Review: “Toy Story 4”

3.5 out of 5 stars. “Toy Story 3” brought Pixar’s “Toy Story” franchise to a perfect conclusion. The films are important for many reasons. They’re some of the best animated movies ever made, boasting stories that are entertaining, clever, and heartfelt, told by richly drawn characters; in fact, it wouldn’t be too crazy to say […]

Review: “Dark Phoenix”

2 out of 5 stars. 2019 is the year that many iconic pop culture franchises are coming to a conclusion. But while 20th Century Fox’s live-action “X-Men” series has been around for longer than most of them—almost 20 years, in fact—it feels less like a bittersweet farewell and more like a sigh of relief to […]

Review: “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019)

3 out of 5 stars. Exposition is an important aspect of any movie, but there can also be too much of it. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”—the sequel to 2014’s “Godzilla”—somehow gives us both too much and too little story, choosing to spend more time with its human characters rather than its monsters, but also […]

Review: “Aladdin” (2019)

3.5 out of 5 stars. “A Whole New World,” the duet between Aladdin and Princess Jasmine is one of many favorite music numbers that appear in “Aladdin,” the new live-action remake of the animated Disney classic of the same name. It isn’t a great descriptor for the film itself, which in many aspects is inferior […]

Review: “Booksmart”

4.5 out of 5 stars. “Booksmart” is the latest entry in a series of contemporary teen movies seeking to bring a fresher, more honest take and modern sensibilities to a genre that over time can easily become dated. But thanks to an incredible cast, smart script, and brilliant direction by Olivia Wilde in her directorial […]

Review: “Tolkien”

2.5 out of 5 stars. J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the most renowned writers of all time. His “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, published in the mid-1950s, set the standard for modern fantasy, and continue to be beloved by fans to this day. It took an incredible amount of imagination to write […]

Review: “John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum”

4 out of 5 stars. The title of the third film in the John Wick franchise, “John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum,” sounds less like an enigma when you realize that para bellum is a Latin phrase that translates to “prepare for war.” It’s a fitting statement not just for the beginning of the film, in […]

Review: “Pokémon Detective Pikachu”

3 out of 5 stars. I think it’s safe to say that I am one of very few people my age who was never into Pokémon. I never watched the animated shows or movies, never played the video games, and never traded the cards. I can identify Pikachu on sight, but that’s really about it. […]

Review: “Pet Sematary” (2019)

2 out of 5 stars. Buried somewhere within “Pet Sematary,” there’s an interesting commentary on dealing with death and the fear of dying. But the film, which is based on the classic Stephen King novel and was adapted once before for film in 1989, doesn’t begin to unleash its full potential until the last 25 […]

Review: “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” (2019)

2.5 out of 5 stars. “Nancy Drew” is one of the most beloved and most famous children’s book series of all time, and yet, despite numerous attempts from the 1930s to now, no film or television adaptation of it has fully been successful. The same can be said for “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase,” […]