Set in 1990s Philippines, Forgotten Island tells the story of two lifelong best friends, the goofy rascal Jo (H.E.R.) and the straight-laced overachiever Raissa (Liza Soberano). Growing up, the girls listened to Jo’s grandma Lola (Dolly de Leon) tell stories of a...
From the opening scene of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, two things become unmistakably clear. First, Sam Raimi’s films still define how the character is brought to the screen. Peter Parker’s reflective opening monologues place the audience inside the hero’s current mindset. This particular sequence includes the devastating line, “Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker’s heart. Maybe that’s my responsibility: to live alone with the truth.”
Over the past two weeks, to prepare for this review, I've made a point of becoming something of a student of The Odyssey. I read Homer's poem, watched more than nine hours of previous adaptations of the story (right up to the adaption for the Wishbone show), and read...
After finishing Supergirl, the first conclusion I reached was simple: this isn’t a Supergirl movie. Instead, it feels like an original young adult science-fiction adventure that eventually decided to put on a Supergirl costume. There are moments where the film...
I recently took the time to watch and review Masters of the Universe, and as someone who would probably be considered a casual fan rather than a hardcore He-Man enthusiast, I left the theater with a lot of conflicting thoughts. I grew up in the 1980s watching the...
The following is a spoiler-free review of The Mandalorian and Grogu. When The Mandalorian first aired, my husband and I sat down together in front of the television to watch it. That sounds far less dramatic than it actually was. It's rare for us to step away from our...
There are certain movies you watch because you are excited to experience them. Then there are movies you watch because your body has declared war on your immune system and you need something simple enough for your cold-medicated brain to process without emotional...
When I was handed the assignment to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2, my first response wasn’t excitement, it was hesitation. Not because I thought the movie would be bad, but because I had never seen The Devil Wears Prada in the first place. At the time it originally...
Angel Studios ridiculing those who oppose their not-so-secret morality reversal with Animal Farm was not on our bingo cards. But that's exactly how the oft faith-aligned movie distributor is handling a massive backlash for the new movie that has people of all...
As I write this Michael review, I remember June 25, 2009 with uncomfortable clarity. At the time, I was working in a bank call center, the kind of place where your day was measured in hold music, overdraft fees, and the emotional stability of strangers who absolutely...
When it comes to video game movies, adaptations can be challenging. They need to stay true to the source material or risk alienating longtime fans. At the same time, to be successful, they must appeal to a wider audience. Ideally, knowledge of the games should enhance the experience—not be required for it. Many reviews of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie have said it’s “for the fans.” That may be true—but it’s not just for gamers.
I saw Zootopia: Better Zoogether and wrote a review so that you don’t have to sit through this. And, yes, there will be spoilers.
Tron: Ares is not a good movie. We should start This Tron: Ares review honestly, and if that’s all you needed to know, read no more, friends. But if you’d like to understand just what a stinker Disney has shoveled out upon theaters this fall, continue on and I’ll explain.