Title: War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) Genre: Science Fiction/Drama Director: Matt Reeves Stars: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, and Steve Zahn Grade: A- In a Nutshell: In this final installment of the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy, it’s been two years since the attack on the surviving humans in San Francisco, incited by the human-hating ape Kubo. Leader of the apes, Caesar (Andy Serkis), and his tribe are being tracked down by a rogue US military faction called Alpha Omega, which is headed by an unforgiving Colonel (Woody Harrelson). After a brutal attack on the apes’ home killing Caesar’s wife and eldest son, Caesar is out for personal revenge. As the rest of the apes flee for saf
Each night I ask the stars up above: Why must I be a teen-ager in love? -- Dion and the Belmonts Sometimes a film comes along that you just want to hug. In this case, I’m talking about Sing Street -easily the best musical of 2016 (sorry, La La Land……..not really sorry) and the best musical overall since 2007’s Once. The comparison to Once shouldn’t be too surprising considering that both films are the product of writer-director John Carney. The fact that this film and its eclectic soundtrack didn’t’ score a single Oscar nod is a major blemish on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. #FuckLaLaLand The film is a blast from the past, in more ways than one, telling the story of a 16 y
Check out the week's newest film releases and find out what our staff can't wait to see (or, in some cases, would choose to see if we absolutely had to). Click the posters for more info about each film. Shelby and Matt want to see... "My choice for this week is How to Talk to Girls at Parties. A Neil Gaiman short story + teenage punks + cute girl aliens sounds like my sort of movie. There's also a 100% likelihood of me seeing Solo within the next few weeks if for no reason other than to drool over Donald Glover as Lando." - Shelby "I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's work, from the comic series Sandman to novels such as Neverwhere and American Gods, so this film (based on his Hugo Award nominate
Title: Cargo (2018) Genre: Horror Director: Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke Stars: David Gulpilil, Martin Freeman, Susie Porter Grade: B- In a Nutshell: Long after a zombie outbreak, Andy (Martin Freeman), his wife Kay (Susie Porter), and baby daughter Rosie have taken refuge on a boat in the Australian Outback. Sailing along the river has kept the family safe, but they’re running out of food. When Kay tries searching an abandoned boat for supplies, she ends up getting bitten by a zombie in the water. People who are “infected” have some 48 hours before they transform. Kay is pessimistic, but Andy insists on trying to take her to a hospital. Without giving away too much, Andy becomes infected a
Growing up as a fan of celebrated film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, one of my favorite treats was their recurring series of episodes entitled “Buried Treasures.” They each described a regular occurrence of stopping into the local video store and being asked by prospective film renters what was “new” to rent, instead of being asked what was “good” to rent. In response, Siskel & Ebert hosted biannual shows to highlight films that they both thought fell through the cracks and deserved a second look. Over the years such recommendations included The Last Dragon, Southern Comfort, Scandal, and Sid and Nancy, just to name a few. Inspired by their example and their contribution to my lifelon
Check out the week's newest film releases and find out what our staff can't wait to see (or, in some cases, would choose to see if we absolutely had to). Click the posters for more info about each film. Shelby plans to see... "Deadpool 2 looks like a lot of fun, and I'm really excited for the introduction of Domino. Even if the movie just ends up being 'more of the same,' I'm here for it." Matt also wants to check out... "Anyone who knows me knows I'm going to see Deadpool 2, as I enjoyed the first one (though probably less than most people would expect). However, I'm also interested in Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Ethan Hawke's one of my low-key favorite actors (from Reality Bites and Ga
Title: Slay the Spire Studio: Megacrit Genre: Roguelike Deckbuilder Lead Developers: Anthony Giovannetti and Casey Yano Grade: A but not A+ since it's still in development and it's hard to give a concrete judgement to a constantly changing game. In a Nutshell: Slay the Spire is a strange game that is legitimately one of a kind. To quote their description on Steam, “We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could.” In this, you pick one of two characters (a third is available in the beta version) and start with a basic deck of attacks and defensive cards that you can upgrade and add to your deck as you battle your way up each of the three floors
Take a look at our newest feature where you can come to check out the week's newest film releases and find out what our staff can't wait to see (or, in some cases, would choose to see if we absolutely had to). Shelby is interested in... "For this week, I'm going to recommend The Seagull. Even though the plot synopsis reminds me of the more boring aspects of high school English class, the cast alone piqued my interest. Elizabeth Moss, Annette Bening, and Saoirse Ronan on screen together? Count me in. Note: I spelled Saorise Ronan's name right the first time without even looking! #humblebrag" Matt wants to check out... "I'll be checking out Terminal based on the cast and the fact that it looks
What are Second Chance Reviews? Well, the idea is that all of us have films we love that slipped through the cracks, were swept under the rug, or were just outright rejected when they first came out. These reviews are meant less as a defense of those films, because we all like what we like and dislike what we dislike. Instead, this is more a championing of a film that we feel deserves another look, informed by what we love about it. In other words, the hope is that if the film didn’t work for you the first time, maybe you’ll give it a second-chance after reading our thoughts. Title: Hulk (2003) Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 62% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 29% Director: Ang Lee Stars (pr
Futurama (1999-2013) - My all-time favorite animated show (although Bob's Burgers might eventually edge it out for the top space), which I somehow didn't realize until just yesterday is now streaming on Hulu. Like, every single episode (even the post-reboot seasons and the movies). Although I have mixed feelings about the ratio of great:good:crap episodes in the newer seasons, I still love the show overall and think the series finale is the best send-off I could possibly have asked for. Streaming on Hulu. The Prisoner (1967-1968) - Another of my favorite tv shows, the British spy drama The Prisoner only ran for two seasons in the late 60's, but has had an outsize impact on science fiction tv
Title: A Quiet Place (2018) Genre: Horror Director: John Krasinski Stars: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, and Cade Woodward Grade: C In a Nutshell: In a post-apocalyptic world, humans have gone nearly extinct after mobs of blind, thick-armored monsters invade the Earth. The creatures hunt with hypersensitive hearing, and can carry off prey in the blink of an eye. The few humans left alive are forced to live as quietly as possible- make even the slightest noise and you’re doomed. You’d think surviving a bunch of flesh-eating aliens would be difficult enough, but the Abbott family have to cope with this and a more personal tragedy that happened mere months after the
