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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: By twisting the facts, The Birth of a Nation takes liberties where it doesn’t need to. The real story contains enough that it doesn’t need any help.

Any time a movie is “based on a true story”, you’re bound to get differences between reality and the Hollywood-polished movie version. The Birth of a Nation, by first time director and writer Nate Parker (who also starred as Nat Turner), is the latest example of a movie that unnecessarily strays too far from the truth to the point where a potentially great film becomes just an okay movie. If this were a fictional tale, it actually would have been better but as a biopic the film revises history too much in an attempt to incite the audience unnecessarily. And not unnecessarily as the topic is unimportant but the actual story has plenty to incite the audience.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: If Gone Girl had a less fun, more manipulative sister she’d be The Girl on the Train. Next stop: Boredom.

Poor Emily Blunt. Blunt portrays the titular character in The Girl on the Train and does a heckuva job as a blackout drunk divorcee suffering from depression and delusions. Her performance as Rachel might be the only reason to watch the movie. The rest is a schlocky thriller with a predictable arc and what might be the world’s worst detective in cinematic history. Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Compelling recount of the harrowing tale of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. This Peter Berg/Mark Wahlberg team produces some solid viewing.

Before the movie, the story of Deepwater Horizon wasn’t one I was familiar with. My guess is I heard of it when it occurred but didn’t pay attention enough to commit any details to memory. The Peter Berg directed “based on true events” disaster flick makes sure you pay attention and firmly points the finger at the big oil company for why such a disaster could occur. From beginning to end, the film’s pacing and detailed visuals of the disaster intertwining spectacular effects with some real life video mixed in make for both a strong indictment of BP Oil and a human interest piece about those who were injured and, in some cases, lost their lives due to the disaster.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Unmistakably Tim Burton. Too bad it’s handcuffed with an overstuffed story and Asa Butterfield who is usually brilliant but peculiarly vacant in the lead role.

Second only to the reboot/remake phenomenon is the YA franchise-starter. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, based on the début novel from Ransom Riggs that spawned two sequels, looks to be a film that will follow in its source’s footsteps. It’s the nature of the movie business right now. It’s hard to argue with the approach as even when the results are terrible (*COUGH* The Divergent Series *COUGH*), the third movie in the series somehow yanked in $180 million worldwide. That’s not good considering the film’s $110 million budget but it isn’t a crippling result. So, here’s yet another attempt to launch a franchise and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is helped by the presence of a rather peculiar filmmaker as Tim Burton directs the first installment.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Another remade classic. It’s good… not a classic. Then again, how can you go wrong with Denzel Washington?

If you have remake/reboot fatigue, it’s fair. There’s been too many remakes and reboots at this point. The original The Magnificent Seven isn’t even really all that original considering it’s Western-style remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. The original Seven also spawned numerous sequels which is another film trend causing serious fatigue amongst frequent moviegoers. Despite all of that, Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the 1960 classic isn’t good enough to be called a classic but it is good enough to overcome that fatigue this trend has injected into the cinematic experience.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: One thing Storks doesn’t deliver often enough is laughs. Generic animated adventure with a little comedy mixed in.

There have been a few animated offerings this year. Storks probably falls somewhere in the middle. Easily better than The Angry Birds Movie but nowhere near as good as Zootopia, Storks delivers a safe, slightly entertaining 87 minutes for kids that won’t make adults lose their minds.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: As unfunny as expected but nowhere near as annoying. That’s something, right?

I was not the target audience for Bridget Jones’s Baby. Having very little to do with my gender, it seems that Bridget Jones’s Baby appeals only to those who have already invested time and energy into the Bridget Jones character and having spent time rummaging through her diary would now be curious to see what would happen if she got pregnant during a week of promiscuity. As I never peered into Bridget Jones’s Diary nor bothered to view its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, it was hard to understand what exactly was so enthralling about Renée Zellweger’s character.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Remember The Blair Witch Project? Isn’t this basically the same movie with better technology and louder sounds?

If you are a fan of The Blair Witch Project which came out 17 years ago in 1999 and imagined the film might be better if they stuck with similar sight gags and noises and just upgraded the film’s technology then Blair Witch is for you. If you saw The Blair Witch Project and thought anything else, Blair Witch is probably a waste of time.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: So-so retelling elevated by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s excellent performance in a movie that’s way too long.

Oliver Stone’s mission in Snowden was to scare the bejesus out of us when it comes to our privacy. Snowden was just an end to justify the means. So, you almost have to evaluate the movie separate from Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as Edward Snowden. And, in this case, we’ll talk about both separately.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Very juvenile. Impressive to look at. Tedium eventually sets in but it distracts for a while.

I can’t say I expected much from The Wild Life. If you want to turn your brain off for about an hour and a half and 3D gags are your thing, the latest animated adventure loosely based on the story of Robinson Crusoe might be in your wheelhouse. Or at the very least, your treehouse.Read More →