SPEAK NO EVIL (2024) (R) Dir. James Watkins This very Americanized remake of the Danish thriller takes new but disappointing narrative paths, steered by a feral but charming McAvoy as a middle-class monster. Grade (3.0/5.0) Speak No Evil – the original from 2022 – sent a shiver down the spines of European filmgoers upon […]
“Jon Carter,” “Van Helsing,” “Scorpion King,” and “Jupiter Ascending” provide great company for “It Chapter Two,” another disappointing, big-budget studio release. Full disclosure: I wasn’t a fan of the 2017 remake, but this bloated sequel is far worse. The most obvious problem is the entirely unnecessary three-hour running time. The decision to regurgitate much of the
“Dark Phoenix” director Simon Kinberg has been involved with the X-Men movie franchise since “X3: The Last Stand” (2006). Ironically his introduction into the mutant world was the exact story he’s re-telling here. Kinberg says they didn’t get it right with Jean Grey’s Phoenix story the first time, and while there is a concerted effort to
If you have ever watched or been that child who bangs his toys together out of pure destruction, out of boredom or just being done with those particular toys; you can imagine what “Glass” is like through an adult prism. Writer and director M. Night Shyamalan is a polarizing filmmaker whose concepts and ideas typically
With all the adult themes (such as the complexities in relationships, literary references, and details in the plot), it’s hard to see how Sherlock Gnomes is a film for children, despite its being animated. Following Sherlock’s (Depp) reasoning through problems and clues is way over the kids’ heads; observing the intricacies of relationships between Sherlock
Uncredited John Wick / upcoming Deadpool 2 director David Leitch should have had the most stylish and rewarding action flick at SXSW this year. Unfortunately, Atomic Blond, the Charlize Theron – stylish and ultra-violent is more is more of an atomic bomb. Theron coming off the iconic Furiosa in Mad Max, I guess expectations were
The one element of Split that should have worked above everything else was James McAvoy’s multiple personality performance. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan returns after mediocre success with The Visit (2015), claiming Split was his most difficult shoot to date. The difficulty seems to be inherent as Shyamalan introduces too many components that detract from McAvoy’s
I went into this superhero movie, sequel, franchise with arms crossed. Annoyed that my summers are now filled with just one comic book adaptation after another. While X-Men Apocalypse (the 6th film in the series) hits theaters three weeks after Marvel’s other franchise Captain America debuted, they screened them for critics back to back. My
Turning Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein into an action movie is exactly the dumb idea screenwriter Max Landis (American Ultra) and director Paul McGuigan (Push) took all the way to the big screen. There is a reason Victor Frankenstein didn’t bow during the Halloween season; its narrative atrocity is certainly hoping to be lost in the fray