This is the Finding Dory of action movies--I can't remember why we wanted this, our main character can't remember anything and I hope we are finally done here.
Review: Nerve
Picture Truth or Dare meets Pokémon Go meets Facebook Live. Now, add in a healthy dose of teenage angst and unpredictability and you will have a sense of the game at the center of Nerve. As the stakes increase, the story hums like the neon Tron: Legacy-inspired lights that fill the frame.
Review: Lights Out
What even is this?
Review: The Secret Life of Pets
Very little lies beneath the surface here, which is a shame because there was definite potential for more.
Review: The Fits
Told through a lens of competition and desire, this experience is singular--you will not see anything else quite like The Fits for a very long time.
Hollywood's Role In Making Black Lives Matter
In light of recent events, many are asking why certain institutions fail to see Black Americans as human beings. While that is not necessarily on the Black community to solve itself, it is apparent that we are in dire need of a radical realignment of public perceptions.
Review: The Purge: Election Year
If you know you are stupid and own it, stupid can be good. And like the hard driving prosecutor with a mean streak, this series has learned to channel what would otherwise be a flaw.
Review: Weiner
In some ways, Weiner succeeds whether it is an accurate portrayal of the former New York Congressman or not. If it is all a façade, then that almost tells us more about the man than if he had let us in. As is, there is no way to really know, but Weiner entertains regardless.
Mid-Year Oscar Checkin
Are there any films from this year that have a chance to do the same? Have we already seen something that might make the Best Picture lineup? One of the acting categories? Something else?
Review: The Neon Demon
What happens when your mockery of something is as empty, shallow and vapid as the subject?
Review: The Shallows
On the surface, The Shallows is a thoroughly competent thriller that extends the lineage of Jaws. However, if you dip a metaphorical toe beneath the surface, there are definite problems here, no matter how tightly the story is told.
Review: Finding Dory
The film offers a thoughtful examination of the concepts of family and home, but it could have taken an all of the above strategy and given audiences a less conventional narrative.
Review: X-Men: Apocalypse
There is a lot to like here, even if it sometimes can't help but feed the CGI fueled, product-placement machine that is the genre at large. Overall, it works, but it is hard to say much more than that.
Hollywood's Sequel Problem
Dear Hollywood, help us help you.
Review: The Conjuring 2
Beautifully shot, beautifully rendered and fully imagined, it earns its 134-minute runtime by filling the experience with unnerving terror.
Review: Popstar: Never Stop Stopping
Popstar is a refreshingly self-aware, timely and thoughtful mockumentary with a clear point of view. It is also just funny, which makes it hard not to enjoy.
Review: Presenting Princess Shaw
The movie doesn't blaze any new trails from a filmmaking standpoint, and its story is fairly simplistic, but there is something so wholesome about it that I can't help but be happy it exists.
Review: The Nice Guys
Shane Black's script is beautifully crafted, genuinely funny and surprisingly deep. It won't be for everyone, but those with an open mind will be thoroughly entertained.
Review: The Lobster
Is it reasonable to base a relationship on trivial commonalities like nosebleeds and limps? If not, is it really any less legitimate than the things you think love should be based on?
Review: Money Monster
The film's tagline--Not every conspiracy is a theory--is exposed as nothing more than a tagline by the end of this so-so experience.