Movie Reviews – Page 2

Review – A Star is Born

Posted on February 1, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

If you’ve seen his performance on Jimmy Fallon, you know that Bradley Cooper is an absolutely prodigious air guitarist. So it makes sense that he makes for a great rock star. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really WANT to like this movie. I am not a huge Gaga fan. Mind you, I don’t have anything against her. But I wasn’t really interested in her cross-over to acting. But damn it ...

Review – Burning

Posted on January 31, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

The whole time I was watching this movie, I kept saying to myself, “this feels like Murakami.” It had the mystic conversations in a low-lit diner, and the presence of mysterious cats, and the quiet male protagonist captivated by a free spirited yet complicated girl - all staples of Haruki Murakami’s fiction. It had that feeling of this supernatural world hiding beneath the...

Review – If Beale Street Could Talk

Posted on January 26, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

This film has lingered on the periphery of my day today, trailing behind me like a shadow. I'll turn around and abruptly notice it there, indistinct but indisputable. This is just such a beautiful piece of filmmaking, based on a great novel by an iconic author, James Baldwin. For director Barry Jenkins, this is a perfect followup to Moonlight. It has this mix of biting ...

Review – Glass

Posted on January 21, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

I’m just so surprised with how bad this was. Like, he made two good movies in this trilogy. And he managed to just royally screw this whole thing up. This movie is so awful, that it almost brings down Unbreakable and Split too, just by association. I was ready to be done watching it half way through. So maybe part of my disgust, and dissatisfaction with the twists and t...

Review – They Shall Not Grow Old

Posted on January 21, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

The World Wars have always been very compelling. There is a wealth of World War Two movies, documentaries, and literature. And while there's plenty of World War One material as well, it doesn't seem to get as much coverage. Part of that has to do with the fact that portable filmmaking and photography was much easier in the 1940's than in the 1910's. They were still hand-cr...

Review – mid90s

Posted on January 11, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

I know it's just a coincidence that mid90s came out the same year as Minding the Gap. But it's hard not to compare the two. Both are about skaters who rely on their friendship to withstand the pressures and difficulties of growing up. And both are, at times, hilarious and heartbreaking. The main thing I was left with after watching mid90s was this: Growing up can be very l...

Review – Leave No Trace

Posted on January 5, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

Contrary to the title of this film, this film leaves an impression. There’s a scene where a father and a daughter both try to peel an orange in one long spiral. I do that when I peel oranges, and my daughter tries to copy me. I like that. It’s a glimpse of intimacy that makes gives this film a bit of life. There are scenes of bonding and warmth and family. Scenes where ...

Review – Mission Impossible: Fallout

Posted on December 30, 2018February 15, 2019 by Adam

I've seen a lot buzz about this installment of M:I. Some say it's the franchise's best. I've even seen people say it's one of the best action movies of all time. But let's pump the brakes a bit. Yes, this is a kickass action movie. The set pieces are incredible, the action scenes fluid and clever. It's fun to watch Tom Cruise do crazy things and know that he did his own...

Live Review – Blockers

Posted on December 17, 2018December 17, 2018 by Adam

Blockers Live Review(Beginning 50 minutes in) These were my thoughts while watching Blockers. I just watched a string of very serious movies. I felt like I needed to watch a movie that I might not necessarily love, in an entirely different genre and style. To kind of recalibrate my movie-watching senses. Balance the critical scales, if you will. A comedy like Blocker...

Review – Roma

Posted on December 16, 2018December 17, 2018 by Adam

I tend to think a lot about what I think about movies. Or of music, or TV, or books. I have this impulse to categorize my enjoyment of a piece of art. To compare it to other things I have seen, and rate and rank it alongside other similar pieces of art. This can often be very enjoyable. It forces me to evaluate what I find important. But sometimes there’s a problem with th...