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Film Festivals, Movie Reviews

Good Fortune Review

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Good Fortune

  • Director: Aziz Ansari
  • Writer: Aziz Ansari
  • Starring: Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh, Stephen McKinley Henderson

Grade: B-

Actors becoming directors has become a more common trend in recent years. With Scarlett Johansson’s debut film, Eleanor the Great, releasing only a couple weeks ago, and Bradley Cooper set to release his third feature, Is This Thing On?, in December, actors have been inspired by their on-set experience to direct their own movies. Aziz Ansari is the latest actor-turned-director with his film Good Fortune, an absurd comedy that nails the current state of America.

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Movie Reviews

A House of Dynamite Review

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A House of Dynamite

  • Director: Kathryn Bigelow
  • Writer: Noah Oppenheim
  • Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Fergason, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke, Kaitlyn Dever

Grade: B

Since beginning her career as an action director, Kathryn Bigelow has garnered considerable acclaim with recent films that delve into more dramatic territory. Since becoming the first woman ever to win the Best Director award at the Academy Awards for The Hurt Locker, she has become a filmmaker whose films are on the Oscars’ radar. Seven years after her last feature film, Detroit, her upcoming movie, A House of Dynamite, appears to be her next film aiming for Oscar nominations, and focuses on the dangers of nuclear weapons in a fast-paced and digestible manner.

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Movie Reviews

Eleanor the Great Review

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Eleanor the Great

  • Director: Scarlett Johansson
  • Writer: Tory Kamen
  • Starring: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht, Rita Zohar

Grade: B-

As an actress, Scarlett Johansson has proven to be a visionary in film throughout the past couple of decades. With roles in movies like Marriage Story and Her, she has shown herself to push film to emotional heights that not many other actors could achieve, so it is no surprise that she has finally taken on the role of director in her debut, Eleanor the Great. 

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Movie Reviews

Jurassic World: Rebirth Review

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Jurassic World: Rebirth

  • Director: Gareth Edwards
  • Writer: David Koepp
  • Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend

Grade: C-

The Jurassic Park franchise has slowly become one of the most stale and lifeless franchises in the current blockbuster era. Entries like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World: Dominion have failed to recapture the magic of the original film with some of the worst screenplays ever written for a major blockbuster. Despite the poor critical reception, the series manages to rack up billions of dollars. Although Dominion was perceived to be the final entry, the box office would not let the franchise die. 

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Movie Reviews

The Monkey Review

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The Monkey

  • Director: Osgood Perkins
  • Writer: Osgood Perkins
  • Starring: Theo James, Elijah Wood, Tatiana Maslany, Rohan Campbell, Christian Convery, Sarah Levy

Grade: B

Last year, Osgood Perkins broke into the mainstream with the box-office hit Longlegs. Not only did the film find success at the theater, but critics praised it for its atmospheric tension and gorgeous visuals. Less than a year later, Perkins teams with James Wan to adapt Stephen King’s short story “The Monkey.” Unlike his last film, The Monkey has a drastically different tone, delving deep into satire and absurdist humor, making this a riot from start to finish.

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Movie Reviews

You’re Cordially Invited Review

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You’re Cordially Invited

  • Director: Nicholas Stoller
  • Writer: Nicholas Stoller
  • Starring: Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack McBrayer, Bobby Moynihan, Meredith Hagner, Jimmy Tatro

Grade: C-

Will Ferrell is an actor I enjoy in any project, no matter how good or bad it ends up. Whether it’s iconic comedies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy or critically panned films like Get Hard, Ferrell brings an energy that elevates even the worst dialogue. With the pairing of Reese Witherspoon and writer-director Nicholas Stoller, I had high expectations that You’re Cordially Invited could be another Will Ferrell staple. Sadly, the film falls victim to most recent direct-to-streaming comedies; an unimaginative screenplay and a misunderstanding of Gen-Z culture. 

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Movie Reviews

Better Man Review

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Better Man

  • Director: Michael Gracey
  • Writers: Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole, Michael Gracey
  • Starring: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvaney, Frazer Hadfield, Tom Budge, Anthony Hayes

Grade: B-

Robbie Williams was a name I had never heard before the announcement of Better Man. Despite having a good production team behind the film, I had zero interest in seeing another musical biopic, especially about someone whom I knew nothing about. Then, I heard that Robbie Williams would be portrayed by a motion-captured CGI ape, which not only caught my attention but reversed all expectations I had before. 

Is the film as weird as its premise sounds? Absolutely.

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Movie Reviews

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Review

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3

  • Director: Jeff Fowler
  • Writers: Pat Casey & Josh Miller, and John Whittington
  • Starring: Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves, Krysten Ritter, Lee Majdoub, Natasha Rothwell

Grade: B

Having never played the SEGA games growing up, I was never gung-ho on the idea of a Sonic the Hedgehog-based film franchise. The character never caught my attention, and the live-action/cgi hybrid did even less to catch my interest. I had fun with the first two films in the franchise, but I never felt overly enthusiastic about either of them. With Sonic the Hedgehog 3, I garnered a newfound appreciation for the characters and story, and it is mostly due to Jim Carrey. 

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Movie Reviews

A Complete Unknown Review

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A Complete Unknown

  • Director: James Mangold
  • Writer: Jay Cocks, James Mangold
  • Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Scoot McNairy

Grade: B+

I’ve personally always been softer on musical biopics compared to most. Sure, most of these movies follow the same exact formula, telling the same rise and fall narrative, that movies like Walk Hard and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story mocked relentlessly. But some movies, like Elvis or Rocketman, add some more much-needed personality to the subgenre. But more often than not, we get movies like Bohemian Rhapsody or Bob Marley: One Love, which treat their subjects as if they are literal superheroes.

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Movie Reviews

The Order Review

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The Order

  • Director: Justin Kurzel
  • Writer: Zach Baylin
  • Starring: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alison Oliver, Jurnee Smollett, Marc Maron, Odessa Young

Grade: C+

Nicholas Hoult has been busy in 2024. With films like Juror #2, Nosferatu, and a voice role in The Garfield Movie, Hoult has proven himself to be an incredibly versatile actor during this year alone, with more massive projects on the way. With director Justin Kurzel’s The Order, Hoult displays a layer of darkness that I have yet to see in his projects, carrying the film from a forgettable crime drama to an enthralling experience. 

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