Rise could easily be a standard sports underdog movie, where, with training and sheer willpower, athletes overcome all odds and win a championship or something similar. It could also stumble upon oversimplification, like many biopics do, by trying to fit…
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ review: God of Blunder
I need to figure out exactly who I am. What identity crisis? From Norse mythology to comic book superhero to unlikely blockbuster movie star, “Thor” has long been a game of hot potato between creative hands, carelessly tossing away the…
The reason ‘Jurassic Park’ devolved as a franchise? It never learned its own lessons.
During my latest revisit of 1993’s Jurassic Park, I was struck by this thought: You can learn everything you ever need to know about blockbuster filmmaking just by watching this movie. From its technical wizardry — which almost seamlessly blends…
‘Elvis’ review: The king of messy biopics
Baz Luhrmann couldn’t help but make his take on the king of rock and roll, simply titled Elvis, as outlandish, style-obsessed, and paranoia-stricken as possible, perhaps to outrun the easy comparisons to Walk Hard through sheer speed of gyration. That’s…
‘Jerry and Marge Go Large’ review: Mediocre in the middle
How times can change. Only a decade or so ago, a mid-budget character drama like Jerry and Marge Go Large, which recently premiered on Paramount+, would’ve gotten a modest, but wide release in a theater near you. Much like the…
‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ review: Little shell, big emotion
Prepare to have your heart grow bigger and louder in just one day. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On started out as a series of deliriously sweet, viral short films in 2010, uploaded to YouTube by Dean Fleischer-Camp. Fleisher-Camp returns…
‘The Black Phone’ review: Ethan Hawke grabs the screen in this killer, throwback thriller
Ethan Hawke is no stranger to horror, specifically when directed by Scott Derrickson and written by C. Robert Cargill, as seen in 2012’s Sinister. But it’s safe to say Hawke has outdone himself with The Black Phone, extending his villain…