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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: When Groundhog Day Met Scream… Worked for me.

I admittedly had no desire to see Happy Death Day. I barely paid attention to the trailer and tried to nurse my popcorn to give me some sort of pleasure because I surely wasn’t expecting to get any from the viewing experience. As the film progressed, the horror/comedy won me over with it’s shameless wink to Groundhog Day and elbow nudges to Scream, Happy Death Day proved to be a fan service to those of us who love movies. While someone who refers to themselves as a film aficionado or a cinemaphile might be turned off by it, especially since we were given a teen targeted Groundhog Day clone in Before I Fall earlier this year. Happy Death Day is a fun, harmless horror flick in an age of super serious horror films and a welcome change of pace.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: If soap operas featured A-list actors The Mountain Between Us would have been one of those soap opera subplots that stretched out for 2-3 weeks. (Don’t worry… the dog lives!)

The Mountain Between Us, the adult fairy tale disguised as a survival thriller, has two things strongly going for it: Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. The movie wouldn’t work without them. For much of the film, it feels like an overlong Nicholas Sparks set up. The harrowing tale has some flimsy twists and turns once the plane goes down in the mountains which happens a few minutes into the film. The rest of the film features Winslet and Elba trying to survive the harsh, wintry conditions of the mountains. Both of the actors turn in a great performance despite the limitations of the film. Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: It’s as if BET and Lifetime dropped a mix tape. Not very good but not bad enough that the message doesn’t resonate.

‘Til Death Do Us Part has only been out for 12 days yet you’re unlikely to find it in a theater near you due to a tough opening weekend and even tougher 2nd weekend. Over the past couple of years, low budget films with all black casts have struck a chord at the box office. Two years ago, The Perfect Guy scored a whopping $57 million haul on a minuscule $12 million budget. Last year, When the Bough Breaks managed $29 million on a slightly smaller $10 million budget. While expectations weren’t quite as high for ‘Til Death Do Us Part, the film did not even achieve moderate expectations, cashing in just $1.5 million on opening weekend. Maybe the topic was too serious compared to the 2 previous films mentioned which were much more campy in nature than the drama/thriller about domestic abuse.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: I’m sure the 15-year-old me thought a reboot of Flatliners was a great idea. However, the much older me was a little less enthralled. 

The original Flatliners was the perfect cable flick. Back when premium cable channels had considerably less original content, certain movies received more repeat play. Flatliners in the ’90s was one of those films. There’s a good chance I watched it 30-plus times. It wasn’t that good. It was just on a lot and easy to re-watch. It didn’t ask much of your brain, had some memorable scenes and a halfway decent cast. Plus, there wasn’t anything else on. Fast forward to 2017 (which probably takes a lot longer to fast forward once you hit January 2017 because, let’s face it, this year feels like a damn eternity!) and some how, some way, someone thought it was a good idea to reboot this middling success from 1990. For perspective, the original Flatliners grossed slightly less than Bird on a Wire and slightly more than Problem Child. Granted, Problem Child spawned a sequel or two but did the 18th highest grossing movie of 1990 really need a reboot?Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Is this the movie that gets Tom Cruise his Academy Award? Ehhh… probably not. It’s a pretty good film and a pretty strong performance from Cruise nonetheless.

American Made, the “based on a true story” tale that re-teams director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) with Tom Cruise, is far from an accurate historical account of the life and death of Barry Seal. The film looks to be less of a drama or an attempt to bring this already interesting story to life but instead focuses on the comedic elements of the tale and goes out of its way to tailor the character of Seal to be more fitting of Cruise’s unique brand of acting and charm. It works as a movie but there will be plenty who will take issue with the artistic liberties and Cruise’s undeniable smugness and, when dealing with something documented historically, they’ll have a strong argument.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: The re-telling of the famed Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs match dubbed “The Battle of the Sexes” is crisp, compelling and, from all accounts, pretty accurate. Well done!

Being familiar with the story of Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs and the eventual match dubbed “The Battle of the Sexes” but not being alive to experience the spectacle, the film re-telling gives anyone who wasn’t alive to experience the absorbing tale a new life and new audience to enjoy. In addition, the spot-on performances from Emma Stone and Steve Carell as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, respectively, are delightful to watch and breathe new life into a 44 year old story that feels as relevant as ever with its timing considering our current climate.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: The true-life tale of Jeff Bauman, one of the victims in the Boston Marathon bombing who lost both of his legs. Well told and anchored by an excellent performance of Jake Gyllenhaal.

Last year, the first movie about the Boston Marathon was released. Patriots Day starring Mark Wahlberg focused on the manhunt for the two bombers after the bombing. It was, as expected, a well done retelling of the work done by the FBI and Boston police to hunt down the men behind the 2013 bombing. This year, a second film about the bombing, Stronger, hit theaters and featured a much more personal retelling from the eyes of Jeff Bauman, one of the survivors of the bombing who lost both of his legs in the horrific explosion. The focus of the film is Bauman and his on-again-off-again girlfriend who Jeff went to see run the Marathon. It  dives into the impact it had on Jeff’s life, Jeff’s family and everyone and everything around him. It’s inspirational yet never tries to make Bauman out to be a martyr and, thanks to an excellent performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, shows his growth from the experience but also the deep psychological toll the incident took on him.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: More fun than The LEGO Batman Movie. Same vibe, though.

Sophomoric humor, goofy LEGO action and a silly soundtrack are the threads that tie the three LEGO movies together. The latest — The LEGO Ninjago Movie — blends elements of The Princess Bride (the opening featuring Jackie Chan as a wise shop owner telling the story of Lloyd and Ninjago to a random boy who comes into his shop) and Star Wars (Sort of a “What If?” version of the Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker saga without really being about Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker) and the previous LEGO films. Essentially, The LEGO Ninjago Movie has established that those behind these LEGO adventures are perfectly satisfied with re-producing the preceding work and not looking to re-invent the wheel. What happens in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, though, is that it kind of works and because the story features all original characters, it feels more original than The LEGO Batman Movie which not only rips off The LEGO Movie but also borrows heavily from the Batman franchise in its attempts to satirize the work.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take, Uncategorized

Hot Take: Could have easily called it “White Privilege Problems.” It’s hard to care about a self-involved dick who can’t seem to grasp reality. Why is Ben Stiller so good at playing a self-involved asshole?

I’ve felt like the main character in Brad’s Status before. It lasts for about 10 minutes and then I tell myself to snap out of it. Snapping out of it is never the case in Brad’s Status, however. Instead, it’s basically a film starring Ben Stiller as an unaware jerk who can’t seem to grasp that an upper middle class life is good enough when a few people he went to school had more success. The level of self-pity Brad has makes it nearly impossible for you to really care about his “plight” which ends up becoming monotonous as Brad drones on to anyone who will listen about his problems, including us, the audience, thanks to a dry, listless narration from Stiller in the main role.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: An attempted launch of a new franchise, the first “Mitch Rapp” novel-to-cinema conversion feels like a dud… a very violent, uneven been-there-done-that spy thriller. Are the books this generic?

The hope for American Assassin was probably the second coming of Jason Bourne… which was basically the second coming of James Bond… which has re-invented itself multiple times thanks to a change in the lead role. Hope is not a strategy though and, unfortunately, American Assassin‘s strategy to launch a franchise behind the Mitch Rapp character who is featured in 15 novels by Vince Flynn looked to stay inside the lines when it comes to spy thrillers with the only risk being to turn up the violence a notch or two. The result is a very disappointing initial film which fails to deliver on the promise of a best-selling novel series and is in the possession of one of the biggest plot holes I’ve seen in recent cinema history. (Maybe the novel has the same plot hole? That would be disappointing to find out.)Read More →