Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; Fresh animation and youthful voice cast breathes new life into these fun heroes from the 80s. The story stays fairly simple and keeps the quips and kicks coming fast, with a sprinkle of lessons learned alongside real life allegories; B

Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle; What happens when what seems like an old 80s super hero script gets dusted off with zero changes but is shot with a 2023 special F/X budget. Cheesy, with an attitude predating our time when comic book movies are taken more seriously and crafted with more thought; C

To Catch a Killer

To Catch a Killer; Stellar acting by Woodley & Mendelsohn, along w/stylish direction elevate this entry into the FBI manhunt genre. Screenplay offers tension w/touches of moralizing societal treatment of trauma & cattle. Concludes too quickly as we are accustom to 10 eps of TV; B+

The Grizzlie Truth

The Grizzlie Truth; Michael Moore style tactics don’t hit as well as when it transforms the stereotypical view of a sports super fan, ultimately succeeding in displaying the passionate connection fans have w/ local sports club. The intimate encounters & stories are fantastic; A-

Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback

Reinventing Elvis: The ‘68 Comeback; Dives deep into best part of Elvis biopic, & Elvis’ career. Interviews w/primary sources & focus on his joy of music make this a love fest for a complicated idol. Lack of criticism, save for villain Colonel, create a sense of celebration; A-

Imagine Dragons Live in Vegas

Imagine Dragons Live in Vegas; Expertly captures the band’s Mercury tour in all its glory. The high energy, the bombastic crowd pleasers, the joy they exude performing music together. Add some background about their Vegas hometown origins and it makes for a superb music doc; A-

Polite Society

Polite Society; Chugs along at a breakneck pace & gets to the fight scenes in a Scott Pilgrim style w/a Hot Fuzz funny to it. The tone is fun w/enough sinister underlining to keep you intrigued beyond the silly antics. Fights pack a punch and don’t hold back for female fists; A-

Stephen Curry: Underrated

Stephen Curry: Underrated; Underwhelming in dramatic terms, but a good glimpse at the perpetually overlooked and overachieving athlete. Choice to highlight his academic path and parallel his collegiate career w/his 4th NBA championship, work well, yet doesn’t dig deep enough; B-

Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer; What happens when you gather the greatest talents in the industry & they make something so technically marvellous on every level, one wonders why they chose to make this, of all things. Compelling, but like most Nolan work, more cerebral than emotionally moving; A-
 

Haunted Mansion

Haunted Mansion; Captures essence of ride’s tone, w/equal parts ghostly and comedy. Cast is well chosen & nods to theme park aspects are highlights. Suffers from a jumbled third act and what seems to be edits to character moments and scenes. Wish it were better but still fun; B

They Cloned Tyrone

They Cloned Tyrone; Far out performances by the three leads elevate a blaxploitation style concept straight out of Undercover Brother that’s played for chills as much as laughs. The tone shifting works for the most part, w/wickedly delivered dialogue shot in a compelling way; B

Barbie

Barbie; Perfect casting propels the film from silly concept to full blown cultural moment. More sad and intense at times than it is hilarious, Canadian Kens (and Alan) really bring the laughs. A small indie film wrapped in a big budget toy seller succeeds on several levels; B+

The Social Dilemma

The Social Dilemma; Somehow simultaneously already out of date yet still pertinent for everyone to fully understand how social media works. Having those with a moral conscience give pained interviews speaks volumes. Could use more of the immoral types to drive the point home; B-

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One; Nods to spy films over the years paired w/breathtaking stunts, fights & chases. Franchise continues to deliver by way of its returning cast gelling well w/new characters, who are great in this instalment. Pure fun w/high stakes; A-
 

Nimona

Nimona; Silly, borderline irritatingly jokey main character may be someone’s cup of tea, but much like the animation style, not up this reviewer’s alley. Moves along at a zippy pace, w/enough entertaining scenes & shape shifting to appeal to audiences w/short attention spans; B-
 

John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4; The most epic of an already outstandingly epic action series. The locations are breathtaking, driving the fight scenes to reflect the surroundings in inspired fashion. The visual style is delectable and body count deplorably excessive, just how we like it; A

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts; Likeable leads plus a cadre of car, animal & machine robots make for fun, silly throwaway action punchy punch. Several movies in & it still manages to find a reason for tiny humans to be relevant & somehow integral, while not getting crushed; B-
 

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid; Suffers from lack of clear motivation for several characters and a skimpy storyline. Halle is a phenomenal Ariel, the true highlight amongst a decent recasting, many of whom don’t get to play around much w/their roles. New songs are awful or underwhelming; C+
 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves; Imagine a LARPing community gaining full access to the visual effects suite and being allowed to craft any style of monster or creature of their choosing. The result is equally impressive as it is horrible. Same with the script; C-

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Another groundbreaking tour de force that builds on its predecessor while amplifying its core heart, humour & feast of animation excellence. Less satisfying since it’s an instalment starter, but a great launching point for what’s to come; A