Logan (2017) Hugh Jackman – Movie Reviews

Set in the year 2029, we find a world where there are no newly born mutants, and the ones that did exist have been all but completely wiped out. Spirit broken, body beaten and losing its ability to quickly heal, and with a sense of self-loathing to the point where suicide seems an increasingly attractive option, Logan finds himself working as a limousine driver, trying to scrape together enough funds to help nonagenarian Professor Charles Xavier, who he has stashed in an isolated facility in Mexico, away from the general population due the the fact that Professor X, without his meds to corral his psychic abilities, loses control of his mutant powers and lashes out in seismic burst from his seizures. During this time, Logan is introduced to a young girl named Laura, an escapee from a mutant-manufacturing lab who, astonishingly, seems to have identical powers to the Wolverine. Hitting the road, the trip seek to escape those who are out to take them down, while also looking for a mythical mutant sanctuary called ‘Eden’.

Get Out (2017) Jordan Peele – Horror-Comedy Movie Review

Daniel Kaluuya stars as photographer Chris Washington, a young African-American involved in a close relationship with the white Rose Armitage, so close that it’s time for Chris to meet Rose’s parents. Chris is nervous about their weekend retreat to Rose’s family lake house because Rose hasn’t told them that he’s black because it doesn’t matter to her, and her liberal parents should be all for it, she gathers. While seemingly fine, Chris undergoes a share of microagressions, assumptions, and patronizations because he is a black man, and things only get worse when he’s involuntarily hypnotized by Rose’s mother, Missy, a hypnotherapist out to cure him of his smoking habit. From there, more of Rose’s family gathers for an annual party at the estate, further compounding his issues in being slighted due to his race, while the black hired help around the house seem to adopt an aggressive stance toward him and his relationship with Rose.

Elle (2016) Isabelle Huppert, Paul Verhoeven – Movie Review

Isabelle Huppert stars as Michele Leblanc, the manager of a video-game company. Michelle is raped by a masked man in her own home. Because of her checkered past, she decides to not report it to the police, and is reticent to tell friends right away. The perpetrator continues to stalk Michele, causing her to seek measures to protect herself, yet she is also conflicted by her fantasies, both terrifying and exhilarating, of what might happen should she be found in that position again.

Fifty Shades Darker (2017) Dakota Johnson – Movie Review

In this follow-up to the wildly popular kinky romance drama Fifty Shades of Grey, we find perpetually blushing publishing-house editorial assistant Anastasia Steele making it through life without the help or attention of controlling Seattle-based mega-billionaire Christian Grey, mostly due to the fact that he couldn’t open himself up to her much beyond his taste for sado-masochistic sexual acts. While Grey tries to move on, he can’t ‘quit’ Ana, forging is way back into her life romantically (on condition that their relationship stay ‘vanilla’), as well as in an attempt to take over ownership of the company that employs her.

The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) Will Arnett – Movie Reviews

The Joker here is a bit more of a softie — still a madman, but one that knows the bond of hatred between himself and the Batman needs to be reciprocal so that he can be the yin to his yang. To cement himself as #1 on Batman’s hate list, Joker and a host of other baddies of assorted popularity are out to destroy Gotham City. Batman catches Joker in the act, but still sees him as just another perp to thwart, hatching bigger and bolder ideas to come from the clown madman in trying to assure arch-nemesis status, starting with springing the worst of them from the dreaded Phantom Zone.

John Wick Chapter 2 (2017) Keanu Reeves – Movie Review

John Wick tries to go back into retirement after getting his revenge from those who’ve done him wrong. It would work, except that one particular party, an Italian crime boss named Santino D’Antonio, means to cash in on a marker, a favor he did for Wick some time back, that must be repaid, pulling him in to do another job in the form of an assassination of his sister so that he can take her place in the super-secret organization. Alas, the further Wick gets in, the more enemies out to snuff him out, to the point where they are like the proverbial hydra, sprouting two new enemies for every one he takes down.

Paterson (2016) Jim Jarmusch – Movie Review

Adam Driver stars as Paterson, who coincidentally shares the same name as his town in New Jersey. We follow Paterson over the course of a week in his life, his routines, his conversations with his aspiring baker/singer girlfriend Laura, the conversations he eavesdrops on with the passengers in the city bus he drives, and his interactions with the inhabitants of the local bar he goes to when he takes his English Bulldog Marvin for a walk at night. We also get to follow along as he writes poems every day in his writing notebook, inspired by the writings of famed Paterson poet William Carlos Williams.

The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) Movie Reviews

The story is set in England at an unspecified time in the future, where we find that Earth may have all but been completely dominated by some sort of invasive fungus that can latch itself and grow inside humans within seconds, turning them into Hungries, aka zombies who seek out non-infected humans and other forms of life in order to sate their thirst for flesh and blood. Within a heavily guarded military base, Earth uninfected soldiers, scientists and civilians are working diligently on finding a way to cure the virus, experimenting primarily on a group of young boys and girls born infected but have capacity learning. i.e. they are cannibals, but far from mindless.

The Founder (2016) Michael Keaton – Movie Review

Set primarily in the 1950s, we find Ray Kroc is a struggling traveling salesman trying to peddle an electric milkshake mixer that promises to spark sales by increasing the supply by shortening the wait time involved with having to churn out one milkshake at a time. Sales are not going well, until he receives one big order from someone he hasn’t spoken to directly.

Sensing an opportunity for more business with this mysterious buyer, Kroc travels out to the source of the order in San Bernardino, California, where he meets Dick and Mac McDonald, the owners of a bustling burger joint called McDonald’s, which prides itself on offering a great product at a low price served hot and fast in an assembly-line process that recalls the innovation of Henry Ford. When Kroc sees the setup, he can’t help but think they couldn’t make money hand over fist by franchising restaurants just like it from coast to coast.

Hidden Figures (2016) Janelle Monae – Movie Review

Hidden Figures seeks to showcase the little-known story of three adept African-American women, all computers who worked for NASA’s space program in the 1960s. In an age before computers did all of the calculations, these women were part of a team responsible for double checking the figures put out by engineers working at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. During this period, the gals helped with work to speed up the role of the United States in the Space Race, working on the Mercury program, and other notable ventures.