Review: “Hidden Figures”

5 out of 5 stars. There are a lot of stories lurking in the shadows of history, just waiting for someone to come along and tell them. We all know about the Space Race, and astronaut John Glenn, who was the first American to circle the Earth. But the film “Hidden Figures” tells a side […]

Let’s make Oscar predictions!

If you know me, you know that a sizable portion of my life revolves around awards season. Back in August, I made some predictions for what movies could possibly be nominated for Academy Awards come Oscar time. With the Critic’s Choice Awards behind us and the Golden Globe Awards this weekend, awards season is in […]

10 Best Movies of 2016

2016 has come to a close, and as strange and often sad as this year was, at least we can say we got some great movies out of it. In fact, this was the first year I can remember that I struggled to fill my list of the year’s top 10 movies not because there […]

Review: “Jackie”

4.5 out of 5 stars. “Jackie” concludes with the finale of the musical “Camelot” playing over the action; as Jackie states in the film, the cast album was a favorite of her husband’s, President John F. Kennedy, comparing his brief time in office prior to his assassination to that mystical land. While that comment has […]

Review: “Fences”

4 out of 5 stars. Fences can be built to keep things in; they can also be built to keep things out. While there is a literal fence being constructed by Denzel Washington’s character Troy throughout the movie “Fences,” it is also symbolic of his and Viola Davis’ character Rose’s relationship to each other, and […]

Review: “Passengers” (with spoilers!)

The following review contains spoilers for “Passengers.” 2 out of 5 stars. The ads for “Passengers” bill it as escapist sci-fi entertainment. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence wake up from early hibernation on a spaceship, and something goes wrong. The thing is, that “something wrong” that the marketing alludes to isn’t what you think, […]

Review: “Assassin’s Creed”

2 out of 5 stars. Film adaptations of video games have never had a good track record. So to say that “Assassin’s Creed” is the best game-to-film adaptation in a long time may not exactly be a compliment. In placing plot over action, the film takes what is best about the games and turns it […]

Review: “La La Land”

4.5 out of 5 stars. “La La Land” opens with a long tracking shot, the camera moving along bumper-to-bumper traffic on a Los Angeles freeway, a cacophony of sounds and different music emanating from each vehicle—a fairly typical scene, until, one by one, people leap out of their cars, jumping on top of them and […]

Review: “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (with spoilers)

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers for “Rogue One.” Read at your own risk. 4 out of 5 stars. With “The Force Awakens,” the first new installment of the “Star Wars” series since 2005 and the first since the Walt Disney Company acquired the franchise, the goal was to draw audiences back into that galaxy […]

Review: “Loving”

4 out of 5 stars. Loving was their name, and they were persecuted for doing the exact same thing. In “Loving,” writer/director Jeff Nichols tells the true story of the landmark 1967 court case Loving v. Virginia, in which the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for states to prohibit interracial marriage. It’s a […]