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Movie Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , on 12/18/2015 by Taylor Holt

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No spoilers! Don’t worry!

Stars: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamil, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Peter Mayhew, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Anthony Daniels, Lupita N’yongo, Andy Serkis

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, 135 minutes, Sci-fi/Action/Adventure

Compare to: Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Star Trek (2009)

Oh, hi guys. I’m here to write teh Star Warz four you.

Gearing up to be the biggest movie of all time (In your face, Avatar), if only behind the original Star Wars, expectations are high but should always be kept in moderation. Write that down, you’ll need it. You’ve got the fans that are going to love it no matter what and you’ve got the people who are going to hate it no matter how much they actually enjoy it.

This movie should satisfy both of them and pretty much everybody else in between. I don’t need to tell you it’s not perfect but it’s what we should have gotten in 1999 instead of Episode I. But those prequels were just doomed to disappoint, weren’t they? Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Southpaw

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , on 07/24/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, 50 Cent, Oona Laurence, Skylan Brooks, Naomie Harris

Rated R for language throughout, and some violence, 123 minutes, Drama/Action

Compare to: Million Dollar Baby (2004), Warrior (2011)

The underdog story for the ages! You’ve never seen a movie like this, folks! A man loses it all only to come back swinging against his villainous rival!

Okay, so yes, you’ve seen this formula a thousand times. From similar boxing settings all the way to Disney movies in the 90s and much, much earlier- but that doesn’t make Southpaw feel tired as much as it drains you emotionally to give you what you already know is coming. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Ant-Man

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , on 07/17/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, Tip Harris, Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian

Rated PG-13 for Sci-fi action/violence, 103 minutes, Comedy/Sci-fi/Action

Compare to: Iron Man (2008) and some other superhero movie

While you could argue with results, it won’t stop Marvel. Captain America, Rocket Raccoon, and now Ant-Man. Right off I don’t mind telling you that this is one of the better Marvel adaptions though that doesn’t say much does it? It gets as good as Guardians of the Galaxy and it gets as bad as Thor: The Dark World.

A bit of action, a bit of comedy, a little bit of drama- Ant-Man has it all but does it have the right amounts in the right places? Millions of people who haven’t seen it yet are sure to agree! This is a MARVEL movie, after all! Ah, just playing. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Dope

Posted in Reviews! with tags , on 06/19/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Shameik Moore, Keirsey Clemons, Tony Revolori, Rakim Mayers, Bruce Beatty, Blake Anderson, De’Aundre Bonds, Julian Brand, Quincy Brown, Zoe Kravitz

Rated R for language, drug content, sexuality/nudity, and some violence-all involving teens, 103 minutes, Comedy/Drama

Compare to: Superbad (2007), Adventureland (2009)

I don’t really get excited when I read that the movie I’m going to watch is a “coming of age” comedy. It makes me think of films that pretend not to be exactly what they are and fail on either front as far as this reviewer is concerned.

But Dope isn’t those movies so I can’t throw it in there with all those other “Life is crazy when you’re growing up!” emotional manipulators. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Jurassic World

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , , on 06/12/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, Indominus Rex

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of science-fiction violence and peril, 124 minutes, Sci-fi/Action/Adventure

Compare to: The Jurassic Park films (1993-2003), Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh, danah nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh…Can you hear the theme when I spell it out like that? No?

This is kind of what I imagined the movie would be like. Spelling out the tune of a great piece of music but not actually understanding what makes it so great in the first place. Thankfully, Jurassic World isn’t as bad as that though it certainly isn’t the original. But hey, at least it’s not Jurassic Park III. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Insidious: Chapter 3

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , on 06/05/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Lin Shaye, Stefanie Scott, Dermot Mulroney, Angus Simpson, Michael Reid McKay

Rated PG-13 for violence, frightening images, some language and thematic elements, 97 minutes, Horror/Thriller

Compare to: The previous Insidious films (2010, 2013), Annabelle (2014)

Oh no, the dreaded third film. It can’t be as good as the first but it’s got to make you think it’s relevant enough that you should see it. Well, it seems the director of the first two, James Wan, was too busy with Furious 7 to direct and left his writing/producing partner Leigh Whannell in charge.

And as his first time directing, I have to say that I’m looking forward to seeing him do better somewhere down the line. Because I like him, and the work he’s done previously, but this thing bored me nearly to death. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: SPY

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , on 06/01/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Miranda Hart, Peter Serafinowicz

Rated R for language throughout, violence, and some sexual content including brief graphic nudity, 120 minutes, Action/Comedy

Compare to: Austin Powers (1997), Get Smart (2008)

Oh Melissa McCarthy, how do people love thee, let me count the ways. The number would be low for me but I can think of several people off the top of my head who eat up anything she does, no matter what the quality of the actual film is.

And while this is meant to be a review of Spy and not McCarthy herself, working with director Paul Feig for a third time (Bridesmaids, The Heat), you should have an idea of what to expect from this. I guess I’m saying if you’re a fan of those, there’s not really a reason to read any of this because you already know what you think of the movie. Continue reading →

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Movie Review: San Andreas

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , on 05/29/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Paul Giamatti, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd

Rated PG-13 for intense disaster action and mayhem throughout, and brief strong language,93 minutes, Thriller/Action

Compare to: The Day After Tomorrow (2004), 2012 (2009), Into the Storm (2014), Any disaster movie you can think of

When a comedy movie comes out that parodies big-budget Hollywood action movies, this is the movie it has in mind. San Andreas is every action/disaster cliche rolled into an hour and forty-five minutes. Twenty years ago, a musclebound action hero in the role of an average Joe seemed normal. Now it’s feels like my childhood is slapping me in the face.

A lot of people looking for a good time will find it here. I didn’t, but as I’ve been told, I’m “too critical.” Maybe so, but after years of disaster movies where the divorced dad has to save his ex-wife from the lame new guy- I mean, from the natural disaster at hand, why wouldn’t I just watch those again instead of paying for something “new?” Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , on 05/14/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whitley

Rated R for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images, 120 minutes, Action/Adventure

Compare to: The Original Mad Max Trilogy (1979- 1985), The Book of Eli (2009)

When George Lucas said that he had a much bigger vision for Star Wars but needed to wait for the technology to catch up, I don’t know whether or not I believe him. But after watching Mad Max: Fury Road, I’ll believe anything writer/director George Miller tells me about his ideas for this movie.

I’d heard this movie described as one long action sequence which isn’t entirely true, but I can’t say I was bored by even a second of it; action or dialogue. While movies with non-stop car chases and explosions can easily get labeled as mindless and not much else, Max is able to strike the perfect balance between what a story demands and what the audience wants. Fast and Furious can suck it! Continue reading →

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Movie Review: The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Posted in Reviews! with tags , , , on 05/01/2015 by Taylor Holt

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Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olson, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Bettany, James Spader

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments, 141 minutes, Action/Adventure/Sci-fi

Compare to: X2: X-Men United (2003), The Avengers (2012)

I don’t know if expectations were raised for this installment of the Avengers film series or rather they’re already as high as expectations can get. Either way, they’ll be making their money.

As for whether or not you’ll enjoy the film may be a completely different animal than whether or not this is a good film, so…how long ya got? Continue reading →

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