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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 →

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A WRINKLE IN TIME Director: Ava DuVernay Starring: Storm Reid, Deric McCabe, Levi Miller, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine, Michael Peña, André Holland Readers have cherished “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeline L’Engle for decades since its release in 1962. It was groundbreaking at the time for attempting a sci-fi, fantasy story for young readers much like we’ve grown accustomed to in recent years with the increased attention to the YA formula. It’s now been given the big screen treatment thanks to Disney and Selma director Ava DuVernay. Fourteen-year-old Meg (Reid) and her younger brother Charles Wallace (McCabe)Read More →

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MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Director: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Leslie Odom Jr, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi, Lucy Boynton, Sergei Polunin When you have an all-star cast consisting of Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, and Penelope Cruz, to name a few, it’s imperative to use them well. It’s a shame that the ensemble remake of Murder on the Orient Express fails to do so. Kenneth Branagh stars as detective Hercule Poirot who is in between cases after solving a mystery in Jerusalem. If you’re unfamiliar with the classic AgathaRead More →

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WONDERSTRUCK Director: Todd Haynes Starring: Oakes Fegley, Millicent Simmonds, Julianne Moore, Jaden Michael, Tom Noonan, Michelle Williams, Cory Michael Smith, Damian Young Director Todd Haynes’ previous films have tackled some heavy adult subjects involving identity and sexuality in the 1950s (Carol, Far From Heaven), rock icons (I’m Not There, Velvet Goldmine, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story), and a remake of a Joan Crawford classic (Mildred Pierce). With Wonderstruck, he has made his first film catered to all audiences. That’s not to say it’s a straight up kids movie, but one that parents and their children will no doubt be moved and inspired by, much likeRead More →

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AMERICAN ASSASSIN Director: Michael Cuesta Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Taylor Kitsch, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar Dylan O’Brien is best known for his teen friendly roles in the YA genre whether it’s MTV’s Teen Wolf or The Maze Runner franchise. It’s evident that with American Assassin he’s ready to shed that innocent side of him for grittier material. He plays Mitch Rapp, the lead character in a series of books from Vince Flynn. This book was his eleventh in the series but tells the origin story of Rapp. It’s a great starting off point for a potential new action series. It all started on aRead More →

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IT Director: Andy Muschietti Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff This seems to be the year of highly anticipated Stephen King adaptions. His works are highly cherished by his fans, so there is always a concern that the film won’t be able to live up to the story us readers have envisioned for the years we have spent devouring his characters time and time again. The Dark Tower disappointed earlier this summer, but IT does not fall victim to that. Trust me. It’s my favorite book of all time. My hardcover isRead More →

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THE DARK TOWER Director: Nikolaj Arcel Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Dennis Haysbert, Fran Kranz, Jackie Earle Haley It was hard for me to not go into The Dark Tower with a little bit of bias. I consider myself a lifelong and devoted fan of Stephen King, yet this eight book series isn’t as deep in my DNA like some of his other works. I’m currently in the middle of reading the series for the first time. It’s an immensely rich universe that asks a lot out of its readers, but the end product is so rewarding. I say this all as aRead More →

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FIFTY SHADES DARKER Director: James Foley Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Marcia Gay Harden, Kim Basinger, Eric Johnson, Bella Heathcote, Luke Grimes, Eloise Mumford, Rita Ora Fify Shades Darker? More like Fifty Shade More Boring. When we last saw Anastasia “Ana” Steele (Johnson) and Christian Grey (Dornan), they had broken up as Christian’s domineering ways were too much for Ana to handle. She’s only slightly moved on and is working for a publishing company. He desperately wants her back so he tries to win her over by buying her dozens of roses and several large photographs of her at a gallery showing. They meet forRead More →

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LIVE BY NIGHT Director: Ben Affleck Starring: Ben Affleck, Chris Messina, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, Chris Cooper, Robert Glenister, Sienna Miller, Titus Welliver, Remo Girone, Brendan Gleeson Author Dennis Lehane has had many of his novels grace the big screen like Mystic River, Shutter Island, and the Ben Affleck-directed Gone Baby Gone. The Affleck/Lehane collaboration continues with Live By Night, which is set in the Prohibition Era. As we hear in the opening narration, Joe Coughlin (Affleck) left Boston to become a soldier and came home an outlaw. He’s lived the bank robber life for ten years until it catches up with him. Two differentRead More →

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INFERNO Director: Ron Howard Starring: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, Ben Foster, Omar Sy Tom Hanks returns for his third run as Robert Langdon, Harvard professor and “symbologist.” He’s studied the works of Da Vinci and the Illuminati and is now tasked with putting his knowledge of Dante’s Inferno to the test. Bertrand Zorbist (Foster) is a high-profile scientist and speaker who has given lectures warning of the impending doom on the world’s overpopulation problem. He believes humanity is at risk unless drastic measures are taken. “Human is the disease. Inferno is the cure” are his dying words before jumping to his death. HeRead More →