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 […]
Reviews
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 […]
Cafe Society – Poorly Structured Drama
By: Matt Neglia Woody Allen is back with another romantic comedy, this time, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood filled with all of his usual tropes, character types, situations and witty dialogue we have come to expect from the now 80-year-old director. In his latest, he explores a young man’s search for love within […]
Suicide Squad – A Jump in the Right Direction
By: Daniel Chadwick-Shubat After seeing Suicide Squad I had mixed emotions. The critics were without a doubt wrong in my mind. Suicide Squad was much better made and more enjoyable than Batman vs Superman. DC took note from Marvel and added a bit more comedy, whilst keeping the signature dark vibe intact. Obviously, it had its problems too, but those […]
Jason Bourne – Return of the Real Spy
By: Daniel Chadwick-Shubat Jason Bourne AKA David Webb is in my opinion cinema’s greatest spy. His skills in badassery have graced our screen for 14 years and his tortured soul has proven the ultimate thing to dissect on the screen. There’s such a thing as the “Bourne formula” which all the movies have followed since The […]
Elvis & Nixon – No Apologies Needed
By: Ali Habous One might wonder why make a movie about the famous meeting between Rock & Roll legend Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon? Is it worth a trip to the movie theater to check this one out or is it more of a couch movie to enjoy with your family or friends? “Elvis […]
Now You See Me 2 – A Little too Smart for its Own Good
By: Daniel Chadwick-Shubat Movies are magical in more ways than one. They create fantastical worlds that only exist in the minds of people and have brought to life some of the most beloved fictional characters in the world. Now You See Me 2 is a movie about magic but sadly it creates little movie magic. Like a […]