Review: “Dunkirk”

4 out of 5 stars. Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” begins with an unexpected quietness, as a group of British soldiers roam the streets of that all-but-abandoned French city that, as the text at the beginning of the film states, is the site of the Allied soldiers’ retreat after the 1940 invasion of France by Nazi Germany. […]

Review: “War for the Planet of the Apes”

5 out of 5 stars. With an abundance of computer-generated characters populating most modern movies, pushing for realism seems to be the goal of most studios. Too often are viewers taken out of a movie, however briefly, by characters and effects that are realistic, but not realistic enough to exist seamlessly with the real people […]

Review: “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

4 out of 5 stars. The number of film incarnations of “Spider-Man” to come out in the last 15 years, regardless of what you think of them, is ridiculous. In “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Tom Holland becomes the third actor to take on the role of the web-slinging hero in a live-action movie, following on the heels of […]

Review: “The Beguiled” (2017)

4 out of 5 stars. It’s amazing what different writers and directors can bring to—or take away from—the same story. Case in point, “The Beguiled,” a 1971 film directed by Don Siegel, based on a novel of the same name. That movie, set during the American Civil War, starred Clint Eastwood as John, an injured […]

Review: “Despicable Me 3”

3.5 out of 5 stars. The “Despicable Me” films have always been rather all over the place—that’s not a bad thing in this case though, and for the record I really do like the first two movies. But despite all the colorful gadgets and cartoonish supervillains and yellow sidekicks, at their heart they’ve always been […]

Review: “Baby Driver”

5 out of 5 stars. A car pulls up to a bank. Three well-dressed but obviously crooked people get out and enter the building. A robbery ensues, and the criminals run back out to their car, their driver making a speedy getaway. Many movies have had similar openings, but it’s obviously from a couple minutes […]

Review: “Cars 3”

3 out of 5 stars. I realize that I am in the minority when I say that I really like “Cars.” The 2006 animated Pixar film about a cocky racecar who changes his way after he is waylaid in a sleepy town off Route 66 was an instant hit with audience but met with mediocre […]

Review: “The Mummy” (2017)

2 out of 5 stars. Disney has the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Warner Brothers has DC. And, not to be left behind, Universal Studios now has the Dark Universe, having announced remakes of many of the studio’s classic horror franchises, the plan being for them to take place in the same universe. That new series is […]

Review: “Wonder Woman” (2017)

4.5 out of 5 stars. “Wonder Woman” is the most important blockbuster movie of the year; actually, it’s one of the most important movies not just of 2017 in general, but in recent years. Film and television mediums have been dominated in recent years by superhero movies, but from Marvel’s now-massive cinematic universe to the […]

Review: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”

2 out of 5 stars. If you’re looking to watch a little over two hours of a major movie studio desperately trying to resurrect a franchise that should have been dead and buried a long time ago, look no further than “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.” Directed by franchise newcomers Joachim […]