Wooden acting and dumb beards in a sad “King Arthur” knock-off

Avery Bliss
April 14, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

I realize that, right now, Hollywood is currently in the phase where remaking movies is all the rage. Sometimes that works out and the audience gets a halfway decent movie, like the recent “Godzilla” movie. And then other times, the remake drifts into the territory of “lock it in the basement...

Disney remake brings beauty and anachronism to the big screen

Emily Mullaney
April 14, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

“Beauty and the Beast” was extravagantly gorgeous, well written and performed well. Director Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1 and 2) struck a good balance between following the old story and adding new material. While most of the new material is nice, none of it is essential, and some...

Throwing back to hairspray and classic rock in “Adventureland”

Avery Bliss
March 23, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

Hey, do you like the ’80s? Teenage angst? Kristen Stewart trying her damnedest to make a normal human expression? Well then, “Adventureland,” featuring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, is the movie for you. Even though this movie came out only a few years ago, it has that definite feel...

Wolverine’s last ride

Cayla Fronhofer
March 23, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

Three years after his second solo film, Wolverine has returned to the big screen with his claws out and his taciturn demeanor fully intact. Following the enormous success of last year’s “Deadpool,” 20th Century Fox has released its second attempt at an R-rated X-Men film: “Logan,” the 10th...

Bad accents and other misses

Avery Bliss
March 9, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

Does anyone remember Val Kilmer at his prime, in movies like “Top Gun” or “Tombstone”? And then you watch him in his more recent works and he just looks tired and bloated? That’s what watching Nicolas Cage (“National Treasure”) in the American-Canadian-Chinese action film “Outcast”...

Batman in a Lego world

Cayla Fronhofer
March 9, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

On the surface, the idea of making a movie using Lego versions of other intellectual property is pretty ridiculous. As it turns out, the reality of such a movie is still ridiculous, but in more of an amusing and heartwarming way. As with the first Lego movie, “The Lego Batman Movie” proves that a...

Nazi bratwursts and other stupidity

Avery Bliss
February 16, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

I have seen the true face of the Devil, and it looks an awful lot like the poster for the movie “Yoga Hosers.” Coming from the mind of Kevin Smith, the director of “Clerks,” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” this movie stars Smith’s daughter as one of the leading roles. This movie...

“Maximum Ride” tramples childhoods

Avery Bliss
February 2, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

In the world of book-to-movie adaptations, there are only two possible ways that these movies can be made. They can either be mostly true to the source material, with only a few alterations or missing things, or they can absolutely butcher the source material. Unfortunately, the film “Maximum Ride,”...

A new kind of Disney princess

Cayla Fronhofer
February 2, 2017
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

Disney princess movies have followed a fairly standard formula for nearly 80 years, usually based on a fairy tale and including a prince in some capacity. November’s “Moana” broke that pattern with style, delivering stunning visuals and a riveting plot. Directed by Ron Clements and John...

Sanctimonious Sanctum Sacking in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange”

Cayla Fronhofer
December 8, 2016
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

There might be something Strange in the neighborhood, but no one is calling the Ghostbusters this time. The newest Marvel superhero film brings us the origin story of Doctor Stephen Strange, a neurosurgeon who loses the use of his hands to a terrible car accident (don’t drive distracted, kids!)...

Valhalla Rising: A new addition to reject fridge art

Avery Bliss
December 8, 2016
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

When you sit down to watch a movie, you do so thinking that what you are about to watch has some semblance of plot or good character development. Not so with “Valhalla Rising,” a film from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. This English-language Dutch film is an affront to the idea of a proper...

“Raising Hope” raises your spirits

Avery Bliss
December 8, 2016
Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies

It’s not every day that you find a show that will make you laugh uncontrollably. I have been searching for such a show since I gained access to a Netflix account, and I believe I have finally found it. “Raising Hope” chronicles the life and adventures of Jimmy Chance, a broke 20-something...