Freakier Friday Has Double the Body-Swaps, Half the Fun
★ ½ A mother, a daughter, and now…a grandmother in someone else’s body! Freakier Friday is the long-gestating sequel to 2003’s Freaky Friday, which was one of several remakes of the 1976 film that starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster. Surprisingly, the 2003 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis as…
Together— For Better, for Worse…Till Flesh Do Us Part
★ ★ ★ ★ Together is the latest in the trend of body horror films, where real-world fears take the shape of flesh and bone. Last year’s The Substance exposed Hollywood’s cruel obsession with beauty, showing the depths a woman will go to remain relevant. The more desperate she became, the more grotesque the film grew…
The Naked Gun Gives Us Deadpan Neeson—Locked, Loaded, and Fully Caffeinated
★ ★ ★ ½ The Naked Gun is a movie that leans across the table and whispers to us, “We can finally laugh at the jokes we’re not supposed to laugh at again.” Movies like this exist in their own alternate realities where the hero, and supporting protagonists can ask serious questions and get the thickest…
The Fantastic Four: First Steps—Finally a Leap Forward
★ ★ ★ ½ After three forgettable (and sometimes embarrassing) attempts, The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally gives Marvel’s original superhero team the movie they deserve. The story follows four astronauts—Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm…
I Know What You Did Last Summer—But I Wish I Didn’t
★ I Know What You Did Last Summer seems to think its audience is stupid. I say that because the characters we’re supposed to root for are so tragically dumb, you start to root for the hook-wielding killer. The dialogue sounds like it was written by elementary-schoolers forced into a class play. The characters are mostly unlikeable…
Superman Takes Flight but Leaves the Plot Behind
★ ★ ½ James Gunn has a lot riding on Superman. Hired by Warner Bros. to reinvent the DC Comics Cinematic Universe (DCU), he needs this film to accomplish two things—ideally both. First, it has to be a box office success. Second—and less important, at least by Hollywood math—it needs to be a good movie. 2008’s Iron Man is an example of a fantastic superhero film that…
Jurassic World: Rebirth—Fossils in Motion, Boredom in Action
★ ½ Do people even care about dinosaurs anymore? That line, buried in Jurassic World: Rebirth, may be the most honest thing the franchise has asked in a decade. In the franchise universe, each film ups the ante. Sequels require bigger, scarier dinosaurs to lure audiences. The fictional corporations…
M3GAN 2.0 Upgrades Herself—and the Franchise
★ ★ ★ ½ In its own dumb, goofy way, M3GAN 2.0 follows a similar pattern to the first two Terminator films. If The Terminator was sci-fi, slasher-horror, its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day was a sci-fi action thriller. In both pairs of films, the first outing features a robot going on a killing spree. Here, as with T2, the original villain robot turns hero. We may have been…
F1: The Movie is a Thunderous Return to Summer Blockbuster Glory
★ ★ ★ ★ F1: The Movie is a grand return to the summer blockbuster. It’s action-packed, thrilling and memorable. Your seat will rumble as the cars roar across the screen and test the theatre woofers. At times, you’ll feel like you’re in an F1 racecar cockpit. This is all weaved into a great script, excellent character development…
Elio Aims for the Stars but Misses the Heart
★ ★ ★ Elio (Yonas Kibreab) is a young boy reeling from the death of his parents. He barely speaks and can’t connect with his new guardian, his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña). She tries her best but just can’t crack his shell. At a museum, Elio stumbles upon an exhibit for Voyager 1. It’s a discovery that changes his world, and he becomes obsessed…
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