Handsome, Dull ‘DEATH ON THE NILE’ Paddles Towards Predictability

February 10, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Agatha Christie, Annette Bening, Armie Hammer, Death on the Nile, Emma Mackey, Gal Gadot, Kenneth Branagh, Letita Wright, Michael Green, Reviews, Russel Brand, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bateman 1 Comment

Death on the Nile begins with the origin story of Hercule Poirot’s (Kenneth Branagh) ridiculous mustache. His face was half-blown off in WWI you see, this facial deformity informing his older self’s reclusive and fussy nature. The overly coiffed, quadruple-pronged mustache was a cover up all along. A way to throw people off the scent of his great trauma and deep-seated pain. The detective, it seems, is indeed human after all. Surmising why the world-famous detective became who he is proves the best material in this sequel to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, a murder mystery that is otherwise haunted by an almost total lack of mystery. Read More

‘MOONFALL’ A Crash Course on Big Dumb Havoc Wreaking

February 3, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Charlie Plummer, Chris Sandiford, Halle Berry, John Bradley, Kelly Reilly, Michael Pena, Moonfall, Out in Theaters, Patrick Wilson, Review, Reviews, Roland Emmerich Leave a comment

The master of disaster is back to ruin the world again with Moonfall, a shamelessly bonkers sci-fi disaster movie where the moon is suddenly on a collision course with earth. A select few suspect aliens are involved. Following a string of disappointments, director Roland Emmerich’s latest is a bit of a return to form, or at least whatever form best suits Emmerich. Moonfall is an uncompromisingly ridiculous disaster epic where the scale is as massive as the plot-holes and the human element is consistently overshadowed by destruction special effects. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s dumb, and by the time the whole thing takes shape, it’s almost too much fun to deny its simple pleasures. Almost. Read More

‘JACKASS FOREVER’: A Confederacy of Dunces

February 2, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Eric André, Jackass Forever, Jasper Dolphin, Jeff Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, Machine Gun Kelly, Preston Lacy, Reviews, Sean McInerney, Steve-O, Wee-Man Leave a comment

It’s a remarkable feat that all these years later, MTV’s original confederacy of dunces still can withstand this level of pain. Jackass Forever, as directed by longtime ringmaster Jeff Tremaine, forgoes any suggestion of maturity and sticks with the simple premise of dick-punching, bone-shattering, concussion-friendly gags that these cackling hyena’s den of pranksters have long delivered for the juvenile, puerile, infantile amongst us. It’s just as recklessly funny as it’s always been. Read More

SUNDANCE ’22: Carla Juri Shines in Understated Romance ‘BLOOD’

January 24, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged blood, Bradley Rust Gray, Carla Juri, Reviews, Sundance, Sundance 2022, Takashi Ueno Leave a comment

Following the death of her husband, photographer Chloe (Carla Juri) moves to Japan to try to start anew in blood. She’s welcome by their jovial old friend and traveling musician Toshi (Takashi Ueno) as well as the beguiling mysteries that every new city holds. As Chloe wanders the city streets and inviting countryside with her camera, she makes new acquaintances, including a man whose wife is battling cancer, a kind-hearted kindred spirit florist, and a dance choreographer. But none quite see her as fully as Toshi does. As a yearning and perhaps forbidden attraction takes root, the widowed Chloe must contend with allowing herself to feel romantically for someone again. Read More

Sundance ’22: Existential Sci-Fi ‘AFTER YANG’ Grapples With the Great A.I. Beyond

January 24, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A24, After Yang, Alexander Weinstein, Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith., Justin H. Min, Kogonada, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Sundance, Sundance 2022 Leave a comment

On being, Descartes famously opined, “I think therefore I am.” Well, actually, he said, “Cogito, ergo sum,” but no one speaks Latin these days so you get the gist. After Yang, an existential science fiction movie from video essayist turned director Kogonada (Columbus), takes a step beyond the 17-century French philosopher to ponder what constitutes being in a world where humans and artificially-intelligent robots known as “technosapien” co-exist. Read More

Sundance ’22: ‘EMERGENCY’ Effectively Mixes ‘Superbad’, ‘Blindspotting’

January 20, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Carey Williams, Donald Watkins, Emergency, RJ Cyler, Sundance, Sundance 2022 Leave a comment

A perfect way to officially launch the Sundance 2022, Emergency reimagines the Superbad formula through the lens of Blindspotting. Striking a well-oiled balance between drama and comedy, this riff on the “best friends on the verge of graduation” goes down some pretty harrowing rabbit holes, rarely pulling its punches as it explores prescient themes of racism, brotherhood, and Black excellence. Smartly-written, director Carey Williams’ killer debut explores black friendship and fraternity as straight-laced Kunle (Donald Watkins) and party animal Sean (RJ Cyler) prepare for a wild night of partying that goes off the rails in ways they never imagined. Read More

‘SCREAM’ Takes a Stab at “Requels” with Deadly Precision

January 12, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Dylan Minnette, Horror, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Ortega, Kyle Gallner, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Melissa Barrera, Mikey Madison, Neve Campbell, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Scream, Tyler Gillett 1 Comment

Scream is back. And with a new Ghostface (or two) comes a biting deconstruction of not just the long-standing slasher franchise, or the nature of “requels” (a term coined in this very film), or the horror genre in general, but the movie industry writ large. Many films of recent years have tried to capture the imagination of audiences by commentating on their own storied legacy – most recently with both The Matrix: Resurrections and Spider-Man: No Way Home – but none have done it with quite as sharp a wit or a curvaceous a blade as the most recent Scream. Tapping into the meta repartee that franchise architect Wes Craven approached the material with from the very get go, this fifth installment of the 90s-born slasher whodunnit is as razor-sharp and bloody glorious as ever. Most importantly, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun. Read More

The Best TV Shows of 2021

December 30, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Dave, Dopesick, For All Mankind, Hacks, It's a Sin, Maid, Mare of Easttown, Midnight Mass, Physical, Squid Game, Succession, The Underground Railroad, The White Lotus, Yellowjackets Leave a comment

As the wide world of film shook and shuttered, trying to get its feet back under it while navigating the constant challenge of the pandemic, television entered a new golden age. The silver screen may have faded but the small screen burned brighter than ever. Last year, I listed my 25 favorite television series of the year and while many greats remain amongst my favorite, the amount of new amazing series in 2021 was blistering. Rather than diving in again on why something was a favorite in 2021, I mostly focused on newer shows, limited series, and series that made a triumphant return in 2021. So while I love comedies like What We Do in the Shadows (brilliant, still), Curb Your Enthusiasm (incredible, again), Ted Lasso (which proved slightly more dour in its second season, though hopeful and kind to its core), and Pen15 (creative and cringe as ever), they won’t appear on this list because I already said my piece on them last year. Read More

Spoiler Alert: ‘THE MATRIX: RESURRECTIONS’ Is Not Good

December 21, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Carrie-Anne Moss, Jonathan Groff, Keanu Reeve, Lana Wachowski, The Matrix: Resurrections, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 1 Comment

The spoon may not exist but after watching this third Matrix sequel, you’d wish it didn’t either. A numbing retread of past Matrix antics fastened onto an exasperatingly dull attempt at a revival, The Matrix: Resurrections is a bizarre, lumbering attempt to breath one final breathe into a franchise that redefined science-fiction action when it was first released in 1999. If the intention of this clunker is to make you appreciate the other sequels, job very well done. I take back every bad thing I ever had to say about Reloaded and even Revolutions. The Matrix: Resurrections is the antithesis of revolutionary, too busy looking back to take a step forward without stumbling and landing flat on its face. Read More

‘SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME’ and The Multiverse of Monsters

December 15, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alfred Molina, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, J.K. Simmons, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Jon Watts, Mauro Fiore, Michael Giacchino, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland, Willem Dafoe, Zendaya 5 Comments

Undisputedly the superhero event of the year, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a breakneck collision of past and present that explores the generational legacy of Spider-Man in unrelentingly entertaining fashion. The script from Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers wastes zero time, hitting the ground running as No Way Home picks up precisely where the previous endeavor, Far From Home, left off: with Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity revealed to the world by Daily Bugle alt-news tyrant J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). Desperate to undo the fallout from his being unmasked, Peter turns to Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to conjure up an amnesia spell that would make the world forget his identity. Read More