Wonder will win over audience's affection with its charming take on R.J. Palacio's novel of the same name. Wonder is an inspirational poster of a movie, which I say in the least cynical way possible. Like director Stephen Chomsky's last movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wonder knows how to emotionally invest its audience in its characters and story. You…
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a bleak black comedy that boasts some of the best performances and writing of any movie this year. "Raped while dying." "Still no arrests?" "How come, Chief Willoughby?" That is what is written on the titular billboards in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. And while it seems like a simple targeted…
Call Me By Your Name is a sensitive and beautiful portrait of a first love set against the summery backdrop of Italy's countryside. Drenched in the warm tones of summer and set against the backdrop of 1983 "somewhere in Northern Italy" as an opening title card says, Call Me By Your Name tells the story of Elio…
The Shape of Water is a beautifully crafted story by master filmmaker Guierrmo Del Toro, but lacks the emotional depth to make it great. Love is love, even if it’s between a human woman and an amphibian man. That's the message that Guierrmo Del Toro seems to be trying to get across with his newest movie The…
Phantom Thread is a surprisingly funny and poignant romance with stellar performances by Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, and, in particular, Vicky Krieps. I could listen to Daniel Day-Lewis order breakfast all day. In what is supposedly his final film performance, the three-time Oscar winner plays a role that encapsulates what makes him one of the greatest…
Love, Simon is groundbreaking as the first gay coming of age film by a major studio. Although, it is more than what it seems on the surface. This is what straight people must feel like when they watch romantic comedies. That's a comment that I've been seeing a lot about Love, Simon, the newest film by…
Alex Strangelove, now streaming on Netflix, is a coming out dramedy with an identity crisis despite a charming lead performance by Daniel Doheny. Netflix's Alex Strangelove follows on the heels of Love, Simon, the first LGBT teen movie from a major studio. Love, Simon succeeds mostly in part to its lack of self-importance. It treats protagonist Simon as any…
Krisha is an incredible debut film by Trey Edwards Schultz with an emotional powerhouse performance by Krisha Fairchild As I'm sitting here trying to write this review for Krisha, I'm finding that I don't even know where to start. The experience of the film is, for lack of a better term, emotionally devastating. Simply put, it's one of the…
Lion is one of the few inspirational true stories that translates beautifully on screen thanks to director Garth Davis and a strong performance by Dev Patel A Long Way Home, the book that the movie Lion is based on, is essentially devoid of emotion. That's not to fault the book's author and subject Saroo Brierley. He simply wasn't equipped with…
Packed with fun musical numbers and flashes of humor, Sing Street is enjoyable on both a superficial and emotional level. John Carney is obsessed with the power of music. It's what his last three films, including Sing Street, are about. Once talks about how music can communicate emotion and is a universal language. Begin Again explores the healing power of music. Carney is…
