Reviews

For what Invisible Man lacks it in logic it make up for in lack of pretense. Here, you have a horror-thriller that absolutely bolts into an engaging and well acted story.

If you're looking for Terminator 2 tone of the past meets Friday the 13th then jump on board. Twists in turns, it's more than a one trick pony and if you're willing to suspend your disbelief then prepare to be highly entertained.

Look, if you can't put all that aside you might find it tricky to enjoy... but it's February and twice as good as many big budget horrors try to be. While the substance and undertones of abusive relationships are "common" they are no or more less important. While this film lacks of the sophistication of some psycho horrors which were released a few years ago,: Green Room, Killing of a Sacred Deer, Blue Ruin, and others, those movies didn't do so well at the box office, thus making room for higher concept movies like Invisible Man.

The Invisible Man might not be an instant classic but it should trail along nice. And inevitably yield an inferior sequel.

Honey Boy is the autobiographical story of Shia LaBeouf growing up in the outskirts of a suburb somewhere near Los Angeles.

It's a careful and thoughtful piece. It's simple, without pretension and still manages to have brilliant use of direction, atmosphere, dialogue, art direction and sound track.

Noah Jupe as Shia and Shia as his father have a chemistry that only a father and son can have. While it's a story about an abusive father. It's also a script about a father doing his best and dealing with a child who's a rising star and being told by everyone around him that his father is trash. It's a delicate character study, written in a loving tone. By contrast a movie like Mommy Dearest would appear to be superficial and cartoonish. While the script doesn't demonize the father figure it's also understated with it lens in portraying how James' behavior is affecting his son.

There's some especially endearing and complicated scenes with young Shia, (12) and a nearby prostitute in which ironically Shia manifests his own childhood.

It's a script that does as much as to consider its antagonist as well as its hero. The film effectively covers both of their pasts and in this case, juxtaposes them within the same frame.

See this movie. It's an imaginative and mature movie about self reflection. It's also often both troubling and hilarious.

A couple, no wait, two people we're supposed to perceive as a couple are on the way to get an abortion. They discuss whether or not to get an abortion or not. They stop on a freeway, across the street from an old church. In the field across he road they hear a boy crying for help. They go into the grass and immediately end up in some sort of maze, but it becomes more. The boy cannot be found. Soon they lose one another.

Horror is a tough genre. There's probably some interesting metaphor in here. It attempts to stay interesting. There's a couple semi interesting twists. Patrick Wilson looks great. The merit stops there.

One of the longest 101 minutes of my life.

Fun movie that I think both parents and kids will both enjoy. The story is about a little girl, Kid West, who is trying to protect her mom from the same fate as her dad, a cop. She's also trying to replace her dad, financially. The movie starts when they leave the south and relocate to the Midwest. Kid West is told by her mom to stay out of trouble, but of course Kid West finds herself in a crazy adventure where she thinks a local Native American girl stole Ojibwe treasure from a museum.

Soon things get mixed up. Local bullies arrive, along with an odd older sheriff. I liked the story a lot and thought it was pretty interesting in that it portrayed the characters it did, females, Native Americans... There was some great little plot twists and I think probably some meaty metaphors in there as well.

Definitely worth watching!Only complaint is that it's too short!

Abominable, directed by Jill Culton, tells the story of a young Chinese girl, YI, who discovers a mythological creature, a magical yeti, who is hiding from... well, what else, people who want the yeti for their own gain.

Now, what makes Abominable noteworthy isn't the premise or ideology behind the story. However, a female director doing a film about under represented characters, (the family is Chinese), is a nice move by Dream Works. And it's not a bad movie, either.

Dreamworks for me, is a studio who often lobs and piggybacks off of Disney. For example, Pets isn't really that interesting of a movie and what I mean is, it lacks the heart of its predecessor, Zootopia, but to it's credit Pets actually made more at the box office. (Pets 2 was actually more ambitious but made a lot less money, but that's a topic for another day).

So let's get back to Abominable... Will you enjoy it? Yes. Will your kids enjoy it? Absolutely. Will your kids be asking for the sequel? I'm not sure.

Now is it an original movie? Absolutely not... You have to go back two thousand years of similar stories before you even get to E.T. But let's not be callous... Abominable wins in that the story itself doesn't carry much pretense about being much else. It executes in story and the Yeti being adorable. (Brace yourself for Sonic).

The Yeti himself, who Yi names Everest, is nice to look at and is able to carry out his basic function of propelling its characters to where they need to go. However, unlike E.T. he lacks his own trajectory and development. His magic becomes inexplicable.... Some other characters just don't quite work, others do.

That said, there is some genuine laughter here, decent plot twists, great CGI... While I skipped Little Foot this time last year, I managed to show up this time and wasn't disappointed.

In a summer of sub par Disney, (Toy Story 4 a 7, Lion King an 8) and I won't mention the the other two... Dream Works has started the fall with a whoop.

With Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland, you can not only feel her and see her, but you forget Zellweger is even there at all. Like many great performances, you see the character and forget that there is even an actor. Watching her performance is like watching a cosmic display. Some things are just meant to happen.

There have been many so-so bio-pics as of late, most comparably Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, in which another great actress, Benning, portrays the troubled last days of another great actress, Graham. Comparably, Zellweger's performance outshines the more renowned Benning. By contrast, Liverpool is also jaggedly uneven. That's not to say that Judy is perfect. Music bios are tough. Rami supposedly was great in Bohemian Rhapsody, but the film encompassed a superficial sentiment and lacked intellectual curiosity. Control, the Joy Division piece, is maybe the best in recent years... But Judy is right up there.

The story covers her last gig in London. The film uses flashbacks in order for the audience to understand her character. While most of those around her only see a washed up star, who was just forty seven.

What the story lacks in structure, it makes up with warmth. While this is a softer portrait, it still feels authentic. It finds no purpose in portraying her issues with callousness. Instead the narrative depends on Garland trying to understand herself, while making poor choice after poor choice. If you know anything about Garland, you know where she is going... But what you may not know, is she how she arrived there. It is a deeply sentimental portrait of a brilliant mind and troubled heart.

There have been some cynics saying that "Only a fool would try to play Garland." Dare, I say, Zellweger just made a fool out of you.

See this movie, it will remind you of yourself.

Hustlers starts fast, a naive dancer, Wu, is taken on by the old pro, Lopez, who shows her the ropes. But there's only one problem, the teacher doesn't know where to stop.

When the recession of 2009 hit the narrative quickly becomes Bridesmaids meets Goodfellas... And if that sounds strange it's because it's a little odd. It jumps from slapstick to serious, and doesn't quite know where to fit.

That being said, Hustlers is DEFINITELY worth the watch. While it's unusual it's also original enough, in that it's a common folk revenge film about the greedy and crooked men who caused the 2009 meltdown.

Lopez is great, just fantastic. However, overall, there were just too many characters. Wu and J Lo, never quite connect. The overall feeling is just a bit disorienting.

What's missing here? To be fair I'm more of a Sly fan than a Rambo fan and for me, I've seen the Rambo movies more out of curiosity. I don't think I've truly enjoyed a Rambo movie since First Blood. A portrait of a troubled Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD

The trailer for this movie was at least inspiring. A character driven Rambo western. However, the plot and its antagonists were simplistic. The script operates on the basis that certain men are just bad for no reason and that's just not a very interesting premise, but what that type of gravity does do is provide ammunition for Rambo to pulverize the villains without mercy.. and it's highly satisfying to watch.

At 90 minutes, even as a non action fan, you're going to be entertained, but don't expect to intellectually impressed... that's a trick Stallone only likes to play every once in a blue moon.

To be fair, I would give Rambo 1 an 8, Rambo 2 about 4, Rambo 3 about a 2 and Rambo 4 about a 3. So a six, from me, is pretty good.

But hey, at 73, Stallone can still pull off top billing in a big budget action movie. It may not be art, but it sure is amusingly bloody.

For all the crass jokes which work, there's another that falls flat. For every action that moves the story thoughtfully forward there is another which leaves you scratching your head.

So while I'm sure that the premise sounded great in the studio room it was pitched in the overall result felt a bit aloof.

Some of the film's best moments are between the kids, and I'm referring to body language, eye contact, and the screams. They are a talented trio for sure and they work flawlessly together.

It could have just used one more run through the type writer, (maybe one less), as the jokes were thin, antagonists fail be be antagonists and the parents are little less than after thoughts. Overall Good Boys is just good when it could have been great.

Inappropriate for kids, just clever enough for most adults.