In this sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, an infant Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) is separated from her parents (Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy) and aimlessly searches for them throughout her life until…the narrative of Finding Nemo begins.
A year after the events of that film, Continue reading Finding Dory (2016) Movie Review
Cell is a movie based on a novel by Stephen King. In this adaptation, Clay Riddell (John Cusack), is an artist who, while in an apartment, becomes witness to an apocalyptic event in which a cell phone signal causes users to become feral (in inconsistent ways). They foam at the mouth, attack people, attack themselves, and become utterly unaware of their own humanity.
The opening shots of this film set the tone for its overall success. Continue reading Cell (2016) Movie Review
Note: Spoilers for Sunspring are in this in-depth review. The video is embedded below if you want to watch before you read.
In Sunspring, director Oscar Sharp engages in a cinematic experiment. The goal: to create an award-worthy short film using a script written by an artificial intelligence. The result: glorious sci-fi chaos. Feeding the A.I. with dozens of science fiction script .txt files and a series of prompts given for a sci-fi filmmaking competition, the small cast and crew used the resulting script to shoot the short in one day.
“In a future with mass unemployment, young people are forced to sell blood,” Thomas Middleditch’s H begins, upon pulling a book out of a drawer and thumbing through it. “It’s something I could do.”
This is perhaps the most Continue reading An In-Depth Analysis of Sunspring (2016), The Short Film Written By A Computer
Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), framed by the magician-Robin Hoods The Horsemen and now behind bars, is looking for revenge. Meanwhile, The Horsemen are given orders by the mysterious magician activism syndicate The Eye to engage in their next caper.
This initialization of the plan is sequenced with wonderful pacing and wit. The plan itself is logical nonsense, but it sure is Continue reading Now You See Me 2 (2016) Movie Review
During Ed and Lorraine Warren’s (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) investigation of the Amityville horror, Lorraine Warren encounters hell incarnate during a seance in an opening sequence to The Conjuring 2 that is orchestrated with neo-horror precision, combining old school tropes and new era scare tactics.
After amassing a popular following through the Amityville case, the Warrens are requested in Enfield, where they encounter Continue reading The Conjuring 2 (2016) Movie Review
There has been a war between Orcs and Humans as long as anyone can remember. Thus is the world of Warcraft (pun. apologies.). We follow an Orc warrior in tow with his warring clan as well as his wife and child to be. We also follow a band of humans who are combating the oncoming onslaught of Orcs using the magical guidance of the Guardian (Ben Foster). There is also a Halfling (Paula Patton) (which is to say, half Orc, half human) who is caught in the middle of these warring races.
The film throws you into a narrative already in motion, in medias res as is the fantasy genre standard. The problem with this in this particular instance is Continue reading Warcraft (2016) Movie Review
In The Lobster, David (Colin Farrell), upon being abandoned by his wife for another man, attends a hotel in which he must fall in love in 45 days or else be turned into an animal of his choosing. The movie is as surreal as the premise sounds, but it is also something beyond the mere surreal, which is an alleyway that can quickly lead to becoming a gimmick.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ usual brand of awkward yet matter-of-fact line readings dominate The Lobster. Characters present so much on their face while still concealing Continue reading The Lobster (2016) Movie Review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows opens on a gorgeous establishing shot of the New York skyline. It is one of the few shots in the film not tightly framing partial faces engaging in reaction shots.
In the aftermath of Shredder (Brian Tee) terrorizing NYC, Vern “The Falcon” (Will Arnett) has taken all of the credit, and the Turtles have returned to the shadows. That is, until Shredder and two bumbling goons Continue reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) Movie Review
The “Style Boyz” are a juvenile hip-hop crew comprised of Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer), Owen (Jorma Taccone), and Conner (Andy Samberg). After power trips get the best of them, Conner transforms his brand into Conner4Real, becoming a one-time star in the process, Lawrence gets fed up with the power feud and retires to a small farm and a scraggly beard, and Owen gets relegated to the literal background role as Conner’s DJ.
The opening credit song pretty much tells the whole story: Conner is “So Humble” in the sense that he has no idea what the word means. This threatens to ruin his career and all of his relationships, and the plot plays out accordingly from there.
Popstar plays as a mockumentary, but one can’t go in with the godfather of music mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, in mind, as the two films couldn’t Continue reading Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) Movie Review
In Ancient Egypt, a god is buried. But it is not a god, it is a mutant. Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). Apocalypse can unlock the true potential in any other mutant, and then use those powers for his own design. That, and he can turn people to dust. After his resurfacing in the 1980s, mutants must band together and reform the X-Men in order to take down Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen.
The first act of the film sets up strong characters and their motivations. We get to see a young Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) as a teen growing up with uncontrolled powers. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) gets a strong emotional arc to once again Continue reading X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Movie Review
CineFiles Movie Reviews 