It's something like a cross between American Sniper and The Bucket List. But on whatever level these three are having fun, it never really feels like fun for the audience.
All in Reviews
Night of the Dead Living - Coco
Absentee fathers, career expectations, racial identity. It is par for the course for Pixar to include themes that reach adults, but these are all tackled in a way that feels accessible to kids as well. In a way only Pixar can, they somehow seem to speak on multiple levels with each scene.
Down Here Together - Mudbound
These characters circle one another on rails; their orbits well-defined by centuries of oppression. Rees manages to beautifully capture both the broad strokes and small contours that take shape when people fail to realize we are down here together.
This Is My Stop - Murder On The Orient Express
Updated racial politics and slick aesthetics keep it on the rails, but you would be hard pressed to find something to really love about it.
An Even Grungier Juno - Lady Bird
There’s a world in which this movie is made without Saoirse Ronan and it’s not one I want to live in. She single-handedly takes Lady Bird from being a character I had no use for to one with just enough complexity to keep me engaged.
When Dying Is Fun - Happy Death Day
When a movie has a one sentence tagline like "the horror version of X," I am all in.
Hillary Clinton Won! - Battle of the Sexes
Well, not really. Donald Trump is still President of the United States. Hillary Clinton is still a private citizen. But for this one moment in history, it's as if the results turned out differently.
Standing Tall - Stronger
This story is not important for what it meant to the life of Bauman; it is important for what it meant to the life of a city.
Sean Baker Finds All The Feels - The Florida Project
The final product really exposes who people are--their flaws, their beauty, and everything in between.
A Total Waste of Perfectly Good JLaw - mother!
I didn't hate this movie; I just hated the experience of watching it.
Review: IT
If you take out the parts where the clown exposes rows of teeth that would make a great white shark envious and uses them to rip limbs off little children, this is basically just a sweet coming of age story. Think ET, but with the occasional mangled seven-year-old.
Review: Patti Cake$
What is the opposite of woke? Mayonnaise? This is mayonnaise. A pale, bland option that makes everything worse because it is relying on fat content and not flavor.
Review: Girls Trip
Some combination of casting, acting and directing created the kind of warm friendships rarely captured on film.
Review: Annabelle: Creation
If you can tackle this formula with something interesting to say about the world, it's pretty easy to garner heaps of praise. The bar is pretty low and this film just doesn't do much to get over it.
Review: Detroit
When Bigelow wants you to feel our protagonists’ fears, you will feel them. Whether it is a shot we hear but don’t see or a body making contact with the floor, this is trauma turned up to 11.
Review: Dunkirk
It is films like this that remind me I have no idea how to make a movie.
Poster: Okja
Something like a mix of Free Willy and ET, Okja will tug at your heart strings with a blend of the familiar and the alien.
Review: Baby Driver
Baby Driver feels like a singular experience. Whether it is the technical prowess or the murderer’s row of entertaining actors, this movie is popcorn in the best possible way.
Review: War for the Planet of the Apes
Some combination of Andy Serkis and advancements in technology have made possible a story where you can truly forget the line between ape and human.
Review: The Beguiled
Regardless of where you come out on the film or some of the narratives surrounding it, Coppola's craftsmanship is on full display.