Movie Review – Zootopia
“Zootopia”’s main character, Judy Hopps, a small-but-feisty country bunny trying to make it on the big city police force, is an inspiration.
Reviews
MOVIE REVIEW – 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
The sum of the efforts of all this talent makes for a wildly enjoyable movie.
MOVIE REVIEW – WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT
It’s another Tina Fey vehicle, but certainly a different go-round for the comedy legend-in-the-making.
MOVIE REVIEW – SPOTLIGHT
Newspapers may not be long for this world, but the movie about the newspaper investigation team will always be great.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE VVITCH
You could hear a pin drop after the lights came back on at the press screening of writer/director Robert Eggers’ “The Witch”
DVD, BLU-RAY & STREAMING – BATMAN: BAD BLOOD
“Batman: Bad Blood” carries the torch for the new series (“Son of Batman”, “Batman vs. Robin”) and has it burn brighter than ever before.
MOVIE REVIEW – JANE GOT A GUN
The film goes just far enough with its take on a woman-with-a-gun storyline, any further and you dip into “Bad Girls” territory and the strong female leads become too jokey.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE HATEFUL EIGHT
The characters tend to go into story a lot, as opposed to being in more in-the-moment conversations, but something drew me in to where the final-hour finale packed a big punch.
MOVIE REVIEW – LAZER TEAM
Their efforts do not always hit the mark, but when they do, it ends up being a very fun 100+ minutes that does not wear out its welcome.
MOVIE REVIEW – SYNCHRONICITY
For all its ambition to deliver a unique time travel tale, “Synchronicity” stumbles over itself with convoluted storytelling
MOVIE REVIEW – THE BIG SHORT
Over thirty million people were negatively affected by the collapse of the housing market in 2007. So why am I so entertained?
MOVIE REVIEW – THE NIGHT BEFORE
It seems like the laughs will come in bundles with the three leads playing fast and loose at the top of the film, but the warmth shared between the leads that could excuse all the crude behavior of a stoner comedy wears away leaving a less than pleasing mixture behind.
MOVIE REVIEW – IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
It’s probably the most common thing said about movies of this type – I liked it when all hell broke loose, but the characters otherwise weren’t that compelling.
MOVIE REVIEW – KRAMPUS
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen…but you’ve probably never heard of Krampus.
MOVIE REVIEW – CREED
If “Creed” is launching a new franchise in the boxing genre, it’s doing it the right way – with nostalgia.
MOVIE REVIEW – TRUMBO
What Roach does best is take a film that should no doubt feel “important” and make it feel entertaining.
MOVIE REVIEW – STEVE JOBS
Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs” is the second biopic of the Apple Computer founder in the past three years. But it’s not unlike something involved with Apple to have to be rebooted to operate correctly.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE PEANUTS MOVIE
Odd today to think that kids would be expected to attend a movie that did not involve peril or violence or parents being offed – and love it.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE WALK
Somehow, Zemeckis has taken a story known to many (especially how it ends) and has made it fresh, exhilarating, and full of surprises.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE KEEPING ROOM
Collectively, the young women of “The Keeping Room,” director Daniel Barber, and writer Julia Hart take us on a journey that is intense, beautiful and melancholic.
MOVIE REVIEW – GOODNIGHT MOMMY
A slow burn foreign horror, that for some, may not fulfill their thriller/horror needs, but for those with more patience that do not mind the long shots that build suspense, trying to throw you off balance, it can be rewarding.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE MARTIAN
What makes “The Martian” exceptional is how the high-production, Damon’s personality and the rescue mission tension all feed into what is essentially a “figurin’” movie, and make it widely appealing.
MOVIE REVIEW – SICARIO
“Sicario” is easily Villeneuve’s best film, and one of the best of the year.
MOVIE REVIEW – BLACK MASS
The performances in this new gangland tale are brilliant from Johnny Depp to the minor characters, but the film itself suffers in pacing and tries your patience.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE VISIT
M. Night Shyamalan returns to fine form delivering another thriller worthy of a lot of post-screening discussion with “The Visit”.
MOVIE REVIEW – STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
I wish that coaster had a home stretch and finale that matched the liveliness of the beginning.
DVD, BLU-RAY & STREAMING – BREAD AND BUTTER
Imagine, if you will, a romantic comedy minus all the romantic notions, minus all the cute or beautiful looking actors (young or old), and still delivering all the goods with a very strong resolve.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
I worry about Ritchie’s signature as a director. Coming on the scene with films like “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”, he lately seems like a director-for-hire
MOVIE REVIEW – NO ESCAPE
“No Escape” is a smart and harrowing journey through a third world hell.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE GIFT
Where one of “these movies” would normally deliver up a ghost, outlandish murderous premise or a roving killer, “The Gift” instead offers up a plausible plot of the past coming back to haunt you.
MOVIE REVIEW – MR. HOLMES
There are two things you generally want from a Sherlock Holmes adventure – a taut, complicated mystery and an indelible performance from the lead actor. Well, “Mr. Holmes” has at least one of those things.
MOVIE REVIEW – EXETER
How many films have we seen with young people trapped in a scary place, being picked off one by one? But Nispel turns the whole scenario on its bloody ear just as Wes Craven did with “Scream”.
MOVIE REVIEW – THE END OF THE TOUR
Welcome to the party, Jason Segel.
MOVIE REVIEW – MINIONS
This project seemed inevitable, as the breakout stars of the “Despicable Me” franchise, The Minions, get their own movie adventure. The ride at Universal Studios Hollywood isn’t called “Gru Mayhem”, for example.
MOVIE REVIEW – DOPE
There have been plenty of stories of the inner city in Los Angeles, but chances are you haven’t seen one quite like “Dope”.
MOVIE REVIEW – BATKID BEGINS
Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area didn’t know what they were getting into when they attempted to transform San Francisco into Gotham City so five-year-old Miles could be the Caped Crusader for a day.
DVD, BLU-RAY & STREAMING – MARTYRS
Nothing will prepare you for the onslaught to the senses from one of the most intense and grueling horror movie experiences I have ever set eyes on.
MOVIE REVIEW – INSIDE OUT
It’s quite a testament to the consistent quality Pixar has brought to films for twenty years that even though they’ve had some missteps recently, the fact that they NAIL IT once again with their newest release, “Inside Out”, is no real surprise.
MOVIE REVIEW – SPY
Few scenes fly by without the jokes coming fast and funny. There are too many comedies today with missed opportunities and Feig and McCarthy don’t let any of those moments pass without delivering something hilarious.
MOVIE REVIEW – LOVE & MERCY
LOVE & MERCY is, above all, a movie meant for the movie theater. It’s an unvarnished look at Brian Wilson’s life and the suffering behind his music.