Category: 2.5/4
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The Goldfinch [2019] ★★½
I don’t know what “The Goldfinch” purists will make out of this big screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, but even the best ones tend to fall a bit short, especially in the eyes of those dedicated readers. With that aside, I thought the film version was good enough to justify its existence.…
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The Perfection [2019] ★★½
A half-decent movie is a rare thing to find on Netflix, so I have to give “The Perfection” credit for keeping me intrigued. I knew absolutely nothing about it prior to seeing it, so it was up to director Richard Shepard and his team of writers to keep me hooked. And at 90 minutes, this…
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Where’d You Go, Bernadette [2019] ★★½
It’s not director Richard Linklater’s finest hour, but “Where’d you go Bernadette” benefits from a great performance that makes the overall result worth checking out. Cate Blanchett is sensational as the title character, a manic wife and mother who also suffers from a severe case of social anxiety. I admit: it was hard to warm-up…
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The Angry Birds Movie 2 [2019] ★★½
This sequel to the 2016 hit (which in turn was based on a video game app that made millions of dollars) is likable enough to justify its existence. I’m not a huge fan of the game and I certainly did not rush to see the first film when it came out, but having seen the…
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Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw [2019] ★★½
I know I know. How many more “Fast & Furious” movies are they going to keep making? But wait a minute. This spinoff might have the “Fast” gene, but it’s quite different than everything else we’ve seen so far. Ok maybe not entirely different, but Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham add something extra to it.…
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Booksmart [2019] ★★½
Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is a nod to coming-of-age films of the 80’s, 90’s and even 2000’s. Think of it as a cross between Superbad and pretty much any other teenage film you can think of. The good news is that it kept me amused for a while. The bad news is that I didn’t…
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Crawl [2019] ★★½
Let’s be honest here: you don’t walk in to see a movie featuring deadly alligators expecting quotable dialogue or an unforgettable story. Personally, I want it to entertain me and “Crawl” does exactly that. It sure as hell isn’t swimming in the same waters as “Jaws”, but it gets the job done in just 80…
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Annabelle Comes Home [2019] ★★½
It doesn’t reinvent the wheel or move the franchise in totally unexpected ways, but there’s something truly terrifying about “Annabelle Comes Home”. Is it the fact that we’re stuck all night in the Warrens’ house while Annabelle unleashes every demon you could think of? That’s probably it. And for a while, this third installment in…
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Men In Black International [2019] ★★½
If there’s a decade that truly left an impact on me, it would be the 90’s. I played most of my video games and discovered a lot of movies during that era. When “Men In Black” was released in 1997, I thought it was a total blast. Of course, I would spend the next few…
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Pokémon Detective Pikachu [2019] ★★½
It’s hard to turn any video game into a big budget Hollywood movie, let alone a phenomenon like “Pokémon“, but “Detective Pikachu” almost manages to pull it off. I say “almost” because up to a chaotic climax, the movie kept me entertained with its fun premise, beautiful visual effects, and a dazzling array of colorful…
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The Sun Is Also A Star [2019] ★★½
In modern romantic movies, from the words of Nicholas Sparks to “The Fault in Our Stars”, tears are the ultimate goal. Just get a load of “The Sun is also a Star”. I watched the film version of Nicola Yoon’s novel surrounded by people who probably read the book (I could tell from their excitement).…
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Long Shot [2019] ★★½
Hollywood has given comedies a black eye these past few years, so it’s always refreshing to encounter one that doesn’t fail to entertain. “Long Shot”, directed by Jonathan Levine (if you’ve never seen his terrific movie “50/50”, do it now) and starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron as two people with almost nothing in common,…
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Dumplin’ [2018] ★★½
You won’t find quotable dialogue here, but if you’re looking for a comedy to keep you entertained for a couple of hours, “Dumplin’” might be the movie for you. Jennifer Aniston plays a former beauty queen who now hosts the yearly Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant in a small Texas town (and she takes it way…
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The Curse Of La Llorona [2019] ★★½
Writer/Director/Producer James Wan has provided the raw material for many successful horror movies over the past few years (“Saw”, “Insidious”, “The Conjuring”), and needless to say, he has done a great job at revamping a genre that was slowly suffocating. Even when he wasn’t calling the shots (see “Lights Out”), you could still feel his…
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Us [2019] ★★½
Writer-director Jordan Peele follows up 2017’s surprise hit “Get Out” (which landed him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay) with yet another ambitious horror movie. I say that with full confidence because “Us” has all the ingredients that made “Get Out” so successful. So why did it not fully satisfy me? It can’t be the…
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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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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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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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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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