Category: Reviews

By Mark Saldana Rating: 2.5 (Out of 4 Stars) After achieving much critical and financial success with The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie, the Warner Animation Group has returned with yet another Lego feature film.  Based on the Lego Ninjago toy sets and television series, the movie version of this world obviously and… Continue reading Review: THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) After directing movie adaptations of both Kick Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn has shown that he has the skills and subversive sensibilities to properly do cinematic treatments of Mark Millar graphic novels.  Unlike Kick Ass 2, though, Vaughn thankfully chose to return to the… Continue reading Review: KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Call it typecasting, but Ben Stiller has an undeniable talent for portraying actors going through midlife crises.  He has starred in two Noah Baumbach films, Greenberg and While We’re Young, where he portrayed two very different types of characters going through this crisis very well while… Continue reading Review: BRAD’S STATUS

By Jan Hamilton Why isn’t “mother!” capitalized? That’s just one more mystery in this extremely strange new movie from Darren Aronofsky. The performances from the high powered cast are wonderful.  Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michele Pfeiffer are all great with the strange roles they are given. The movie starts as if it… Continue reading Review: mother!

By Renee’ Collins Rating: 4 (Out of 5 Reels) The life of celebrated but reclusive author, J.D. Salinger (Nicholas Hoult), who gained worldwide fame with the publication of his novel, “The Catcher in the Rye” (IMDB). Hoult has definitely come up in the ranks of Hollywood actors in his more recent roles. I remember watching… Continue reading Review: REBEL IN THE RYE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) Opening in NYC and LA on September 15, documentary film Red Trees tells the powerful and poignant story of Holocaust survivor Alfred Willer as he and his filmmaker daughter Marina take audiences through their family history as Jews living in Czechoslovakia during Germany’s occupation during World… Continue reading Review: RED TREES

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Writer/director Darren Aronofsky is one of Hollywood’s most unique filmmakers.  With movies Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and Noah in his filmography, one never knows what to expect from the talented, but enigmatic artist.  If The Wrestler is Aronofsky’s most accessible and… Continue reading Review: mother!

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) In 1951, author J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye was published to instant critical acclaim and became a massive best seller, launching the relatively unknown author into legendary status.  The author would continue writing and would become more withdrawn from the public eye, but… Continue reading Review: REBEL IN THE RYE

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) Late author Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp book series serves as the inspiration for what movie producers hope is the first installment of another successful film franchise.  Directed by Michael Cuestra (Kill the Messenger), American Assassin offers an origin story for Rapp, a young, skilled, but naive… Continue reading Review: AMERICAN ASSASSIN

By Mark Saldana Rating: 2 (Out of 4 Stars) After reviewing great movies such as The Big Sick, Signature Move, and Band Aid,  it seems like the romantic comedy genre was on the rise.  However, as most film critics know, it is only a matter of time before a not-so-great movie sets things back again.… Continue reading Review: HOME AGAIN