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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: As an action flick, Atomic Blonde delivers on all levels. If you’re looking for a thriller, though, the movie has a few problems. It’s visually impressive, even when Charlize Theron’s face resembles Sylvester Stallone’s in Rocky.

At the beginning of the month, I rank the entire release schedule based on which films I’m looking forward to see the most. For July, Atomic Blonde sat at the top of the list. Charlize Theron in a Jason Bourne-like role as MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton set up as the perfect summer action thriller. Half of that ends up being true as Atomic Blonde, as an action movie, kicks tons of ass and delivers a number of beautifully crafted (and ridiculously violent) scenes in which Theron’s character finds herself boxed into a corner and must kick, punch and shoot her way out. The thriller side of the film, though, lacks a coherent story and doesn’t always make sense which keeps it from being on the level of Bond or Bourne. It might be splitting hairs to expect Atomic Blonde to work on both levels as the action is so good, it’s hard to penalize the film too much for what it lacks in story.Read More →

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In: 2017, Hot Take

Hot Take: Part of me liked Split. Part of me didn’t. You leave wanting to talk about it though and M. Night is gifted when it comes to getting people to talk about his movies.

M. Night Shyamalan has a knack for creating things people want to talk about, whether they want to see it or not. Split is a perfect example (and a perfectly placed film on the release schedule) of his ability to get people talking even without the usual overhype his previous films have had. In this case, Shyamalan’s secret weapon was James McAvoy who at even a glimpse in the trailer as he embodies multiple personalities (23 to be exact) had people very curious about Split.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take, Trailers

Anticipation (Before Trailer): 50/100

Anticipation (After Trailer): 52/100

Admittedly, I’m on the fence when it comes to X-Men movies. I’m never sold on them but I go anyway. Some have delivered huge, some have delivered a little bit less but at some point, I expect one to completely disappoint. Maybe X-Men: Apocalypse might be the one. We’ll see May 27, 2016… but damn, that end shot of Professor X was badass, wasn’t it?

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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 →