Film Reviews

Taking on a remake or even a re-imagining of the classic movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) is a tall task. But writer and director Paul King, who is most well-known for the Paddington movies, tackles it handily with this breezy and fun iteration of the classic Roald Dahl story.  We meet Willy…
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One thing we can respect about writer and director Emerald Fennell is that she swings for the fences. Her directorial debut, Promising Young Woman (2020), was a shocking look at a young woman attempting to dismantle the system of privelege and patriarchy that forced her life to go off the rails. Fennell’s sophomore effort, Saltburn,…
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Eileen is based on a novel of the same name by author Ottessa Moshfegh. Those who have read the book likely won’t have the same reaction as those of us who went into this one with no prior knowledge.  Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) lives with her alcoholic father who is an ex-cop. She works at the…
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Writer and director Jeff Rowe follows up the 2021 surprise success of The Mitchells vs. The Machines with another animated gem. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem takes the beloved ninja turtles and gives us a fresh perspective on the old story. The much-loved band of brothers, Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Leonardo…
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Director Michael Mann tackles the man who made Ferrari a household name. Troy Kennedy Martin and Brock Yates’ screenplay drops us into 1957, where Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) is struggling in both his personal and professional life. He’s in the midst of an affair with Lina (Shailene Woodley) with whom he has a secret son.…
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All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is the first feature length movie for writer and director Raven Jackson. It follows the life of Mack from her childhood days to when she sports gray hair as an older lady. This isn’t a traditional linear plot. Scenes from each era of her life slide in easily next…
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The 81st Golden Globes took place on January 7th. Even by Globes standards the ceremony was a bit of a dud. Host Jo Koy’s disastrous monologue was controversial, with several inappropriate jokes that left those in the room and those watching from afar shaking their heads. Oppenheimer was the night’s big winner taking home a…
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The 39th annual Independent Spirit Awards ceremony will be hosted on Sunday, February 25th. Best FeatureAll of Us StrangersAmerican FictionMay DecemberPassagesPast LivesWe Grown Now Best First FeatureAll Dirt Roads Taste of SaltChronicles of a Wandering SaintEarth MamaA Thousand and OneUpon Entry John Cassavetes AwardThe Artifice GirlCadejo BlancoFremontRotting in the SunThe Unknown Country Best DirectorAndrew Haigh,…
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How To Blow Up A Pipeline’s plot puts climate change and environmental activism at the center. A group of strangers with one common goal meet up in the middle of the desert. They have hatched a plan to blow up an oil pipeline as an act of defiance against the use of fossil fuels and…
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Five years after the last Mission Impossible movie, Tom Cruise is back reprising his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. This time his mission involves finding half of a key that is used to access something that is referred to as The Entity throughout the movie. The Entity is a powerful AI machine that every…
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