movie reviews

Oscars 2019 – Predictions

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by Kevin Muller

What a complicated path this has been to this year’s Oscars.  First, the Academy tried to shoehorn a category in ,“Popular Film,” that was quickly taken out after much outcry.  Then, Kevin Hart was hired then fired after his anti-gay tweets surfaced. Finally, the Academy wanted to cut certain awards that always had their time to shine, but quickly walked back, and put them back in. We haven’t even gotten to the ceremony where some celebrities are going to be annoying with their political beliefs that no one asked to hear. Anyway, the Oscars have always been a second Superbowl to me, without the high ratings. I love movies, and even though I don’t always agree with the picks, Chicago winning best picture comes to mind, I always like to see what/who wins.   Let’s get to it…

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Review – Happy Death Day 2U (2019)

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by Old King Clancy

I might have eventually got around to watching the first Happy Death Day, but amazingly enough it was the announcement of the sequel title, Happy Death Day 2U that made me seek it out because I figured a sequel title with that level of tongue-in-cheek humor must be alright. I really enjoyed the first movie thanks largely in part to Jessica Rothe’s star-making performance, so I was all in for the sequel and having now seen it, I’m happy to say it lives up to the original, not better, but if you liked the first then there’s every chance you’ll like this one too.

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Review – High Flying Bird (2019)

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by Armando Vanegas

Director Steven Soderbergh is nothing if not unconventional or unique. I may not always be crazy about the final product he might provide, but he’s at least playful with the medium. With High Flying Bird, he continues the trend of making unconventional choices by filming his second movie on an iPhone. It’s not an ideal choice, but I was willing to see what he was going to do with it. This unusual decision ends up working out in the end as it effectively fits with the narrative of the protagonist’s DIY plan to bring the game of basketball back to its players. High Flying Bird may not fully coalesce from a narrative standpoint, but the actors and the snappy screenplay by Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney help to make it a breezy watch.

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First trailer for Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner ‘THE SOUVENIR’

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Watch the first trailer for The Souvenir, a mysterious and mesmerizing chronicle of first love from acclaimed filmmaker Joanna Hogg.

The Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner features profoundly layered breakout performances by Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke alongside Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton in an enrapturing and personal portrait of the artist as a young woman.

The Souvenir hits Theaters on May 17th

 

Review – Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

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by Armando Vanegas

First off, what the fuck was this supposed to be? I get that it’s supposed to be a commentary on the art world and a horror movie at the same time, but I literally don’t get what I’m supposed to get from it outside of that. There’s so many plot threads and downtime in between all the crazy parts that it causes the movie to have an inconsistent tone. Am I supposed to laugh or be scared or just think? Velvet Buzzsaw is a nearly 2 hour cocktease of a movie that has some interesting ideas, but it wants to tackle too much, and really ends up doing none of it very well. I understand the main idea though. There’s a lot of jaded pretentious art people. I got this right away and there was nothing new that the smartest comedies to even the most bottom of the barrel satires haven’t already done communicating that same idea. Art people are pretentious. It takes a large bulk of its run-time making sure we get that as we’re seeing a lot of these characters just living their life functioning around this world.

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