Strange World: A New Disney Adventure

Don Hall is back with the newest Disney adventure taking us into strange new worlds–sorry, no Star Trek here–in Strange World. I’m sorry but I couldn’t resist a Strange New Worlds comment. After all, this is the year of the strange on both the big screen and small. To anybody expecting to see Pike’s Peak aka Anson Mount, I’m sorry to disappoint you but this has nothing to do with that franchise. It’s nice to…

"Strange World: A New Disney Adventure"

Maestro: Leonard Bernstein Movie Facing Backlash

Bradley Cooper’s upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro, is facing a backlash following the first look images being released. Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein while Carey Mulligan stars as his wife, Felicia Cohn Montealegre. Mulligan’s casting has been rightfully called out for being a white British woman starring as a biracial Latina woman of Jewish descent. Bernstein’s wife later converted from Catholicism to Judaism but her paternal grandfather was Jewish. It is seriously wrong for a…

"Maestro: Leonard Bernstein Movie Facing Backlash"

Ambulance: Michael Bay Film Is Now on Peacock

Ambulance, the Michael Bay thriller, has made its arrival to Peacock 45 days after the film was released in theaters in early April. Unfortunately, the thriller isn’t good. Maybe Ambulance plays better in a movie theater but nothing can save the film when struggling to keep attention at home. Put it this way: there was no amount of caffeine that could keep me awake while watching. Lorne Balfe’s music does what it can to salvage…

"Ambulance: Michael Bay Film Is Now on Peacock"

The Day After Tomorrow: A Climate Change Thriller

Action filmmaker Roland Emmerich took a break from alien invasions to get audiences talking about climate change with The Day After Tomorrow. While this film is a big budget blockbuster, the film’s contents could easily fit in as the SyFy movie of the week. There are certainly elements of the film that might be right but only when spread out over a period of time. The climate crisis is a problem but it’s not going…

"The Day After Tomorrow: A Climate Change Thriller"

The Guilty: Remake Delivers The Thrills

The Guilty remakes another foreign language film but this one is the best of the two TIFF premieres that largely depend on one person. The film is based on Den Skyldige. However, I cannot tell you whether this film works better or doesn’t because I didn’t see the original. I can tell you that The Guilty is effective as a thriller. This is a film that has Jake Gyllenhaal working overtime as a 911 dispatcher…

"The Guilty: Remake Delivers The Thrills"

Spirit Untamed Continues The Adventure

Spirit Untamed is the next installment in the Spirit franchise, which also includes the Spirit Riding Free animated series on Netflix. The first Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron film, all the back in 2002, was a major shift in what we’re used to seeing in animated features. Instead of people voicing animals, Matt Damon provided Spirit’s internal thoughts. Not that there’s anything wrong with this but for a film focusing mostly on animals, it was such…

"Spirit Untamed Continues The Adventure"

Spider-Man: Far From Home Starts A New Chapter

Spider-Man: Far From Home has the main responsibility of dealing with the after effects of Avengers: Endgame, including the Midtown High students. If you’ve seen trailers for the film, you have probably already shown a good part of what’s going on.  Regardless of that, there’s a certainly lot of film not seen in the trailers.  Let me warn you now: there’s a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene.  Also: if you read nothing else before…

"Spider-Man: Far From Home Starts A New Chapter"

Wildlife: A Career-Best for Carey Mulligan

With first-time director Paul Dano at the helm, Wildlife benefits from a stand-out performance from actress Carey Mulligan. Based on Richard Ford’s book of the same name, we view the events through the eyes of teenager Joe Brinson (Ed Oxenbould) in Great Falls, Montana.  As his parents struggle financially, Joe decides to quit the football team to work for a photographer. Meanwhile, Joe’s dad, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal), decides to run out of town to fight fires some…

"Wildlife: A Career-Best for Carey Mulligan"

TIFF 2018: The Sisters Brothers

While not entirely a comedy, The Sisters Brothers certainly provides an interesting take on the Western genre during the height of the Gold Rush. Set in 1851,  Charlie and Eli Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly) are a pair of fascinating figures.  Working for The Commodore (Rutger Hauer), the duo follow scout John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the hunt to capture a chemist on the run, Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed).  Warm is a gold prospector…

"TIFF 2018: The Sisters Brothers"

TIFF 2018: Wildlife

With first-time director Paul Dano at the helm, Wildlife benefits from a stand-out performance from actress Carey Mulligan. Based on the book of the same name, we view the events through the eyes of teenager Joe Brinson (Ed Oxenbould).  As his parents struggle financially, he decides to quit the football team to work for a photographer.  Having lost his job at the golf club, Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) runs out of town to fight fires in Montana. …

"TIFF 2018: Wildlife"