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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Sometimes Stephen King novels don’t translate to the big screen. It’s no surprise making something based on 8 King novels doesn’t make the transition.

When you hear names like Stephen King, Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba attached to a project, there’s reason for excitement. However, when it comes to The Dark Tower, a Sci-Fi fantasy western based on King’s series of novels of the same name, the result falls well short of anything worth celebrating. Somehow the 8 novels produce a movie just 95 minutes long that is about as forgettable as any movie you’ll see in 2017. In about 3 years, this one will be in the “Under $5” bin at Walmart and there’s a good chance you won’t remember you saw it the first time.Read More →

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Hot Take: Where’s that poo emoji when you need it? The worst movie of the year? Yes! The worst movie of the last 5 years? Probably! The worst movie of the 2000s? Maybe!

Imagine how bad a concept and movie about emojis that live in a smartphone would be. You’re only about a third of the way there to how bad it actually is in the form of Sony Pictures Animation’s The Emoji Movie is. It’s important to mention the studio here and every other person, place or thing — T.J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Farris, Patrick Stewart, Maya Rudolph, Sophia Vergara, Jennifer Coolidge, Ilana Glazer, Steven Wright, director (and co-writer) Tony Leondis, Dropbox, Candy Crush, Just Dance 2017 (and I’m sure I’m leaving some of the criminals who unleashed this hell on humanity) — because these are the people and advertisers who read the script and thought that somehow this was a good idea. Here’s the short response to that: It wasn’t!Read More →

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Hot Take: Girls Trip earns enough laughs that you can forgive it for a weak third act. It’s what Rough Night would have been if it were funny. The best comedy of the summer… so far.

After Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, the weight I put on a trailer was already in question. After seeing Girls Trip which features yet an0ther trailer I was rather unimpressed with and finding the movie to be both funny and entertaining, I’m now starting to doubt trailers as a gauge all together. My guess is The Emoji Movie will fix that when it’s as awful as the trailer has led me to believe it will be.Read More →

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Hot Take: Stylish and entertaining enough to be slightly above average, if you can believe that because I surely couldn’t.

Usually, when I despise a trailer as much as I despised the trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, at best the movie gets a mediocre review. Somehow, even with a trailer (actually, multiple trailer) that would have scared me off if I were to only see a handful of movies and a ridiculously excessive run time of 137 minutes, I walked away from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets with two major revelations: (1) This movie is definitely worth seeing in theaters (mainly because of the stunning visuals) and (2) I’m looking forward to seeing it again down the road (just not right now).Read More →

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Hot Take: As an action flick, Atomic Blonde delivers on all levels. If you’re looking for a thriller, though, the movie has a few problems. It’s visually impressive, even when Charlize Theron’s face resembles Sylvester Stallone’s in Rocky.

At the beginning of the month, I rank the entire release schedule based on which films I’m looking forward to see the most. For July, Atomic Blonde sat at the top of the list. Charlize Theron in a Jason Bourne-like role as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton set up as the perfect summer action thriller. Half of that ends up being true as Atomic Blonde, as an action movie, kicks tons of ass and delivers a number of beautifully crafted (and ridiculously violent) scenes in which Theron’s character finds herself boxed into a corner and must kick, punch and shoot her way out. The thriller side of the film, though, lacks a coherent story and doesn’t always make sense which keeps it from being on the level of Bond or Bourne. It might be splitting hairs to expect Atomic Blonde to work on both levels as the action is so good, it’s hard to penalize the film too much for what it lacks in story.Read More →

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Hot Take: Another very good Netflix exclusive. Lily Collins is a rising star.

2017’s theatrical lineup has been a disappointment. One big win in the film world is the rash of good to very good Netflix exclusive films that has seemingly grown this year. One of the latest is To The Bone which is based on the real life experiences of writer/director Marti Noxon and deals with the struggle of eating disorders. It’s a film that, on the surface, has an appearance that it could be a little thin on plot (especially considering Keanu Reeves has a rather meaty supporting role in the film) but once inside the film, you realize To The Bone is an excellent character study and even a little bit educational when it comes to the worst issues that come about due to eating disorders.Read More →

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Hot Take: Tense and relentless, Dunkirk is a technical masterpiece that is sometimes overshadowed by its technical prowess. It’s impressive to watch but there’s an emotional intensity that’s missing that prevents Christopher Nolan’s latest from being more than just good.

The sights and sounds of Dunkirk are brilliant. Hats off to director Christopher Nolan for creating a technical tour de force. The slant he brings to a war movie gives this a much different slant than any other war movie like it. We already know war is hell but Nolan immerses us into the true tale of the Battle of Dunkirk that we’re smack in the middle of everything as it unfolds. As expected from Nolan, we have another good movie. However, is it great? Read More →

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Hot Take: Heavy. Maybe… the… most… serious… summer movie… I’ve ever… seen.

When I think summer blockbuster, I think the opposite of what I saw unfold in War for the Planet of the Apes, the third installment of the Planet of the Apes trilogy. Yes, it was a big budget action packed film. Usually, though, these action heavy films provide some level of fun and excitement. With War for the Planet of the Apes, you instead get tension, evolved thinking and a serious debate on morality and humanity. Yes, it has all the elements of a Sci-Fi film. However, the film is closer to Shakespeare, historical allegories to the civil rights movement and slavery or even the Bible than your normal Sci-Fi fare. There is absolutely nothing trivial about this summer sequel in a series that has traditionally been known for raising the bar well above the usual summer offering. However, that being said, it ain’t the fun, popcorn flick you’re used to seeing either.Read More →

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Hot Take: The best Spidey flick yet. The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues their spectacular run.

Full disclosure: I was a comic book fan growing up and Spider-Man was easily my favorite. I like Spider-Man enough that even Spider-Man 3 was enjoyable to watch. (Amazing Spiderman 2? Not so much… sorry Andrew Garfield.) Also, it’s important to note that ever since Spidey’s cameo in Captain America: Civil War, I’ve been pretty stoked about the prospect of another Spider-Man reboot.Read More →

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Hot Take: A much needed successful romantic comedy in a genre desperately lacking anything worth talking about. One of the best movies of the first half of the year. Kumail Nanjiani gives a heartfelt and heartwarming performance as, well, himself.

Every summer, there is a smaller flick that sneaks up on us and “wins” the summer. I put wins in quotations because with the monster box office numbers of some of the summer tentpoles, it obviously doesn’t win as that is reserved for juggernauts usually involving superheroes (See the box office figures for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Homecoming). Last year, the best example was Hell or High Water. The early August release with a tiny $12 million budget more than tripled that at the box office and carried a solid summer performance to 4 Academy Award nominations. A similar path could be in store for The Big Sick, the 2017 romantic comedy based on the real life love story of star Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon. It’s already drawing at the box office in limited release and is slated for a monster 2,500+ theater expansion this weekend.Read More →