Category: Review

  • Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Blindspotting

    This week brings “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” which I wish didn’t go at all, and another Bay Area film, “Blindspotting.” There is no reason whatsoever to make “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” – yet somehow they convinced Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Christine Baranski, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, and…

  • Skyscraper, Eighth Grade

    This week brings the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vehicle “Skyscraper” and Bo Burnham’s surprisingly insightful “Eighth Grade.” While The Rock can do no wrong in my book, this isn’t exactly doing right by his audience… While “Skyscraper” is fine, it’s nothing innovative or even particularly daring. ​Meanwhile Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” was a surprisingly delightful…

  • Ant-Man and the Wasp, Sorry to Bother You

    The Bay Area is repping hard this week with Marvel’s “Ant-Man and The Wasp” and the brilliantly bizarre “Sorry to Bother You.” In spite of my constant complaints of superhero fatigue you know there was no way I was going to miss “Ant-Man and The Wasp” and I’m delighted to say that it was a…

  • Three Identical Strangers, Boundaries

    In a summer jam packed with blockbusters we take a look at two smaller releases, the documentary “Three Identical Strangers” and the semi-autobiographical “Boundaries.” “Three Identical Strangers” is stranger than fiction, it’s about triplets separated at birth. That alone should be enough to see the film but it gets even more absurd. Get thee to…

  • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

    Dinos. Dinos. Dinos. This week is “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” which many other critics have been hating on pretty hard, but it’s exactly what you’d expect from a “Jurassic World” film (for better or worse). I don’t get the level of animosity directed at the film, it’s not as revelatory as “Jurassic Park” was (but…

  • Incredibles 2, Tag

    This week brings a sequel 14 years in the making, and a comedy based on real events 30+ years in the making. It’s “Incredibles 2” and “Tag” Disney Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” picks up pretty much right where “The Incredibles” left off. I don’t think folks are going to be disappointed by this sequel. Brad Bird…

  • Ocean’s 8, Hotel Artemis, Won’t You Be My Neighbor

    This week brings the female lead heist film “Ocean’s 8”, the also criminal centric “Hotel Artemis” and the Fred Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” “Ocean’s 8″ is a fun romp that you really don’t need to have seen any of the predecessors for. It stars Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling,…

  • How to Talk to Girls at Parties, American Animals

    This week brings the Neil Gaiman/John Cameron Mitchell combo “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” and the (based on true events) crime thriller “American Animals.” f you’re a fan of either Gaiman or Cameron Mitchell, “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” is probably worth checking out. Based on Gaiman’s short story of the…

  • Solo: A Star Wars Story, First Reformed, RBG

    For the first time in a long time I am not stoked about a new “Star Wars” film. This week is “Solo: A Star Wars Story” – spoiler free of course. The Ethan Hawke vehicle, “First Reformed” and what should be a required viewing piece, “RBG.” I was apprehensive about “Solo: A Star Wars Story”…

  • Deadpool 2

    My boy Ryan Reynolds is back as Wade Wilson in “Deadpool 2”! But does it live up to the first? Ryan Reynolds is back as the Merc with a Mouth in “Deadpool 2”, as are Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa, Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead, T.J. Miller’s Weasel, Leslie Uggams’ Blind Al, and everyone’s favorite cab driver,…