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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 →

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JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK Director: Edward Zwick Starring: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Aldis Hodge, Robert Knepper Tom Cruise is back for the second time playing Jack Reacher after we were first introduced to this literary character in 2012. We’re now seeing him going rogue. He is quick to tell anyone that he is an ex-major in the army. He’s a simple civilian now but knows he cannot fully separate ties with the military. He had been working with Major Susan Turner (Smulders) only to find out that she’s been arrested for espionage. He’s leery of the charges and fights to get herRead More →

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THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN Director: Tate Taylor Starring: Emily Blunt, Justin Theroux, Haley Bennett, Luke Evans, Rebecca Ferguson, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramírez, Laura Prepon, Lisa Kudrow It’s the fall release that book lovers have been waiting for as the Paula Hawkins page-turner finally gets the big screen treatment. Rachel Watson (Blunt) takes the train into work every day. She passes the time by sketching and daydreaming about other people she sees along the way. Every day the train goes by a gorgeous house with a beautiful couple inside who always look deeply in love. The house happens to be just a few houses downRead More →

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MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN Director: Tim Burton Starring: Asa Butterfield, Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson, Kim Dickens, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp I go into each Tim Burton movie with the hope that it feels like the Tim Burton I grew up on. I want that gothic and morose look with that gentle love for the innocent characters at hand. 2012’s Frankenweenie was a nice surprise sandwiched between lesser films like Big Eyes, Alice in Wonderland, and Dark Shadows. He’s been relying too heavily on gimmicky 3D effects and questionable Johnny Depp performances. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children isRead More →

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THE BFG Director: Steven Spielberg Starring: Mark Rylance, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader, Ruby Barnhill, Jemaine Clement, Rafe Spall, Penelope Wilton There’s something nostalgic about seeing a Steven Spielberg film with the Amblin Entertainment studio logo playing before it starts. Spielberg and his crew composing of producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, trusty DP Janusz Kaminski and composer John Williams are back together again. This time the team takes on one of Roald Dahl’s beloved creations, The BFG. For a little girl named Sophie (Barnhill), the witching hour is that time in the middle of the night when the boogeyman comes out and people go missing.Read More →