Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus hits cinemas at a precarious time. On the one hand, the 20th Century Studios’ film is at a feverish high from fans whose expectations from the film series’ seventh entry in the 45-year-old franchise is equally as high, especially with the tepid reactions to producer Ridley Scott’s previous two films, Prometheus [...]
Introduction The true story sports drama is a tried-and-true genre, with Disney being the most prolific. Starting with Cool Runnings (Jon Turteltaub, 1993), they have released them regularly as part of their theatrical slate. These films often make my top ten films of the year, mostly because of how inspiring they are. I think most [...]
Intro It's no secret that Pixar has been in a bit of a slump, both creatively and financially. They haven't had a financial "hit" since 2019 with Toy Story 4 (which I still dislike). It arguably hasn't had a genuinely great film since 2020's Onward (my favorite film of that year). There are lots of theories as [...]
Writhing in Development Hell, a term Hollywood uses when a project is stuck in limbo for too long before it is either abandoned or greenlit, can be a death knell for a project. Fortunately, Disney’s Haunted Mansion was eventually greenlit, and audiences will see the results at your local multiplex this weekend. Considering that the [...]
Peter Song’s Elemental, the twenty-seventh Pixar film, looks and feels gorgeous. It explores the relationships between the elements critical to human life, such as fire and water, which don’t mix well in reality, and finds a way to connect. Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (voiced by Mamoudu Athie) are strongly developed; [...]
The first two episodes of the eight-episode limited series "Hawkeye" drop on Disney+ this Wednesday. (Or late Tuesday night, depending on your time zone) Each of the MCU limited series has had a unique flavor and "Hawkeye" continues this tradition but goes in a direction many might not expect. And although the first two episodes [...]
An interesting thought occurred to me as I sat down to watch Craig Gillespie’s “Cruella.” I am not a studied acolyte of the works of Dodie Smith. Or of Bill Peet’s animated classic, let alone Glenn Close’s two turns as the nefarious Cruella de Vil. So, it would seem natural that my indoctrination to this [...]
The difficulty of appreciating a film like “Raya and the Last Dragon” does not lie with the animation or the characters. Both are strong aspects of the film, which opens in theaters and on Disney Plus with Premier Access today. The challenge isn’t with the fact that I was not too fond of the movie. [...]
I could start this review out with a cliché that somehow connects this soulless reviewer with a discussion on Disney-Pixar’s “Soul,” premiering on Disney Plus Christmas Day. However, I am not soulless. I might be a sourpuss, but I am not soulless. “Soul” is the story of Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx. Joe is [...]
Joachim Rønning returns to the Disney fold with "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," featuring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film is not memorable. I stared at a blank, white page on my computer for a great, long while as I started to think about how to open my review of “Maleficent: Mistress of [...]
