The Painless But Messy LEGO Ninjago Movie Needed to Show More Discipline In It's Storytelling

Walt Disney once said "For every laugh, there should be a tear." A large swath of modern animated family movies have taken that axiom to hear, particularly the films made by PIXAR which frequently leave adults sobbing as much, if not more so, than their young offspring. The LEGO Ninjago Movie is an example of taking this saying too far, an odd occurrence given how well the other two LEGO movies (The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie) were at deftly mixing wacky humor with heart. But that's just happened, as this feature film adaptation of the LEGO Ninjago toys shoves far too many badly-executed attempts at tugging on the heartstrings into its story.

A Wistful Take On Life Is Beautifully Realized In Lucky

Some of my favorite movies ever are simply laid-back movies following a normal human being going about their lives over the course of a few days. When you do those type of films right, you get something just so riveting, a cinematic replication of either the world we live in everyday or a glimpse into an authentic portrait of a world we're unfamiliar with. Want a great recent example of this strain of cinema done well? Look at Lucky, a small-scale dialogue-driven drama that serves as both a star vehicle for the late great character actor Harry Dean Stanton as well as the directorial debut for John Carroll Lynch.

Loving Vincent Paints An Intriguing Portrait of An Iconic Painter

 

Hand-drawn animations woefully low presence on the American film scene has seen a mild form of a reprieve this year thanks to The Red Turtle, Your Name. and now the Vincent Van Gogh tribute Loving Vincent, which is brought to life entirely by watercolor paintings that have been created by around 115 painters. Yep, the entire film is rendered through the distinctive art style that Van Gogh was famous for. Interestingly, Vincent Van Gogh is already dead when Loving Vincent gets its story started which takes place shortly after the iconic painters demise and has Van Gogh's mailman, Postman Roulin (Chris O'Dowd) entrusting his son Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth) to return the letter to Vincent's brother.

American Made Has Tom Cruise Doing Strong Work In Committing 1980's Debauchery

My yearning for Tom Cruise to do more non-blockbuster work has been heightened by seeing him in American Made, which has Cruise delivering one of his better performances in a while as Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), an airline pilot who passes time in his mundane life by smuggling certain everyday items across the border for those willing to pay up for such items. He's caught in the act by a CIA agent known as Schafer (Domhnall Gleeson) who offers Barry the chance to use both his piloting skills and his yearning for a more exciting life by piloting a plane that can take photos of the bases of operations for Communist insurgents located South of the American border.

Battle Of The Sexes Has Its Trite Traits But Its Humanization Of Billie Jean King Saves The Whole Movie

For Billie Jean King (Emma Stone), there are more difficulties in playing professional tennis than worrying about potential injuries or missed balls on the court. As a woman, she's constantly putting up with double standards stemming solely from her gender and when her requests for payment equal to the payment male athletes receive, she decides to start up her own female-oriented tennis organization, one that's scrappy for sure, but full of grit and determination. They've got a cigarette sponsorship and numerous players, plus a hairdresser, Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough), with whom Billie Jean King begins to develop a romantic relationship with.

Jake Gyllenhaal's Recent String Of Strong Performances Continue In Stronger

Prior to March 2013, Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) was just another guy in Boston, Massachusetts. A good-hearted fella with an immature streak, Bauman lived out his days with his boisterous family, a steady Costco job and an on-again/off-again relationship with Erin Hurley (Tatiana Maslany). In his newest attempt to rekindle his relationship with Hurley, he promises to be there cheering her on at the finish line of marathon she's running. He makes good on that promise and shows up to the marathon the very next day with his own sign in tow when all of a sudden tragedy strikes in the form of a bomb going off that catches Jeff in its crossfire.

Inhumans Is A Total Calamity, A Nightmare For Comic Book Fans And General Viewers Alike

If the Inhumans TV show refuses to give Lockjaw screentime, I'll help this pooch out
and make him the header image of my review for the first two episodes of this Inhumans TV show!

So who exactly is Inhumans aimed at? I'm not just producing this question because I despised it and that means nobody else could ever like it, I'm producing this question because it seems like it was produced from the ground up to both irritate comic book geeks and confuse newbies. Those well-versed in the mythology of these Inhumans characters form their half-a-century of appearances in various Marvel comics will be befuddled at how all the stylized elements of these characters have been tossed away in the name of budget constraints and replaced with thoroughly boring storytelling. Meanwhile, the world of the Inhumans and especially the superpowers of individual characters are so poorly explained that I can't imagine someone who isn't already familiar with the Inhumans being able to follow along.

I Spy A Disappointing Sequel Called Kingsman: The Golden Circle

The newest Kingsman adventure follows the typical trajectory of many sequels in that it decides to blow up the scale of its predecessor to massive proportions. "Go Big Or Go Home" as they say and Kingsman: The Golden Circle does go big but it wasn't long into this films running time that I was wondering when I'd be able to go home. Turns out Kingsman: The Golden Circle has also followed the trajectory of many underwhelming sequels in that it's traded in fun and wit for simply a larger scale for its narrative. At least it's able to contribute to 2017's lovely trend of John Denver songs popping up across various pieces of cinema (Logan Lucky, Okja and Free Fire are among the other 2017 titles to make use of this man's music).

A Movie Called American Assassin Really Shouldn't Be This Deathly Dull

Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) has a chip on his shoulder. That chip didn't come from any Pringles can though, no, it came from watching his girlfriend (and for a moment, fiancee) get brutally slaughtered at the beach by a bunch of gun-toting terrorists. While Mitch, who serves as the lead character of director Michael Cuesta's new movie American Assassin, survived that attack and every day since then, he's been training like a madman in order to make sure he's in peak physical condition to take down as many terrorists across the globe as possible. While trying to kill a group of terrorists, he gets his plans interrupted by a group of U.S. government agents who take him in for some questioning by Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan).

Mother! Is Mighty Interesting But Also Mightily Plagued By Pacing Problems (MASSIVE SPOILERS WITHIN)

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW OF MOTHER! IS SOAKED IN SPOILERS BECAUSE I'VE FOUND IT IS DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT MOTHER! WITHOUT DELVING INTO PLOT DETAILS THAT CONSTITUTE ACTUAL SPOILERS DUE TO THE SECRETIVE MARKETING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT

Lipstick Under My Burkha Brings Loads Of Thoughtful Empathy To Its Comedic Storytelling

Comedies can engage with themes or characters as weighty or thoughtful as any drama, so it's always a pity to see crummy comedies, either from decades past or in modern times, that refuse to combine some depth into their yuks. The likes of The Great Dictator, Superbad and The Purple Rose of Cairo are able to skillfully weave in more thoughtful ideas with a healthy supply of yuks. Now, there's nothing wrong at all with being a comedy solely interested in generating laughs (just look at the likes of gut-bustingly funny films like Hot Rod or Wet Hot American Summer), but when you're a subpar comedy that fails to even pull off the most basic joke properly, one can't help but be reminded of how thematically ambitious the best comedies can be. The likes of dismal 2017 comedies such as Fist Fight, The House and Baywatch remind one just how thoroughly lacking in either substance or jokes supposed comedies can be while Alankrita Shrivastava's new comedy Lipstick Under My Burkha, conversely, is a wonderful reminder of just how well laughs and thoughtfulness go together.

Give The Orville And Its Tedious & Confused Take On The Final Frontier Some Space

Even hearing for months on end that The Orville as a TV show had a more serious tone than its heavily comedic ads would suggest didn't prepare me for what a tonally odd creation it is. It's trying to actually be a new straight-up science-fiction program that heavily homages Star Trek to a fault but it's also one with recurring comedic elements that just don't work at all. If the attempt here was to make something either as comedically strong as Ted or as thoughtful & exciting as the best elements of Star Trek, then the folks behind The Orville have miscalculated greatly and wound up with a science-fiction equivalent to Seth MacFarlane's major movie misfire A Million Ways To Die In The West.

The Fourth Season of Bojack Horseman Aims High And Hits An Emotionally Devastating Bullseye

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOJACK HORSEMAN SEASON 4 AHEAD 
"Time's arrow marches ever forward"

This axiom gets repeated quite frequently throughout the fourth season of Bojack Horseman, a season of television that may just be the best season yet in an absolutely phenomenal program. It's obvious what it means (the future is unavoidable) but its recurring usage throughout the 12 episodes of Bojack Horseman's fourth season demonstrate how much the concept of time plays in the overall season. The past, the present and the future all collide frequently through Bojack Horseman's fourth season, resulting in storytelling that, even considering this shows meditative qualities, totally took me by surprise in the absolute best way possible.

Oh Hey, J.J Abrams Is Now The Director Of Star Wars: Episode IX

Hey, remember when I used to do news pieces on a regular basis on this website? Ah, 2014 memories....

So, real quickly, it appears J.J. Abrams is in the bag to direct Star Wars: Episode IX, stepping in for Collin Trevorrow who departed the project last week over "Creative differences". The predominant rumor had been that Rian Johnson may stick around after The Last Jedi to help wrap up this trilogy, but nope, looks like J.J. Abrams is coming back to the fold. As a major fan of J.J. Abrams as a director (Super 8 is one of my favorite movies of 2011), I'm OK with this news but also kinda wishing we could have gotten someone a bit more bold and unexpected to help this forthcoming Star Wars movie.

9/11 Is Staggeringly Bad, It's...Good Lord, It's Sickening

Director Martin Guigui is the one responsible for helming 9/11, a new motion picture based upon a play penned by Patrick Carson. Both the play and the movie concern five human beings all trapped in an elevator in the Southern Tower of the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11. These five people consist of a bike messenger, Michael (Wood Harris), pug-owner Tina (Olga Fonda), World Trade Center engineer Eddie (Luis Guzman) and formerly married couple Jeffrey (Charlie Sheen) and Eve (Gina Gershon). They've all got their own individual baggage to deal with, particularly Jeffrey and Eve who are in the middle of a messy divorce that is bringing out the worst in each other.

It Delivers The Scariest Clown Horror Since The Brave Little Toaster

There's something freaky going around the town of Derry. People keep disappearing, far more than the average American town and nobody seems to really care about it. They just keep going on about their business as if nothing's really happening. One person that's not standing by while these disappearances just keep on happening is Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), a kid suffering from a stutter whose younger brother Georgie went missing a few months prior and now Bill is determined to find out what exactly happened to his younger sibling and try his hardest during his 1989 summer vacation to make sure no one else has to go missing under such mysterious and nefarious circumstances.

Rings Is the Most Disposable Kind Of Low-Quality Horror Fare

I feel like if we took a public poll on whether or not there was a new Ring movie released earlier in 2017, not a single soul would be able to say "yes". 2017 has certainly felt like a year that's just stretched onward into forever with its nonstop torrential downpouring of misery, but I doubt people even remember this thing came out, let alone that Rings came out not as long ago as they might think. For this newest entry of the Ring saga, the attention turns to Julia (Matilda Lutz), whose boyfriend, Holt Anthony (Alex Roe), has gone off to college and left her. They keep their relationship going via Skype chats, but it ain't easy doing the whole long distance song-and-dance.

Table 19 Wastes A Talented Cast On An Underwhelming Script

Eloise (Anna Kendrick) didn't want to be here. Not only is this the wedding that she helped put together before being abruptly dismissed from such duties, but this wedding she's attending also puts her into direct contact with her ex-boyfriend, Teddy (Wyatt Russell), who just so happens to be the Best Man of this wedding (that's why she got let go from helping to plan the wedding). It's an experience she's not exactly elatedly anticipating but she's here and she's gonna make the best of it. At least she has plenty of people to talk to at the table, table 19 (hey, that's the title!) she's been situated at, with her table-mates being an assorted group of quirky individuals played by Lisa Kudrow, June Squibb, Craig Robinson, Stephen Merchant and Tony Revelori.

Ingrid Goes West Has Refreshing And Entertaining Things To Say About Technology

We all use social media these days, but if you think you're hooked on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all those sorts of apps, just wait until you meet Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza). This is one person whose fixation on social media goes well into the unhealthy territory and her aggravation over seeing Instagram pictures of her "best friends" wedding that she wasn't invited leads her to attack said "best friend" at that wedding. After that, she's been spending some extended time at a mental institution, hoping to get her life in order...until she finds the next target of her obsession, a Los Angeles social media icon by the name of Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen).

Tulip Fever Never Blooms Into Something Really Interesting

And now to try to jot down the convoluted premise of Tulip Fever, a Herculean task if there was ever one. So, this lady by the name of Sophia (Alicia Vikander), living in the 17th century in Denmark, has been sold as a wife to Cornelis Sandvoort (Christoph Waltz). Cornelis is obsessed with bearing a son after he lost his wife and two children to differing tragic circumstances. One day, Cornelis calls upon the services of a painter to paint a portrait of himself and his wife. The artist is a young man named Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan) and after a few painting sessions, he and Sophia, unbeknownst to Cornelis, quickly fall in love.