The prospect of yet another take on the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale will probably make you roll your eyes at first. As one of the most popular Brothers Grimm stories, it has been through countless retellings and adaptations for more than two centuries. When you have versions of the tale that range from stoner…
Continue reading ➞ ‘Gretel & Hansel’ Review – Superb Style Almost Makes Up for a Laborious Pace
The Report and Dark Waters are a pair of recent releases about two very different yet equally important real-world topics. The former is a political drama while the latter is more of a legal thriller, but both are tasked with finding a way to unload boatloads of information onto an audience while still being an…
Continue reading ➞ ‘The Report’ v. ‘Dark Waters’ – Two True Important Stories of Systemic Injustices
It might sound ridiculous to call Michael Bay an auteur, but when it comes to large scale action presented to you in the most machismo and commercialized way possible- there is no greater artist than Bay. The director began his career making music videos before shifting towards commercials, where his campaigns for Miller Lite and…
Continue reading ➞ Op-ed: ‘6 Underground’ Should Be Classified as a Form of Pollution
Dolittle starts out well enough and may trick you into believing that you are about a watch a decent, if not somewhat bland, children’s adventure. After an animated introduction, we see the young Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett), out hunting with family. Stubbins, as he is called throughout the film, is kind and does not wish…
Continue reading ➞ ‘Dolittle’ Review – A Bizarre and Expensive Mess
Underwater, the new horror thriller from director William Eubank (The Signal), has received multiple comparisons to Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. There is certainly some merit in this praise. Both films feature a tight-knit crew working together in a confined space- for Alien it is a merchant vessel in the farthest reaches of space, for Underwater…
Continue reading ➞ ‘Underwater’ Review – A Surprisingly Solid Subterranean Thrill
The Mandalorian has continued to delight Star Wars fans with each episode. This is, of course, thanks to its mysterious protagonist, intriguing world-building, familiar imagery, and Baby Yoda. The series' past three episodes have been standalone adventures. First taking Mando (Pedro Pascal) to a village under siege by old Imperial weapons, next to a New…
Continue reading ➞ ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 7 Review – Bringing It All Together
The last episode of The Mandalorian solidified the series’ first season trajectory: a loose overarching plot of a Mando (Pedro Pascal) trying to protect a mysterious force-sensitive child (dubbed “Baby Yoda” by the fans) on the run, with a few standalone episodes along the way. Chapter 4, Sanctuary, very much felt like a self-contained story, but one…
Continue reading ➞ ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 5 Review – New Faces on a Familiar Planet
Proper theatrical sequels to Disney animated films are a very rare thing. Not counting Pixar, the only animated sequels that Disney has given a wide release are The Rescuers Down Under, Return to Never Land, The Jungle Book 2, and Ralph Breaks the Internet. Frozen II is the fifth one to be added to this exclusive…
Continue reading ➞ ‘Frozen II’ Review – Bold, Bloated, and Beautiful
We have a brand new holiday classic on our hands. Klaus, the directorial debut of animator and writer Sergio Pablos, is a welcome return to the holiday season's magical feelings of warmth and wonder. It is also the triumphant return of beautiful and traditional 2-D animation for a feature film, meticulously done by Pablo’s own…
This may sound ridiculous nowadays but Disney used to be a company that took risks. So much of their filmography have been gambles: the avant-garde fusion of classical music and animation in Fantasia, the groundbreaking effects of combining live-action and backlit animation in Tron, or the more mature and interesting deviations from usual formula like The Hunchback…
Continue reading ➞ ‘Lady and the Tramp’ Review – Is this what we Should Expect from Disney Plus?
