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Movie Reviews: 2010-2019

2019

Ad Astra
Aladdin
Alita: Battle Angel
Always Be My Maybe
Anna
Avengers: Endgame
Bait
Bombshell
Booksmart
Captain Marvel
The Dead Don't Die
Doctor Sleep
Dolemite Is My Name
Domino
Dumbo
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Gemini Man
Glass
Godzilla: King of Monsters
The Good Liar
Greed
Happy Death Day 2U
High Flying Bird
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Am Mother
I Lost My Body (J'ai perdu mon corps)
In the Shadow of the Moon
Io: Last on Earth
The Irishman
It Chapter Two
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Jumanji: The Next Level
The Kid Who Would Be King
Klaus
Knives Out
The Laundromat
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Le Mans '66 aka Ford v Ferrari
The Lighthouse
The Lion King
Little Women
Long Shot
Marriage Story
Men in Black: International
Midsommar
Missing Link
1917
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Parasite
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Pokemon Detective Pikachu
The Report
Rocketman
The Secret Life of Pets 2
Shazam!
6 Underground
The Souvenir
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker
Terminator: Dark Fate
Toy Story 4
Triple Frontier
The Two Popes
Uncut Gems
Us
Velvet Buzzsaw
The Wandering Earth
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Yesterday

2018 

Alpha
Annihilation
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Apostle
Aquaman
Avengers: Infinity War
Bad Times at the El Royale
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Bird Box
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Bumblebee
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Deadpool 2
Early Man
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mute
Black Panther
The Christmas Chronicles
The Cloverfield Paradox
The Commuter
Crazy Rich Asians
Creed II
Death Wish
Den of Thieves
Destroyer
Dragged Across Concrete
The Equalizer 2
The Favourite
First Man
Game Night
The Girl in the Spider's Web
Green Book
Gringo
Halloween
Hereditary
Hold the Dark
Hotel Artemis
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Leave No Trace
Mandy
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Mary Poppins Returns
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
The Meg
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Mortal Engines
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
The Mule
Ocean's 8
The Other Side of the Wind
They Shall Not Grow Old
Outlaw/King
The Predator
A Quiet Place
Ready Player One
Red Sparrow
Robin Hood
Roma
Sicario 2: Soldado
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Sorry to Bother You
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Stan & Ollie
A Star is Born
Suspiria
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Tomb Raider
Tully
Under the Silver Lake
Upgrade
Venom
Vice
Welcome to Marwen
White Boy Rick
Widows
Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2017

Aftermath
Alien: Covenant
All the Money in the World
American Made
Atomic Blonde
Baby Driver
Beast
Beauty and the Beast
The Big Sick
Blade Runner 2049
The Book of Henry
Brawl in Cell Block 99
Bright
Call Me by Your Name
Coco
The Current War
Darkest Hour
The Death of Stalin
Despicable Me 3
Detroit
The Discovery
Dunkirk
Fast & Furious 8
Fifty Shades Darker
First Reformed
The Florida Project
The Foreigner
The Founder
Get Out
Ghost in the Shell
Good Time
The Greatest Showman
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Happy Death Day
The Hitman's Bodyguard
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
It
I, Tonya
Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
John Wick: Chapter 2
Journey's End
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Justice League
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Kong: Skull Island
Lady Bird
The LEGO Batman Movie
Life
Logan
Logan Lucky
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Molly Brown
mother!
Mudbound
The Mummy
Murder on the Orient Express
Okja
Only the Brave
Paddington 2
Phantom Thread
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge
The Post
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
The Shape of Water
The Snowman
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Suburbicon
Thor: Ragnarok
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Transformers: The Last Knight
T2 Trainspotting
The Upside
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
War Machine
War of the Planet of the Apes
Wind River
Wonder Woman
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage
You Were Never Really Here

2016

The Accountant
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Allied
American Pastoral
The Angry Birds Movie
Arrival
Assassin's Creed
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Bad Santa 2
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
Ben-Hur
The BFG
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Blood Father
Captain America: Civil War
Captain Fantastic
Central Intelligence
Collateral Beauty
Colossal
The Conjuring 2
Criminal
A Cure for Wellness
The Dark Tower
Deadpool
The Divergent Series: Allegiant
Doctor Strange
Don't Breathe
Eddie the Eagle
The Edge of Seventeen
Elle
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fences
The 5th Wave
Finding Dory
Florence Foster Jenkins
Free Fire
Ghostbusters
Gimme Danger
The Girl on the Train
The Girl with All the Gifts
Gods of Egypt
The Great Wall
Hacksaw Ridge
Hail, Caesar!
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
The Huntsman: Winter's War
Ice Age: Collision Course
Independence Day: Resurgence
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Jane Got a Gun
Jason Bourne
The Jungle Book
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Kubo and the Two Strings
Kung Fu Panda 3
Hell or High Water
A Hologram for the King
Lady Macbeth
La La Land
The Legend of Tarzan
The Light Between Oceans
Lion
London Has Fallen
The Lost City of Z
Love & Friendship
The Magnificent Seven
Manchester by the Sea
Me Before You
Midnight Special
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Sloane
Moana
Money Monster
Moonlight
The Neon Demon
The Nice Guys
Nine Lives
Nocturnal Animals
Now You See Me 2
O.J.: Made in America
One More Time with Feeling
Our Kind of Traitor
Passengers
Paterson
Pete's Dragon
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Secret Life of Pets
Silence
Sing
Snowden
Spectral
Split
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
Supersonic
Swiss Army Man
10 Cloverfield Lane
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
13th
Toni Erdmann
Train to Busan
Triple 9
Trolls
Warcraft: The Beginning
War Dogs
War on Everyone
X-Men: Apocalypse
Zoolander 2
Zootropolis

2015

The Age of Adeline
American Ultra
Amy
Anomalisa
Ant-Man
Avengers: Age of Ultron
A Bigger Splash
The Big Short
Blackhat
Black Mass
Bone Tomahawk
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
By the Sea
Carol
Chappie
Child 44
Christmas with the Coopers
Cinderella
Concussion
Creed
Crimson Peak
De Palma
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
The Dressmaker
Ex Machina
Eye in the Sky
Fantastic Four
Far from the Madding Crowd
Fifty Shades of Grey
Focus
Forsaken
45 Years
Furious 7
The Gift
The Good Dinosaur
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Goosebumps
Green Room
The Gunman
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
The Hateful Eight
High-Rise
Home
Hotel Transylvania 2
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Inside Out
Insidious: Chapter 3
In the Heart of the Sea
The Invitation
It Follows
Joy
Jupiter Ascending
Jurassic World
Knight of Cups
Krampus
The Last Witch Hunter
Legend
Life
The Lobster
Macbeth
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Martian
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Minions
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Mordecai
Mr. Holmes
The Night Before
No Escape
Our Brand is Crisis
Pan
The Peanuts Movie
Point Break
Poltergeist
The Revenant
Ricki and the Flash
Rock the Kasbah
Room
Sicario
Slow West
Solace
Son of Saul
Southpaw
Spectre
Spooks: The Greater Good
Spotlight
Spy
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Straight Outta Compton
Steve Jobs
Suffragette
Sully
Survivor
Tale of Tales
Terminator Genisys
Tomorrowland: A World Beyond
Truth
Victor Frankenstein
The Walk
The Witch
Youth
Z for Zachariah

2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
American Sniper
Automata
The Babadook
Bad Neighbours (aka Neighbors)
Before I Go to Sleep
Big Eyes
Big Hero 6
Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Black Sea
The Boxtrolls
Boyhood
Burying the Ex
Calvary
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Chef
Citizenfour
Cold in July
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Deliver Us from Evil
Divergent
Dracula Untold
Draft Day
The Drop
The Duke of Burgundy
Earth to Echo
Edge of Tomorrow
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
The Equalizer
Exodus: Gods and Kings
The Expendables 3
The Fault in Our Stars
Force Majeure
Foxcatcher 
Frank
Fury
The Gambler
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
The Giver
Godzilla
Gone Girl
Good Kill
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guest
Heaven is for Real
Hercules
The Hobbit - Extended Editions
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Homesman
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Jersey Boys
John Wick
The Judge
Kill the Messenger
Kingsman: The Secret Service
The Lego Movie
Leviathan
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
Love is Strange
Lost River
Lucy
Magic in the Moonlight
Maleficent
Maps to the Stars
The Maze Runner
Million Dollar Arm
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Mr. Turner
Monsters: Dark Continent
The Monuments Men
A Most Violent Year
A Most Wanted Man
Muppets Most Wanted
Need for Speed
A New York Winter's Tale
Nightcrawler
Noah
Non-Stop
Paddington
Penguins of Madagascar
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch, Reflecting on Existence
Pompeii 
Predestination
The Raid 2
The Rewrite
Ride Along
Rio 2
Robocop
The Rover
Sabotage
Selma
'71
Sex Tape
Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
The Skeleton Twins
Space Station 76
Still Alice
Stretch
St. Vincent
Taken 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Theory of Everything
3 Days to Kill
300: Rise of an Empire
Transcendence
22 Jump Street
Two Days, One Night
The Two Faces of January
Unbroken
Vampire Academy
The Voices
Whiplash
Wild
X-Men: Days of Future Past
A Walk Among the Tombstones
What We Do in the Shadows
While We're Young

2013

2012

2011

Young Adult


2010


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Poor Easy Breezy.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)
(SPOILERS) My initial reaction to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood was mild disbelief that Tarantino managed to hoodwink studios into coming begging to make it, so wilfully perverse is it in disregarding any standard expectations of narrative or plotting. Then I remembered that studios, or studios that aren’t Disney, are desperate for product, and more especially, product that might guarantee them a hit. Quentin’s latest appears to be that, but whether it’s a sufficient one to justify the expense of his absurd vanity project remains to be seen.
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In a few moments, you will have an experience that will seem completely real. It will be the result of your subconscious fears transformed into your conscious awareness.

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You keep a horse in the basement?

The ‘Burbs (1989)
(SPOILERS) The ‘Burbs is Joe Dante’s masterpiece. Or at least, his masterpiece that isn’t his bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you masterpiece Gremlins 2: The New Batch, or his high profile masterpiece Gremlins. Unlike those two, the latter of which bolted out of the gate and took audiences by surprise with it’s black wit subverting the expected Spielberg melange, and the first which was roundly shunned by viewers and critics for being absolutely nothing like the first and waving that fact gleefully under their noses, The ‘Burbs took a while to gain its foothold in the Dante pantheon. 

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You can’t keep the whole world in the dark about what’s going on. Once they know that a five-mile hunk of rock is going to hit the world at 30,000 miles per hour, the people will want to know what the hell we intend to do about it.

Meteor (1979)
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I mean, I am just a dumb bunny, but, we are good at multiplying.

Zootropolis (2016)
(SPOILERS) The key to Zootropolis’ (or Zootopia as our American cousins refer to it; the European title change being nothing to do with U2, but down to a Danish zoo, it seems, which still doesn’t explain the German title, though) creative success isn’t so much the conceit of its much-vaunted allegory regarding prejudice and equality, or – conversely – the fun to be had riffing on animal stereotypes (simultaneously clever and obvious), or even the appealing central duo voiced by Ginnifier Goodwin (as first rabbit cop Judy Hopps) and Jason Bateman (fox hustler Nick Wilde). It’s coming armed with that rarity for an animation; a well-sustained plot that doesn’t devolve into overblown set pieces or rest on the easy laurels of musical numbers and montages.

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I can't lie to you about your chances, but... you have my sympathies.

"Predalien" The Alien-Predator-verse ranked
Fox got in there with the shared universe thing long before the current trend. Fortunately for us, once they had their taste of it, they concluded it wasn’t for them. But still, the Predator and Alien franchises are now forever interconnected, and it better justifies a ranking if you have more than six entries on it. So please, enjoy this rundown of the “Predalien”-verse. SPOILERS ensue…
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I just hope my death makes more cents than my life.

Joker (2019)
(SPOILERS) So the murder sprees didn’t happen, and a thousand puff pieces desperate to fan the flames of such events and then told-ya-so have fallen flat on their faces. The biggest takeaway from Joker is not that the movie is an event, when once that seemed plausible but not a given, but that any mainstream press perspective on the picture appears unable to divorce its quality from its alleged or actual politics. Joker may be zeitgeisty, but isn’t another Taxi Driver in terms of cultural import, in the sense that Taxi Driver didn’t have a Taxi Driver in mind when Paul Schrader wrote it. It is, if you like, faux-incendiary, and can only ever play out on that level. It might be more accurately described as a grubbier, grimier (but still polished and glossy) The Talented Ripley, the tale of developing psychopathy, only tailored for a cinemagoing audience with few options left outside of comic book fare.
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He mobilised the English language and sent it into battle.

Darkest Hour (2017)
(SPOILERS) Watching Joe Wright’s return to the rarefied plane of prestige – and heritage to boot – filmmaking following the execrable folly of the panned Pan, I was struck by the difference an engaged director, one who cares about his characters, makes to material. Only last week, Ridley Scott’s serviceable All the Money in the World made for a pointed illustration of strong material in the hands of someone with no such investment, unless they’re androids. Wright’s dedication to a relatable Winston Churchill ensures that, for the first hour-plus, Darkest Hour is a first-rate affair, a piece of myth-making that barely puts a foot wrong. It has that much in common with Wright’s earlier Word War II tale, Atonement. But then, like Atonement, it comes unstuck.
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Supposing I help you fix the bishop?

The Avengers 3.20: The Little Wonders
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He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(1982)
(SPOILERS) I don’t love Star Trek, but I do love Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. That probably isn’t just me, but a common refrain of many a non-devotee of the series. Although, it used to apply to The Voyage Home (the funny one, with the whales, the Star Trek even the target audience for Three Men and a Baby could enjoy). Unfortunately, its high regard has also become the desperate, self-destructive, song-and-verse, be-all-and-end-all of the overlords of the franchise itself, in whichever iteration, it seems. This is understandable to an extent, as Khan is that rare movie sequel made to transcendent effect on almost every level, and one that stands the test of time every bit as well (better, even) as when it was first unveiled.
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