Category: GENRE
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Escape Room [2019] ★★½
If you’re a sucker for escape rooms, then this movie was especially designed for you. It’s formulaic for sure, and it borrows a lot from such movies as “Cube” and “Saw”, but it kept me on the edge of my seat. You can practically picture the filmmakers plotting their next move as soon as the…
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Happy Death Day 2U [2019] ★★½
“Happy Death Day” caught me off guard with its intriguing premise and constant twists and turns. If you remember clearly, Jessica Rothe played a college student who keeps reliving the day of her murder over and over again. The “Groundhog Day”/Horror crossover worked well enough, and I found myself recommending it to a lot of…
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Alita: Battle Angel [2019] ★★★
Judging from the early reviews, you’d think that “Alita: Battle Angel” is bound to flop. But now that I’ve seen it, I can tell you that it has enough visual effects and production values for two movies, and I had a good time with it. For one, it’s hard not to admire producer James Cameron’s…
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Velvet Buzzsaw [2019] ★½
If you’ve seen Jake Gyllenhaal in Dan Gilroy’s terrific directing debut “Nightcrawler“, then you know why I was looking forward to their next collaboration together, this time on Netflix. But unlike their previous film, I couldn’t stand “Velvet Buzzsaw”. I admire what Gilroy was trying to do this time around, but I just couldn’t buy…
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What Men Want [2019] ★½
“How bad can it be?” I kept asking myself before I walked in to see this movie. The 2000 movie “What Women Want” starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt wasn’t innovative in any way, but it was light and charming. But as soon as “What Men Want” started, I had an immediate reaction of annoyance…
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Cold War [2018] ★★★½
This stunning movie from Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski is up for 3 Academy Awards, and deservedly so. Shot in beautiful black and white and set against the backdrop of the 1950’s Cold War in Poland, Pawlikowski tells an impossible love story between two musicians: Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), a jazz musician putting together a traditional folk…
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BlacKkKlansman [2018] ★★★½
I missed “BlacKkKlansman” on two occasions: first time in Montreal last summer and the second time was around a month ago when it was briefly released locally. So I might be coming late to it, but having heard all the good buzz (including the 6 Academy Award nominations), I expected nothing less than a good…
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Stan & Ollie [2018] ★★★½
First a personal story: for as long as I can remember, Laurel and Hardy were always a part of my life. When I was a kid my grandfather made it his mission to introduce me and my cousins to the famous duo. Needless to say, we were all hooked. So on my way to see…
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The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part [2019] ★★★
I may be swimming against the current here, but I enjoyed “The LEGO Movie 2” more than its predecessor. The first one caught me off guard with its hectic action sequences. Here, I knew exactly what to expect, and I had a blast with it. It’s been five years since the events of the first…
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Serenity [2019] ★
Behold. This preposterous thriller starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway is the year’s worst movie so far. I say that with disappointment because it had potential. And I admit: it had me going for a few minutes, up until a ridiculous turn of events that made no sense whatsoever. Let me start from the beginning:…
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Dragon Ball Super: Broly [2019] ★★★
Something that I probably never mentioned on this blog is how much of a Dragon Ball Z fan I am. I still remember receiving Volume 13 on Christmas back in 1997 (why not start with Volume 1, mom?), and how immersive it all was. Naturally I ended up reading all the books over the years,…
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A Dog’s Way Home [2019] ★★½
Dog movies tend to be hit and miss, with the most recent miss being “A Dog’s Purpose” a couple of years ago. “A Dog’s Way Home” doesn’t reinvent the wheel in any way: it’s old-fashioned for sure, but there’s something irresistible about it. The story captures your heart from the word go, as do all…
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Boy Erased [2018] ★★★
At a time when most movies playing at your local multiplex offer nothing but escapism, it’s good to encounter one that has something to say about modern society, and a solid cast to bring it to life. In adapting Garrard Conley’s 2016 memoir, writer-director Joel Edgerton takes a thought-provoking look at gay conversion facilities, and its…
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The Favourite [2018] ★★★½
He’s done it again. Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos follows up “Dogtooth”, “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” with a period piece that has his name written all over it. It’s a deliciously wicked film, beautifully shot and perfectly acted by Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone and Olivia Coleman (no wonder they’re all nominated for…
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On The Basis Of Sex [2018] ★★½
“On the basis of sex” dramatizes an important chapter in history when young lawyer Ruth Ginsburg fought hard for equal rights between men and women in 1970. It’s an interesting slice of history, and you couldn’t ask for a better actress to fill in Ginsburg’s shoes. Felicity Jones has already made an impression in such…
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Vice [2018] ★★★½
I have a confession to make: I was not looking forward to this movie. As much as I love Christian Bale, I never thought I would be interested in a movie about Dick Cheney, the American politician who served as a Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. But as soon as…
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The Upside [2019] ★★½
On paper, this Hollywood version of the french hit “Intouchables” has no reason to exist. But I tried to keep an open mind as I was watching it last night. As a result, I found myself enjoying it. It’s nowhere near as funny or moving as the original, but with that aside, it’s an enjoyable…
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Glass [2019] ★★★
It’s flawed, it doesn’t flow as smoothly as “Split”, and it might confuse the hell out of newcomers. Know that? I still had a blast watching “Glass”, the sequel to 2000’s “Unbreakable”, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis, and 2017’s “Split”, in which James McAvoy played a psychiatric patient who suffers from dissociative identity…
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How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World [2019] ★★★
I am not a big fan of the number 3, but when it comes to animated movies, I am willing to make an exception. Here’s a trilogy that remained consistent over the years, delivering one spectacular installment after the other. And “The Hidden World”, the first sequel in five years is no exception: it’s a…
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Roma [2018] ★★★
“Roma” doesn’t look or feel like any other movie I’ve seen in 2018, and not just because it was shot in black and white. It has a distinct atmosphere, and that’s obvious from the very first shot. Director Alfonso Cuarón transports us back to his childhood neighborhood in Mexico City. The year is 1970 and we’re…
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