Movie Reviews |

Movie Revue: "The Secret Life Of Pets 2"

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is a Vast Improvement

June 7, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Max (Patton Oswalt), Duke (Eric Stonestreet), and Snowball (Kevin Hart) return to the big screen in Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s The Secret Life of Pets 2. Picking up some time after the first film, Max and Duke’s owner, Katie (Ellie Kemper), is married and has a new baby boy. Max instantly declares himself the child’s protector. When the family decides to take a vacation to the country, Max meets alpha dog Rooster (Harrison Ford) who helps Max discover his Read more

Movie Revue: "Ma"

Octavia Spencer is a Delightful Villain in Ma

June 3, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Octavia Spencer reunited with her Get On Up and The Help director Tate Taylor in Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions’ horror thriller Ma. After a heartbreaking divorce, a single mom moves back to her hometown with her daughter Maggie (Diana Silvers). Maggie quickly making friends with the local bad girl Haley (McKaley Miller) and finds a new love interest, Andy (Corey Fogelmanis). After failed attempts at buying booze, Maggie’s friends convince Read more

Movie Revue: "Godzilla: King of The Monsters"

Is this Your King?

June 1, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Japanese monster Godzilla returns to the American cinema in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Godzilla: King of the Monsters from director Michael Dougherty. Godzilla: King of the Monsters opens during the last monster rampage of their previous film. Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) is searching for his wife, Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), in the destroyed city of San Francisco. Five years later, their relationship has ended and Emma is raising their teenage daughter, Madison Read more

Movie Revue: "Brightburn"

Brightburn Loses Steam too Quickly

May 25, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Director David Yarovesky explores the sinister side of an alien child coming to earth in Screen Gems Brightburn. Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks) and her husband, Kyle (David Denman), have tried for a while to conceive a child. One night the couple’s lovemaking session is interrupted by a loud crash outside of their farm. Twelve years later, Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn) has become sufficiently accumulated to farm life with his loving parents.

While he is seen as smart by his teacher, Brandon Read more

Movie Revue: "Rocketman"

Taron Egerton Soars as Rocketman

May 25, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Elton John is the latest music icon to receive the biopic treatment in director Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman from Paramount Pictures. It’s clear from early on that the director and screenwriter, Lee Hall, didn’t intend to give the audience a standard music biopic. The film opens with a different, yet respectable, monologue from Elton John (Taron Egerton) as he is entering rehab. This opening monologue details Elton John’s vices of choice. I consider myself a casual Read more

Movie Revue: "Aladdin"

A Whole New Take on Aladdin

May 24, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Walt Disney Pictures remakes their 1992 animated classic, Aladdin with a live-action adaptation from director Guy Ritchie. Save for a few changes, such as the introduction of a couple of new characters, the general premise of the 2019 version of Aladdin remains the same as the 1992 version. Both are derived from the Arabic folktale “One Thousand and One Nights”. Grand Vizier Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) is a conniving sorcerer who serves as the chief advisor to The Sultan of Agrabah Read more

Movie Revue: "Booksmart"

Booksmart Offers Fresh Spin on Coming of Age Tale

May 20, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

Actress Olivia Wilde makes her directorial debut with the witty and charming Booksmart from United Artists Releasing. Lifelong friends Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) have spent their high school career overachieving in the field of academics. The girls’ classmates find them to be pretentious and do not associate with them. One day during a bathroom break, Molly overhears one of her rivals Annabelle (Molly Gordon) bad mouthing her and takes the moment to stand up Read more

Movie Revue: John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum"

Action Reigns Supreme in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

May 19, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

The latest entry in Keanu Reeve’s action-packed franchise arrives in Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum from director Chad Stahelski. Picking up immediately after the ending of John Wick: Chapter 2, this third installment finds Wick (Keanu Reeves) a marked man on the run as the High Table has declared Wick excommunicado. This means all of the benefits which were available to Wick as a hitman are no longer accessible. Wick reaches out to old friends Sofia Read more

Movie Revue "The Hustle"

The Hustle Is A Serviceable Comedic Con

May 10, 2019 Derrick Dunn Movie Reviews, Movies

The premise of dueling con artists who eventually team up to take down a mark gets a new spin in director Chris Addison’s The Hustle from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The Hustle is a remake of the classic 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which was a remake of the sixties film Bedtime Story. The Hustle opens up with an introduction of Penny (Rebel Wilson) and her style of coning a mark. Penny uses her natural gift of gab to get over on men. Across the pond French con artist Josephine (Anne Hathaway), uses a style of the con that involves her beauty and downplaying her intelligence.

Movie Review: The Hustle

The Hustle Lacks Comedic Precision

May 10, 2019 Cortland Jacoby Movie Reviews, Movies

Should remakes exist? Should gender-swapped remakes exist? Obviously, the answer should be yes, if the story is endearing enough and the new adaption would bring a new or unseen perspective to the source material. Most of the time, gender-swapped remakes are flipped from male to female, setting itself up for failure especially if the original is beloved (see 2016’s Ghostbusters). So if you are making a gender-swapped remake focusing on female characters, hopefully, that new adaption would be written and directed by women. Unfortunately, The Hustle is not any of those things and its lack of female perspective shows.