Category: 4 Stars

Armageddon Time (2022)

Anyone who has ever taken any form of creative writing class surely knows one of the first rules: write what you know.

Filmmakers have been making films loosely based on their own childhoods for sometime now, going as far back as Truffaut’s 1959 masterpiece The 400 Blows. Yet ever since 2018’s Roma (based off of past experiences by it’s director, Alfonso Cuarón), there has seem to be a slight uptick in these types of films: Lee Issac Chung’s Minari (2020), Kenneth Branaugh’s Belfast (2021), and Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans, which is soon to be released in a few weeks. Now the spotlight is on the childhood of director James Gray, with Armageddon Time.

Tags 1980s, 2022, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Armageddon Time, autobiographical, Banks Repeta, Donald Trump, James Gray, Jaylin Webb, Jeremy Strong, Trump, Trump Family

4 Stars Movies

Nope (2022)

Perhaps baseball is not the best of comparisons, but if director Jordan Peele were to have his next seven films be duds, he would still be batting .300. Of course, that would also mean that Shyamalan would have a decent batting record also, so…oh nevermind (well, maybe lower if we count just how horrible The Last Airbender was.

Anyhow, after his 2017 breakthrough Get Out (which I did not like at first and admit my mistake) and 2019’s breathtaking Us, Jordan Peele’s Nope is yet another piece of proof that the man has come much further than one would have thought of the old Comedy Central veteran.

Tags 2022, Alfred Hitchcock, Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out, Hitchcock, Horror, Jordan Peele, Keith David, Keke Palmer, Movie Reviews, Nope, R, Rated R, Steven Yeun

4 Stars

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

The original Top Gun from 1986 is one of those films that can represent multiple forms of nostalgia.

For years, it was a Christmas tradition for my cousins and I when we reunited every Christmas Eve. On another occasion, it was the film of choice at a YMCA camp I attended as a teenager, while and my fellow campers spent a good amount of time yelling “PDA!” (Public Display of Affection) during “Take my Breath Away”. I venture to guess there are more than enough scenarios for others out there (first dates, special birthday parties, etc) with their connection to the original (I read that the actual Top Gun school fines its students for quoting the film). In short, a sequel has indeed been anticipated by many more than one might think.

Tags 2022, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly, Maverick, Miles Teller, Movie Reviews, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Tom Cruise, Top Gun, Top Gun Maverick, Val Kilmer

4 Stars

Turning Red (2022)

What was particularly curious to me about Turning Red was not the subject matter of the film so much as when the film takes place.

Halfway thru, I finally discovered that the film’s director, Domee Shi (her full length feature debut), was born around the same time as the film’s protagonist. This makes the intimacy of Turning Red only more personal and profound.

Tags 2022, Disney, Disney/Pixar, Domee Shi, Movie Reviews, Pixar, Rated PG, Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Turning Red

4 Stars

The Batman (2022)

We are coming up on nearly a full eight decades since the caped crusader first appeared on big screens (thanks in part to serials of the 1940s).

Since then, we have had a ton of contributions to the character over the years. From grappling hooks to gravely voices to batarangs to shark repellant to bat nipples, Batman is a character that is as full of depth as any fictional being out there. Adding the grammatical article making the newest installment The Batman just scratches the surface of what the new installment adds to the lore.

Tags 2022, Andy Serkis, Batman, Colin Farrell, Comic Book Movie, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Movie Reviews, Noir, Paul Dano, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Robert Pattinson, Superhero, Tenet, The Batman, The Lighthouse, Zoe Kravitz

4 Stars Vintage

Any Given Sunday (1999)

Unless I had some sort of personal connection associated with a certain game, my interest in football has mostly been minimal at best. That said, Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday has still held a unique place in my heart as a movie of certain first’s.

I remember seeing it in the theater at the ripe age of 12 with my dad, older brother, and grandpa. It was the first movie I would see for many of the actors (most notably Al Pacino), the first Oliver Stone movie, and (most of all), my first R rated movie in the theater. Looking back at the experience, what I remember most (aside from my dad essentially pay money for me to see a grown up movie which included swearing and sexuality) was the mood of down right intensity.

Tags 2021, Al Pacino, Any Given Sunday, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Dick Butkus, Emmitt Smith, Football, James Woods, Johnny Unitas, Matthew Modine, Oliver Stone, R, Rated R, Terrell Owens, Wilt Chamberlain

4 Stars

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Post author By Mark A. Lester
Post date December 17, 2021
6 Comments on Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Part of me wants to go the coward’s way, and not even review Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Easily the most anticipated movie since Avengers: Endgame, I will do all I can to be sure not to spoil anything for anyone, provided they have at least seen the two trailers for the film (and while this may be too little too late, stay away from the movies IMDB page).

4 Stars

Encanto (2021)

I am a sucker for many things in the movies, and one most definitely is when a film (animated or otherwise) has to do with a big family.

(Not to get too personal, but I have 6-8 siblings.)

4 Stars

tick, tick… BOOM! (2021)

After seeing tick, tick,…BOOM!, you may be wanting to ask me a simple question.

I have the answer: No, I had no idea that Andrew Garfield was able to sing.

Tags 2021, Alexandra Shipp, Andrew Garfield, Bradley Whitford, Hamilton, In the Heights, Lin Manuel Miranda, Netflix, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Rent, Robin de Jesús, Superbia, tick tick boom!, Vanessa Hudgens

4 Stars

King Richard (2021)

A month or so ago, a question was asked on one of the (far too many) groups I am a part of on facebook: What is Will Smith’s best performance (or what was his best movie, I can’t remember which). My answer was simple: We need to wait until King Richard comes out.

In short, it is a good thing I did wait, because this is easily his best performance since The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).

Tags 2021, Aunjanue Ellis, Demi Singleton, Feel Good, Jon Bernthal, Movie Reviews, PG-13, Rated PG-13, Saniyya Sidney, Sports, The Punisher, The Walking Dead, Will Smith