Tag: three stars
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
There is an uneasy dual identity to the whole Harry Potter world that no self-respecting super-fan might ever want to admit. The cute spectacle of mail owls and Bowtruckles have always had to fight for space amid Death Eaters, torture spells and portents of doom fit for a horror show. In the books, it is […]
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The timing may be tricky for The Secret Life of Pets which has the misfortune of arriving in the shadow of Finding Dory, a surprise hit that has already raked in over $400,000,000 domestic. That film, which has been at the top of the charts for the past two weeks surprised everyone not only by […]
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
As a critic, this is where I am suppose to tell you that Independence Day: Resurgence is just another needless sequel propped up for the summer box office. Most critics have already jumped on that overcrowded train, but I’ll just stay here at the station and report that it would be impossible for this to […]
Finding Dory (2016)
I swear I mean this as a compliment; Finding Dory is the most entertaining needless sequel that you’ll see this summer. It’s true, this sequel wasn’t entirely necessary but if anyone could do it and still make an unnecessary movie that was still entertaining and fun, it had to be Pixar. For me, that has […]
Keanu (2016)
Keanu might very well be the cutest violent action comedy that I’ve ever seen. Seriously, it’s adorable. It features a kitten that draws the “awwwww” from the audience every time it mews, but it’s surrounded by violence at every turn. There’s a moment in this movie when we see a severed hand in the foreground […]
Joy (2015)
There is a breaking point for most people, when the soul-crushing frenzy of everyday life brings them face to face with the inevitability that three things are possible for them: a nervous breakdown, a burst of brilliant inspiration, or the all-consuming threat that the rest of their life may become a den of mediocrity and […]
Spectre (2015)
Even with its impressive longevity, the James Bond series has always seemed to be teetering just on the edge of becoming outdated, at least in the years since Sean Connery stepped aside. The culture, the world situation, the political climate, the technological advancements and, of course, the state of cinema itself are always threatening to […]
Sicario (2015)
There’s an effective, quiet pall that hangs over every scene of Sicario, an appropriately nervous sense that we have entered into an atmosphere of death. This is refreshingly new. Movies about federal agents at war with the Mexican drug cartels have a tendency to be very slick and unafraid to get into the messier bits […]