2.5 out of 5 stars (decent) Widows has all the ingredients for a fun and thought-provoking heist movie. A solid cast, talented writer (Gillian Flynn, of Gone Girl) and director (Steve McQueen, of 12 Years a Slave), and some decent action. However, Widows fails as both fun heist film and thoughtful commentary due to bad… Continue Reading
A Simple Favor: Darkly Comedic Thriller Has Energetic Performances, Great Twists
3.5 out of 5 stars (Above Average) A Simple Favor may well be the most ambitious and outrageous film so far this year. Director Paul Feig (Spy, The Heat) has outdone himself here, crafting a darkly comedic and endlessly twisty thriller with wonderful performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, the latter of which has… Continue Reading
Game Night: Clever Comedy Mixes Twisty Thrills with Dark Humor
3.5 out of 5 stars (Above Average) In my opinion, Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are two of the most likable actors working today. Both are approachable, charismatic, and make mostly solid career choices. (Excluding Bateman’s The Change-Up, a study in how not to make a raunchy comedy, and McAdams’ less-than-Oscar-worthy turns in those Sherlock… Continue Reading
Wade into “The Shallows” For a Bloody Good Time
3.5 out of 5 stars (above average) I walked into The Shallows thinking it would be a borderline exploitative examination of star Blake Lively in a beautiful bikini, that just so happened to involve a shark. To my astonishment, the film provided a strong female character, gritty realism, and a career-best performance from Ms. Lively. The… Continue Reading
Embrace “Gravity”
4 out of 5 stars (one of the best of the year) Most of the time, thrillers are the hardest movies to make because most of the good ideas have been taken. They have numerous subcategories (psychological, action, drama, etc.) that complicate things even more. While each subcategory has films that are highly regarded (The Silence… Continue Reading
Cruise’s New Thriller Will Have You on the “Edge” of Your Seat
4 out of 5 stars (one of the best of the year) In 1988, Bill Murray starred in a romantic comedy called “Groundhog Day”, a film where he was forced to repeat the same day repeatedly until his conflict was resolved. I do not remember how “Groundhog Day” ended because I was not a fan of… Continue Reading