’s Impressive Skills
The most inappropriate element of Judd Apatow’s latest film Trainwreck is its title, which promises...
The Gallows | Review
MacDeath: All the World’s a Grave in Stilted Found Footage Horror
It seems we’ve yet to hit the bottom of the found footage barrel, at...
Minions | Review
Villain’s Vassals: Coffin & Balda’s Slavish Prequel Void of Thought
Co-directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda team up for Minions, a tangential prequel to the...
Magic Mike: XXL | Review
Live Hard, Sell Hard: Jacobs’ Fluffer Sequel Has One Track Mind
Considering the interest and financial success of 2012’s Magic Mike, it’s no surprise to...
Jurassic World | Review
Nice Splice: Narrative Hasn’t Evolved in Trevorrow’s Dino Reboot
If there’s one aspect depicting the fickle nature of the human consumer the latest chapter in...
Insidious: Chapter 3 | Review
There Be Demons: Whannell Goes Back to Basics with Third Installment
And so we immerse ourselves even further into the vagaries of the Further with...
Spy | Review
Spy Hard: Feig’s Generally Entertaining Espionage Parody
Director Paul Feig does a James Bond send-up for his latest Melissa McCarthy headlined romp, Spy. But for...
Good Kill | Review
Fatal Irony: Is There Anything Good About This Kill?
Nearly two decades after collaborating on the shrewd and subtly realized sci-fi allegory, Gattaca, Ethan Hawke...
Hot Pursuit | Review
When Hot is Cold: Fletcher’s Tone Deaf Comedy a Frivolous Altercation
For those familiar with director Anne Fletcher’s studio track record, including the rom-com platitudes...
Avengers: Age of Ultron | Review
The Wrath of Bland: Whedon’s Poo Poo Platter Continues
Mainstream event cinema continues to shackle box office glory and narrative familiarity to a creative deathbed...
Child 44 | Review
Dirty Snow: Espinosa’s Ungainly Yet Enjoyable Soviet Era Mystery
Grazing lightly over the Soviet era politics of the period and featuring a handsome, gussied up...
Unfriended | Review
Face to Face: Gabriadze’s Topical Mutation of Technological Terror
How effectively chilling it is may be arguable. But there’s no denying that Levan Gabriadze’s English...
Last Knights | Review
About Last Knight: Kiriya’s Culture Club Reimagining of the Feudal System
It’s unclear for who or for what reason Japanese director Kazuaki Kiriya decided to...
The Gunman | Review
The Gun Show: Morel’s Failed Fashioning of Penn Into Unlikely Action Star
If anything, it’s safe to say that The Gunman, the latest film from...
Insurgent | Review
Rebel Heart: Schwentke Usurps Plebeian YA Franchise
In many ways, Insurgent is an easier film to watch than its 2014 predecessor, Divergent, in which we...
Cinderella | Review
Bippity Boppity…Boo: Branagh’s Fairy Tale for Hire
Does anyone remember when Kenneth Branagh was directing superior cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare before eventually becoming the director...
Chappie | Review
iRobot: Blomkamp’s Latest Sentimentally Inclined Sci-Fi is Pleasantly Familiar
Sentient technological constructs and expanding the definition of what constitutes the essence of consciousness as it...
The Lazarus Effect | Review
Death Becomes Her: Gelb’s B-Grade Horror Haunted By Its Own Ideas
With its absurd title, which recalls an era of enjoyable B-grade Sci-Fi/horror films from...
Focus | Review
The Grift of Love: Ficarra & Requa’s Perfunctory Take on the Art of the Con
Those hoping for a scintillating update on the con-artist sub-genre...
McFarland, USA | Review
Personal Best: Caro Returns to Studio Filmmaking with Feel-Good Adaptation
It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from New Zealand director Niki Caro, who...
Fifty Shades of Grey | Review
Ties That Bind: Taylor-Johnson’s Erotic Adaptation Forgoes a Glimpse of Eros
Playful marketing provocations, heralded by the succinct tagline “Curious?” standing out beneath black and...
Kingsman: The Secret Service | Review
Eggsy’s Game: Vaughn’s Hyperviolent Reinterpretation of the Super Spy Caper
While a release in February doesn’t speak highly of Twentieth Century Fox’s hopes for the...
Jupiter Ascending | Review
Space Princess Diaries: Wachowski’s Space Adventure is Intergalactic Hooey
Those craving the intelligent sci-fi that graced their early 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix are sure...
Blackhat | Review
Black in the Saddle: Mann’s Cyber Thriller Forgets Thrills
Though clearly uninterested in providing conventional thrills with his first theatrical release in six years, director...
