Demolition is an uneven, at best, arthouse film on grief that is all but saved by a strong Jake Gyllenhaal performance. I think it's safe to call this the "emotionally disturbed" era of Jake Gyllenhaal's career. Following career best performances in Enemy, Nightcrawler, and Prisoners, Gyllenhaal returns with yet another fantastic performance in Jean-Marc Vallee's Demolition. This time, he plays…
Fences doesn't take the opportunity to do anything cinematic with August Wilson's classic source material, however, it does boast career-best performances by Viola Davis and Denzel Washington Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) is one of the most complex characters to be committed to stage, and now film. No wonder it took James Earl Jones and Washington to portray…
With a stellar performance by Natalie Portman, magnificent direction by Pablo Larraín, and groundbreaking screenplay, Jackie uncovers the woman behind the most iconic First Lady in history Many movies try to give you an inside look at a famous figure. They try to show you the real person behind the mystery of their façade. However, very few…
Kathryn Bigelow delivers a tense and terrifying telling of the 1967 Detroit Riots with one of the strongest ensemble casts of the year. Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal have proven to be an infallible pair when it comes to portraying real-life war events — The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty are among the best…
THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE! Jurassic Park was the epitome of the summer blockbuster. It was big, it was loud, and it made a sh!t ton of money. So naturally, the sequel would one up that. And that it did. Not only was it bigger and louder, it also over compensated and roared (get ready for…
Smart, impeccably made, with a phenomenal performance by Amy Adams, Arrival proves to be a high point in the science fiction genre Denis Villeneuve is a filmmaker that I thought could be one of the great auteurs of our generation (two of his films appeared on our list of the best thrillers of the decade). After blasting…
Interstellar is a visual masterpiece that has a human touch that propels it to greatness. It is perhaps one of the best space movies ever made. Christopher Nolan isn’t one known to be taciturn when it comes to his movies. Even his smaller movies like Momento have grand structures bolstering their simple plots. However, Interstellar is easily…
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planet boasts some strong visuals, but its muddled plot and lack of character stop it from taking off If I showed you an image from the colorful and bizarre world of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, you might guess it's one from Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy. You wouldn't…
Visually stunning and emotionally resonant, Deepwater Horizon is the kind of "based on a true story" movie that honors its subject, but is also eminently watchable. Disaster movies are already hard enough to pull off. But disaster movies based on a real event are even harder. You have to balance the expectations of the genre with reverence…
The Great Wall is well-made enough to forgive its narrative flaws and lackluster performance by Matt Damon Going into The Great Wall, expectations were both high and terribly low. Besides the whitewashing scandal — more on that later — the trailer wasn't well cut enough to truly ratchet up any excitement. However, the names behind the project were.…
