Another fun time in Jumanji
Director Jake Kasdan reunites with his cast from 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in Columbia Picture’s Jumanji: The Next Level. Three years have passed since Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff), Anthony “Fridge” Johnson (Ser’Darius Blain), Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner), and Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman) had their adventure in the world of Jumanji. As it often […]
The pain of divorce is highlighted in the excellent “Marriage Story”
The ups and downs of divorce serve as the backdrop in director Noah Baumbach’ s Netflix film, Marriage Story. We first meet New York stage director Charlie Barber (Adan Driver) and his actress wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) during a marriage therapy session. As both Charlie and Nicole describe their issues to their therapist, it’s apparent […]
Hanks Shines as Fred Rogers in “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood “
A beautiful homage to an iconic television personality, Tom Hanks is Fred Rogers in Tri Star Pictures’ A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood. Fresh off last year’s Oscar-nominated Can You Ever Forgive Me?, director Marielle Heller once again shows a comfortable niche with the biopic film genre. Screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster open the […]
Frozen II melts away the joys of its predecessor
Co-directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, transport viewers back to the kingdom of Arendelle in Walt Disney Pictures Frozen II. It opens with a flashback of King Agnarr (Alfred Molina) telling a bedtime story to a young Anna & Elsa, which figures into the sequel’s plot later in the film. Frozen II finds Elsa (Idina […]
21 Bridges succeeds a gritty police drama
Chadwick Boseman takes a break from the superhero genre to fight corruption in director Brian Kirk’s police thriller, 21 Bridges from STXfilms. As a child, Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) attended the funeral of his father, a policeman who was murdered in the line of duty. Following in his father’s footsteps, Andre Davis decided to become a cop. […]
Knives Out
Director Rian Johnson returns to the mystery genre in the delightful Knives Out from Lionsgate. Crime novelist Harlan Thormbey is hosting his own eighty fifth birthday with all of his family in attendance. His relatives include his grandson Hugh (Chris Evans), daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), son Walter (Michael Shannon) as well as Linda’s husband […]
Welcome Back Angels
Elizabeth Banks directs a crowd-pleasing girl power flick in Columbia Pictures Charlie’s Angels. The second big-screen adaptation of Aaron Spelling’s iconic crime drama television series, Charlie’s Angels, serves as both a sequel to the original seventies television series as well as the McG directed films from the early 2000s. The new version opens up with loose cannon angel […]
Waves is aesthetically beautiful
Award-winning director Trey Edward Shults once again explores family dynamics in Waves from A24. The Williams’ are an affluent black family residing in South Florida who appear to have it all. Son Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is a popular senior on his school’s wrestling team on his way to college. His parents, dad Ronald (Sterling K. Brown) […]
Eddie Murphy gives Rudy Ray Moore his flowers in “Dolemite Is My Name”
Director Crag Brewer and comedy icon Eddie Murphy bring the story of multi-talented entertainment pioneer Rudy Ray Moore to life in Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name. The time is 1970’s Los Angles and struggling singer Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy) is doing his best to have his music played on the radio. Moore spends his […]
Ad Astra gets lost in its own brilliance
Director James Gray and actor Brad Pitt collaborate in the slow-burning space drama Ad Astra from 20th Century Fox. It’s set in the near future, and Major Roy McBride almost loses his life when an unknown power source strikes the solar system. Sixteen years earlier, Roy’s father, famed astronaut H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), led a […]
Angel Has Fall an action-packed threequel
The third entry in the “Fallen” series finds Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) on the run, in director Ric Roman Waugh’s Angel Has Fallen from Lionsgate. After saving the former President’s life twice before, Mike is now the primary Secret Service agent for current President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman). While Mike is flirting […]
Kendrick Brothers score again with Overcomer
Christian filmmaker Alex Kendrick brings his latest faith-based film to the big screen in Overcomer from Affirm Films. John Harrison (Alex Kendrick) is a basketball coach at a Christian high school in Georgia, coming off a state championship loss. Things take a turn for the worse when the town’s factory, which provides jobs to the […]