Streaming Roundup: June 2019

With July just beginning and the summer movie season already halfway over, there have been a ton of films released between both the big and small screens. Here’s the rundown of a few new films released on streaming platforms in June. AMAZON “Chasing Happiness” This documentary chronicles the Jonas Brothers’ rise to fame as one […]

Review: “Yesterday”

2.5 out of 5 stars. It’s difficult to imagine a world without the Beatles. Their music has been an integral part of pop culture around the world for decades, their impact and influence on others seemingly never-ending. But a world without the Beatles is exactly what the movie “Yesterday” tries to imagine, only the premise […]

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. […]