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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: A bland, somewhat informative, occasionally boring, sporadically moving, secular take on the life of Mother Teresa sound like something you’d dig? It’s not as bad as it sounds but it’s about as safe as a Saturday afternoon Hallmark Channel flick.

It’s hard to articulate the viewing experience of The Letters. The story of Mother Teresa is inspiring. Her life of selflessness is one to be admired and revered. She’d prefer we didn’t as she saw herself as an instrument of God, something some dismiss the existence of. Such a topic is reserved for another time as The Letters rarely, if ever, spends time caught up in the discussion. Instead, the film takes a more secular look at the life and hardships of Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Chi-Raq might be the most ballsy, important and necessary non-documentary of 2015. Spike Lee consistently challenges you to think and does it once again with a modern telling of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. Agree or disagree, Chi-Raq will be discussed which means it’s topic will be discussed and it’s a topic too often ignored.

There are two different topics to cover when discussing the viewing experience of Chi-Raq. First, there’s the film side of it. Taking a Greek play from 411 B.C. and adapting it to modern times to the point where it feels as fresh as anything produced in Hollywood this year outside of a handful of films is an impressive feat. Despite it’s origins being from a play written 25 centuries ago, Spike Lee’s latest is the most modern and topical film of the year. It’s similar in tone to other Spike Lee films but not in execution (hell, you could classify it as a musical, if so inclined). As a film, while occasionally uneven, it’s fearless and unique.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Whomever decided to serve Krampus this holiday will not be invited to my next holiday party. It’s a Christmas horror comedy that doesn’t have much Christmas spirit, isn’t very scary and rarely makes you laugh.

Krampus might be a box office success thanks to the perfect storm of a serious lack of holiday offerings and a release date far enough away from the end of The Hunger Games in which no other major release found it’s way to the box office. Don’t be fooled if Krampus strikes box office gold because it’s really a lump of coal in your holiday viewing stocking.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 85/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 90/100

While it’s easy to criticize the latest trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s hard to not be intrigued. The very revealing preview shows Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Batman unmasked, the arrival of Doomsday and the first appearance of Wonder Woman. With so much revealed, one has to wonder what hasn’t been revealed… the amount given away suggests a lot.

The $200 million budgeted film hits theaters March 25, 2016.

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: At some point early on, I was hooked on Victor Frankenstein. Then, about half way through, I realized how bad of an idea this really was. Then, no matter what I did, it wouldn’t stop. It’s funny how life can imitate art sometimes.

The opening act of Victor Frankenstein — the origin story of how Victor and Igor met as imagined by screenwriter Max Landis — gives the film unexpected promise. “Maybe,” you think, “this is a story worth the twist.” As the film progresses, the plot unravels, hopes diminish and the movie, much like the monster’s head, flattens. Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Trumbo has a spectacular cast. The film is smart, witty and funny but also dull, pedestrian and pretentious. This isn’t much more compelling than a 5th grade history lesson even though it pretends to be.

There’s a scene in Trumbo where Arlen Herd (Louis C.K.) challenges Dalton Trumbo’s (Bryan Cranston) Communist beliefs as they look around Trumbo’s lavish ranch. Herd voices a lack of trust in Trumbo because while his beliefs are those of a Communist, his lifestyle fails to match his beliefs. Trumbo responds emphatically, “It’s the perfect combination! The radical may fight with the purity of Jesus, but the rich guy wins with the cunning of Satan.”Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: When you’ve set the bar as high as Pixar has, it’s easy to be unfairly critical of an average effort such as The Good Dinosaur. It’s total kid’s fare (except for the whole uncomfortable death that seems to happen in every third Disney movie) and the animation may be the best the studio has ever produced but it’s lacking something. Kids will love it, though.

Two things I expect from every Pixar movie I see: (1) to be amazed by how well they manage to satisfy both the kids audience and adults along for the ride and (2) to be emotionally distraught at some point during the film. Unfortunately, The Good Dinosaur missed the boat on the first expectation and managed to only scrape the surface with the second one. That’s not to say it’s not something the kids will love (they will) but it’s a kids movie, through and through.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Brooklyn could contend for a Best Picture nomination as it is a wonderfully told albeit melancholy and frequently dreary film about an Irish girl who comes to Brooklyn to make something of herself.

What’s unique about Brooklyn is that it isn’t. We’ve seen period pieces before. And coming of age films. And tales of immigrants struggling to make it in America. And movies set in Brooklyn. And love stories. What’s unique about the film is the way it tells the story, the mood the film captures and the captivating nature of it’s lead character Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) whose emotional state drives the film as much as the fitting classical score.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: There are a lot of positives about the drama/thriller Secret in Their Eyes but it never quite makes it over the hump of mediocrity due to it’s predictable twists and turns.

Have you been longing for a big screen version of all of the different versions of Law & Order crammed together only they don’t call it Law & Order and load it up with a powerful cast? Secret in Their Eyes, actually a remake of a 2009 Argentine crime thriller with the same name, was made for you.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: The Rocky franchise lives on with Creed. Pound for pound, the best franchise in the history of cinema always delivers at least a jab at the theater but with Creed delivers a staggering blow that’s almost a knock out but should be destined for a rematch. Yo, Rocky! Adonis is coming to join you!

I’m not going to hide my absolute adoration for the Rocky franchise. It’s one of the best, if not the best movie franchises ever developed. Consider Creed. A meager $35 million budget partners one of the hottest actors and directors (Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler) with Sylvester Stallone in the part he plays so perfectly, it’s hard to imagine why he’d play any other part.

Creed is an homage to the Rocky franchise. There are so many elements re-imagined in Creed from the original. However, Coogler introduces some new wrinkles to the film, particularly, the way it is shot. While it’s hard to escape the mood of the Rocky franchise, the feel is fresh and different and helps Creed stand on it’s own. The fusion of old and new is remarkably done to the point where nothing feels corny. See the last Die Hard film and you’ll realize how impossible a task that seems to be.Read More →