Category Archives: Reviews
REVIEW: TIM BURTON’S LOST VEGAS at The Neon Museum brings the world of the director to life in a unique immersive experience
Posted by Victor Moreno
It goes without saying that Tim Burton is one of my all-time favorite film directors. The man’s work has transcended genre to become a genre in and of itself to the point where seeing the phrase, “A Tim Burton Film,”
REVIEW: Richard Stanley’s COLOR OUT OF SPACE is an engrossing and immersive journey into the heart of madness.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Solid performances and exemplary editing and cinematography elevate Stanley’s mid-budget film into a unique and artistic exploration of H.P. Lovecraft, albeit one with shades of films we’ve seen before. Much has been made of the legend of director Richard Stanley
REVIEW: THE TWO POPES is an intriguing docudrama with two of the year’s best acting performances
Posted by Victor Moreno
Fernando Meirelles’ examination of the papal legacy of Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and the rise of Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) is simple yet enthralling, even if it does come close to being a hagiography at times. One of the
REVIEW: STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER plays to the fan-service choir in delivering a complacent finale to the Skywalker Saga.
Posted by Victor Moreno
While J.J. Abrams’ film largely answers the questions set up in THE FORCE AWAKENS, he does so in a largely uneven film that seems largely designed to checkmark fan expectations while going out of its way not to rock the
REVIEW: BOMBSHELL tackles the early ramifications of #MeToo at Fox News Network, but struggles to find a relatable protagonist despite the subject matter.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Jay Roach’s dramatization of the rise and fall of Roger Ailes at Fox Network benefits from strong performances from Margot Robbie, Kate McKinnon, and an unrecognizable Charlize Theron using the template of films like Vice and The Big Short, but
REVIEW: THE IRISHMAN is Scorsese’s captivating epilogue to his exploration of the life of the mafioso on film
Posted by Victor Moreno
Taken along with GOODFELLAS and CASINO, THE IRISHMAN explores the melancholy and regret in the life of a former mob hitman set against the backdrop of the rise and fall of the Teamsters Union. Early on in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas,
REVIEW: THE GOOD LIAR is an intriguing game of cat and mouse pitting Helen Mirren and Ian McKellan in a grift spanning decades.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Helen Mirren and Ian McKellan are at the top of their game in this engaging film full of scams and grifting with a dark underside at the bottom. It goes largely without saying that the strongest asset in The Good
REVIEW: Honey Boy offers an intimate and harrowing look at the dark side of fame as a child star.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer and actor Shia LaBeouf channels his youth as a child star and the contentious relationship he had with his father into a raw and affecting script and performance in this beautifully directed film from Alma Har’el. When I was
REVIEW: DOCTOR SLEEP is a worthy follow-up to Kubrick’s THE SHINING that enrichens the original while giving us a sequel with a compelling premise.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/director Mike Flanagan (Hush, Gerald’s Game) successfully tackles the herculean effort of reconciling Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of THE SHINING with two Stephen King novels and delivers a film that works for fans of the film and books alike. The Shining
REVIEW: PARADISE HILLS aims to be a dark fairytale on the importance of agency and individuality, but loses itself in placing aesthetic over a compelling storyline
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/director Alice Waddington’s PARADISE HILLS boasts lush and imaginative visuals in costume and production design, but the film’s point is lost in its emphasis on style over substance. It’s evident in viewing PARADISE HILLS that Alice Waddington has something to
REVIEW: TERMINATOR: DARK FATE strikes a timely note with a franchise reboot and a twist on a familiar classic.
Posted by Victor Moreno
While it treads on familiar ground for long-time fans of the franchise, Tim Miller and James Cameron’s reboot of the Terminator franchise takes a wise step in grounding the film with some timely cultural notes. If the tagline “I’ll Be
REVIEW: COUNTDOWN is an surprisingly enjoyable Halloween season popcorn flick that is playfully self-aware of its unwieldy premise.
Posted by Victor Moreno
At first glance, the premise of Countdown, an app that tells you when you die and supernaturally conspires to make it happen, is somewhat groan-inducing. But despite some flaws, it’s still an enjoyable ride. Countdown, on the surface, comes across
REVIEW: DOLEMITE IS MY NAME is an enjoyable Ed Wood style dive into the world of blaxploitation films with a charismatic performance from Eddie Murphy at its heart.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Eddie Murphy’s compelling turn as 70’s comedian Rudy Ray Moore is the spark of life at the center of this DISASTER ARTIST inspired dive into the world behind Moore’s persona and the making of 1975’s Dolemite. There’s something alluring about
REVIEW: Bong Joon Ho’s PARASITE is a compelling thriller that focuses on class division
Posted by Victor Moreno
One of the year’s best films, Parasite evades easy pigeonholing into one genre and remains enthralling from start to finish. The issue of the haves versus the have nots is a theme that rears its head quite often when looking
REVIEW: Inventive and original, JOJO RABBIT showcases Taika Waititi’s unique voice with one of the year’s best films.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Waititi’s “anti-hate satire” tells a charming and endearing coming of age story with a Calvin and Hobbes flavor, one where Hobbes is a sassy and anachronistic Adolph Hitler, in the final days of occupied Europe in WW2. Before Taika Waititi
ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP | MOVIE REVIEW
Posted by Richard Begg
While I was excited for a sequel to this zombie comedy, I was cautiously optimistic about it coming together. Comedy sequels in particular almost never hit the mark and it can be tough after a decade or two for actors
REVIEW: EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE serves as a fitting capstone to the legacy of Breaking Bad
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/Director Vince Gilligan delivers an epilogue to his classic series Breaking Bad with a feature focusing on Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman that serves as a final visit to what made the series so engrossing. Fans of Breaking Bad were understandably
REVIEW: LUCY IN THE SKY is an intriguing genre mash that examines the existential imprisonment of a life lived too ordinary.
Posted by Victor Moreno
Writer/Director Noah Hawley makes his feature directorial debut with an engaging existential dark comedy with hints of magical realism reminiscent of the early films of the Coen Brothers. In many ways, Noah Fawley’s directorial debut Lucy in the Sky has
