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In: 2016, Hot Take

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 →

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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: 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: 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 →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: High Strung is the pure joy of music and dance on screen. You’ll rarely hear this here but this one could have done with even less story and just spent more time on dance.

If it weren’t for So You Think You Can Dance? — one of the few reality TV shows worth watching — I doubt I would know the pleasure I get from watching dance. For the longest time, it was an art form I chose to ignore. However, thanks to that show, I have a bigger interest and a better understanding of dance and the emotion and dedication it takes. So, even though I knew very little about High Strung, I was mildly excited to see it on screen. Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: You can make a decent Sci-Fi film without laser rifles and space ships after all.

If you’re one dissatisfied to leave the theater with more questions than answers, Midnight Special might not be your cup of tea. If you’re one for film nostalgia, nods to the Sci-Fi work of Spielberg and Carpenter and The X-Files and some great performances, put Midnight Special on your list of movies to see for 2016.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: At least it didn’t make me vomit?

The first-person-shooter video game has really taken off since it appeared a quarter century ago. So, it was only a matter of time before Wolfenstein, Doom, Halo and Call of Duty eventually morphed into an actual first-person movie. Enter Hardcore Henry where, essentially, you are Henry. Hardcore Henry is basically an over caffeinated, ultra-violent theme park attraction in theatrical clothing. Read More →