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Monstrously Dumb ‘GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE’ As Empty As Hollow Earth

More a proper Kong movie with some Godzilla spice sprinkled on top than the titan buddy movie that the marketing materials insists this film is, Adam Wingard’s cartoonish Godzilla x Kong: New Empire is loud, brash, and dumb, with its wee share of monster fun. Will it be enough to satisfy audiences hungry for more large-scale monster mashing? Probably – but for a franchise that consistently undervalues things like character, stakes, and scale, and still manages decent box office returns and mild reviews, that’s not particularly hard to achieve. This fifth edition in Warner Brother’s MonsterVerse picks up after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong where, as the title implies, the two titans threw down in a tedious battle that overshadowed any semblance of human subplot. Read More

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SUNDANCE 2020: Rebecca Hall Is Next Level Good in the Scariest Ghost Story in Years: ‘THE NIGHT HOUSE’ 

On darkness, Nietszche offered, “He who fights monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes back into thee.” The Night House, an expertly-crafted, terrifying ghost story with a towering lead performance from Rebecca Hall, takes this sentiment to heart. Hall is Beth, a widow hoping to understand her husband Owen’s (Evan Jonigkeit) shocking suicide, diving into the dark recesses of his cell phone and discovering more than she bargained for. Glimpsing the abyss beyond, Beth confronts a terrifying, mutually exclusive truth: either ghosts exist or there truly is nothing waiting for us beyond this mortal coil.  Read More

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‘TEEN SPIRIT’ Gives MTV Spin to Tale as Old as Time

In Max Minghella’s flashy debut Teen Spirit, Elle Fanning plays a modern-day immigrant dreaming of a greater existence. Blessed with a ripping set of pipes but stuck in the dead-end-ville that is the Isle of Wight, Fanning’s Violet is a Polack living in the far reaches of the UK who embarks down a well-trod rags-to-riches road, one that makes a point of name-checking iconic humble-beginnings-princess Cinderella. There is little novel that defines Violet’s underdog arc but Fanning’s magnetic turn and a sensitive approach to character development make this poppy toe-tapper an irresistible power ballad, if one you’ve definitely heard play on repeat since the advent of film. Read More

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Out In Theaters: THE GIFT

Joel Edgerton‘s edgy horror/psychological thriller unravels the commitment-phobic fears of modern living, turning the clear divisions between protagonist/antagonist on its head in the process.

Have you ever run into an old school chum, perhaps while visiting your hometown? This old friend seems way more invested, eager to “catch up” and pick up where you left off, oblivious of the fact that you may have a wife, kids, a job, commitments a-plenty, and just don’t have time to kick back and spark one up on the couch, reflecting on old times? But what if your old friend is going through a rough patch and just needs a friendly face and a sympathetic ear? Here’s your chance to do the right thing and be a true friend, but too often, we falter, succumbing to the fear of wasting our precious, precious time. Read More