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Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
(1977)
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Wesley Lovell
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Ascetic monks and hermits. These are probably the only two types of people who have never heard of Star Wars. For everyone else, it’s something of a right of passage.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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American Fiction
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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American Fiction specifically looks at the kind of literature that panders to its white audience while providing an unrealistic depiction of the myriad obstacles Black Americans face.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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4/4
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Strange Way of Life
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Foreign cinema often gave queer topics and queer stories more nuanced representation than American cinema. Strange Way of Life is Pedro Almodóvar’s latest in queer cinema and while it’s a well worn story, the gay perspective is a fascinating twist.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3/4
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Superhero films suffer significantly from the law of diminishing returns as sequels strain to be better than their predecessors. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse stands out as the antithesis of this notion...
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3/4
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Trolls Band Together
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Family is a recurring theme in the Trolls series of animated films and Trolls Band Together gives you a double dose of such adventures.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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4/4
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Godzilla Minus One
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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One year shy of its 70th anniversary, Godzilla makes a return to the big screen with a Tojo effort that makes the American renditions look like drive-in disasters in Godzilla Minus One.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3/4
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2024 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation
(2024)
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Wesley Lovell
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This year’s nominated short films are a disappointing batch with a few gems mixed in. The topical ones are a bit boring while the most interesting are the least political, a rarity in short films.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3.5/4
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2024 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action
(2024)
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Wesley Lovell
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This year’s nominated short films are a disappointing batch with a few gems mixed in. The topical ones are a bit boring while the most interesting are the least political, a rarity in short films.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3/4
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2024 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentary
(2024)
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Wesley Lovell
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This year’s nominated short films are a disappointing batch with a few gems mixed in. The topical ones are a bit boring while the most interesting are the least political, a rarity in short films.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3/4
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All of Us Strangers
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Grief can be a powerful emotion that lingers long after the loss that spawned it. All of Us Strangers explores how regret colors one’s memories and allows one to fantasize about what might have been.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3.5/4
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Poor Things
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Life is strange and then there’s Poor Things. Set in a steampunk world of Victorian custom, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) learns to experience life in her own way even if it grates against societal norms.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3.5/4
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The Boy and the Heron
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Japanese culture and spiritually have always provided a potent well from which Miyazaki draws his filmic inspiration. Boy and the Heron is no different and returns him to the fantastical roots that made Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke such successes.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3.5/4
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Oppenheimer
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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As increasing tensions with Russia rise once again, it seems fitting that "Oppenheimer" sets forth the events that led to those initial tensions in aftermath of World War II.
Posted Apr 07, 2024
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3.5/4
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Ten Little Indians
(1987)
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Wesley Lovell
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Regardless of the literalities of linguistic usage, remaining faithful to the text is brilliantly handled.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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1.5/4
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Ten Little Indians
(1989)
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Wesley Lovell
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For their part, Vaccaro and Lom do solid work and Pleasance is credible, but the rest of the cast range from forgettable (Maur Thorp) to terrible (Stallone).
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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3.5/4
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Death on the Nile
(1978)
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Wesley Lovell
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For fans of the novel, there are a few changes, but none that overwhelm the essence of the story, allowing viewers to take a trip on the Nile with the world-famous sleuth and his inimitable talents.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975)
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Wesley Lovell
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While it has its flaws, much of that is wonderfully lambasted by the audience participation, which has grown and adapted with each generation adding something and making this multi-generational experience one that you won’t soon forget.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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3.5/4
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Barbie
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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"Barbie" does exactly what the doll itself was intended to do. It acts as a beacon to young women telling them that they can achieve greatness and be anything they want even in a patriarchal landscape where men control the levers of power.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Marvels
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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It’s an engaging, entertaining effort that many will enjoy.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Holdovers
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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"The Holdovers" fires on nearly all cylinders, though there are moments that drag too much, a byproduct of its unnecessarily lengthy two-hour-thirteen-minute runtime.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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3/4
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The Color Purple
(2023)
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Wesley Lovell
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Finding joy in the heart of sorrow is no easy feat and while there are stylistic and structural issues with <em>The Color Purple</em>, its celebration of perseverance and indomitable spirit is infectious.
Posted Dec 21, 2023
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2/4
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Ten Little Indians
(1975)
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Wesley Lovell
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While Ten Little Indians may not have worked in this particular location or with these specific actors, it seems more the fault of Towers and Collinson than the material or the characters.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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Murder, She Said
(1961)
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Wesley Lovell
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at least the opening salvo is worth the time of any murder mystery fan who likes the way Christie weaves stories, even when they are altered in many ways for the visual medium.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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Murder at the Gallop
(1963)
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Wesley Lovell
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While Murder at the Gallop is mostly as clever as the source material, that’s likely to both please and frustrate Christie’s fans
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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2.5/4
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Murder Most Foul
(1964)
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Wesley Lovell
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With Murder Most Foul, the pacing is off, the mystery isn’t terribly exciting, and Rutherford seems adrift in the proceedings and that’s even giving some leeway for her capabilities.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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Murder Ahoy!
(1964)
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Wesley Lovell
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Murder Ahoy! is certainly a clever little trifle, but probably shouldn’t have been a Miss Marple film. Turning the series into a more farcical event is as far removed from Christie’s legendary works as it can get, but damned if it isn’t entertaining.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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And Then There Were None
(1945)
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Wesley Lovell
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I admire what they did with the film, but also feel it inferior to the next major adaptation...
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3.5/4
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Ten Little Indians
(1965)
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Wesley Lovell
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It might not have the limited faithfulness of its predecessor nor all but two of the subsequent adaptations, but it’s no less ingenuous and inventive.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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2/4
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Gumnaam
(1965)
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Wesley Lovell
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Gumnaam is one of those films that exists as a compelling trifle, but whose content is cheesy at best and strange at worst. Check out the film if you’re curious, but don’t expect something revelatory.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Deep Blue Sea
(2011)
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Wesley Lovell
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...it has a stuffy air that dampens its thematic energy, which might help explain its lack of appreciation by American audiences
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Help
(2011)
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Wesley Lovell
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As a piece of entertainment, it works. As a historical document, its contents are too sanitized in an effort to avoid inflaming old tensions and that mutes its impact.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Tree of Life
(2011)
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Wesley Lovell
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There are two distinct films being made here and while the opening frames of The Tree of Life are some of the finest in memory, there’s little in the middle-to-late section of the film worth noting.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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Michael Clayton
(2007)
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Wesley Lovell
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Michael Clayton has an important story to tell, but is sometimes overly stifling in its stuffy pretenses.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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2.5/4
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Mad Max
(1979)
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Wesley Lovell
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Mad Max is the work of a director with a strong vision starting out on a career that would ultimately impress.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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2/4
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Tales From the Darkside: The Movie
(1990)
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Wesley Lovell
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For horror fanatics, this one needs to be seen, especially in tandem with other ’80s efforts like it, but on the whole, it’s not one worth catching if you have better options.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3.5/4
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Midnight in Paris
(2011)
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Wesley Lovell
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If the viewer is able to set aside their personal distaste for the creator, the film is a wonderful sit. If they cannot, then it steadily reminds them of the personality Allen curated for decades and that might just be a bridge too far.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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Werewolf by Night
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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It’s nice to see Disney striking out in unique directions, especially when the big screen universe is struggling to regain its inventive stride.
Posted Oct 10, 2023
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3/4
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The Bad Guys
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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The humor is sometimes quite juvenile, but who doesn’t enjoy well executed fart jokes?
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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While there are elements of the film that stand out as compelling, the mystery at the core is not one of them.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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2.5/4
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Minions: The Rise of Gru
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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Apart from the notion of individuality and discrediting age as a barrier to success, Minions: The Rise of Gru rides entirely on the fumes of its inept yellow punchlines
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3.5/4
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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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The film’s biggest issues come down to the choice of animation techniques for fight sequences, which makes the events feel a little choppy and overly stylized
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3.5/4
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Bros
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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While the film does a fine job taking romantic comedy tropes and giving them the gay treatment, they remain tropes.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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2.5/4
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Black Adam
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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One of the most notable issues with Johnson as an actor is his constant mugging for the camera.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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The story, which tries to maintain its connection to the Collodi, while differentiating itself from the Disney version, latches onto the Nazi angle. While that is a largely fertile ground from which to grow a story, it feels tired by the film’s end.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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Love and Death on Long Island
(1997)
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Wesley Lovell
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Hurt gives such a stirring performance that it’s hard to imagine him in any other role.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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The Horse Whisperer
(1998)
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Wesley Lovell
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Other than the opening sequences with the horse in the sand and the horse and the truck, the rest of the film is rather unoriginal.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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Sliding Doors
(1998)
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Wesley Lovell
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The paralleling of stories is well done, but at times not enough.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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The Mask of Zorro
(1998)
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Wesley Lovell
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“The Mask of Zorro” is easily the best action adventure film of the summer. It has everything you could desire, great acting, great romance and an exciting plot.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3/4
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
(2022)
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Wesley Lovell
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a step in the right direction for Disney and Marvel, but the excitement of the franchise has dimmed just enough to make it a pyrrhic victory.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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3.5/4
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Deep Impact
(1998)
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Wesley Lovell
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The film portrays very well the human element and does something I rather enjoy. It plays on the emotions of the audience and creates sympathy for the characters and makes heroes out of the most unlikely of people.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
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