Critical Capsule: Game Night

This movie was a complete surprise. Don’t get me wrong, I am not calling great or anything, but it is genuinely funny, involving, and actually kept me guessing throughout. Game Night is a legitimately fun movie that just when you think you see where it is going, it swerves and changes everything. I liked the cast, Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are a good lead pair. I also liked that the makers tried to do stuff with the style to further the concept of games, most notably using tilt shift to make the town look like a game board and the cars as game pieces. This is he sort of surprise I like to have, when hoping to be entertained, and walk away genuinely liking it.

Movie Review: Doctor Strange (2016)

I have to admit to feeling a little burned out on superhero films over the past year or two. There are just so many out there that they are hard to escape. Besides that, Marvel has planned so far ahead that it seems to sap a lot of the potential drama surrounding the heroes being defeated or perhaps dying. Then there is the problem that as impressive as the Marvel cinematic universe is, it has become studio driven more than creator driven giving everything a sense of sameness. This is why I like it when characters a little out of the mainstream arrive, like Antman last year. The fact we have a Doctor Strange movie adds some knew elements to the mix, shakes things up somewhat.

Movie Review: Southpaw (2015)

I am having a hard time writing about Southpaw. I have tried writing this opening paragraph fifteen times already. I think the problem is that it is one of those movies designed to appeal to the mainstream audience, deliver a solid time, but not stretch any boundaries. It feels a bit more like a product than an artistic endeavor. I walked out of it without feeling all that attached to it. I was surrounded by people who seemed to love it, and on on hand I wish I saw what they saw, then I thought if I saw what they saw, it would have been a different movie altogether.

Movie Review: About Time (2013)

Writer/director Richard Curtis is something of an acquired taste. His movies drip with a sentimentality that can easily come off as corny and rather syrupy. Still, the man knows his way around a tale and, in my opinion, makes it work. His latest outing is a genre-bending romance that brings time travel into the mix. About Time is a movie that uses time travel as a tool to tell a tale of a lifelong love. It is a movie that held me captive to its very sentimental story, its impossible characters, and its touching relationships. It is a movie that sits with other romantic mash ups I have enjoyed such as The Lake House (yes, I liked that movie). There is something about the blending of science fiction elements with romance that draws me in.