Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews

A Gut-Wrenching Account of the Afghanistan War

The War in Afghanistan has raged for nineteen brutal years. America’s longest running conflict is again front page news. Explosive revelations that the Taliban were paid bounties by the Russians to target American troops have rocked the political establishment. The Outpost, a gut-wrenching film about the war’s bloodiest battle, couldn’t have a more fitting release

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Movie Reviews

Shudder’s Latest Original Is Deliciously Gross

Blood’s splattering and penises are ablaze in director Lars Damoiseaux’s feature debut Yummy, a gore-filled zombie comedy that’s as confused as it is deliciously gross. An over-the-top violent tale of plastic surgery gone disgustingly array, Yummy exudes intentional camp and shows glimpses of old Italian flare – an ambitious combination that just almost works. Pair

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Movie Reviews

A Disastrous Hurricane Heist Flick

Mel Gibson washes out in his latest turn as a hard-nosed cop. Force of Nature is an absurdly plotted heist thriller that takes place during a hurricane. All of the action is set in a nearly abandoned apartment building. Cardboard characters run up and down stairwells in a deluge of rain and bullets. Their hits

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Movie Reviews

Steve Carell Can’t Save Sledgehammer Satire

Irresistible is Jon Stewart’s second feature as writer and director. A sledgehammer satire with little nuance, the film falls prey to the standard red state versus blue state characterizations. Irresistible feels like a stale retread of well-known talking points. The lines that divide us are obvious. Stewart brought incisive political discourse to late night television

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Movie Reviews

Few Scares in This Haunted House

You Should Have Left is the film adaptation of German author Daniel Kehlmann’s hit novella. The horror aspects were apparently lost in translation. You Should Have Left offers a few initial frights before devolving to standard haunted house drudgery. A strong lead performance from Kevin Bacon elevates the lackluster script; but not enough to compensate

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Movie Reviews

Hijacking Thriller Evokes Memories of 9/11

7500 is a harrowing thriller that evokes visceral memories of September 11, 2001. Islamic terrorists hijack a German airplane bound for Paris. The entire film takes place inside the cockpit in real time. There is no soundtrack or accompanying score. The savagery of the situation drives gripping tension until a somewhat deflating third act. It

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Movie Reviews

Spike Lee Delivers an Impactful and Brilliantly Artistic Film

Black soldiers have fought and died for America from the republic’s inception. They sacrificed for a country that treated them like second class citizens for the majority of its history. Da 5 Bloods addresses that racial disparity with artistic brilliance and masterful storytelling techniques. It weaves a thread from the tumultuous Vietnam War to the

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Movie Reviews

Da 5 Bloods Reviews Praise Spike Lee’s Powerful New Netflix Movie

A new Spike Lee-directed movie is always cause for excitement, and the upcoming Da 5 Bloods sounds like one of Lee’s best. Being released to Netflix this Friday, the movie is already receiving widespread critical acclaim making it the right time to climb aboard the hype train. “A compelling treasure hunt story, with an extremely

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Movie Reviews

Fifty Shades Freed Review

review for a Fifty Shades film may be the most useless thing ever created, even more so than those for the most recent highly-marketed, big-budget adventure. Not just because – three films in with franchise finale Fifty Shades Freed – the battle lines of those who are going to see these films and those who aren’t have been set;

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Movie Reviews

The Greatest Showman Review

What makes for a good film is just about impossible to quantify, no matter how much time we spend trying. The criteria changes not only from person to person but from genre to genre, each restricted to a peculiar and unwritten code of what they are going to deliver. Action movies don’t have to be

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