John Cho shines in Searching, an engaging and suspenseful thriller that takes place completely on a computer screen Searching begins with a very familiar landscape with rolling hills, a blue sky speckled with clouds, and mountains in the distance. This vista is the desktop of a computer. That's where the entire running time of Searching, like the film Unfriended before it, takes place.…
Calibre is a lean and oppressively dark thriller set in the Scottish Highlands that announces Matt Palmer as an exciting new filmmaker and Jack Lowden as a star Calibre at the beginning is interspersed with sweeping, silent shots of the Scottish Highlands. The shots are beautiful but foreboding and isolating. Slowly the film closes in. The shots…
Crazy Rich Asians is a big step forward for representation, but also a refreshing take on a genre that has needed a mainstream hit. Crazy Rich Asians is the first Hollywood studio movie to feature an all-Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club nearly 25 years ago. However, that's not the only thing that it is doing after nearly…
To All the Boys I've Loved Before is a swoon-worthy teen romantic comedy with a heart of gold and a trailblazing protagonist. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before comes on the heels of Set it Up and Crazy Rich Asians, which seems to cement 2018 as the comeback of the romantic comedy. And while To…
BlacKkKlansman is an astonishing and often ridiculous true story that is terrifyingly relevant today Continue reading ‘BlacKkKlansman’ review — Spike Lee’s response to Trump and hate
Thoroughbreds is a twisted and darkly funny coming-of-age debut film about what it means to be evil Thoroughbreds is about evil. What makes someone evil? However, it begs that question in two ways. What makes someone evil—meaning what action or actions that a person takes that makes them considered evil—and what makes someone evil—in that what…
The Meg doesn't deliver on its summer B-movie promises, though Jason Statham does his best to hold the movie together. Jason Statham fighting a giant prehistoric shark is a log line that promises a perfectly campy B-movie summer blockbuster. And that fact that it's coming out in the heat of August only supports that theory. However, The…
Blockers is an uneven, but hilarious, profound, and progressive take on the American sex comedy The teen sex comedy has been a staple in American cinema for decades with massive hits like American Pie and The 40-Year-Old Virgin anchoring the contemporary era. However, these raunchy gross-out comedies have been due for a refresh for some time.…
Mission: Impossible — Fallout is yet another great entry in this long-running franchise thanks to Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise. Over the course of six movies, Mission: Impossible has basically turned into the franchise where Tom Cruise does crazy stunts. Fallout, the newest entry, is no exception—and I'd have it no other way. Christopher McQuarrie—he wrote and directed this…
Sorry to Bother You is uncategorizable as a movie because nothing has taken the same risks, but the outcome is stunning Sorry to Bother You is overwhelming, mesmerizing, confusing, terrifying, and perhaps, almost too smart for its own good. That being said, there’s never been a more stunning takedown of capitalism than this movie. Get Out…
