News & Movie Review

This film was originally scheduled to be released on Christmas 2020. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was delayed. Eventually, Paramount Pictures sold the film to Amazon Studios and Amazon decided to release the film for the July 4th weekend. Given that this film is about humanity on a global scale fighting an alien invasion, the film's release can't help but be compared to Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (1996), starring Will Smith. A character in this film even references Will Smith, so that 1996 blockbuster would have to have been on the mind of the makers here. There are of course a lot of other films that come to mind or could be a basis of comparison. Instead of surpassing those other films or standing out in any particular way, it falls short and even ends up being rather boring by the end. One has to suspend disbelief in order to accept the premise, but, even with that suspension, there are many things that just feel dumb in this narrative. Something like...

John and the Hole (2021) Someone needs to talk about John, too. For the sake of comparison, “John and the Hole” is a coming-of-age story if Kevin McCallister actually made his family disappear with a time-out. Pascual Sisto’s feature debut is not quite a “Bad Seed” thriller, but as an adaptation of writer Nicolás Giacobone’s short story “El Pozo,” it’s actually operating on a more allegorical level. While the subject of an apathetic teen makes it seem closest to Lynne Ramsay’s chilling, thoughtful “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Sisto’s film is less about a budding sociopath than it is about one’s eagerness for adulthood. It’s so understated—maybe too understated at times—that it doesn’t quite get around to examining what it wants to with any consequence, small or big. Nonetheless, “John and the Hole” is austere but always compelling. Charlie Shotwell (2020's "The Nest" ) is unsettling as John, an aloof 13-year-old who looks like an ordinary kid but has a lot of ideas flo...

It's likely that anyone watching this has seen the previous film, featuring this titular character, that of Avengers: Endgame (2019). However, given that a possible, summer blockbuster like this could attract those uninitiated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, or those who haven't fully kept up, it's possible that there are some who are unaware of what happens to the titular character toward the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame . As such, I won't spoil what happens in Avengers: Endgame . I'd like to think of this as a stand-alone film and unlike other stand-alone entries in the MCU that are coming out since Avengers: Endgame , this one has more of an excuse for being somewhat disconnected. Whether one accepts how disconnected is a test of one's suspension of disbelief, but I was able to go with it because the action scenes are rather well done. Chronologically, this film takes place between Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (...

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  The real werewolves were inside us the whole time! Werewolves Within – 4 out of 5 I like Sam Richardson.   I discovered him on Detroiters and quickly became a fan.   Recently, I decided to do ...

Depending on how you count them, this is the 30th feature film from director Steven Soderbergh. It's the 31st, if you count Che (2008) as one or two films, but this film is a crime drama that follows criminals as they scheme and plot, avoid police and try to survive other criminals. This is apparently Soderbergh's favorite genre. He's done so many of them that he could probably do one in his sleep. It's unfortunate but this film lives in the shadow of Soderbergh's great works like Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). This film can't also help but feel derivative of those better films. Soderbergh has also had a trend of doing films that are inspired by true stories or real-life events, if not being actual depictions or off-centered biopics. There is a whiff of that trend in this film, although Soderbergh really comes at that trend sideways here. There's also another whiff of a trend that Soderbergh has been engaging. That tre...

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  The upcoming sequel is, I assume, The Day After Tomorrow War . The Tomorrow War – 3 out of 5 When the trailer came out for this Amazon Prime exclusive sci-fi action feature, I wasn’t really that ...

If one is familiar with FX's Archer  (2009), then one is familiar with the style and techniques here. Archer  is an irreverent, adult but juvenile, animated comedy. That brand of humor is very much present here, which makes sense because one of the Emmy-winning producers from Archer , Matt Thompson, is the director of this film. Dave Callaham is the writer, and Callaham has a long history of writing super-hero and video-game films, such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings  (2021), Mortal Kombat  (2021), Wonder Woman 1984  (2020) and Doom  (2005). However, Callaham isn't new to the idea of doing irreverent humor that mainly spoofs expressions of masculinity, even toxic masculinity, especially as seen through the lens of male heroism in action flicks. Callaham tackled that exact thing in the series Jean-Claude Van Johnson  (2016). Callaham also wrote Zombieland: Double Tap  (2019), so he's also experienced with depictions of violence that r...