Jon Espino
Tomatometer-approved critic
As a queer Latinx critic, I examine films beyond just their technical aspects. Film is arguably one of the most powerful mediums, delivering social messages whether we realize it or not. It's necessary to discuss the social implications and what it says about our respective cultures, which is what I aim to do whenever possible.
Movies reviews only
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Eternals (2021) |
If you're not put off by the ponderous pacing or the humble lack of gaudy flair, this film offers not only an evolution of the comic book film genre but also a revolution in representation. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Nov 05, 2021
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) |
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings toes the line carefully, delivering exactly the energy we expect from a Marvel film and more, even if it leans too much into the humor at the expense of real depth. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Sep 05, 2021
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The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) |
The most infuriating part of this sequel is that it isn't technically bad; it subsists in a sort-of cinematic purgatory full of the spirits of its squandered potential. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Jun 07, 2021
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A Quiet Place Part II (2021) |
Even though this film has more bare feet than a Tarantino production, it is sure-footed and intentional with its approach. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted May 28, 2021
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Army Of The Dead (2021) |
The way [Snyder] milks every scene, slowing down the pacing and the passage of time, is both a wondrous sight to witness and a terror to sit through. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted May 25, 2021
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Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) |
[Spiral] tries so desperately to be part of a bigger conversation like The Purge but ends up falling so short that it's more in league with the likes of The Human Centipede, only nowhere near as novel. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted May 22, 2021
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The Woman in the Window (2021) |
... Wright adorns this film with such big and heavy-handed references that it doesn't end up resembling a film as much as it does a drag queen with chunky Hitchcock-inspired costume jewelry who calls herself Queer Wind-hoe. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted May 16, 2021
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The Little Things (2021) |
The Little Things pays homage to everything we love from an old-fashioned detective procedural but aside from being socially tone-deaf, it also has the misfortune of doing it a couple of decades too late. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Feb 04, 2021
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Supernova (2020) |
Although Supernova doesn't take us on the incredible interstellar adventure its title would suggest, the grounded, emotional journey is still otherworldly. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Feb 02, 2021
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Sunset (2018) |
Nemes and Royer create an over-encumbered plot that shifts the focus in so many directions that it leaves the viewer essentially cross-eyed. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Dec 02, 2020
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Steven Universe: The Movie (2019) |
Everything in Steven Universe: The Movie will seem familiar, but only because that's the film's entire purpose. There is a newfound maturity that the show promises with this film; a glimpse into the new direction the show will take when it returns. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Sep 16, 2019
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Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) |
For the most part, I enjoyed Dora and the Lost City of Gold, but by the time the credits rolled, I was left with the same empty feeling I had come to know so well. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Aug 12, 2019
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The Farewell (2019) |
Lulu Wang artfully creates something that's less of an explanation and more of an exploration. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Jul 22, 2019
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Stuber (2019) |
With rides this bad, Stuber makes braving public transportation much more appealing. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jul 17, 2019
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Annabelle Comes Home (2019) |
Although Annabelle Comes Homes doesn't offer much in the way of meaningful messaging or genre-redefining radicalism, it does provide a solid summer scarefest that is equal parts humorous and horrifying. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Jun 26, 2019
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The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) |
Inside this gorgeous, painful, and honest look at the city, we are given the story of a wonderfully atypical male friendship that highlights why the normalized alternative is so toxic. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jun 25, 2019
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Child's Play (2019) |
While it chucks the original black magic for a black mirror approach, Child's Play ends up creating a justifiable timeliness for this successfully killer reboot. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Jun 23, 2019
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The Dead Don't Die (2019) |
From the flagrant foreboding to the mildly amusing meta-isms, this film was made for one reason and one reason alone: Fun. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Jun 20, 2019
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The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019) |
[They] do their best to juggle the many opposing elements, but what should have been a gracefully choreographed performance devolves into a three-ring circus. - HollywoodChicago.com
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| Posted Jun 20, 2019
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The Souvenir (2019) |
[Joanna] Hogg may have set this film as a period piece that follows her experience in the 80s, but the poignancy sewn throughout make the film evergreen, if not more relevant today. - The Young Folks
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| Posted May 28, 2019
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The Intruder (2019) |
Although The Intruder will likely get swept over by the most recent Avengers wave, it serves enough nostalgic thriller elements and a truly magnetic performance from Dennis Quaid to deserve your screen-yelling attention. - The Young Folks
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| Posted May 06, 2019
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J.T. LeRoy (2018) |
While seeing this unfold from a different perspective helps round out the story as a whole, everything in the film feels procedural. - The Young Folks
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| Posted May 06, 2019
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Penguins (2019) |
On its own, with a typically dry, British voiceover, Penguins would still make for a serviceable documentary. What truly makes it stand out is the sheer amount of personality that Helms gives the entire film. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Apr 18, 2019
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Miss Bala (2019) |
There is a clear difference between something that is complex and something that is just complicated, and the story in this Miss Bala is an over-complicated mess. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Feb 06, 2019
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Roma (2018) |
The thing that Cuarón chooses to highlight the most is the strength of women, and how they are left to pick up after the messes that men make and refuse to take responsibility for. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Dec 27, 2018
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Ben Is Back (2018) |
This film is essentially a mother-son film, and without the natural dynamic between Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts this film would not have a memorable cell in its body. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Dec 12, 2018
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Overlord (2018) |
Even though you won't find the events in this film in any history book, it is still well worth a view. Sometimes you just need to destress with some fictional monsters that distract you from the real monsters in our everyday lives. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Nov 12, 2018
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Suspiria (2018) |
A ravishing, frenetic fever dream that flounders dangerously close to turning into a cinematic nightmare. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Oct 31, 2018
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Mid90s (2018) |
Hill creates an homage to an especially formative point in his life but also makes sure that the mirror he holds up to the past accurately reflects how problematic it was then and still is today. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Oct 23, 2018
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The Happy Prince (2018) |
Although we'll never know what Wilde may have created had he been able to live a full life, The Happy Prince seems a worthy predecessor because it proves to be as much a work of Rupert Everett as it does his muse, Oscar Wilde. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Oct 16, 2018
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The Hate U Give (2018) |
Films like this serve a greater/necessary educational purpose for those who don't see the pattern in why injustices like the murders of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald, etc., are a problem. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Oct 08, 2018
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) |
The Miseducation of Cameron Post doesn't need to speak loud or at length for it to reveal volumes about our society, and how people prioritize the second-hand writings of some ancient text over the well-being and acceptance of their flesh and blood. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Aug 14, 2018
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The Equalizer 2 (2018) |
The pacing of the film may be brisk, and the action scenes energizing, but a close look at the fight choreography shows that it concise and calculating. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jul 23, 2018
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Book Club (2018) |
Although Book Club is not terrible, it spends much of the time coasting right above tolerable. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jun 14, 2018
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A Kid Like Jake (2018) |
This film will be a conversation starter for those that watch it, challenging the notion of gender roles and our culpability in reinforcing them. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jun 05, 2018
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Blumhouse's Truth or Dare (2018) |
Truth or Dare thought it was up for the challenge of a real game, but ended us losing shortly after it started playing. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Apr 19, 2018
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Free Fire (2016) |
Free Fire may seem like it sprays bullets indiscriminately but that distraction masks a technically smart film. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Dec 27, 2017
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Wonder (2017) |
The visual style of the film is whimsical, perfectly playing into the imaginative mindset of a child while providing some pleasant nostalgia to the adults. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Nov 21, 2017
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Ingrid Goes West (2017) |
Although Ingrid Goes West probably won't have you disconnecting from your devices anytime soon, it's ghost-of-social-media's-present/future approach will carry enough weight to make even the most myopic of us draw a few parallels. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Oct 24, 2017
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Marshall (2017) |
Marshall would have benefited from a much more serious tone and approach, not shying away from the true brutality of the time. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Oct 23, 2017
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The Disaster Artist (2017) |
The Disaster Artist makes a case for bad films everywhere by proving that some good (in this case great) can come from even the worst of them. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Sep 13, 2017
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Atomic Blonde (2017) |
Charlize Theron continues to prove she can hold her own against any man in the action genre and even goes so far as to teach them a few things inside the exhilarating Atomic Blonde. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jul 30, 2017
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Okja (2017) |
Joon-Ho Bong knows exactly what character should be genuine and which should come off as a complete caricature. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jul 27, 2017
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Girls Trip (2017) |
Girls Trip may take us on a narratively familiar journey, but it more than makes up for it with comedic companionship and socially conscious, sexually liberated approach - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jul 27, 2017
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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) |
Despite the visual splendor, this 3D spectacle lacks any depth. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jul 27, 2017
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The Mummy (2017) |
If the future films are as monstrous as this one, it will be a dark universe indeed. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jun 26, 2017
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Berlin Syndrome (2017) |
Palmer seems to shine in films that skew more towards the horror genre, and Berlin Syndrome continues that streak. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jun 01, 2017
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Wakefield (2016) |
Cranston delivers a minimalist performance that not only keeps our attention but earns it. His natural charisma and emotional range not only bring Howard Wakefield to life but awaken what could have turned into a slumberous cinematic experience. - The Young Folks
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| Posted Jun 01, 2017
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017) |
Somewhere along the way, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul must have misplaced the charm and humor that made the book series so popular. - The Young Folks
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| Posted May 26, 2017
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Lowriders (2016) |
Lowriders exudes passion from the cast and everyone involved, and the final result is a passion project that is both poignant and socially relevant despite its many flaws. - The Young Folks
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| Posted May 16, 2017
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