Hot Take: If you didn’t laugh your ass off watching Keanu, I don’t think you and I can be friends.
Full disclosure: Keanu was our most anticipated release of 2016.
Have you had a bad week? Do you need a laugh? Keanu has plenty. And a cute kitten to go with those laughs! What more could you ask for?
Read More →
On a crazy Wednesday, I was invited on the War Machine vs War Horse Podcast to discuss A Hologram for the King. Because Wednesday was such a crazy day, I have to share more details as that was the day I endured Nina and plowed through Elvis & Nixon. (I also tried Pretzel Bites at the theater for the first time in years and they are no substitute for popcorn!) While seeing Nina, I was initially the only person in the theater but as the previews rolled, another person came in and sat directly next to me… the entire theater was empty other than us two (does that make it a date?). Then between Nina and Elvis & Nixon, I jumped on the podcast. I won’t even mention what I saw in the bathroom at Elvis & Nixon involving soiling and undergarments. Finally, on my way home, I ran over a piece of metal and flattened not one but two tires, had to wait 3 hours for a tow truck and had to Uber my way home (thanks, Giorgios!).
In light of all of the trials and tribulations, give the War Machine vs War Horse Podcast a listen as host Michael Dennison and I scratch the surface on A Hologram for the King before discussing two other films — 12 Angry Men and The Big Kahuna.
Oh, and here’s my review of A Hologram from the King.
None of this week’s releases — not even Keanu — will be able to keep The Jungle Book from taking the top spot at the box office for a third consecutive week. However, in addition to Key & Peele’s big screen début, Garry Marshall is back to destroy yet another holiday and a video game you might have forgotten about gets the big screen treatment along with a trio of platform releases. Here are the releases for the week of April 29th:Read More →
Hot Take: Elvis & Nixon are bigger than life characters and Shannon & Spacey do them up in an over-the-top style that’s very entertaining. Too bad the movie becomes nearly pointless.
I don’t know if Michael Shannon’s take on Elvis Presley is good or bad but it’s damn sure entertaining. To a lesser extent, so is Kevin Spacey as President Richard Nixon. The “untold” story behind the picture of Elvis & Nixon meeting at the White House isn’t nearly as entertaining as their performances but it’s mostly harmless and goofy fun… albeit a little pointless and the tread on the tires shows some serious wear at the end of this wild ride.Read More →
Hot Take: What an embarrassing mistake!
It’s a daunting task to bring the life of Nina Simone to the big screen. Last year, not one but two documentaries were released about her life. There’s enough video for Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, to be brought to life without the help of an actress to tell her story. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done but when you make as many mistakes as writer/director Cynthia Mort does with the making of Nina, one has to ask why the hell did she bother?Read More →
Prince Rogers Nelson passed away last week and it’s an understatement to say the music legend is gone too soon. He leaves behind a legacy of incredible music but also made a splash on the big screen. This week’s “10 Things” features 10 movies with Prince songs in them:Read More →
A six-pack of releases to quench your entertainment thirst is headlined by the Best Foreign Language Film winner and anchored by a Christmas horror flick. In between, there’s an unnecessary sequel, a Western with a female lead and two that skipped theaters. MHT breaks down what to buy, rent, stream or skip for the week of April 26th:Read More →
Hot Take: Don Cheadle’s depiction of Miles Davis is worth the price of admission.
It’s a shame Miles Ahead came out in April because Don Cheadle’s masterful turn as Miles Davis will be largely forgotten by the time Oscar season rolls around. The Academy doesn’t go out of it’s way to nominate performances from the first half of the year or ones by black actors so it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion Cheadle’s on-screen brilliance will get lost in the shuffle.Read More →
Hot Take: More Jessica Chastain. More queens battling. Less everything else. (This is a wish list, not a description of the movie.)
The Huntsman: Winter’s War was entertaining. It also wasn’t very good. Surely, these are contradictory statements but true, too. Watching The Huntsman, it was hard to pin down who the audience was for it. If it was for fans of the first installment — Snow White and the Huntsman — then why remove Snow White from the tale? If it was aimed at a younger audience then why have sexual overtones, violence and crude language? If it is aimed at an older audience then why not make an attempt at giving maybe just one character a little bit of depth? If it is aimed at fans won over by the trailer then why not give the audience more of the queens than we actually get?Read More →
Hot Take: Good characters. Boring movie. Unearned romance.
It’s hard to put into words the experience of watching A Hologram for the King. Some might say Tom Hanks is brilliant because, well, they always say he’s brilliant. He’s that everyman character he usually plays but he is out of place in Saudi Arabia, drinking illegal booze and even having sexual encounters. But that’s the Tom Hanks everyman in wolf’s clothing, all right. It’s a stranger in a strange land tale. Nowhere near the success Lost in Translation was. Nowhere near the disaster of Rock the Kasbah. Actually, the best comparison might be Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, if the lead were male and there was no war.Read More →