This is a curious mixing up of reality and fantasy, though mostly fantasy. It seems that writer (with Kevin Etten) and director Tom Gormican intended to make a spoof of Nicholas Cage and his movies by weaving in and out of both in a multi-layered piece that oftentimes uncannily mirrors Cage’s own life and career. To enmesh […]
Watching Paul Schrader’s latest film is like sitting in an early ’90s medical center waiting room. While you wait, there isn’t much to occupy your time except to look at paintings, magazines or the outdated furniture. Schrader creates a world in “The Card Counter” that’s inescapably dull on purpose. His characters have arrived at the
First movie of the new year, first review, and while you can’t expect much from a Tiffany Haddish flick, “Like a Boss” is a step in the wrong direction for everyone involved. Salma Hayek previously worked with Miguel Arteta on “Beatriz at Dinner,” a film that was among 2017’s best. “Like a Boss” could effortlessly be one of 2020’s worst, which of course, is why it’s a
The film opens to the song “It’s a Man’s World,” signaling the theme of DC Comics dramatic “mobster movie” adaptation and its gritty 1978 setting. It would be easy to compare this all-female cast to last years “Widows,” but they are entirely different, with very different goals. McCarthy and Haddish both play down their comic roots,
Whereas in the first rendition of The Secret Life of Pets, a relatively simple story with lots of excitement is told, in Secret Life 2, the filmmakers opted to have three loosely related story plots alternating with one another. One story is about the main character Max having to adjust to his owner’s new baby and going for
Following upon The Lego Movie (2014), this sequel continues the adventures of the “Master Builders” who started out as resistance fighters against Lord Business and his army of Micro Managers. Emmet (Pratt) and Wyldstyle (Banks) were heroic in the previous story and ended up as best friends in a happy town, Bricksburg, where everyone is special. It should be
Taking advantage of the politically charged and divided society, actor turned director Ike Barinholtz (Blockers) was inspired by his own family Thanksgiving conversation to write this script. The Oath isn’t the first film to try and make a profit off Trump era division, nor is it likely to be the last. One line in The Oath even uses the
Hollywood is still trying to figure out what to do with comedian turned actress Tiffany Haddish. She re-teams with her Girls Trip director Malcolm D. Lee for a PG-13 effort. Night School is, unfortunately, another unfunny comedy for Kevin Hart to play in. The screenplay makes an awkward attempt to deliver a message of how its never too late
Director Malcolm D. Lee continues his collaborations with lucky charm Regina Hall following Barbershop: The Next Cut and The Best Man Holiday. Girls Trip might look like the black version of Rough Night (last month’s raunchy female road trip), but this film has substance, however minor, between all the raunchy jokes. It got two laughs