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In: To See or Not To See

We’re still basking in the glow of The Jungle Book this week as no one will come close to knocking it off of it’s box office thrown… not even two powerful queens. Neither will a multi-cultural action duo, Tricky Dick and the King, a holographic image being sold to a king, a meddling mom or anyone else for that matter. Even though they won’t contend for the box office crown, let’s take a look at the theatrical releases for the week of April 22nd:

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In: 2016, Ranked

On March 9th, MHT recapped the first 25 movies seen in 2016. After seeing 25 movies (29 if you count Raiders of the Lost Ark, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and a second viewing of The Bronze) in 42 days, here is the second set of 25 movies viewed in 2016, graded on a scale of 0-5 stars:

The “Thumbs Up” Group

Everybody Wants Some!! 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5) REVIEW
Best film of 2016… so far! Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Dazed and Confused go to college.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Apparently, many roads lead to nowhere.

At this point, I’m going to have to say it’s me. I continue to watch dramas starring James Franco with optimism only to be let down time and again. Last year, it was True Story. Earlier this year, Yosemite left me unimpressed. Now, it’s The Adderall Diaries.Read More →

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In: 10 Things

We take the high road on this week’s installment of “10 Things” and give you a list of 10 characters you can live vicariously through (especially if you are one that doesn’t partake) on the unofficial holiday for potheads: 4/20 (Warning: Most clips are NSFW):

1.Cheech & ChongRead More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 70/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 65/100

The star-studded cast of the remake of The Magnificent Seven definitely makes the film intriguing. Director Antoine Fuqua has done enough to add to the intrigue. The teaser trailer, however, kind of misses the mark a little bit as far as adding to the build. You barely get glimpses of anyone outside of Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt. Actually, we’re overloaded with Pratt’s mugging which makes you feel like it should be called The Magnificent One, Denzel and Five Other Dudes. They have until September 23 to at least get the trailer right and we’ll probably get two more so we’ll take a wait and see attitude toward the next one.

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In: BuRStS

It’s a crowded release week featuring 9 new movies vying for your entertainment dollar. The obvious choice features a gruesome bear attack and an Oscar winning performance by Leaonardo DiCaprio. The other 8 films are slightly less memorable: A killer for hire, an animated bear doing the Arctic Shake, a legal drama, a martial arts sequel, a lady in a van, a comedy about sex, a comedy spoofing a movie about sex and a documentary about a the National Lampoon which has probably spoofed everything mentioned at one time or another. MHT breaks down what to buy, rent, stream or skip for the week of April 19th:Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: There are a lot of messages in this heavy return to the Chicago South Side neighborhood barbershop. If there’s a return visit, maybe take a little off the top.

You can’t blame a film for poor marketing but the marketing department did Barbershop: The Next Cut no favors. While there’s plenty of things to laugh at, the way the film is packaged in the trailer as a non-stop comedy is a little disingenuous. The third installment in the Barbershop series is the most serious of the three films and takes it’s social commentary seriously. While this doesn’t hurt the quality of the film, it did take some adjusting as a viewer. It’s like biting into a peanut butter & jelly sandwich only to find out the person who made it used chunky peanut butter instead of creamy. It’s still PB&J but it’s different.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Richard Linklater is one of the best at making characters you are genuinely interested in even when almost nothing happens. (Even though so much happens.) Best movie of 2016 so far!

5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Everybody Wants Some!! takes us through the weekend before school starts for a college baseball team in 1980. Our central character Jake (Blake Jenner) is a freshman pitcher joining a successful southern Texas college baseball team. Second team all-state on his high school team, Jake is now just one of the many good players on this team. He arrives at school and quickly learns the environment will be competitive and filled with parties and trying to meet girls. But, as with it’s spiritual predecessor Dazed and Confused, it’s more than that as Jake and the group are establishing their identity for the rest of the year and maybe longer.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Criminal – adj. Shameful, disgraceful… Yup! That’s about right.

In Criminal, Kevin Costner plays Jericho Stewart, a death row inmate who because of a frontal lobe injury at a very young age makes him the prime candidate for an experimental memory transplant surgery to save the memories of CIA agent Billy Pope (Ryan Reynolds) in a race against time as screamingly incompetent CIA honcho Quaker… yeah, that’s really the name they gave him… Wells (Gary Oldman) and his equally incompetent CIA agents need those memories to stop “The Dutchman” (Michael Pitt) from selling a dangerous technology called the Wormhole to the highest bidder. Wells seeks the help of Dr. Frankenstein Dr. Franks (Tommy Lee Jones) to transfer Pope’s memories to Stewart whose impressionable frontal lobe (and source of his horrible behavior… the ridiculous gruff voice is free of charge). Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Intense and gorgeous to watch. This isn’t your animated classic, this is a captivating tale with grit and heart that’s actually an improvement.

Director Jon Favreau’s adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic The Jungle Book may be a Disney product and might have a few recognizable ingredients from the 1967 animated concoction but this only vaguely resembles it’s predecessor. Instead Favreau’s version is a much more mature, coherent, intense thrill-a-minute adventure about an endearing young boy growing up in the jungle and trying to find his place in the world. It’s almost too scary for young audiences but too special to not risk a couple nights of bad dreams.Read More →