2018

Review – The Week Of (2018)

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by Nile Fortner

Adam Sandler and Chris Rock star in the Netflix Original film The Week Of which reunites the two former Saturday Night Live mega-stars. This is a movie coming from Adam Sandler and it’s part of Sandler’s eight-picture deal with Netflix.

Adam Sandler’s eight-picture deal with Netflix has been mostly negative with the exception of The Meyerowitz Stories, where Adam Sandler shines along with his co-stars Ben Stiller, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman. The Meyerowitz Stories showed viewers that Sandler has range as an actor and can show us a new side that we do not see very often. It took Sandler out of his comfort zone and away from the mediocre to just straight-up bad material that we’ve been getting from him over the last few years. Unfortunately, The Week Of is Sandler going back to his comfort zone and bad material.

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The Last Witness – Interview with Piotr Szkopiak

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Who Gets to Call it History?

Director Piotr Szkopiak Talks Justice, Katyn, and The Last Witness

Director Piotr Szkopiak on the set of The Last Witness

Photo courtesy of Momentum Pictures

 

By Christopher M. Rzigalinski

History is written by the victors and those with power. Significant events in the lives of ordinary citizens often go missing from news reports, calendars, and textbooks. But May 11th, 2018 was a monumental date. The Last Witness, Polish-Anglo writer and director Piotr Szkopiak’s second film, opened in Poland that day. Red carpet arrivals and press coverage mattered little compared to the importance of Szkopiak’s mother being present to watch the film.

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Review – Deadpool 2 (2018)

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by Old King Clancy

WARNING – I will have to discuss a pretty big spoiler that occurs in the first act, I would try to avoid it, but it factors into the film quite heavily. It’s within the first 10-15 minutes, so it’s not too big but here’s the warning anyway.

Looking back at the history of the first Deadpool and how long it took to actually get made I forgave it for some of its shortcomings, namely in that while it was a good comedy, it lacked a strong story to make it good film overall. As such it doesn’t hold up as well on revisits, but is still a funny movie, by comparison Deadpool 2 has a much stronger narrative as well a much more impressive action set-pieces. Ironically, it’s the jokes that come up short. Maybe now living in a world where films like Logan and Infinity War have changed the comic-book movie landscape, the immaturity of Deadpool doesn’t sit as well with me, or maybe I’m just a pretentious ass who can’t have any fun.

Let’s find out.

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Daphne and Velma Blu-Ray #PhellasGiveAway

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Daphne and Velma is out today on Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD from Warner Bros Home Entertainment and we’re giving away a copy of the movie to one lucky follower!  Let us know who your favorite Scooby Doo character is and why.  Also, don’t forget to use #PhellasGiveAway when posting and we’ll announce the winner (U.S. Residents ONLY) on Tuesday, May 29th at 7 pm CST.

Jinkies! The smart and resourceful women of the iconic Scooby-Doo franchise, come to life in an all-new mystery with the release of Daphne & Velma from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film stars Sarah Jeffery (Disney’s “Descendants: Wicked World”) and Sarah Gilman (ABC’s “Last Man Standing”), and follows the first mystery-solving adventures of Scooby-Doo’s leading ladies.

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Review – Terminal (2018)

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Margot Robbie and Mike Myers go Film Noir in ‘Terminal’

by Nile Fortner

Terminal stars Margot Robbie who is fresh off of the Academy Award-winning film I, Tonya, and is a stylish film focusing on the intertwining of characters and stories. The movie follows the intertwining of assassins, a fatally-ill teacher, a janitor, and a waitress whom all have an agenda of a murderous plan. Robbie kills people in a very stylish way and wears incredibly nice clothes, kills people, and looks damn fine doing it.

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Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb – Interview with Casey Tebo

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Director Casey Tebo Talks Inspiration, the Rebirth of Steven Tyler, and Out on a Limb

Director Casey Tebo (left) and Steven Tyler (right) at the 2018 Nashville Film Festival

By Christopher M. Rzigalinski

A 45 year-old male audience member once asked English writer and actor Quentin Crisp what he should do about his thinning hair. “Shave your head. This is the principle on which [style] works. You are losing your hair. So you embrace the loss of your hair. You swim with the tide, but faster,” Crisp responded. “Embrace what you alone have.” I’ve always considered this argument to be the most effective defense against aging. Director Casey Tebo’s film called Steven Tyler: Out on a Limb (2018) proves that, at the age of 70, the Aerosmith frontman is just beginning to find his greatest inspiration.

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Review – Isle of Dogs (2018)

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by Armando Vanegas

Simultaneously charming and depressing, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs will find a way to stick with you long after the credits roll. While it might not reach the levels of Rushmore or Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson still manages to utilize his trademark style into a unique and entertaining experience. The movie follows a group of dogs in a dystopian future version of Japan and isolated by the evil new mayor on a trash island literally called “Trash Island,” after an outbreak of a dog flu virus in the city. When Atari, a young Japanese boy, gets stuck on the island while looking for his own dog, the other dogs agree to help him, including the cynical Chief.

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