Category Archives: Movie Reviews

“Life” – be prepared to have it scared out of you with this suspenseful space story

“This isn’t your buddy.“ Nutshell: Alien meets Gravity in a well thought out, well acted genre film that hits all the right buttons. While I hated the all-but-boilerplate-in-this-genre ending, there’s no denying it’s not necessarily a bad way to send … Continue reading

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“Beauty and the Beast” – a beastly good live-action adaptation

“A life sentence for a rose?” Nutshell: Like Jungle Book before it, Beauty and the Beast is a live adaptation that is quite possibly even better than the original. Grade: A Story: A girl that feels like an outsider in … Continue reading

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“Logan”: a fitting swan song for Jackman’s Wolverine

Nutshell: A fitting goodbye to Jackman’s Wolverine, as well as an amazing introduction to Laura “X-23” Kinney. Logan gives you everything you want in a big-screen re-imagining of the “Old Man Logan” story…and while everything means the film goes on … Continue reading

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Catching Up Review: “Hacksaw Ridge”

Bloody, bloody, bloody.  And bloody good.  See what I did there?  FINE.  But if you can stomach the copious amounts of gruesome battle FX (apparently director Gibson loves slinging blood onscreen.  See: The Passion of the Christ) you’ll find an … Continue reading

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Catching Up Review: “Fences”

As with Manchester, this movie-based-on-a-play is a slice of life story starring actors that nabbed Tony Awards for these same performances on Broadway.  And deservedly so.  Washington and Davis are incredible here, as is the entire cast who bring the … Continue reading

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Catching Up Review: “Manchester By the Sea”

Let me make two things perfectly clear: 1) this is not a feel-good film.  This is a film that grabs you by the lapel, glares in your face, and makes you cry. And I couldn’t look away, even when the … Continue reading

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Catching Up Review: “La La Land”

There’s a difference between a loving homage, and a poorly lit, badly directed, slap-and-paste edited, ripoff of the greats. Emma Stone gives a wonderful performance despite the dreck she has to wade through. And while she’s amazing, the plot is … Continue reading

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“The Cure for Wellness” is a whole lot of bad crazy. With eels.

Nutshell: Bojan Bazelli’s beautiful cinematography and Eve Stewart’s picture-perfect production design are wasted in this derivative horror mishmosh.  Speaking of criminal wastes of talent, Celia Imrie, Dane DeHaaan and Jason Isaacs turn in wonderful performances that this film just doesn’t … Continue reading

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“The LEGO Batman Movie” – everything’s still awesome

“I’m Richard Grayson, but everybody at the orphanage calls me Dick.” ‘Well, kids can be cruel.’ Nutshell: A crazy, over-the-top extravaganza of villainous excess and Batman badassery. Lots of adults-get-it-humor that isn’t too much for the wee ones. A bit … Continue reading

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7 Pieces of: “A Dog’s Purpose”

Nutshell: sweet, sentimental, and capable of manipulating all the feels with Machiavellian aplomb, this film warms the heart yet seems to stay just out of reach of truly touching it.  Still, cute doggies!  And who doesn’t love a shameless kleenex … Continue reading

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