This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on April 27, 2017. Plot is overrated. It holds a story together and offers connections between scenes, but it isn’t enough to make you squirm or scream or spit popcorn. This sort of visceral response is something more pure; it taps into a part of our mind and […]
Category Archives: Review
Review: Krampus Can’t Decide Whether It’s Naughty or Nice
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on December 8, 2015. Krampus is a movie that truly earns the “your mileage may vary” moniker. It’s an oddball premise in an even odder spot of the year. Crossing a recently popularized bit of Germanic lore with a horror film set in the holiday release season, there […]
Review: Mockingjay Part Two Takes a Cue From The Books and Stumbles Across The Finish Line
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on November 21, 2015. It is reiterated again and again throughout The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Twowhat a terrible burden Katniss Everdeen must carry. It is unfair that she must endure so much trauma, but it is her incredible force of will that ultimately creates the good outcomes […]
Review: Steve Jobs Avoids Many Biopic Failures Until Its Final Minutes
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on October 24, 2015. Only two years after the much maligned Jobs biopic, some of Hollywood’s top talent is taking another crack at Apple’s (in)famous CEO Steve Jobs. Director Danny Boyle has teamed with writer Aaron Sorkin to explore the complexities of Jobs as a businessman, inventor, friend, […]
Review: Mr. Holmes Makes Unique Takes On The Sherlock Holmes Mythos Seem Elementary
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on July 25, 2015. The past decade has seen a new love for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s defining creation, the venerable detective Sherlock Holmes. Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films and Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s Sherlock series (as well as CBS’sSherlock) have modernized the character through changes in […]
REVIEW: Inside Out Brings Nothing But Joy
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on June 20, 2015. Inside Out, Pixar’s newest animated feature, is a return to form after a five-year slump for the studio. Directed by Pete Docter, the movie continues to exam the themes found in his other films, Monsters Inc. and Up. It is a movie about childhood, maturation, and […]
REVIEW: We Are Still Here Delivers a New Take on Haunted Houses
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on June 9, 2015. We Are Still Here continues the recent trend of independent horror films steamrolling larger studio efforts (see also: The Babadook, Starry Eyes, It Follows). It is framed as a classic haunted house narrative set in the Northeast during winter, ripe with several jumps, scares, gore, […]
REVIEW: Spy Puts Melissa McCarthy Into The Field As A Headlining Star
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on June 5, 2015. Spy is writer and director Paul Feig’s newest action-comedy movie, following The Heat by only two years. While both movies feature Melissa McCarthy, this time she anchors the film entirely on her own. In spite of the enormously talented cast that surrounds McCarthy, it’s clear that […]
REVIEW: Poltergeist Is As Lifeless as Its Ghosts
This article was originally published at ComicBook.Com on May 22, 2015. Poltergeist is the remake of director Tope Hooper and producer Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic horror film. It hews very close to the originals plot and applies the talents of modern horror visionaries like its own director/producer team of Gil Kenan and Sam Raimi. It […]
