This week I saw a film about a group of people (one of whom is played by Vin Diesel) who all have different specialties that have to work together to combat an enemy that is more powerful than themselves.  Along the way they will reinforce their bond as a non-traditional

Have you ever gone back to your old elementary school? Taken a moment to walk down the halls and reflect on your memories of the place compared to what the reality is?  That’s kind of like what watching Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast is like.  It’s almost exactly what

Of all the films about the Space Race between the United States and the then-Soviet Union in the ’60s, none to my knowledge have included African American NASA employees. Granted, there’s pretty much nothing except The Right Stuff or Apollo 13 to choose from, but still. No, Apollo 19 doesn’t count. With Hidden Figures, the African

I had a couple questions going into my screening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The big one was whether the film would be able to build and maintain suspense while telling a story that is directly related to events we know will happen in Star Wars: Episode IV

The trailers for Office Christmas Party did exactly what trailers are supposed to. It made the movie look like a raucous good time, worth the price of admission of time commitment. The problem is the trailers did so at the expense of most every funny bit in the movie. The latest in

Clear, vibrant, blue water. Tactile sand. Hair that blows in the wind, gets wet and looks wet, gets sandy and looks sandy! Music, glorious music. And lyrics! Lin-Manuel Miranda lyrics! Moana, the newest release by Disney Animation Studios is a gorgeous film and a delightful adventure that is a pure

It’s been five years since audiences bid adieu to Harry Potter and friends in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, and little has happened to dampen the love for the wizarding world author J.K. Rowling created. This year already brought the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which

Let’s all take a moment to appreciate the amazing run director Denis Villeneuve is on. He showed the world that Jake Gyllenhaal can go dark with Prisoners and Enemy, Sicario was one of the best films of 2015 and next year, Villeneuve has the long-awaited Blade Runner sequel hitting theaters. For now, we’ll have to make do

With more than a handful of films under their belt (and more in the way), you would think you have seen everything from Marvel Studios, and yet they found a way to cure our superhero-film-numbness with Dr. Strange. Even when following a heroe’s-journey-paint-by-numbers formula, boy, do they know how to

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing episode three of season three of The Avengers.  This episode was titled Doctor Strange.  It was directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Jon Spaiths, Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill. I want to make it clear up front that my quasi-facetious comparison