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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: A celebration of the lowrider tradition in Los Angeles mixed with a cliché filled tale of men who can’t express their feelings unless it is through heavy machinery.

I’m waiting for Blumhouse Tilt to make a misstep this year. I guess you could call The Belko Experiment a misstep but with a $5 million budget and a $10.6 box office, it’s far from a disaster. I wasn’t expecting much from BH Tilt’s latest Lowriders and ranked it the 23rd most anticipated release of May. While there’s no reason to go overboard with praise for the latest low budget flick from Jason Blum’s cost efficient film factory, Lowriders isn’t bad.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: I’ve always been worried about how cynical I am. Seeing Everything, Everything and liking it proves I’m not as cynical as I thought I was.

Everything, Everything has a far-fetched premise. Main character Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) hasn’t left the house since she was a baby because she has SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). As she turns 18 and still longs to see and feel the ocean up close, she meets new neighbor Olly (Nick Robinson) who is intrigued by the girl he sees at the window every day but never outside. Eventually, the two begin to text and even talk on the phone. Maddy doesn’t dare suggest to her overprotective mother (Anika Noni Rose) that Olly visit but instead convinces her nurse and friend Carla (Ana de la Reguera) to let Olly visit. They visit a few times and even share a kiss. One day Maddy witnesses Olly get into a fight with his father and when his father punches him, Instinctually Maddy runs outside to make sure Olly is okay. Maddy’s mom witnesses the entire thing and figures out what has been going on behind her back. No matter what mom does (even firing Carla and replacing her with a woman with the nursing skills akin to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), it can’t stop Maddy from longing to go outside which inevitably happens… after Maddy books a flight for her and Olly to Hawaii.Read More →

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In: 7 Days

It feels like it’s been 10 years since 2016 thanks to our current political news cycle (well, it’s not the news cycle’s fault as much as the source of the news being our Shriveled Produce-in-Chief) so this week’s “7 Days of Streaming” tries to stay away from politics as much as possible. There might be a mention of something with political ties but for the most part, we dodge those bullets (unlike Bonnie & Clyde who took a few — 167 bullets to be exact — on May 23, 1934). Here’s what you can stream this week to celebrate the day in history:Read More →

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In: BuRStS

It’s another soft week for home video releases. The quantity of releases is pretty healthy with 9 releases. When you’re forced to make xXx: Return of Xander Cage one of your higher recommendations, you know you’re grasping at straws this week. Here is what to buy, rent, stream and skip for the week of May 16th:Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: How do you make King Arthur boring? Ask Guy Ritchie.

One of the trickiest movies to pull off is the origin story. It shouldn’t be as tricky as Guy Ritchie makes King Arthur’s origin tale appear to be. Walking into King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, I was ready for almost anything. One thing I wasn’t ready for, though, was boredom. Yet somehow despite it’s frantic action scenes, pulsating (and kick ass) soundtrack and twisted take on the Arthurian legend, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a snooze.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: It starts off intense but becomes grating. It’s hard to get invested into characters with very little back story or a highly dissatisfying one.

The Wall isn’t an original concept. Maybe if you fall for its Iraqi war disguise, you don’t recognize 2002’s Phone Booth but that’s basically what it is. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing but don’t get too carried away with giving the film points for originality. Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Raunchy girl comedy on par with what you’d expect from Amy Schumer. If you are not a fan, don’t waste your time. If you are, take this nonrefundable trip for a few laughs.

It’s becoming fairly obvious that Amy Schumer is a polarizing figure in comedy. There are some comic acts that bring that out of the audience. She definitely has her haters. Take a look at the amount of YouTube videos devoted to dissecting her comedy act and comparing it to other comics accusing her of lifting material. If you don’t know what I’m talking about or don’t care, this bodes well for you finding entertainment value in Schumer’s latest Snatched.Read More →

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In: 7 Days

Sunday is Mother’s Day which highlights our 7 day celebration of births, deaths, notable moments in history and holidays. As a side note, if you don’t heed the advice of MHT for what the best choice to watch for Mother’s Day and instead go with the actual 2016 movie Mother’s Day, do me (and your mother) one favor. Don’t torture your mother by making her watch it, too. Let’s see what is happening this week:Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: It starts out interesting but eventually you want to tell this movie to go fuck itself.

The Dinner accomplishes something most movies can’t. It contains three of the most wretched and deplorable characters in recent movie memory. The film gives you enough to explain away their behavior but then piles on to make it nearly impossible to defend their actions. The Dinner has 4 main characters and 3 of them are awful human beings. Come on!Read More →