After a practical joke goes wrong, Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) has to come to detention every Saturday in order to graduate. There, he meets a prep-turned-punk Kimberly (Naomi Scott) and an “on the spectrum” nerd Billy (RJ Cyler).
When Billy helps Jason with his house arrest bracelet problem, Jason agrees to drive Billy to an abandoned quarry, which happens to be the site of Continue reading Power Rangers (2017) Movie Review
Last weekend saw the record-breaking opening of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which raked in a phenomenal $174 million. The film broke the record for best March opening weekend and the best opening for a PG-rated film, beating out last year’s Finding Dory by almost $40 million.
Beast‘s lack of competition guaranteed it this large opening. This weekend, we see the release of four wide release films, according to Box Office Mojo. The biggest of these four is Saban and Lionsgate’s Power Rangers, which has received a sizable marketing campaign to rival Disney’s.
Other releases include the sports pic Slamma Jamma, the comedy ChiPs, and the space thriller Life, all three of which are opening in less theaters than Power Rangers and Beauty and the Beast.
With the large quantity of competition, how far will Beauty and the Beast drop?
In anticipation of April’s release of The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the The Fast and the Furious franchise, CineFiles is taking a retrospective look back on all of the series’ films. In this edition, we look at the third entry into the series (but the sixth film chronologically?), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is widely considered the black sheep of the now incredibly successful Fast & Furious franchise. This is due mainly to the film’s tangential narrative from what has essentially become a testosterone-infused soap opera.
But let’s not judge a book by its preconceived notions.
Tokyo Drift opens on a car race over the ownership of a woman. So…it’s not looking good so far. Unlike the previous two Fast & Furious films, however, this opening race Continue reading The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) Movie Review
Beauty and the Beast is the Disney live action remake of the 1991 animated hit. The tale as old as time is one of ostracism and romance. A sorceress condemns the arrogant Prince (Dan Stevens) to the realm of beast until he learns to love, and it will take the only other literate person in miles (Emma Watson) to break this spell (because, really, the only thing Belle and the Beast really connect on is their shared ability to read).
The 2017 Beast is a faithful adaptation, its added flourishes coming in the form of Continue reading Beauty and the Beast (2017) Movie Review
This weekend sees the release of yet another Disney juggernaut, Beauty and the Beast. Next to that is a much smaller new release in Blumhouse Tilt’s The Belko Experiment.
Vying for attention outside of the new kids on the block are a number of healthy box office contenders. Kong: Skull Island and Logan are two big box office draws still looking good in their second and third weekends. And Get Out remains strong as the genre engine that could.
How will the two newcomers fare in this market? Well…let’s just plop of photo here to break up the text before we get to the answer to that question…
In Bogota, Colombia, a white collar NPO that helps Americans get hired in South America is up to the normal day. Save for the heightened, armed gate security.
Midway through the morning, the office is interrupted by an intercom voice informing them that every employee needs to kill two of their coworkers to prevent further ramifications. The building is subsequently locked down with a seemingly impenetrable metal wall. When no one responds to the request of the mysterious voice of god: people’s heads start exploding.
And…begin a psychological mind games thriller a la Circle, 13 Sins, Cube, Cube 2: Hypercube, Cube Zero, Exam, Buried, Brake, Compliance, 9 Dead, Saw 1, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw VII, Cheap Thrills, The Perfect Host, The Invitation, Shutter Island, The Cure for Wellness, etc. etc.
James Gunn’s script is the ethical dilemma of the man on the trolley tracks—do you Continue reading The Belko Experiment (2017) Movie Review
In anticipation of the April release of The Fate of the Furious, CineFiles is taking a retrospective look back on the franchise as a whole. In this installment, we look at the second film in the series, 2 Fast 2 Furious.
2 Fast 2 Furious begins by essentially recreating the opening race of its predecessor. The only difference is that the intrigue of two dual protagonists facing off is replaced by the correct assumption that Brian (Paul Walker), the now ex-LAPD street racer, is going to win. The scene is also shot with more intensity, even if some shots are directly lifted from the first film.
Following this race, Brian is brought in by Miami police and roped into an undercover operation against Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), an importer-exporter cartel connection. Brian enlists the aide of childhood friend Roman Pierce (Tyrese Gibson) to infiltrate Verone’s inner circle.
There is a noticeable Continue reading 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) Movie Review
In anticipation of the release of Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, CineFiles is looking back on the Alien franchise as a whole. Today, we look at James Cameron’s sequel film Aliens, a film that takes the formula of the 1979 original film and spins it in a new direction.
57 years after the events of Ridley Scott’s Alien, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) wakes up from stasis. The only survivor of the Nostromo incident, Ripley accompanies a crew of military to LV-426, the planet where the Nostromo first encountered the eponymous creature.
Like the 1979 original, Aliens begins with characterization by way of politics. The heads of the mission, both military and civilian, sit at a different table at the mess hall while the army grunts act amateurish nearby. The characters adhere more to Continue reading Aliens (1986) Movie Review
Big Ape. Island. 1970s Vietnam backdrop. Movie. Synopsis over.
Kong: Skull Island is a Vietnam era period piece, something that acts as an important backdrop in the film. The stereotypes of U.S. in 1970s wartime dictate exposition and characterization.
The setup of Kong is messy in its expediency. A constant underscore of period relevant soundtrack keep conversations short and lacking in anything more than political platitudes.
Characters, as a result of this expediency and poor scripting, are Continue reading Kong: Skull Island (2017) Movie Review
The first thing one will notice about Logan, after a prologue/advert that you will not see coming, is that this is not Bryan Singer’s X-Men. Logan is the ninth film in the X-Men franchise and the third standalone Wolverine film. And it is a grizzled, grisly action tragedy. Not what one would expect from this comic book franchise.
An opening action sequence promises brutality not seen in comic book cinema to date, and it Continue reading Logan (2017) Movie Review
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