MUSICAL
Full disclosure, I love the original and the trailer for this film looked amazing, so I was primed to rank this as my #1 fave film of 2023; however this is a case of good trailer/bad movie. I’m so crushed! Timothée Chalamet is terribly miscast. He’s not the singer or dancer a Broadway type would ..
ACTION
Is Star Wars Episode 8 the best in the franchise because it’s the best story or is it just a circumstance of timing? Taking full advantage of great minds in writing, directing, acting, score, effects; delivering to fans and an audience built by Disney-sister-company Marvel, one can’t deny the influence the times have had on this ..
ACTION
RYAN: This is a momentous occasion! I remember the crowding sadness after the last Harry Potter film hit theaters; the end of an era – the finite close to the Potter universe. JK Rowling made clear Harry’s story was over… so when Warner Bros. announced Rowling was scripting a new film based on the Wizarding World – ..
SCI FI / FANTASY
Arrival is one of my favorite films of the year. I tend to jive with sci fi but this one is juicer than most; the script is so brilliant, you have to wonder just how screenwriter Eric Heisserer came up with the device. It’s based on a story by Ted Chiang. And the film’s timeline is ..
DRAMA
RYAN: This film is astonishing. It’s like a sequel to one of my all time favorite movies – Contact. I am awestruck by it. I mean, I actually sat in awe of this movie – just enjoying it but then also impressed so much by how savvy the script is. It fully manipulates you in the audience. ..
ACTION
RYAN: I think I have a new favorite superhero! It’s the latest Marvel superhero movie but seems a lot more like a fantasy action film. It somehow folds into the Marvel universe, which we glimpse into in the first of two after credits extra scenes. It’s not funny racy like Deadpool, but has comedic lines. Benedict Cumberbatch ..
DRAMA
RYAN: This movie kind of snuck up out of nowhere. I wasn’t really aware of it until I was invited to review it as an online screener – which is key because viewing it at home had several implications. CAROLINE: That, clearly, requires some explanation. RYAN: Well when you’re watching at home, there are distractions ..
FAMILY
RYAN: The original Pete’s Dragon from 1977 is one of my all time favorite movies – within my top 10. I was super nervous about this because it has been remade without being a musical and the original songs are so brilliant. The names have changed, there are other characters and this movie had to be exceptional ..
ACTION
RYAN: It’t number three in what is now going to be at least a four movie franchise. Paramount has already announced a fourth Star Trek film in which Chris Hemsworth will return as Kirk’s father. I didn’t even remember him in it. MIKE: It’s easy to forget because he had very short screen time in the ..
ACTION
RYAN: Ghostbusters 2016! It’s the reboot of the classic 1984 film. Dan Ackroyd is an Exec Producer on this – he co wrote the first one and it’s based on that film. It’s better in every way. It so lovingly and beautifully pays homage to the original film, its stars and also to the 80s ..
ACTION
RYAN: This is an epic tale of greed, revenge and survival. It has everything you love and want out of a Tarzan story – there are aspects of his origin, but it’s more of an Indiana Jones type of story that takes a domesticated Tarzan back to the jungle. BECKY: And I wasn’t expecting to ..
FAMILY
RYAN: Disney, Roald Dahl & Steven Spielberg come together for quite the imaginative cinematic event! It’s one of the most whimsical adventures I’ve ever seen. I didn’t read the book, so coming at this completely unaware of what to expect, it’s this amazing childhood fantasy that had much depth and weight to it. It’s so ..
