Search for 2017

Much to the delight of those who enjoyed 2014’s John Wick, the second installment of the series (which is intended to be a trilogy, assuming box office performance warrants its continuation) represents a seamless extension of the original film. All...

Every year, there are a handful of pleasant and unpleasant surprises in multiplexes. Count Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle among the former. A tremendous improvement over the tepid 1995 original, this quasi-sequel brings humor, fun performances,...

A word about spoilers in this review: For the most part, I have tried to avoid them. However, there is one development that I will openly reference. For many people, especially those who know about the behind-the-scenes details, this won’t b...

It is possible to make a movie in which nearly the entire running length is a car chase. An example of how to do this is Duel. An example of how not to do it is Kidnap. The problem with this bottom-of-the-barrel thriller is simple enough to ide...

Perhaps nothing illustrates how far Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fortunes have fallen since his return to acting than his participation in Killing Gunther, a second-tier action/comedy written and directed by ex-SNL cast member Taran Killam. This ...

The Killing of a Sacred Deer, director Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow-up to his weirdly compelling The Lobster, draws on Greek mythology for its title and its central conceit, a sort-of modern-day Sophie’s Choice. The film exists deep in a meta...

The most important name associated with this new telling of the tale of King Arthur is “Guy Ritchie.” More than most working directors, Ritchie comes to projects with his own specific take on them – one that inevitably rubs some viewers ...

2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service achieved a surprising level of success not because it offered anything groundbreaking but because its anarchic energy and deadpan wit made familiar story elements seem fresh. For the sequel, The Golden Circ...

Kodachrome is proof of the concept that solid direction and superlative acting can transform even a mediocre script into something worth watching. At its heart, Kodachrome is a middling road picture – a film whose every plot point is predict...

As a big-budget B-grade monster movie, Kong: Skull Island is a home run. It offers all the tropes and clichés one expects from this sort of endeavor, sparing no expense when it comes to special effects. As a King Kong movie, however, Skull Island is...