Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I haven’t updated in a bit because I’ve been sick and busy with taxes and other responsibilities. (Also one of these films I really struggled with my thoughts on it so have been procrastinating but I will do my best.) First up I had a 4 movie day at the Megaplex on April 2nd so I was able to catch up on some of the movies I’d missed while at SXSW and when I was sick. I did a video review on these 4 In summary Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is an overstuffed mess, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a boring entry in the disappointing franchise with ver ..read more

Any regular traveler will tell you that some trips feel cursed or at best don’t turn out the way we have planned. This was basically my experience with the second half of my SXSW trip and in fact I’ve been hesitant to write about it at all because I didn’t want to appear ungrateful or rude. I think I made the best of things and I’m beyond appreciative of my friends and their support but it was a frustrating experience. The main problem started a couple of days into the visit when I noticed myself dragging and starting to have the basic symptoms of hay fever. It’s weird because I’ve been to Tex ..read more

Many people are shocked to find out I have never seen any of the John Wick movies. The first one came out in 2014 and as I’m not the biggest fan of strong violence and wasn’t a critic then I didn’t watch it. Then by the time I was reviewing films as a professional critic it was 2019 and the 3rd movie was coming out. It’s overwhelming to catch up on so many movies so I just never watched them. Now for this blind spot series I have seen the first movie from 2014. I think the biggest asset you can take away from John Wick (2014) is the old adage to keep it simple stupid. Action movies these days ..read more

It’s always fun when we get new rom-coms both in streaming and the theaters. Even if they don’t entirely work I like to see more content coming out in the genre and more risks being taken on different projects. So today let’s talk about 2 of the recently released films: Irish Wish and French Girl. IRISH WISH https://youtube.com/shorts/n7PWOFgbq5o?feature=share First up we have the new comedy starring Lindsay Lohan entitled Irish Wish. This is the second time Lohan has worked with Michael and Janeen Damien. The first time being 2022’s Falling for Christmas. In both movies the team capture a com ..read more

Now that we’ve got the non-festival films out of the way let’s talk about what I’ve seen so far at SXSW. I wish I could do full posts on each of these films but I just don’t have the time right now. Perhaps I will down the road but here goes: We Were Dangerous I was a little nervous going into We Were Dangerous that it would be too intense for my taste (especially as the start to the festival) but it actually balances its competing tones quite well. I don’t know if it is based on a true story but it is about a group of New Zealand teens in 1954 that are sent to a reform camp run by a cruel an ..read more

Hi from Austin, Texas! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your Spring Break. I am busy attending the SXSW Film Festival in Austin and naturally have a lot of movies to catch you up on. Before that post I have a couple films outside of the festival to post my review on that both happen to be inspirational true story films. Here goes: Arthur the King I’m not sure why the studio is hedging on Arthur the King but I saw this back on March 3rd and have been embargoed all that time. It’s too bad because I loved it and could have promoted it to my followers. It is based on the true story of a ..read more

One of the challenges as a critic is to try and be as fair and objective as possible. Obviously true objectivity is impossible because I am a human being full of biases, tastes, history and personal experiences that flavor my understanding and acceptance of any film. I still like to try as hard as I can to give everything I see the opportunity to wow me. However, some stuff has admittedly more of an uphill climb than other stuff… This is where I admit I am just not a Dune person. I found the book to be one of the most excruciating experiences of my reading life with uninteresting characters, s ..read more

Hi friends! I have some quick updates to give you and then will be writing my longer review of Dune: Part 2 in the next couple of days. If you want to see my out of theater reaction click here: Drive Away Dolls- As an esteemed moviegoer and film critic I have a confession to make. I am extremely mixed on the Coen Brothers especially their comedies. Of course, they have their classics like Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Art Thou? but especially some of their more recent stuff really falls flat like Intolerable Cruelty, Hail, Caesar! and Burn After Reading (I know these movies have their ..read more

I realize the title to this review is going to cause some outrage. I like to believe even on bad movies people are usually still trying their best. Therefore, I did not give such a title lightly. In fact I waited several days to write the review after the embargo and release to make sure how I felt about Madame Web and that I wasn’t just feeding on internet hate and hyperbole. It’s not that it’s just a movie I dislike. That happens all the time. It’s that it is so sloppily constructed that it’s hard to justify its existence on any level. I usually try and start my reviews with some positives ..read more

Hey everyone! First I want to apologize for being so late in getting you my Sundance recap. It’s 28 films and taking me longer to get it done than I hoped for. In the meantime I have some other films to catch you up on. So let’s get to it!  Orion and the Dark Due to its Netflix-only strategy I predict Orion and the Dark will end up being one of the more under-appreciated films of 2024. And this is a real shame because it’s a special little animated film from DreamWorks. It tells the story of a little boy named Orion who has high anxiety. One day in the midst of his panic he meets his grea ..read more