Movie Reviews

You don’t necessarily need to be a follower of the Marvel superhero film series to enjoy “Ant Man and The Wasp,” but it helps a bit. The film, which is loaded with a few laugh out loud moments courtesy of star Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Michael Pena as his ex-con friend, Luis, picks up nearly two years after Lang aka Ant Man’s involvement as a member of Team Cap in “Captain America: Civil War.” Now on house arrest for his role in the Germany airport Avengers versus Avengers showdown, Lang is prohibited from having any contact with any other super-powered individuals or his former partners, Dr. ...

The follow up to the 2015 sleeper hit “Sicario,” “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” targets issues troubling the U.S. southern border surrounding the drug trade and more specifically the human trade as drug cartels begin facilitating the personnel movement over the border, from poor Mexican families seeking a new start to terrorists attempting to enter America...

Based on a Pepsi commercial campaign which began six years ago, NBA superstar Kyrie Irving jumps back in the makeup chair then hits the basketball courts of New York teaching the “young bloods” how the game is supposed to be played, getting “buckets” and distributing knowledge about the game’s truths to those who will listen as “Uncle Drew.”...

The fifth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” reinforces the need for this movie franchise to become extinct. The original idea of “Jurassic Park,” an eccentric billionaire funds an effort to create a theme park/zoo where the public can view genetically resurrected dinosaurs was a stretch, but made for good sci-fi fun. ...

Although infant Jack-Jack doesn’t say anything intelligible through the duration of “Incredibles 2,” he and his older brother Dash steal the spotlight from the rest of the super-powered Parr family in this long-awaited (14 years to be exact) sequel to the extremely popular animated tale...

In 30 years of playing tag, from childhood to adulthood, Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner) has never been tagged by his group of friends, and the four friends are determined to make sure he doesn’t retire from the game without being “it.” Such is the premise for the appropriately named “Tag,” based on the true story of a group of friends who have spent 23 years, dating back to their youth, playing a monthlong, annual game of tag. ...

In today’s world of “Anything you can do, I can do better,” this film had to be made. “Ocean’s 8” centers around Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), the younger sister of the “allegedly deceased Danny Ocean (George Clooney in the preceding “Ocean’s” trio of huge group heist films), who after being paroled in prison sets out to assemble a team to carry out a new heist...

Take George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg’s ocean-weather conflict tale “A Perfect Storm” and combine it with “Titanic” and you have the love story, stranded at sea film based on a true story — “Adrift.” A wandering 20-something, Tami (Shailene Woodley), traveling the world finds herself in Tahiti working at a seaside dock to generate some cash before she moves on. ...

The second stand alone “Star Wars” tale — or “solo” film (pun definitely intended) — “Solo: A Star Wars Story” gives us a peak at the the galaxy’s most beloved scoundrel Han Solo in his criminal formative years. We pick up the story with Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and his girlfriend, Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), a pair of young 20-somethings trying to stay alive amidst the criminal underworld of Correlia. ...

Parents don’t be fooled, this isn’t a comic book film for the kids. Ryan Reynolds returns as Wade Wilson, aka the “Merc with the Mouth,” also known as Deadpool. And as the main character clearly states in the original film, “I’m no hero.” Back for “Deadpool 2,” the hitman for hire has gone international, taking his job list across the globe, taking out baddies for profit and making enemies worldwide before returning to his junky little apartment in New York City where the love of his life, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) waits for him. ...

Melissa McCarthy returns to the big screen as the “Life of the Party” delivering a few laughs playing a lovable housewife who finds herself dealing with a major life change which prompts her to return to college and I may have been the only guy in the theater to witness it...

Combine some stunts from Johnny Knoxville’s Jackass crew with the chicanery of TVs “Impractical Jokers” and the physical comedy of “The Three Stooges” and you have a sequel 17 years in the making ... and I’m not sure why. Having never seen the original “Super Troopers,” it’s hard for me to fathom why — nearly two decades later — those kooky producers, Broken Lizard Industries, decided we need a part two. Probably because they needed the work...

Ten years in the making, the creative force and money machine known as the "Marvel Universe" delivers in a big way with "Avengers: Infinity War." What started with the introduction of "Iron Man" all those years ago has built into the ultimate superhero showdown perfectly designed for the big screen. ...

Let me start off by saying I am not a fan of Amy Schumer’s stand-up act or her discontinued TV sketch show. I think she just goes out of her way for the gross out laughs. Now that I have that out of my system, I did enjoy her first movie vehicle, “Trainwreck,” a semiautobiographical peak into her life co-starring Bill Hader and NBA superstar LeBron James, who in my opinion stole the film...

What is a popcorn movie? It’s a movie where you grab your bucket of popcorn and favorite beverage then sit back, turn off your brain and just watch with little expectation. That’s “Rampage” in a nutshell. Another Hollywood production loosely based on a 1980s video game...

Just in time for prom season, a new raunchy adult comedy, produced by Seth Rogen among others, tackles what you would think would be every parent’s worst nightmare. A trio of virgin high school senior best friends who have grown up together make a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. Hey, wait a minute, we’ve seen this before. They made a whole series of films based on this concept — the “American Pie” series...

The inspiration behind the hit Christian song which launched faith-based band MercyMe to the top of the charts is the focus of this film, detailing the difficult childhood and rise to music industry success of the group’s lead singer Bart Millard. Millard (J. ...

Steven Spielberg returns to the sci-fi/fantasy realm for “Ready Player One” as both director and producer of the big screen adaptation of the popular novel by Ernest Cline who also co-wrote the screenplay. Spielberg’s hand is quite present both on the screen and in the film’s feel which creates a fun, action adventure set almost 30 years in the future...

In the aftermath of his appearance in “Captain America: Civil War,” during which T’Challa’s (Chadwick Boseman) father, T’Chaka (John Kani), king of Wakanda — a Third World country in Africa — was assassinated by someone disguised as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), the son returns to his home country to assume his new mantel as king of the five tribes which make up Wakanda...

Legendary movie tough guy turned Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood brings the story to the screen about heroic actions of a trio of American childhood friends who find themselves on a train bound for Paris when a terrorist launches an armed attack on the passengers. ...

A battle scarred captain is ordered to escort a former adversary back to his tribal burial ground to die in “Hostiles,” a nice twist on the Western genre. Capt. Joe Blocker (Christian Bale) is a legendary member of the Calvary, tracking, killing and capturing Indians in the New Mexico region. After having rounded up the last of an escaped Apache family, he returns for Fort Berringer with his assembled troop and his captors...

Intense war action and a solid blend of acting help elevate this long-classified story of the “horse soldiers” involved in the United States first real counterstrike following the 9/11 attacks in “12 Strong.” The movie opens with a recently promoted Capt. ...

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks share the spotlight as Katharine Graham, heiress who runs the Washington Post, and the paper’s hard charging editor in chief Ben Bradlee in “The Post.” Graham is a socialite who is thrust into the role of newspaper leadership after her husband — handpicked to run the paper by her father — commits suicide, leaving her to take over the operation. ...

This week we’re tackling a couple of films which are leaving theaters, but will soon show up available for rental or purchase. Should you rent then or make that purchase? Well. ... Our favorite acca-ladies are back together for what — based on the road this movie takes — will hopefully be the last of the musically gifted “Pitch Perfect” franchise...

Just a year after haggard Robin Williams emerged from a jungle adventure-based board game only to unleash wild animals and new threats on the unsuspecting neighborhood from which he first disappeared in the original “Jumanji” film, the discarded board game is discovered washed up on a beach in 1996 by a jogger. ...

Rather than going the live theater to big screen route, “The Greatest Showman” went straight from the printed page to the cinema — a rarity in musicals today. Now I’m curious if they will turn this grand film feature into a Broadway musical — and if they do, will they be able to lure Hugh Jackman to return to the live stage...

Never has a “Star Wars” film created so much controversy since the introduction of Jar Jar Binks in the prequels. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” the eighth installment in the “Star Wars” series is doing just that. (Just a side note to the “Star Wars” nerd-dom, don’t email me, I haven’t forgotten “Star Wars: Rogue One,” I’m just not counting it as part of the trilogy groupings)...

A distraught mother, rough Mildred Hayes (Frances McDomand), struggling in the aftermath of her teen daughter’s rape and violent death, turns up the heat on the small town law enforcement force when they have failed months later to bring the perpetrator to justice in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”...

Let me start off by saying, I was really looking forward to “Justice League.” I’m a huge Batman fan and after Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman proved that DC filmmakers could make a really, really good film, I had high hopes for this bringing together of the DC comics elite superhero team...

The co-dads are back in "Daddy's Home 2" and this time, they're getting together for the Christmas holiday. Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) have settled into their respective roles in the respective families while trying to share responsibilities for Brad's stepchildren who also happen to be Dusty's natural children...

When it comes to murder mystery writers, there are few to rival Agatha Christie whose early 20th century works, regarded as classic treasurers today, still stand the test of time. Director and star Kenneth Branagh bring the 1934 novel, "Murder on the Orient Express" to the big screen in this most recent remake, putting together a great ensemble cast to share the tale of master investigator Hercule Poirot's (Branagh) race to discover a murderer aboard a train car on a cross-country trip...

Taking a page from its popular “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, Marvel decided to add a few more chuckles than normal to this third edition of the Thor storyline. Though the priority of “Thor: Ragnarok” is to prevent Ragnarok — translated to mean “the end of everything” — you wouldn’t necessarily get the seriousness of the situation from the wise-cracking vibe which permeates the two-plus-hour installment in growing Marvel cinema footprint...

Don’t let the headline fool you. “Only The Brave” has nothing to do with comic book heroes. There’s no Batman or Captain America — fictional characters wearing colorful uniforms ridding the world of bad guys — but there are heroes. Real heroes. “Only The Brave” details The Granite Mountain Hot Shots, firefighters who travel to serve on the front lines of wild fires in the state of Arizona and around the country. ...

With the immense popularity of the survival shows, "The Mountain Between Us," sounds like a good idea for an hour-long episode of "Naked and Afraid." Two complete strangers in the middle of nowhere with limited resources attempting to navigate a dangerous scenario in the wild. Only our two victims aren't nekkid and they certainly didn't volunteer for the experience...

It's the sequel science fiction fans have been waiting decades for. And that's not an overstatement. When the original Blade Runner hit screens in 1982, it's dark, throwback to the 1940s detective noir film style was splattered against a backdrop of futuristic downtowns where the cop, Deckard (Harrison Ford), was charged with running down a group of rogue replicants led by Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah. ...

Tom Cruise is back with his famous smile in tact as he tackles the role of expert pilot Barry Seal who was at the center of the late '70s and Reagan-era '80s rise of the Medellin Cartel and Iran-Contras conspiracy. Seal (Cruise), a TWA pilot in the late '70s is approached by Monty Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson), with the CIA and recruited to walk away from his job and serve his country flying reconnaissance missions over Central America. ...

Taking a tongue-in-cheek approach to the spy films, this sequel to the popular graphic novel turned film, “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” takes place a year after the original. With more over-the-top car chases, blended slow-motion fight sequences, entertaining villains and insane weaponry, Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is a year into his role as a Kingsman and is embracing the well-dressed spy persona while remaining very much himself...

Shortly after proposing to his girlfriend while on vacation in Spain, Mitch Rapp’s (Dylan O’Brien) life is turned upside down when a group of Islamic terrorists begin spraying bullets on a popular vacation beach resort. Both Rapp and his girlfriend are hit in the slaughter, Rapp survives his wounds, his girlfriend dies in front of his eyes in the surf...

Those who have a fear of clowns consider yourselves warned, stay away. “It” will do nothing to change your perception of these otherwise lovable, horn-honking, floppy shoe wearing practical jokers. It is the the epitome of a childhood nightmare. The town of Derry has a habit of population loss — primarily involving children and teens which apparently goes unnoticed as it has for many generations. ...

Avengers, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) trade in crossbows, costumes, magic spells and super villains to search for the killer of a young Native American woman on the Wind River Indian Reservations in Wyoming in the appropriately titled, “Wind River.”...

If anyone has one of those hand held clickers that count, please bring it to "The Hitman's Bodyguard," there might be some kind of a record here. You see, I left mine at home and I shouldn't have. Anytime you have Samuel L. Jackson in an R-rated movie, you can bet there will be a surplus of F-bombs and MFers written into the script. ...

The story is as simple as the backwoods masterminds plotting the crime, but the comedy is subtle and rich in "Logan Lucky." It's a redneck “Ocean's 11.” Or as it is referred to at one point in the film, "Ocean's 7-11." A trio of West Virginia siblings: Former college football hero and recently unemployed Jimmy (Channing Tatum), Iraq war veteran and bartender Clyde (Adam Driver) and hairdresser sister Mellie (Riley Keough) — the Logans — are seen as a cursed family. ...

Kathryn Bigelow delivers again as she directs a gritty story set in the midst of the 1967 Detroit 12th Street racially-fueled riots, titled simply “Detroit.” This hard watch offers a little bit of background and perspective, setting the table for a harshly toned and darkly shot tale focusing on one specific incident which resulted in the death of three young black men, allegedly at the hands of aggressive, white Detroit patrol officers, at the Algiers Motel...

Both J.J. Abrams' and Ron Howard’s names were linked to this project which has been in the works for approximately 10 years. Howard stuck around as one of the producers, but the result of writer and director Nikolaj Arcel’s adaptation of the popular Stephen King series, “The Dark Tower,” onto the big screen, makes me wish perhaps Abrams or Howard had remained on board to oversee the endeavor...