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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Who’s there? A bad but highly entertaining and watchable midnight movie with goofy one-dimensional characters and more script than gore from Eli Roth… and that’s saying a lot (and not all good but not all bad). Knock Knock is the perfect “can’t sleep at 2am, let’s see what’s on cable or Netflix” film.

If you are going to watch an Eli Roth movie starring Keanu Reeves for a great script and top notch acting, shame on you. However, if you go into Knock Knock with the intentions of seeing a dark, (intentionally) funny, sexual thriller that is pure schlock (and I mean that in the most flattering way possible) then you might come away with a fun viewing experience.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: As bad as it gets. One of the worst of the year. If you take the long way home, let’s hope it doesn’t take you through Big Stone Gap.

Big Stone Gap is a harmless romantic comedy but without the romance and the humor. About the only thing more ridiculous than it’s lack of romance and humor are the character’s names. From Spec Broadwater to Ave Maria Mulligan to Fleeta Mullins to Iva Lou Wade to Jack MacChesney to Sweet Sue Tinsley to Pearl Grimes, the names are as absurd and simple as the film.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 60/100

Love the cast! The trailer has some humorous moments. But there’s that pesky February release date. Even though it wasn’t a comedy, for some reason Hail, Caesar! is eerily reminiscent of 2014’s The Monuments Men. Movies with this kind of cache that release in February rarely hit. Let’s hope this one proves the tendencies wrong.

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: He Named Me Malala is an uninspiring, uninteresting documentary about an amazing, inspiring young woman who survived a harrowing ordeal standing up for young women’s rights to education. As a documentary, unlike the subject, it doesn’t take a stand, is completely disjointed and sucks all of the drama, heart and life out of a tale so full of those three things.

It’s hard to be critical of He Named Me Malala because the subject of the film and her family are so likable, her cause so just, what happened to her so brutal and her recovery so miraculous. However, when a documentary desperately pursues a narrative that just isn’t there, the result is a muddled mess. Both Malala and the documentary want you to believe she’s as ordinary as every other girl in the world. But she’s not and it’s an aspect of her story that should be celebrated and explored rather than sugar coated.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: 99 Homes is one of the most depressing films you’ll see that doesn’t involve a terminal illness. There’s an element of horror in the movie and Michael Shannon as Rick Carver is one of those characters who make you cringe because you find yourself half agreeing with what he says. Unfortunately, the third act keeps the movie from being great.

In Pulp Fiction, Marsellus Wallace says, “Pride only hurts, it never helps!” While 99 Homes centers around the housing collapse of 2010, at the heart of the movie is pride and how it can mess with you. From the main character, Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield) to his mother (Laura Dern) to the others being foreclosed on to Carver, pride (and maybe a little bit of vanity) are the enemy in this dark, biting drama about how ugly the collapse could be.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: The Walk is a spectacle and occasionally spectacular. Unimaginable in 2D, this somewhat hokey telling of the pure joy of chasing and accomplishing your dream is an IMAX 3D must. It’s what 3D was made for.

The Walk is more performance art than movie. There are so many wonderful moments in the movie, it’s easy to ignore it isn’t much of a movie at all. There’s a chance you’ll feel the first hour is completely unnecessary (especially if you’ve seen the documentary Man on Wire) but once Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets on the wire, you’ll be captivated and stay there for the duration.Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: Pan is nearly 2 hours of your life you’ll never get back. Not that we needed a Pan origin story but, then again, this was more of an origin story masquerade. This fantasy is a nightmare.

Pan‘s cast (especially Hugh Jackman) sure looked like they had a great time. The writer and director took seriously wacky liberties and a jolly good time with the subject matter. Too bad the audience wasn’t allowed to be in on the fun.

(Usually there’s the avoidance of spoilers but this one isn’t worth preserving…)Read More →

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In: 2015, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 75/100

Paul Bettany’s directorial début looks to be an excellent fall release. Shelter is likely to be a quality art house view. Starring Bettany’s wife (and former Academy Award winner) Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie who will appear in 8 movies by year’s end.  

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In: 2015, Hot Take

Hot Take: A Brilliant Young Mind is a beautiful depiction of a teenage math whiz coping with autism. The middle of the film bogs down and the viewer might lose interest but if you make it through that stretch (and don’t get wrapped up in some of the “Hollywood”) and are still hooked, A Brilliant Young Mind is touching and a little bit brilliant in the end.

A Brilliant Young Mind, as a movie, is brilliant. The film centers around the brilliance of Nathan Ellis (Asa Butterfield), a young math prodigy with autism (specifically Asperger’s although the film never mentions the Syndrome by name) who wants to participate in the International Mathematics Olympiad. On the periphery, it deals with Nathan and his relationship with his mother (Sally Hawkins), his teacher (Rafe Spall) and his new acquaintances he meets at the pre-Olympiad math camp.Read More →