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…
The Nun feels like too much of a blockbuster with a lack of plot and focus on jump scares to be an effective entry in this horror franchise. The Conjuring series has turned into an unlikely cinematic universe following the model that has made Marvel so successful. However, with The Nun, the fifth entry in the franchise, we're…
The House with a Clock in Its Walls is too deeply weird to not at least admire the effort. Director Eli Roth is best known for his violent and gory action and horror movies like Cabin Fever, Death Wish, and the Hostel series. So it was surprising to see him tackle the a family-friendly PG movie based on the…
Heavy Trip is a joyous and affectionate love letter to the outcast that is almost impossible to resist. Heavy Trip—also known as A Band Called Impaled Rektum—is billed as a heavy metal comedy. And it completely is. Told with the same off-beat humor as Taika Waititi's best—Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok—Heavy Trip follows wannabe Finnish heavy metal band…
First Man is a de-glamourized version of Neil Armstrong's reluctant journey to becoming the first man on the moon. What's remarkable about Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) is how unremarkable he is. He's quiet. Almost shy. Sometimes he'll crack a joke or offer a closed mouth smile, but he internalizes most of his emotions. There are a…
Bohemian Rhapsody doesn't do much to break the mold of the typical biopic, but it boasts a breathtaking performance from Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t about the creation of Freddie Mercury. Yes, the movie starts with Mercury as a baggage handler before joining a band that would ultimately become Queen. However, the movie…
Bodied is a sharp and hilarious satire that tackles the complexities of woke culture by exploring the world of battle rap. bod·ied /ˈbädēd/ verb 1. to destroy or kill Used in a sentence: "The movie Bodied bodied toxic liberalism, performative progressiveness, and woke culture." Music video director Joseph Kahn’s third feature pulls no punches as…
The Cakemaker, Israel's 2019 Oscar entry, is a quiet and sweet drama with a great lead performance by Tim Kalkhof. The Cakemaker is about a relationship, but not a romantic one as the setup suggests. Instead, it’s a quiet and sensitively told story about grief and how different people process it. However, there’s so much more…
Paul Dano's directorial debut Wildlife is a quiet but powerful tale of self-destruction with a masterful performance by Carey Mulligan. Wildlife has all the workings of a classic kitchen sink drama. However, instead of the poor industrial towns of England, actor Paul Dano's directorial debut moves the setting to 1960s Montana and follows a working-class family as they…
Science Fair documents the profound and entertaining journey of nine students competing against 1,700 of the world's brightest young minds This is not your typical science fair. Directors Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster's film about the classic school tradition have young high school students with foam poster board talking about their projects. But instead of papier-mâché volcano's and…
