Movie Reviews
Movie Review: “The Exorcist: Believer”
The creative, commercial, and overall cultural impact of 1973’s “The Exorcist” cannot be overstated. Every Halloween, you’re bound to see and hear references to the film, from facsimiles of Linda Blair’s otherworldly-affected face to recreations of the iconic head-spinning scene to quotes of demonic threats that can’t be repeated here. The film spawned both sequels…
Read MoreMovie Review: “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie”
Standard disclaimer for any and all “PAW Patrol” media: I am not the target audience for “PAW Patrol.” The target audience for “PAW Patrol” is young children and only young children. This is not a “fun for all ages” property that adults can enjoy as much as kids. At best, adults…
Read MoreMovie Review: “Expen4bles”
Outside of what you see on the posters, the “Expendables” movies have never been particularly ambitious. Sure, it was great that the action stars of previous decades like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Harrison Ford…
Read MoreMovie Review: “A Haunting in Venice”
“A Haunting in Venice” is director/star Kenneth Branagh’s third go-around as Agatha Christie-penned detective Hercule Poirot. The other two were 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and 2022’s “Death on the Nile.” “A Haunting in Venice” comes barely a year and a half after the latter film, though the turnaround is…
Read MoreMovie Review: “The Nun II”
“The Nun II” is the ninth film in the “Conjuring Universe,” a franchise tied to the adventures of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, but it is the third in the series chronologically. Demon-in-a-nun’s-habit Valak (Bonnie Aarons) has made appearances in installments both earlier and later in the franchise’s chronology. In other words, not only…
Read MoreMovie Review: “The Equalizer 3”
It has been five years since we last saw Robert “The Equalizer” McCall, as played by the ever-arresting Denzel Washington. In that time, we’ve had a …
Read MoreMovie Review – “Gran Turismo”
Like its main character, “Gran Turismo” fights hard to overcome the stigma of its association with a video game. Video game movies have taken some big steps lately, both creatively and commercially, with efforts like the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” though the genre still lacks that one ceiling-shattering creative…
Read MoreMovie Review: “Meg 2: The Trench”
By Bob Garver
It’s around the two-thirds mark in “Meg 2: The Trench” that we learn that some of the film’s minor aquatic monsters (not the Megalodons or …
Read MoreMovie Review: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”
By Bob Garver
Bad news, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fans, new installment “Mutant Mayhem” gets the Ninja Turtles all wrong. You know how the …
Read MoreMovie Review: “Oppenheimer”
By Bob Garver The other half of this summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, “Oppenheimer” did so well in its second weekend that it gets a full review all its own. Sure, it came in a distant second to “Barbie” both weekends, but with an estimated $174 million at the domestic box office thus far, it’s more than…
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