Aespa World Tour in Cinemas

Aespa World Tour in Cinemas; The allure of K-Pop lies in tight choreography paired w/driving beats & vocal gymnastics across slightly uniquely tailored personalities. Aespa is no exception, clearly fleshing out each individual performer through brief vignettes between bops. Well done, great fun; B+

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver; Snyder knows how to visually construct worlds & stage elaborate action sequences. The attempts to make main characters likeable and more than just cool assassins is less successful. Undeniable artistry happening across departments in service to a tired story; B+

Monkey Man

Monkey Man; A more brutal John Wick (if that’s possible) revenge style action film. The fights hit hard while the emotional through-line gives it added oomph with each blow the Monkey Man dishes out and takes in. The scenes simply refuse to cut away at the points where one wants to look away; A-
 

The Great Mouse Detective

The Great Mouse Detective; Short, sinister and slightly surreal. Taking Sherlock Holmes into mouse mode with high stakes and high adventure is a bold choice for the House of Mickey Mouse. It pays off, as a dark tale surprisingly capped off by a slick soundtrack and silly little lines; B
 

Cars 2

Cars 2; Setting the Cars characters in a James Bond/M:I spy genre is an inspired choice. Too bad Mater’s stupid schtick is the driving force of the film, as his annoying dumbness is infuriating to watch. Some good jokes, some great animation but the clueless guy mistaken for suave spy falls flat; C+

An Extremely Goofy Movie

An Extremely Goofy Movie; Feels like Rodney Dangerfield’s Back to School with more heart and animated angst borne out of father/son anxiety and weirdness. It’s crazy how straight to DVD era Disney gave us this lower quality tier silliness compared to the ambitious feature films of the 2010s; C
 

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar; Russian doll story within a story within a story climbing back out of itself is expertly performed by a most exquisite cast. Dahl’s clever and fun prose is hard to transfer to the screen but the way Anderson uses sets and framing to unfold it all is perfection; A
 

The Rat Catcher

The Rat Catcher; The stylistic choice to keep the original short story narrative almost spoken word performed by a sparse talented cast, in what feels like an improv game played to wild perfection, comes across as insane genius. Pairing Dahl’s darker work w/Anderson’s aesthetic is fantastic; A-

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom; This was truly bonkers, which seems to be the only way to make an Aquaman movie. Gotta love Mamoa going for it, knowing how goofy it all is on the page, and having a great time with the lamest character. It’s astounding we got two of these given how silly it is; C

The American Society of Magical Negroes

The American Society of Magical Negroes; The balancing act btwn cutting satire & conventional, accessible rom com doesn’t quite come off throughout each scene but the leads are adept at both. If only direction/script succeeded to a better degree. Worth a watch for the deeper discussion to follow; B
 

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour; Overly ambitious in scope & length, it’s made for true Swifties, who will respect the breadth of catalog & style changes w/each era, along w/ the quality of concert capture. But the lack of any extras, insight or BTS makes it all seem very one note for casual viewers; B-

This Is Me...Now

This Is Me…Now; Lopez has been equally fascinating & frustratingly cheesy throughout her career, displaying glimpses of extraordinary talent & work ethic alongside questionable choices. This extended long form album/music video has the same highs & lows. Cameos are super fun, rest not so much; C+

Bob Marley: One Love

Bob Marley: One Love; Does an excellent job of capturing what the singer meant to his family, friends, fans & his people. Follows biopic trend of focusing on a particular era rather than his whole life story, centred on the music. Ben-Adir & Lynch are equally phenomenal in their portrayals; A-

Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two; Every aspect of the craft of filmmaking is exquisitely done by each department, distracting from the relatively boring story. One would (and very well still could) fall asleep if it weren’t so spectacular to look at and listen to. An insanely talented cast adds to the ruse; B+

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon; A real slow burn of seedy, detestable characters subtly played expertly by an astounding cast. Despite its long runtime, Robertson’s score keeps the pace moving towards its tragic conclusion. Scorsese’s been a truth teller all his career, this story may be the ugliest; A-

Poor Things

Poor Things; Wild production design + eccentric performances establish a framework for the bizarre story of Bella Baxter on a feminist awakening from woman child to expressing agency in her own affairs. The film has to be seen to be believed, and not for audiences who are adverse to the perverse; A-

Damsel

Damsel; Not exactly what it seems, yet every bit as predictable as a fairytale. Heightened by big budget effects and the powerful acting of agony by MBB, the realistic take on fantasy content is a bit jarring, unsettling but hard to turn away from. The story is simple yet strongly executed; B-

Lisa Frankenstein

Lisa Frankenstein; Wears its influences proudly while venturing into some dark territory that doesn’t quite measure up to the films it references. Tonal shifts are insane, but deftly played by the talented leads, notably Newton and Soberano. Twisted, comically demented nostalgia for today’s teens; B

The Marvels

The Marvels; Super appealing trio are given little to work with, up against an uninteresting villain whose plans are neither memorable nor engaging. I’d rather watch the three go to lunch w/Nick Fury and talk about comics. Some cool use of light powers in fight scenes but feels too lightweight; B-

The Boy and the Heron

The Boy and the Heron; These films are not for me. They look beautiful and the characters are insane but the way the story goes in fits and starts, annoys me more than it appeals to me. The randomness and fantasy side quests and diversions simply don’t add up in a cohesive way that’s satisfying; C+
 

Mean Girls

Mean Girls: Eschews comedic beats for more emotional ones. None of new cast disappoints while also reaffirming how great original cast was. Cravalho excels along w/Spivey. Changes don’t seem to add much while omissions from stage are sadly missed. Odd choices head scratching but still enjoyable; B