By my count, this marks the seventh live-action Spider-Man film—not including his participation in various other Marvel films. I note this because after seven movies, even as part of three separate continuities, any character can grow a bit stale. Comparatively, we’ve only had three Iron Man or Captain America films, but an equal number of Leprechaun flicks. So, Marvel and Sony probably felt the need to shake things up. They did—sort of. Far from Home picks up fairly soon after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and spoiler alert—this movie pulls no punches in spoiling multiple Marvel films. You seriously need…
Author: Justin
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Here’s a romantic comedy masquerading as something bigger while asking questions about the transcendent nature of art. If that feels reductive, well then that’s because Yesterday is a reductive film. It never feels like it’s interested in those very provocative questions that its unique premise presents. And yet, I enjoyed it for what it is. Yesterday imagines a world where one man remembers The Beatles. It just so happens that this man, Jack (Himesh Patel), also happens to be a skilled musician that has a photographic memory of their entire catalog. Go ahead, try to recite the lyrics to more…
Contrary to their simplistic kids’ film image, the Toy Story films have always been tales of existential crisis. Each new film exploring the idea of, “Who am I, and where do I belong?” From Buzz in the first film to Woody in the sequel to all of the toys in what many assumed was the end of a trilogy. For Toy Story 4, Pixar returns to that question but tweaks it slightly. While Toy Story 3 already dealt with the idea that we must face that same existential question more than once in life, Toy Story 4 asks, “But what…
A good romantic comedy, such as When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, or Bull Durham, can be so good that it transcends its genre. You don’t think of those films as romantic comedies first, but simply great films. Of course, the same is true of any genre film such as horror or action. But bad romantic comedies are always thought of first and foremost by their contrivances. That’s the premise behind a parody movie like Isn’t It Romantic. Unfortunately, identifying those contrivances is the easy part. Isn’t It Romantic stars Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) as Natalie, a woman so jaded…
The difficulty with any space program film at this point is how do you make it feel worthwhile? Not that it’s any less interesting or important of a subject than say Spider-Man, but starting in elementary school we’re inundated with lessons, documentaries, dramatizations, etc. of one of our country’s greatest accomplishments. What’s there new to say about it? First Man finds something worth talking about in the emotional toll of getting there. First Man stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong. Gosling brings his stoicism from his character in Drive to the role, so don’t expect too much fun and laughter.…
2014’s reboot of the Godzilla franchise was a disaster film that Godzilla happened to cameo in at the end. With Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the producers obviously wanted to fix that issue by throwing every monster they had into the mix. Unfortunately, the finished product isn’t nearly as exciting as that sounds and features many of the same issues as the previous entry. This time around the Monarch organization is tracking and neutralizing monsters around the world. When an ecoterrorist group takes a Monarch scientist hostage and begins waking the monsters from their slumber, our only hope is to…
For every quality teen girl coming-of-age movie, it feels like we get twenty or so for boys. But in the last few years we’ve gotten quality entries for young women such as Lady Bird and The Edge of Seventeen. Here we have another in actress Olivia Wilde’s feature directorial debut of Booksmart. It’s not only a great coming-of-age flick, but one of the smartest films of 2019 so far. Teens Amy and Molly are the smartest, hardest-working seniors in their school. Their future looks bright as they plan their fall entrance into Columbia and Yale, respectively. However, a series of…
What if Superman had turned evil as a kid? That’s the basic pitch line behind Brightburn, a new superhero movie that is much more slasher horror than it is anything Marvel. Comics have explored this idea before using everyone from Superman to Captain America, but this is the most serious treatment we’ve seen in a film. Unfortunately, a clever concept does not make a great film, alone. Brightburn begins with Tori and Kyle (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) seeing a spaceship crash onto their farm. Inside they discover a baby, who they then raise as their own. As he grows…
The original Happy Death Day was as if someone watched the middle part of Groundhog Day, specifically where Bill Murray tries to kill himself multiple times, and thought that was worth an entire film. And they were right! The original is smart, funny, and even has a few good thrills and surprises throw into the mix. Happy Death Day 2U picks up literally where the last film left off with a new time loop focused on roommate Ryan from the original film. However, it’s not long before leading lady Tree (Jessica Rothe) from the first film finds herself back in…
Sketch comedy may be the most binary of comedy—it either works or doesn’t for you. Sitcom jokes or standup riffs vary so much on the larger piece they inhabit, but sketches live or die based on the joke alone. Even the most ardent fans of Saturday Night Live would admit most of any episode is pretty bad with a few sketches that land even during the classic years. Netflix’s new sketch comedy series, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, suffers a similar fate but with just a few too many that don’t land. Tim Robinson is a former…