27 October
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JOJO RABBIT Director: Taika WaititiStarring: Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allie, Thomasin Mckenzie Taika Waititi’s new film, Jojo Rabbit, recently won the audience award at the Torono International Film Festival. In it, Jojo (Griffin Davis) is a 10 year old kid who enters Hitler’s youth army. He’s young, scrappy, and not very equipped to be a strong little soldier. He’s mocked by the other boys and nicknamed Jojo Rabbit. He’s being groomed by their regime only to learn that his mother, Rosie (Johansson), is hiding a young Jewish girl (Mckenzie) in their cupboard. Jojo is absolutelyRead More →

13 October
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In Interviews

“JOJO RABBIT” INTERVIEWS Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) is taking Hollywood by storm with his new film Jojo Rabbit. It recently won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and is already garnering major Oscar buzz. Thanks to Fox Searchlight and KSTP’s Twin Cities Live, I recently sat down with the cast including: Scarlett Johansson, Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, and Waititi to discuss their new film, Marvel, and Game of Thrones.Read More →

25 April
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AVENGERS: ENDGAME Director: Anthony and Joe RussoStarring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larson, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Josh Brolin, Bradley Cooper, Danai Gurira, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan When we last left our Avengers at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, we saw many of them disappear as dust in the wind. The big bad Thanos (Brolin) got his hands on all six infinity stones, placed them on his gauntlet glove, and snapped his finger. Just like that it changed the course of the Marvel franchise. Avengers: Endgame picks up with the remaining survivors in mourning unable to shakeRead 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 →

18 June
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ROUGH NIGHT Director: Lucia Aniello Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon, Paul W. Downs, Demi Moore, Ty Burrell, Ryan Cooper I feel like movies about bachelor/bachelorette parties should just be a subgenre of their own. Every year it seems we get a new R-rated comedy where a wild party or night out on the town escalates far too quickly. The 2017 entry is Rough Night starring Scarlett Johansson as Jessica Thayer who is in full campaign mode as she’s running for state senate. At the same time, she’s in the final weeks leading up to her wedding. That must meanRead More →

30 March
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GHOST IN THE SHELL Director: Rupert Sanders Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt, Juliette Binoche Let me state right up front that I went into Ghost in the Shell with no previous knowledge of this material. It’s based on the wildly popular 1989 Japanese manga comic series by Masamune Shirow. I’ve never read the books or watched the 1995 animated movie of the same name. Nor have I seen any of the franchise films that came after that. I went into this with an open palette and no preconceived notions of what to expect outside of the rumblings of Scarlett Johansson beingRead More →

05 May
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In Movie Reviews

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Rudd, Daniel Brühl, Tom Holland This is the thirteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The number 13 is typically an unlucky number for some, yet Marvel is in top form with its third Captain America film. With so many characters it may seem like the next Avengers film, but Captain America/Steve Rogers (Evans) and the relationship he has with best friend Bucky Barnes (Stan) is front and center. Bucky’s known as The Winter SoliderRead More →

14 April
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THE JUNGLE BOOK Director: Jon Favreau Starring: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling In the past few years Disney has created “live action” versions of some of their animated classics. With each successful one come more rumored projects like Dumbo and Peter Pan that are in the development stage. If they continue on this upward trend, I have faith in those projects. Last year’s film Cinderella was a complete and utter joy, and now Disney will have another slam dunk on their hands with The Jungle Book. After the death of his father,Read More →

05 February
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In Movie Reviews

HAIL, CAESAR! Director: Joel and Ethan Coen Starring: George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Jonah Hill, David Krumholtz, Fred Melamed, Wayne Knight Joel and Ethan Coen are back with a tribute to the golden days of Hollywood. Eddie Mannix (Brolin) is the studio fixer for Capitol Pictures Studios. Their current film Hail, Caesar: A Tale of the Christ is the studio’s biggest film to date. He doesn’t want to offend anyone in its depiction of Christ so he’s brought on some advisors to get their opinion on the matter. I’ll have more on that laterRead More →

01 May
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In Movie Reviews

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Director: Joss Whedon Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Bettany Hulk, smash! And boy, does he ever in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The sequel to the biggest superhero movie of all time naturally has to be bigger than the first film. Expectations are sky high for writer/director Joss Whedon to bring back that magic and fun of the first one without suffering from sequel-itis. From the very first frame, we are catching our Avengers in the middle of an attack on a HydraRead More →