By: Matt Prazak Jordan Peele sits in the directors chair for the first time in his new thriller Get Out, starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford. Known for his comedic roles on TV before making the transition to the big screen with Keanu, Jordan Peele writes and directs a film that […]
Reviews
Moonlight – Personal and Graceful
By: Ali Habous [[I can see why the academy chose to give the Oscar for best film to Moonlight. Along with La La land, Moonlight is one of the most unique films of the year, even the past few years. Everybody likes to see the underdog winning and that’s what happened this year when […]
‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ is Back with a Vengeance
By: Ali Habous I’ll say this right off the bat, John Wick: Chapter 2 is not a better film than John Wick. But at the same time, it comes very close and it’s hard to see the filmmakers coming up with anything better than what they came up with in chapter 2. It is a safe […]
‘Paterson’ is Poetry in Motion
By: Debbie Wang “There once was a poet named Paterson He did what most people asked of him He lived with his wife and he lived with his dog And he also drove a bus in Paterson” – An Ode to Paterson It seemed only fitting to start this review off with a short poem […]
‘The Founder’ Leaves You Craving Justice Instead of Fries
By: Debbie Wang “Pure Dick magic” is a real sentence that a real actor said in a real movie about the “real” founder of McDonald’s. Though this line of dialogue got a big laugh from the audience, it surprisingly highlights the heart and soul of what McDonald’s once was – the ingenuity, passion, and *magic* […]
‘Fist Fight’ has Lot of Fists but No Punches
By: Ali Habous I have always found it challenging to review crude comedies like Fist Fight because it hard to judge a bunch of filmmakers who are not concerned about the film-making aspect of the movie while all they care about is making the audience laugh. We can talk about the acting and the jokes […]
Underworld: Blood Wars – Cash Grab is All About Action
By: Ali Habous As long as Underworld and Resident Evil movies continue to make money then don’t be surprised to see a new one every year or two. A movie like Underworld: Blood Wars with a budget of around 50 million and an expected box office gross of over 100 million is a good deal for […]
The Girl on the Train – A Thriller without the Thrills
By: Ali Habous After the success of Fifty Shades of Grey and Gone Girl, it comes as no surprise to see another thriller based on a famous twisty novel landing in the theaters with the obvious hope of making tons of money. Although watchable, The Girl on the Train is a big disappointment on many […]
Sully – Competent Filmmaking
By: Ali Habous Legendary director and actor Client Eastwood keeps defying all odds and coming back for more. At the age of 86, his storytelling mastery is still at full display even if he is not as enthusiastic to take on something more original or fictional. The director of American classics like Unforgiven, Million Dollar […]
‘Southside With You’ is a Respectable First Feature
By: Debbie Wang The most fitting analogy that can be made for Southside With You is strangely about a good barbecue. Everyone knows the best barbecue is cooked slowly in order to be nice and tender. Southside With You does just that. Moving at what seems to be an impossibly slow pace, the result is a tender film about […]
DVD Review: The Nice Guys
By: Ali Habous The Nice Guys is one of those movies that we don’t get to see often these days, it is simply one of the best films of 2016 so far. Not because it is unique or special, but because it is the comedy that we need and deserve. It is the buddy comedy […]
Brilliance Takes a Nose Dive Mid-Way Through ‘The Light Between Oceans’
By: Debbie Wang Derek Cianfrance artfully adapts M. L. Stedman’s book of the same name into a touching romantic period film starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. Those two names would be enough to fill seats in the theatre, but it surely doesn’t hurt moi recognizes Cianfrance’s name from Blue Valentine and The Places Beyond […]
War Dogs – Satirical Comedy Never Reaches its Full Potential
By: Ali Habous Todd Phillips is no stranger to popular buddy comedies; he directed The Hangover trilogy, Old School, and Due Date. Here we have Phillips taking a shot at satirical comedies while bringing his own touch to the table. War Dogs is to him what The Wolf of Wall Street was to Martin Scorsese and American Hustle […]
Anthropoid – Gripping WW2 Thriller Falls Short of Greatness
By: Ali Habous I couldn’t help wondering while watching Anthropoid how the producers and filmmakers managed to land this one in the theaters at this point in time. In a season full of big budget action movies and romantic comedies filling up the theaters everywhere, here we have a movie based on the true story of […]
‘Sausage Party’ is Raunchy, but Smarter than Expected
By: Debbie Wang It’s safe to say that anyone who walks into Sausage Party knowing it’s from the minds of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg is expecting some crude language, more than a handful of wiener jokes (two puns there), and a scene or two where someone gets ridiculously high. What’s unexpected is when a movie that you think […]