A Minecraft Movie is asking those newbies to enter and welcome a weird new universe. This energetic family movie proudly opens its doors to all comers (and wallets) where no prior knowledge is really necessary. Thanks to the exuberant cast and the kind of contagious entertainment they dispensed, you may just come to love something you didn’t know a lick about 101 minutes earlier.
Read More
True to a play’s performative spine, Eric LaRue rises to become an actor’s showcase building towards two important summits: the aforementioned collection of mothers and the first visit to Eric in prison. Each seated clash places Judy Greer in the unenviable position as the target of ire and the recipient of painful reactions, where no amount of contrition will be enough and immediate peace is impossible.
Read More
Liquor Bank knows that audiences don’t often see the stories that continue after the big commitment to change. They don’t see the temptations, choices, relapses, and secondary victories. In showing Eddie broken in losing a benchmark achievement, Marcellus Cox is unshy to shed light on a time of defeat instead of victory with Liquor Bank.
Read More
Audrey’s Children chisels an important story into an extremely well-meaning film. Not all life-saving feats are glamorous and marked with crowds and cheers. Sometimes, all they are is a stabilized vital signs, hopeful test results to live longer, or a family that walks out the door of a hospital intact instead of grieving a loss. To enjoy and appreciate this film is to watch an uncompromising woman taking risks to put in the diligent work to make a difference for, once again, “her kids.”
Read More
These behaviorial swerves and jolts are meant to be psychologically jarring, and they do more than frazzle the marriage stability of Mia and Aaryan. However, when these antics again are delivered by a grown adult we know can turn this persona on or off, they nullify believability. Every silly ass peril orchestrated by Virginia, even as they get more brazen and unorthodox as the week continues, are ridiculously overblown and, more often than not, completely preventable.
Read More
There is an unmistakable lure to the intensity and damaged textures. Majors’ narration, reactions, and jaded silent acts infuse a more layered human lost underneath the monstrous muscles and vices. He is undeniably impressive in those feats. True to form—beast and all, the actor and the film deservedly earned fair and imposing recognition for never shying away from the good and bad light cast against them on screen and off.
Read More
Because of all of this glowing style and sensational suspense, Black Bag is never dull, meaning Steven Soderbergh and his avant-garde arthouse tendencies are never pedestrian either. The prolific and experimental auteur—who put out the supernatural thriller Presence this season—has dabbled with and tamed multiple genres, yet Black Bag nestles itself into the storied “cool” wing of Steven’s film library. He could make one of these twisty yarns a year and we’ll never complain. May that man always stay this cool.
Read More
The movie is entertaining and engaging evidence the genre’s stand-up-and-cheer formula does not always need reinvention or recalibration, just more diverse and meaningful stories for new spotlights. When it’s all said and done, Queen of the Ring nailed the big fight feel in its 1954 climax that bookends the film, and they put on a barnburner.
Read More
The clear goal here in Picture This is to make Simone Ashley look good for the leap from television to movies. Without question, she has every “it” factor necessary and gets to display them radiantly in the film. On the rom-com side, it’s quite the performative wringer between multiple rapid-fire Meet Cutes and face-saving exit strategies through those blind dates, and the actress never breaks a sweat.
Read More
Many would say, going by that selection of talent thrust together in this predominantly single-setting premise, the stars were aligned for a peppy crime comedy in Riff Raff. The potential combinations offer interesting mixes of presences and styles. It’s too bad because the script and the director cannot align characters and tones with any semblance of congruency. Simply put, everyone is in a different movie from their scene partners.
Read More
Assembling this esteemed cast of respected performers, Millers in Marriage pervades more and more audacious questions. While everyone has their share of golden parachutes compared to commoners, the inquiries of who’s jealous, curious, sad, or happy—and with whom—carry plenty of pertinence. Each relationship reaches crucial decision points with those feelings, and the movie unveils who makes the right ones and who makes the wrong ones
Read More
Deeper though, what compels us for certain heroic movies beyond these dreamboats with best-of-the-best skill sets? First, it depends on the stars chosen. Radiant charisma and a touch of romance sure help when it comes to letting the beautiful people win. An interesting opponent, or predicament would help even more. Luckily, The Gorge offers enough of those enhancers to give us a good time with marquee names.
Read More