Feature Length films produced by big studios are the main stay of modern Hollywood. These are their reviews. *Dun Dun*
As a 90’s baby, I grew up in the original Jumanji (1995) craze, a movie which really should not have existed considering the brevity of its source material, a children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. I absolutely wore out my VHS copy of the film, watching it dozens of times to the point that I can to this day recite the movie largely line by line.
I am personally embarrassed that SquidFlicks has existed for a decade and has never given Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece it’s proper due review. That changes now. This is the quintessential primer to understand Del Toro’s fascination and talent at telling the ‘monster’ story through all his cinematic endeavors.
Set during the viciously violent (and often overlooked as a footnote during World War II) Francoist era in the years after the Spanish Civil War (1944), a young girl, Ofelia, along with her mother and unborn baby brother are escorted to a chateau in the dense forest of the Spanish countryside to bunker down with an enclave of fascist forces led by her adopted father, Captain Vidal.
Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is an MI6 agent tasked with recovering top secret KGB intel in East Berlin before the wall falls in the waning days of the Cold War. Can she navigate the coldest city before the heat gets turned up?
Nolan’s’ latest foray is a non-stop, heart-pounding adaptation of one of the most fraught moments in early World War II – the evacuation of 300,000+ English and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk, with the Nazi army encroaching on all sides. With this final move, Germany would sweep through the rest of France and essentially hold all of Europe under its iron grip for years. (more…)
I’m going to preface this review by saying that if you only watch one movie this year, make it Baby Driver. Edgar Wright knocked this one out of the park. The chase/escape scenes feel Mad Max-meets-urban center and that’s because Wright asked legendary director George Miller for advice on capturing that stunning aesthetic. Incredible. (more…)
From what has become one of my favorite thriller/horror production companies now, Blumhouse and comic-turned-director Jordan Peele (of Mad TV and Key & Peele fame) comes Get Out – and it’s gaining a lot of attention because of how damn creepy it is. In my book, it’s an instant classic.
The early 1980s were filled with fantastic futuristic sci-fi films. Terminator & Blade Runner set the tone for many many films but Empire Pictures took the best of both worlds and combined them in the 1984 release of “Trancers.” To celebrate the 30th anniversary of this sci-fi cult classic, Full Moon released the definitive edition of “Trancers” on Blu-Ray. (more…)
Did you ever participate in a spelling bee? For most kids, it’s a good but annoying excuse to get out of class for the afternoon. Nobody really wants to win, because that means you have to compete again on a higher level. In the case of Bad Words, Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman) is making his journey to the Golden Quill National Spelling Bee personal. He is 40 years old and technically eligible for the bee because he has never passed the 8th grade. His take no prisoners attitude (plus the fact that he is a 40-year-old man competing against preteens) grates parents and competition officials alike. His media sponsor and online reporter Jenny Widgeon (Katherine Hahn) tries to figure out what his angle is for her big story, but by the time she figures out the reason for Guy’s vendetta, it’s too far to turn back.
How would you feel if a fraternity moved into the house next door? Depends on where you are in life I suppose. It would be pretty cool if you are a fresh-faced college freshman, free from any real responsibility and down to party. If you were a young married couple with a young child, you probably wouldn’t be as excited. How would you handle a situation like that? Move away? Make life a living hell? To an independent observer, it would be entertaining to watch!
This was a guest review submitted by Seth Middleton. Thanks Seth! You can submit your own reviews to SquidFlicks here.
I’ll have to admit my perceptions of this film from the previews left me caged in a sense of contemporary redressing. Maybe that quip sounds a little bit overtly complicated. Let me simplify it. The previews left me certainly at odds with how the film was being fashioned. It looked like a packaged action vehicle for Robert Downey Jr.’s new claim to fame as action hero. (more…)