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2.5/5
|
Silent Night
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Silent Night is worth seeking out as a yuletide diversion.
Posted Nov 29, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Monster
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Kore-eda, working for the first time in decades from a script not his own, takes a Rashomon-like narrative and weaves a story that is both an intriguing mystery and a sweet coming-of-age story.
Posted Nov 24, 2023
|
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3.5/5
|
Maestro
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
It’s undeniable the commitment Cooper has made to Maestro and to bringing Bernstein’s story to the screen with complete authenticity.
Posted Nov 22, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
Napoleon
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Napoleon is not a historical biography to be respected, nor does it have the dark comic wit to be particularly edgy.
Posted Nov 21, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Thanksgiving
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
It’s easy to see how this movie will become a new holiday tradition for genre fans, to be watched after grandma and grandmpa have fallen into a post-turkey coma.
Posted Nov 16, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Next Goal Wins
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Sure to be a crowd-pleaser that scores with the director’s legion of fans, despite the yellow flags it also earns.
Posted Nov 15, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Predictably passionless and derivative, but at least it’s not harmful to the series as a whole.
Posted Nov 15, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Trolls Band Together
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
This is probably the most insane Trolls movie yet and its fans will appreciate everything about that.
Posted Nov 14, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
The Marvels
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The Marvels is so much better the stranger it gets.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
The Marsh King's Daughter
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Fans of Ridley will want to check this out for her, because there’s not much suspense to be found elsewhere.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Freelance
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Freelance is an utter disaster that I can't believe John Cena and Alison Brie agreed to be a part of.
Posted Nov 02, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Nyad
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
When Nyad takes to the water, it’s a captivating underdog story about a woman who swam against the tide of prejudice and ageism to be the best.
Posted Nov 02, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Kill Room
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The Kill Room is far from a masterpiece, but Thurman, Jackson, and Manganiello guide the broad comedic brush strokes in entertaining fashion.
Posted Nov 01, 2023
|
|
1.5/5
|
Five Nights at Freddy's
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Five Nights at Freddy’s has been in the works for so long, it was actually beat out by a better film with the same plot.
Posted Oct 27, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
If You Were the Last
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
This low-fi screwball charmer burns hot with Mackie and Chao’s instant chemistry.
Posted Oct 24, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
American Fiction
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
What's great about American Fiction is that it isn't so easily defined. It's part family dramedy, part literary and Hollywood satire, and part character study.
Posted Oct 22, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
The Holdovers
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
And while The Holdovers does get off to a slow start, the journey is worthwhile, fulfilling, and quite funny.
Posted Oct 22, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
The Killer
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
It turns out that great filmmakers sometimes can’t elevate ho-hum material, and can sometimes even hinder it.
Posted Oct 22, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Saltburn
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Saltburn is imperfect, but like the titular estate it snags you in its grip and doesn’t let go.
Posted Oct 22, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
The Zone of Interest
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Nothing meaningful comes out of The Zone of Interest, leaving us with the sinking realization that this hollow feeling is all Glazer had intended from the beginning.
Posted Oct 21, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Fingernails
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Digging into the details of Fingernails will only cause you to dislike the movie, and I found it’s best to invest in the performances of Buckley, Ahmed, and White.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Society of the Snow
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
A more authentic take on this incredible tale of survival and strength of the human spirit.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Rustin
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The one consistently great aspect to Rustin is Domingo, with a towering performance that makes you believe this one man could pull off such a herculean effort.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Butcher's Crossing
(2022)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The film offers Cage a rarity for someone at this stage of his career; a new challenge in a new genre.
Posted Oct 19, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Killers of the Flower Moon is a complete, utterly masterful film that echoes the very birth of America.
Posted Oct 17, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
In the Fire
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
It’s problems are many, such as stilted dialogue and predictable genre tropes, and there’s a general sense that this movie wouldn’t even exist if Heard had passed on it.
Posted Oct 13, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
The Burial
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The Burial doesn’t always make the perfect case for itself, but it’s hard not to like an underdog story with an anti-corporate message delivered with the kind of gusto that Foxx brings to the table.
Posted Oct 12, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Dark Harvest
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
A brutal small-town horror that strikes somewhere between Children of the Corn, The Hunger Games, and a scary story told around the campfire.
Posted Oct 12, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Foe
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
With lush visuals and performances just as thriving, any shortcomings can be forgiven for a sci-fi romance that has its heart in the right place.
Posted Oct 11, 2023
|
|
1.5/5
|
Dicks: The Musical
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
That Jackson and Sharp are gay men playing “straight” is about as clever as this loud, uncomfortably unfunny film gets as it makes the case for the worst comedy of the year.
Posted Oct 05, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
The Royal Hotel
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The Royal Hotel is terrifying in its exploration of the allowances women make just to survive, and the snap decisions they must make in male-dominated workplaces.
Posted Oct 04, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Saw X
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Allows for a tighter focus on the series’ most popular character without all of the narrative trickery latter films needed to keep him relevant storywise.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
|
|
4.5/5
|
The Creator
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The best original sci-fi I’ve seen in years, with a rich, full world just dying to be explored, stunning cinematography, and a human vs AI storyline that is familiar but rewarding.
Posted Sep 26, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
No One Will Save You
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
No One Will Save You is a little bit A Quiet Place, a little bit War of the Worlds, and it should be top of your radar to watch from the comfort of home.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Expend4bles
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The clip is out of ammo on this franchise that has NEVER lived up to its potential, and this is the worst of them all.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Outlaw Johnny Black
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The style is closer to Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, which managed to be funny, topical, and critical of the genre while being respectful of it.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Dumb Money
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Dumb Money is smartly packaged into a crowd-pleasing “us vs. them” story pitting the little guys against the Goliath of Wall Street fat cats.
Posted Sep 13, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
A Haunting in Venice
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
A Haunting in Venice keeps solving the case, offering a fun, Gothic ghost story that will keep you on your toes and should be a treat to seek out this Halloween.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
Rotting in the Sun
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
It’s also hard to shake the feeling that Silva could’ve made Rotting in the Sun as a 30-minute short and it would’ve been an improvement.
Posted Sep 07, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
The Equalizer 3
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
It’s probably the most human and least violent of the franchise, but also possibly the best.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia
(2022)
|
Travis Hopson
|
A crowd-pleasing, heart-warming joy about true platonic love and political defiance.
Posted Aug 31, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
Vacation Friends 2
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The sequel scuttles the good vibes of that dynamic by throwing in a number of elements that simply don’t work.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
|
|
2/5
|
Retribution
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
With Neeson’s latest, Retribution, he finally gives up in a tired thriller that barely asks him to do more than fasten his seat belt.
Posted Aug 24, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
And while the self-serving commercialism unavoidably runs rampant, it’s impossible to deny the sheer crowd-pleasing thrill of the race.
Posted Aug 23, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Bottoms
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Weird, surreal, and unabashedly horny, this is one of those films that you instantly know is going to be a cult favorite.
Posted Aug 22, 2023
|
|
3/5
|
Strays
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Imagine Disney’s The Incredible Journey if it was written by veterinary students on an acid trip.
Posted Aug 17, 2023
|
|
4/5
|
Blue Beetle
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
Quite simply the best DC movie in years, and should be the blueprint for James Gunn as he moves forward with the new DCU.
Posted Aug 16, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
Heart of Stone
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
The formula is tried and true, and the Wonder Woman star packs a punch even if the film itself struggles to set itself apart.
Posted Aug 11, 2023
|
|
3.5/5
|
Aporia
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
What’s striking is how little of the typical genre conventions are present, making for a refreshing, emotionally complex take on a familiar idea.
Posted Aug 09, 2023
|
|
2.5/5
|
Meg 2: The Trench
(2023)
|
Travis Hopson
|
For far too long it feels like just another of Statham’s many many generic action movies.
Posted Aug 04, 2023
|
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