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Passengers is an art-house science fiction movie that somehow got made by a major studio with A-list stars. The film owes more to castaway stories than traditional spacefaring tales and, at least during the first half, it’s ripe with existentia...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-12-21
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity, Sexual Content, Brief Nudity)
Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Morten Tyldum
Cast: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, ...
For the second time in less than six months, Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg have collaborated to recreate a “based on a true story” event that, at one point in recent history, dominated the news cycle for days on end. Deepwater Horizon, whi...
U.S. Release Date: 2017-01-13
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, ...
This review contains spoilers. Oblique spoilers, but spoilers nonetheless.Although technically classified as “horror” or a “thriller”, Personal Shopper works best when viewed as a mood piece. There’s something hypnotic about the way ...
U.S. Release Date: 2017-03-17
MPAA Rating: "R" (Nudity, Sexual Content, Profanity, Violence)
Genre: Horror/Drama
Director: Olivier Assayas
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz, ...
Polina is mesmerizing. Part of that is because perhaps 50% of the scenes are dance-related, choreographed by co-director Angelin Preljocaj. Another part is because the lead, Anastasia Shevtsova (making her acting debut), is a classically-trai...
U.S. Release Date: 2017-09-22
MPAA Rating: "NR" (Adult Themes, Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama
Director: Valerie Muller, Angelin Preljocaj
Cast: Anastasia Shevtsova, Veronika Zhovnytska, Juliette Binoche, ...
Popstar, a collaboration between Judd Apatow and Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg, is the latest movie to satirize aspects of popular culture (in this case, the music industry). And, although this might have been considered cutting edge 20 or 30...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-06-03
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Situations, Drugs, Nudity)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Akiva Schaffer & Jorma Taccone
Cast: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, ...
Watching Pride & Prejudice and Zombies, I was overwhelmed with a desire to re-watch the definitive 1995 Pride and Prejudice mini-series starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. That’s because this new horror/romance mashup provides just enou...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-02-05
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence)
Genre: Horror/Romance
Director: Burr Steers
Cast: Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcoate, ...
What begins as seemingly an old-fashioned war film set during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire quickly turns into a dark exploration of the Armenian genocide. This litany of atrocities, unknown to many today and denied by the Turkish gov...
U.S. Release Date: 2017-04-21
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Disturbing Images)
Genre: Drama/Adventure
Director: Terry George
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, ...
The Purge: Election Year represents writer/director James DeMonaco’s attempt to squeeze one more movie out of a premise that has run dry. The first movie of the series offered little more than The Concept - an alternate universe tale that took ...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-07-01
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore, Profanity)
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: James DeMonaco
Cast: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson, ...
Race doesn’t challenge our expectations of what constitutes a competent bio-pic. Opting for a straightforward telling of a (mostly) true story, the filmmakers have moved forward with an abundance of reverence. I’m reminded of 2013’s...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-02-19
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Thematic Elements, Profanity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Cast: Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, ...
Generic animated cash-grab. It’s hard to think of a more appropriate phrase to describe Ratchet and Clank, the video game-based movie being dumped unceremoniously into theaters for what will probably amount to a one-week run. (Tepid box office co...
U.S. Release Date: 2016-04-29
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Animated
Director: Kevin Munroe, Jericca Cleland
Cast: James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward, ...