I'm Still Here

I’m Still Here; Felt like this plodded along depicting moments that would’ve been better as a documentary or literature than a two hour plus attempt to convey the horrors of what the family/country went through. For me, dramatizations tend to minimize emotional impact, even if this well acted; C
 

A River Runs Through It

A River Runs Through It; Quiet, albeit boring meditation on life, family, growth, and its parallels to fly fishing & fighting against or flowing w/(one’s) nature. Spectacular scenery and nature vistas lovingly captured, give cinematic treatment to a book that seems mostly better read than viewed; C

Mufasa: The Lion King

Mufasa: The Lion King; Miranda has lost his golden touch, as the songs are cringe inducing. The animation is spectacular but the stylized nature of using photo realistic rendering for fantastical elements seems to clash with its own ambitions. The result is off putting both aurally and visually; C

Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone; Either you have a predilection for this sort of thing or you find it appalling. Its kitschy use of children acting like adults wears thin quickly even when it’s executed perfectly. Bit of a hoot, from an era when oddities like this puzzlingly counted as quality family entertainment; C

Never Cry Wolf

Never Cry Wolf; Amazing display of northern scenery, stunningly filmed & lovingly captured. Too bad it’s wrapped in silly scenarios of a protagonist who elicits little empathy or interest. His plight is self-made so whether he survives or thrives, we could care less. The animals are the true stars; C

Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One; Full disclosure. Watched this in the dubbed version because reasons. It is ridiculously serious while coming across laughably silly. Anticlimactic, telegraphed and syrupy melodramatic, the fervent appreciation for this film is a complete head scratcher. Give me a rubber suit; 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
 

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 Lost Boys

The Lost Boys; Ridiculously mashes up an indie horror film with a goofy teenage adventure story, all framed with gay, not so subtle, undertones. Actors seem to be starring in separate movies, some playing it straight, others adding hijinks, mirrored by the whiplash direction; C

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

Shotgun Wedding

Shotgun Wedding; A fun cast slumming it in the sun and trying desperately to make a screwball comedy sandwiched with 80s style action that ends up missing more than it hits and lacks any sense of sophistication or nuance. Some good moments too often slammed up against cringe; C
 

The Matrix Resurrections

The Matrix Resurrections; Pointless return to a franchise that truly could have stopped after one. The ideas always seem to be interesting until they are actually played out to little effect. Nothing visually groundbreaking or particularly memorable. A waste of effort from all; C
 

Death on the Nile

Death on the Nile; Exquisite production design and spectacularly filmed gorgeous locations and people can’t rescue the time it takes for this mystery to start to intrigue. Sure, a novel can take its time to unravel but the way this story is told makes it DOA despite it all; C
 

Dune

Dune; Never before has a film looked so stunningly well crafted, designed, and shot, yet been so boring and devoid of anything to care about. Exceptional cast, looking fantastic, all adding to the amazing mood and world that’s been built. But so little happens in the setup; C

Angel Heart

Angel Heart; An overstuffed turkey of a film done w/enough skill to lean more towards cult or camp, rather than unwatchable territory. De Niro relishes his kooky role while Rourke mugs his way through it, steamrolling excellent character acting and Bonet’s compelling debut; C

Blinded by the Light

Blinded by the Light; There’s a gritty, gripping story here with as much lyricism as a Springsteen song but it never fully materializes due to shoddy execution and subpar performances. Subject matter and story idea would work in more gifted hands. Disappointing yet serviceable; C

Bird Box

Bird Box; A running premise that never fulfills, yet manages to be creepy over the duration of the film. An unsatisfying finish will leave you wishing you had the time spent given back to you, as the conceit ultimately rings hollow; C

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451; A let down that intrigues enough on the performances and direction to entertain but ultimately unsatisfying in its exploration of the novel’s themes. Hard to adapt a classic from a different era while offering a contemporary take. Many decisions fall flat; C

The Legend of Tarzan

The Legend of Tarzan; Valiant attempt to modernize this tale, using F/X, great cast, colonial conscious script, to no avail. Let it die; C

The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur; If you saw trailer, you've seen the movie. No surprises. Nothing new. Telegraphed start to finish. Shame on you, Pixar; C