24 June
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JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM Director: J.A. Bayona Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Jeff Goldblum, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, BD Wong, Geraldine Chaplin, Isabella Sermon I didn’t think we could get much worse in the Jurassic franchise than the first sequel, The Lost World, in 1997. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom attempts to reach such lows. To be quite fair, it’s been years since I’ve watched The Lost World, so I can’t accurately assess which ranks as the worst in the franchise’s history. Since we were last on the island of Isla Nublar, the island is in roughRead More →

15 June
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INCREDIBLES 2 Writer/Director: Brad Bird Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Vowell, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Huck Milner, Eli Fucile, Isabella Rossellini Pixar has had varying success with their sequels ranging from unnecessary (Cars 2) to innocent fun (Monsters University, Finding Dory), to making you downright cry uncontrollably (Toy Story 3). Incredibles 2 has that quintessential Pixar touch where they ease you for a fun adventure and then packs a punch by its end, but this time without the tears. The Incredibles have to be careful, as being super heroes is considered unlawful in the city. When the Underminer wreaks havocRead More →

07 June
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OCEAN’S 8 Writer/Director: Gary Ross Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Richard Armitage, Dakota Fanning It’s been a few years since I watched the Ocean’s 11 trilogy from director Steven Soderbergh. 12 and 13 may have seemed excessive, yet I welcome 8 with open arms. How can you not given its fierce cast with Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, and Helena Bonham Carter to name just a few. Bullock leads the way as Debbie Ocean who has followed in the footsteps of her big brother, Danny Ocean, the George Clooney character from Ocean’s 11.Read More →

24 May
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SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY Director: Ron Howard Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, Joonas Suotamo, Phoebe Waller-Bridge Ever since Disney aquired Lucas Film and gained the rights to Star Wars, they’ve promised new movies every calendar year with the new trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and 2019’s Episode IX) and standalone features (Rogue One) in between those movies. The latest is Solo: A Star Wars Story, which gives the backstory to fan favorite character Han Solo, previously played by Harrison Ford. Young Han is now under the capable hands of Alden Ehrenreich, primarily known forRead More →

21 May
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DEADPOOL 2 Director: David Leitch Starring: Josh Brolin, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz, Brianna Hildebrand, Julian Dennison, Stefan Kapicic, Leslie Uggams The 2016 release of Deadpool changed the game for superhero movies by presenting an R-rated, ultra-violent character. It wasn’t the first time Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool, but this was the approach fans wanted after the abysmal X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009. It raked in massively at the box office and proved to be the best role for Reynolds to date. In Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson has seen better days being his foul-mouthed mercenary alter ego Deadpool. The job never ends, but it won’tRead More →

17 May
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BOOK CLUB Director: Bill Holderman Starring: Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson, Richard Dreyfuss, Wallace Shawn I’m presently in a book club with a few of my gal pals. It started off with us reading young adult fiction, but we’ve progressed into slightly heavier fare. I hope that in forty years we’re still reading and drinking champagne much like the characters in Book Club. The opening montage calls us back to the younger days of Diane (Keaton), Vivian (Fonda), Sharon (Bergen), and Carol (Steenburgen) as college friends. It’s a reminder of how iconic and legendary theseRead More →

10 May
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LIFE OF THE PARTY Director: Ben Falcone Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Molly Gordon, Maya Rudolph, Gillian Jacobs, Luke Benward, Julie Bowen, Heidi Gardner, Debby Ryan, Jacki Weaver, Stephen Root Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone frequently collaborate on a variety of projects. They’ll write the script together while he directs it and she stars as the lead. Life of the Party is their third movie together following 2014’s Tammy and 2016’s The Boss. I’d rank this film as the best of the three. In it McCarthy plays Deanna who is heartbroken after waiving goodbye to her daughter, Maddie (Gordon), who’s entering her freshman year ofRead More →

30 April
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AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Brolin, Chris Evans, Tom Holland, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Zoe Saldana, Paul Bettany Marvel fans have spent the last ten years and eighteen movies engrossed in a variety of superheroes and villains duking it in order to save Earth and other galactic empires. Some have proven more successful than others, yet Marvel fatigue never seems to set in even after all these years. They’re coming off one of my favorites and their biggest hit to date, Black Panther,Read More →

19 April
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I FEEL PRETTY Writers/Directors: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein Starring: Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Busy Phillips, Aidy Bryant, Rory Scovel, Lauren Hutton, Emily Ratajkowski, Sasheer Zamata, Naomi Campbell In I Feel Pretty, Amy Schumer starts to feel pretty down on her luck. As Renee, she doesn’t look like any of the other pretty girls at soul cycle and oftentimes gets mistaken for a man. She works for Lily LeClaire, one of the most prestigious cosmetics in the world. That being said, her position is pretty low on the totem pole sequestering her office to a tiny basement space far removed from the fancy corporate office. AtRead More →

12 April
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RAMPAGE Director: Brad Peyton Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Ackerman, Jake Lacy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Joe Manganiello, P.J. Byrne Rampage is pure absurdity, but you already know that going in. You don’t go into a movie like this for high art. In the world of Rampage, advanced science has gotten to the point where genetic editing has officially become a weapon of mass destruction. Maybe that’s why it’s sequestered to outer space as the film opens. Pure lunacy, of course, so just go along with it. A space station carrying samples of genetic coding suffers a freak accident and explodes scattering the canisters containingRead More →