HARD MILES (2024) review
written by: R.J. Daniel Hanna and Christian Sander
produced by:
directed by: R.J. Daniel Hanna
rated: PG-13 (for strong language, thematic content, suggestive references and some teen drinking)
runtime: 108 min.
U.S. release date: April 19, 2024
After working the festival circuit, “Hard Miles”, an American cycling drama based on a true story, is getting a theatrical release. It’s an inspiring story that most viewers will be unaware of, which is why some of the best sports movies are made. It’s also why some of the best sports movies aren’t about the sport, which is why they resonate with any viewer. Read more…
DEEP SKY (2023) review
written by: Nathaniel Kahn
produced by: Nathaniel Kahn and Bonnie Hlinomaz
directed by: Nathaniel Kahn
rated: not rated
runtime: 40 min.
U.S. release date: October 20, 2023 & April 19, 2024
“Deep Sky” is a documentary short made for people like me. I’m interested in space and in awe of NASA geek brains, but it’s all quite confounding for my limited bandwidth. When it comes to what’s going on in outer space, millions of miles and thousands of years away, I rely on documentaries to enlighten my perception of space and beyond. That’s not to say that Nathaniel Kahn hasn’t made a documentary for viewers well-versed in the origin and activity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, they’ll also appreciate this. Shot for IMAX screens, “Deep Sky” is indeed for everyone. However, one would benefit from knowing very little about this enormous telescope, and you, this short itself, would benefit from something that eludes all of us: time. Read more…
THE BEAST (2024) review
written by: Bertrand Bonello
produced by: Bertrand Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud and Benjamin Charbit
directed by: Bertrand Bonello
rated: not rated
runtime: 145 min.
U.S. release date: April 12, 2024
I had to watch “The Beast” (“La Bete”) a couple of times before I landed on my overall thoughts on it. That’s not at all a slight against the latest from French writer/director Bertrand Botello, but simply a testament to the density of this strange sweeping sci-fi epic. It could also be considered a horror and/or thriller tale, but Botello isn’t necessarily concerned with genres here. He’s offering three (possibly four) tales set in different time periods, in which the two leads are playing variations of the same characters as one of them desires and searches for a love connection. However, such a quest winds up with similar results, and perhaps that’s the titular beast that looms eventually (and inevitably) rears its head each time. Within each story, there’s this sense, this fear, that you can’t stop what’s coming. Read more…
LA CHIMERA (2023) review
written by: Alice Rohrwacher
produced by: Carlo Cresto Dina
directed by: Alice Rohrwacher
rated: not rated
runtime: 133 min.
U.S. release date: December 8, 2023 (limited), March 29, 2024 and April 5, 2024
“La Chimera” starts with the main character sleeping on a train making its way around the Florentine countryside. We see images from his dream, from a time when he was with a woman in the sun along a shoreline. When the train’s ticket collector awakens Arthur, he is asked if he was dreaming and is told, “Sorry, you’ll never know how it ends now.” As the film unfolds, one wonders if that line lingers for Arthur as much as it does for us. Read more…
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE (2024) review
written by: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater
produced by: Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia & Eric McLeod
directed by: Adam Wingard
rated: PG-13 (for creature violence and action)
runtime: 115 min.
U.S. release date: March 29, 2024
Since 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” from director Adam Wingard, there has been a series called “Monarch” on AppleTV+ that delved into the history of the titular clandestine organization that has studied kaiju creatures in this new MonsterVerse that started back in 2014 with “Godzilla”. Warner Brothers, Toho, Legendary Pictures, and Wingard return for massive scale chaos and epic smackdown action with “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire”, continuing to expand upon the cartoon fun and CGI talents from the last movie. This one has the appropriate tone to make it easily digestible entertainment for the right audience. That would be viewers mainly interested in monster mayhem. Read more…
ROAD HOUSE (2024) review
written by: screenplay by Anthony Bagarozzi & Charles Mondry; story by Bagarozzi & Mondry, and R. Lance Hill
produced by: Joel Silver
directed by: Doug Liman
rated: R (for violence throughout, pervasive language, and some nudity)
runtime: 124 min.
U.S. release date: March 21, 2024 (exclusively on Amazon Prime)
“Nobody wins a fight.”
What is it about Patrick Swayze’s filmography that makes remaking any of his starring vehicles a dead-end proposition? Die-hard fans of the actor, myself included, will tell you that it’s because Swayze had a certain ineffable quality that no actor since has possessed—though I have argued that Channing Tatum has come the closest to being his heir apparent. Though he fronted some of the most macho films in history, Swayze embraced his vulnerable and feminine qualities in a way most male actors are terrified to emulate. His training as a dancer made him a dynamic film presence, one who could always draw your attention no matter what else was happening around him. Read more…
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE (2024) review
written by: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
produced by: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman & Jason Blumenfeld
directed by: Gil Kenan
rated: PG-13 (for supernatural action/violence, language, and suggestive references)
runtime: 115 min.
U.S. release date: March 22, 2024
There’s quite a bit going on in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, the latest entry in a franchise that hasn’t had a good sequel since Ivan Reitman’s 1984 comedy classic. Granted, a clever reimagining in 2016 was quite funny, but I guess too many viewers (fans?) got in an uproar over an all-female Ghostbusters quartet. Co-written by Jason Reitman (who wrote and directed the last sequel, 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”) and Gil Kenan (“Monster House”), this movie, like the last one, wants us to forget about that arguable flop. It is similar to what every recent legacyquel has been doing: relying on nostalgia, a crop of new characters mixed with the old, and regurgitating familiar plotlines from past entries. Some moments here feel exciting and new, but it’s all inevitably weighed down by the sheer number of characters and an attempt at providing way too much. Read more…
ARTHUR THE KING (2024) review
written by: Michael Brandt
produced by: Tucker Tooley, Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Tessa Tooley, Mark Wahlberg & Stephen Levinson
directed by: Simon Cellan Jones
rated: PG-13 (for some strong language)
runtime: 90 min.
U.S. release date: March 15, 2024
Out of all the trailers that have recently occupied the twenty or so minutes before a movie begins in movie theaters, “Arthur the King” has been shown the most and thus deemed the most annoying. Truly. Not only is it one of those trailers that show just about every beat of the plot, but it also has Mark Wahlberg in one of those “inspirational, based on a true story” roles, only here he shares the screen with a dog. That’s a step up from talking to a tree in “The Happening.” Because Lionsgate ran the trailer ad nauseum, it had the opposite intended effect on me – it made me care less if I saw it. Still, I’m a sucker for survival/adventure stories and dogs. For the most part, “Arthur the King” offers some inspiring, family-friendly viewing, but the movie gets drenched in its own sentimental and sappy perspiration too often. Read more…
IMAGINARY (2024) review
written by: Jeff Wadlow, Greg Erb and Jason Oremland
produced by: Jeff Wadlow and Jason Blum
directed by: Jeff Wadlow
rated: PG-13 (for some violent content, drug material and language)
runtime: 104 min.
U.S. release date: March 8, 2024
Everything that once entertained or comforted a child will at some point be turned against them in horror tales. That cuddly dog or friendly cat will turn rabid, toys will come to life and wield knives, animatronic anthropomorphic homicidal animals, and, well, clowns have always been creepy. In “Imaginary,” the second horror flick this year from Blumhouse Studios (after “Night Swim”), the threat is two-fold: an old teddy bear and a vengeful imaginary friend. Indeed, the screenwriters’ imaginations are coming up dry if this is where we’re at. This supernatural pseudo-thriller from director/co-writer Jeff Wadlow (responsible for other Blumhouse turds like “Truth or Dare” and “Fantasy Island”) leans more towards fantasy than anything derived from psychological trauma. Read more…
LOVE LIES BLEEDING (2024) review
written by: Rose Glass and Weronika Tofilska
produced by: Andrea Cornwell and Oliver Kassman
directed by: Rose Glass
rated: R (for violence and grisly images, sexual content, nudity, language throughout and drug use)
runtime: 104 min.
U.S. release date: March 8, 2024
With her impressive 2020 directorial debut, the psychological horror feature, “Saint Maud,” filmmaker Rose Glass made an indelible mark on viewers. The film garnered a decent amount of praise despite a COVID-19 pandemic release date, which hindered its mass appeal. But, word-of-mouth grew as the film hit various streaming services, where it received a wider audience. “Love Lies Bleeding” is the director’s sophomore effort, which finds her taking a wild shot at the pulp crime neo-noir genre. Glass co-wrote the screenplay with Weronika Tofilska, and the two of them are going bold and brutal in a furious and sensual American tale of obsession, love, and violence. Read more…
