‘BALLERINA’ Floats like a Butterfly, Stings like a Flamethrower

June 4, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Ballerina, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves, Lance Reddick, Len Wiseman, Norman Reedus, Sharon Duncan-Brewster Leave a comment

Ana de Armas explodes into the JWEU (John Wick Expanded Universe) with the franchise-expanding spinoff Ballerina. Or, if we’re using the full, painfully cringe title, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. (The first and last time that full phrase will be used, I promise.) And insofar as any John Wick movie is good, this one is right on par with what the franchise struggles with, what it does well, and what keeps people coming back for more. Armas stars as Eve, a would-be-assassin chica brought up in the same Ruska Roma assassin school as John Wick, bound by their rigid code of contract killer ethics, blood oaths, and golden tokens. It turns out that seeing her father brutally murdered in front of her as a child left a deep impression on her so Eve dedicates herself to this universe’s assassin’s creed of kill, kill, kill. That is until an assignment reveals the very cult responsible for tearing her family apart and setting her on her blood-lusty murder-for-hire path so many years ago. So begins a quest for vengeance that’s very on-brand for this particular revenge-fueled franchise. I am happy to report that no dogs were hurt in the making of this movie. Read More

‘NO TIME TO DIE’ Kills Off Daniel Craig’s Reign as 007 in Sullen, Disappointing Fashion

September 29, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ana de Armas, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Christoph Waltz, David Dencik, James Bond, Jeffrey Wright, Lashana Lynch, Léa Seydoux, Neal Purvis, No Time to Die, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek, Robert Wade 1 Comment

With No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s run as gentleman spy James Bond has reached its final stop. And it’s with a heavy heart that I tell you that Craig’s last turn as 007 is a lumbering swan song at best; a heaving disappointment all in all, lacking in wit, memorable spectacle, even semi-logical villainy, and sensical plotting. For a near-three hour capstone to the Daniel Craig era of James Bond, No Time to Die is both overly-plotted and undercooked, too short on whizzbang set pieces and long on trying to tie up all the loose continuity of his run. It is, in a phrase, more than past the moment to let this particular iteration of the character go. It is indeed time to die.

‘KNIVES OUT’ Boasts Killer Ensemble Cast, Mediocre Mystery

November 4, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Katherine Langford, Knives Out, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Rian Johnson, Toni Collette Leave a comment

Rian Johnson’s star-studded Knives Out is an Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit complete with a colorful cast of characters, a maybe-murder most foul, and an undercooked mystery that astute audience members will certainly figure out well before the intended reveal. As a fun, star-powered slice of old school murder mystery, Knives Out is a welcome bite of throwback entertainment, a high profile anti-blockbuster of sorts: free of CGI, action set pieces, and superheroics of any sort. In that capacity, the good-old-fashion Hollywood whodunnit is a welcome bit of counter-programming to the overly dramatic winter-season awards fare or the sensory-overwhelming, block-busting eye candy that dominates the box office, it’s just a shame that the whole enterprise feels so surface-level and ultimately easy to solve. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘BLADE RUNNER 2049’

October 4, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Ana de Armas, Barkad Abdi, Benjamin Wallfisch, Blade Runner 2049, Carla Juri, Dave Bautista, Denis Villenueve, Dennis Gassner, Hampton Fancher, Hans Zimmer, Harrison Ford, Lennie James, Mackenzie Davis, Michael Green, Out in Theaters, Phillip K. Dick, Ridley Scott, Robin Wright, Roger Deakins, Ryan Gosling 2 Comments

Let’s get one thing straight, Blade Runner 2049 is superb and stupefying. Dreamlike production design, fiercely thoughtful direction, poetic and often brilliant storytelling, sublime world building and excellent performances across the board all add up to a sequel that fits perfectly into the cinescape that Ridley Scott imagined nearly 30 years ago while carrying its story forward in exciting, imaginative and wholly fulfilling new ways. Expanding on themes of humanity and identity native to Phillip K. Dick’s novella “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”, Blade Runner 2049 both expands a world wherein humanoid androids and their homosapien masters co-exist while narrowing it down to a small ensemble of meaningful characters, all who have their part to play. This time the focus is K (Ryan Gosling), a LAPD Blade Runner who struggles with his own identity while hunting down and “retiring” outdated android models. Read More