NOTE: This is a retrospective and analysis and not a review. It will absolutely contain spoilers. Stephen Sondheim once wrote: “Princes wait there in the world, it's true; Princes, yes, but wolves and humans, too.” Humans do terrible things to each other. Especially when they are scared. This is, in essence, the theme of Laila’s [...]
In light of Baz Luhrman’s 2022 expose of Elvis Presley, how would an adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me (written with Sandra Harmon) look on the silver screen? If you’re to take the reaction from the crowds that saw Priscilla at Venice, New York, and Vancouver, Coppola's adaptation and stars Cailee Spaeny [...]
As someone who has played nearly every game that a movie has been based on, it was refreshing to watch "Five Nights at Freddy's" with only minimal knowledge of the source material. The game series is relatively simple in nature. The player assumes the role of a lone overnight security guard tasked with watching over [...]
A struggle exists in man; that struggle is not always good against evildoers. Humans have always wanted something more than they have. That ‘want’ is something intrinsic to our nature. In the case of Martin Scorsese’s latest epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, there is a certain irony in the use of the word struggle. [...]
If the myths behind Nicolas Cage are to be believed, no movie with the actor in the lead is bad. Cage carries a fun and spritely attitude to any role he inhabits. As Miller, in Butcher’s Crossing, the bison trapper is as much a myth as the actor is. In all his glory, complete with [...]
Fifty years ago, director William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty scared and thrilled audiences with The Exorcist, an eerie, thought-provoking film featuring Ellen Burstyn. “It’s an excellent day for an exorcism,” echoed through that film’s box office run in late 1973 and all throughout 1974, challenged only by Titanic in 1997, having spawned two sequels [...]
Gareth Edwards' "The Creator," his first film since 2016's "Rouge One," continues his legacy of gorgeous visuals paired with a logic-deprived script. The story combines elements from "Blade Runner," "District 9," "Altered Carbon," and "Westworld," but only on a superficial level. Fascinating concepts are introduced, but never given time to grow. Instead, we are treated [...]
The key to the Expendables film series is, “If at first you do succeed, keep it going." That quote isn't taken from anywhere but applies to the characters, as the fourth film in the franchise, Expend4bles, hits cinemas this weekend. Having recently revisited the first three films, it is clear that the characters come first. [...]
In its illustrious past, Hollywood has turned financial turmoil in the news into fictionalized and often sensationalized film stories. Whichever side of the economic or political spectrum your laurels rest upon, some of those stories have been good (Wall Street, The Big Short, Margin Call) while others have struggled to lift off the ground (All [...]
An interesting trend in Hollywood has developed in recent years, namely that of the murder-mystery, or rather smartly, the whodunit genre that coated cinemas in the 1960s and 1970s. Something otherworldly exists within these types of films, and no better author in the genre exists than Dame Agatha Christie. A Miss Marple-driven story would be [...]
