Triple Threat is the latest martial arts action opus to hit the big screen from Well Go USA entertainment. Stuntman turned film director Jesse V. Johnson has enlisted a who’s who of martial artists and direct to home market action stars for his latest project. The cast includes Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, and Michael Bispin.
Two years after his Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay for the film Get Out, Jordan Peele returns to cinemas with the excellent horror film Us from Universal Pictures. Once again, Peele takes on writing and directing duties, and his sophomore effort is a vastly different film than his debut. Us opens with a young Adelaide Thomas (Madison Curry) enjoying an evening with her parents (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Anna Diop) at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The curious Adelaide wanders off on her own and experiences a traumatic event.
Aliens invade earth once again in director Rupert Wyatt’s Captive State from Focus Features. The film opens up in 2017, extra-terrestrial beings have succeed in taking over Earth. As the Drummond family attempts to escape Chicago, the parents die, leaving their sons Gabriel and Rafe orphaned. Ten years later, the Drummond brothers have taken different paths in life. Gabriel (Ashton Sanders) is an average working man, looking for a better life, while Rafe (Johnathan Majors) is part of a rebellion against the invaders, known as “The Legislators”. Surprisingly, we don’t see much of them in the film.
Wonder Park is the latest family entertainment film to hit theaters from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies. Directed by Dylan Brown, with a screenplay written by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemac, Wonder Park tells the story of June (Brianna Denski) and an imaginative amusement park named Wonderland she created with her mother (Jennifer Garner). When the film begins, we meet a young June who before bedtime is building the latest ride for the park with her mom. The filmmakers use a framing device to show us how the park to life.
Walt Disney pictures proudly present the newest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel. Directed by Anna Bolden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel Stars Brie Laron as Vers a former Air Force fighter pilot who is now a member of Starforce. When we first meet Vers, she is having recurring nightmares. Hoping to stop the nightmares Vers trains with Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), the commander of Starforce.
Despite warnings from our mothers, many trolls and even critics are judging Captain Marvel by its cover. With admittingly worrisome and mediocre trailers, plus early trolling online, Captain Marvel had garnered skepticism ahead of its release on Friday. Rotten Tomatoes even changed its trolling policy ahead of the film’s opening. It’s unclear how this film will do overall at the box office and unfortunately, that matters for the future of female superhero films.
Ten years ago How to Train Your Dragon flew into theaters and to the hearts of kids everywhere. It was a kids’ movie that was actually good. Compelling story, groundbreaking animation and a surprisingly large adult fan following. Now an era is ending, bring multiple generations together for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, the final chapter in a surprisingly beautiful trilogy.
Over the past year, the desire for stories that aren’t centered around the straight white male has risen. Films like Black Panther or Crazy Rich Asians dominated the box office at record numbers, showing that there is space for everyone on screen. One demographic not normally seen in a positive or romantic light, until recently, is the fat woman. Hollywood, a land that prides itself on glitz and glamour and thinness, often excluded the fat woman from its narratives (unless as a best friend or comic relief). This is changing. Within the last year, movies and shows like Dumplin’, Dietland, the upcoming Hulu show Shrill have shown plus size women in a variety of situations often only afforded to thin individuals. As a fat woman myself, I preface this review with this disclaimer, because its an important context to view the newly released romantic comedy Isn’t It Romantic.
An adaptation of the manga series “Gunnm” also known “Battle Angel makes its way to the big screen in 20th Century Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel from director Robert Rodriguez. It’s the year 2563, and the earth as we know it is no more. One day, scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovers a broken female cyborg in a junkyard. Realizing that the cyborg has a functional human brain, Dr. Ido decides to rebuild the cyborg, naming her Alita, after his late daughter.
When the studio logo for Universal Pictures Happy Death Day 2U split into three separate screens before the film starts, I knew that I was in for a treat. The sequel to Blumhouse Productions 2017’s surprise hit Happy Death Day once again find our heroine Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) reliving the same day until she solves a problem.
