Archive for the 'Movie Reviews' Category
July 1st, 2018 by Brian White
I have been anxiously waiting for the past three years to see a sequel to one of my favorite films from 2015, Sicario. Truth be told, it’s also one of my favorite 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays too. Looks phenomenal and that opening blast scene…wow! So here we are it’s 2018 and the sequel they have been promising us has finally arrived…Sicario: Day of the Soldado. I’ll skip over the parts of who has what distribution rights and where as to what it’s named, etc. I’m just excited to be back in this gangster-ladden, drug war world of Sicario once again. However, I must admit I had some mild reservations going in due to some meh critical reviews not to mention those comments from friends. Needless to say I’m all in. Now let’s see who’s telling the truth. Continue reading ‘Lightning Doesn’t Strike Twice With ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ (Movie Review)’
June 24th, 2018 by Brian White
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom…just what the world needed, eh…another Jurassic Park film? One could say that yes Jurassic World came with little new to offer longtime fans of the franchise and left us in a very familiar fashion as well. One could also say the only thing it really did right was left us with two bankable stars, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, and one hell of a likable Velociraptor, Blue. Regardless of how you felt about it I was still a fan of the fourth entry and I can honestly say after four viewings I still have fun with it. And for what it’s worth you can see how I personally rank the previous four films in this franchise here in my 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray review of the collection. So getting back to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, hell yes I was excited to see where they were going to take this one. I purposely read no reviews prior to my first watch of this and all I knew before going in was the trailers pretty much only showed Acts 1 and 2 meaning they saved the good stuff for inside the theater…the way it should be. Count me in. I am all about that! Continue reading ‘‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Gives The Dinosaurs A Fighting Chance (Movie Review)’
June 18th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
This is it film fans! (Well – almost it!) The 21st Annual Dances With Films Festival 2018 is over and what a massive amount of Indie cinema there was. Our Coleman critic team of Jason and Michael each took on their fair share of flicks and as a result more movies got covered this year than in any other previous. They are still putting together their very own Best of Fest ‘Wrap Up’ where they choose their own selection of winners in each respective category, but just before that hits they have some final film reviews to pass along. So below are seventeen reviews – fifteen features, one documentary feature and one doc short – that will finish out their critical skinny for this year’s crop. Check out reviews of Antiquities, The Best People, In This Gray Place, At The End Of The Day, Deany Bean Is Dead, Concrete Kids, Double Eagle Ranch, A Brilliant Monster, Purdah and Al Imam all below! Continue reading ‘Dances With Films 2018 – Final Father/Son Film Reviews’
June 17th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
The older and younger Coleman critic clan are going cinema strong by still watching many movie outings via the current Dances With Films Festival 2018 (taking place June 7-17 at the Chinese 6 Theaters at Hollywood and Highland – go to www.danceswithfilms.com for more details!) and it’s far from over film fans! So below as they head into the home stretch (only two more articles left to go!) is an array of nineteen film reviews – seven features and twelve shorts – all for your reading pleasure. Check out the critical skinny on The Lake Vampire, Shooting In Vain, Murder Made Easy, Bully, Psychonautics: A Comic’s Exploration Of Psychedelics, Caligari In The Desert, Sam Did It, The Truth Seeker, Rotting Love, Deep Dish Apocalypse, Third Date, Silence, Wytches, Midnight Delivery, Pardon Our Pixie Dust, The Avocado, 1968 all below!
Continue reading ‘Dances With Films Festival 2018 – Many More Father/Son Reviews’
June 12th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
The first opening weekend of the ongoing Dances With Films Festival 2018 here in sunny LA (taking place June 7-17 at the Chinese 6 Theaters at Hollywood and Highland – go to www.danceswithfilms.com for more details!) has come and gone and it’s been a minefield of movies galore! Of course there’s tons more to come this week including more reviews and interviews, but there’s a gaggle of flicks that have already played the fest and are in need a little critical coverage via our father/son WhySoBlu team. So below are the first set of a massive twenty-eight film reviews – eleven features, thirteen midnight shorts, one competition short and three TV/Web Pilots – from the Coleman clan via this year’s crop of hopefuls. Enjoy the critical skinny on features Reach, Diminuendo, Chasing Bullitt, Till Death, End Trip, shorts F@cking Drama, Instinct, Granny, Bad Seed, Frenchies, Feast On The Young, Stay, Hajji, and TV/Web Pilots Inspirational Therapy, Geek Lounge and Yellow below. Continue reading ‘Dances With Films Festival 2018 – More Father/Son Film Reviews’
June 8th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
The amazing and movie filled Dances With Films Festival 2018 (taking place June 7-17 at the Chinese 6 Theaters at Hollywood and Highland – go to www.danceswithfilms.com for more details!) is now underway and the flicks are unspooling hard and fast! Both Jason and Michael are getting ready for a busy cinematic weekend, so their first piece of coverage hits now – ladies and gentlemen from the perspectives of the young and old Coleman gents here is the review of the DWF 2018 opening night film. Continue reading ‘Dances With Films Festival 2018 – Opening Night Review – ‘No Alternative’’
June 7th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Even in the midst of a major film festival the Indie outing dissections just keep on coming from yours truly. (Whew!) In any case flicks all over the map this week to add a little lesser-known film joy to the movie going experience. Tales of complicated family woes, docs on decent dudes and old film saviors, a hotel with a hook in everyone, a bank job gone awry and the dark side of a family tree all get the small skinny treatment via the six films that make up this week’s edition of Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Up for examination – Nancy, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Saving Brinton, Middleground, 211 and Hereditary all below!
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Six New Indie Titles’
May 31st, 2018 by Jason Coleman
In between big budget outings it’s good to know that Indie flicks are still alive and well for the film fan who demands more movies. This week sees five lesser known flicks hitting the big screen and thanks to continued cinematic diversity in smaller film fare there’s a little something for everyone. (Well, almost everyone!) Old school tales of revenge and microchips, righting war history wrongs, youths and their get rich quick schemes, growing up in the gaming era and enlightened females gone mad all make up the works featured in this edition of Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the short opinions on Upgrade, The Last Witness, American Animals, eHero, and The Misandrists below!
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Five New Indie Titles’
May 24th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Back finally with a picture pause last week (the worthwhile looking First Reformed was again not made available to me!) to highlight the smaller film fare for fans looking for something off the beaten path. Mostly genre work and a pinch foreign film fare seem to be taking over this edition’s crop of cinematic hopefuls with tales of blind witnesses, insight into the private life of scary scribes, an arcade game that requires more than quarters to play and youthful coming-of-age after parental loss all making up the flicks dissected via this week’s Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the skinny on In Darkness, Mary Shelley, Sequence Break and Summer 1993 all below.
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Four New Indie Titles’
May 22nd, 2018 by Brian White
I was very much against this movie being made ever since it was originally announced. I even rejoiced when the rumored Boba Fett film crashed and burned. It’s not that I don’t want another Star Wars film, because I do. It’s because of the fact I can’t credibly think of a world where you can ever do Han Solo justice in his early years with anyone besides Harrison Ford portraying the character. I know that’s being completely short-minded, but that’s just me and my selfish/bullish beliefs. I never said I was perfect, far from it in fact. However, then a flick came around and changed my mind on how I saw the Star Wars universe, in particular the spinoffs. That gem was Rogue One. I adore everything about the feature despite the fact that not a single Jedi with a lightsaber was pictured in it. Well, there was that Darth Vader guy, and what a scene/spectacle that was! Needless to say the trailers for Solo here looked like an absolute blast. Given the fact that I was enamored by Rogue One I have nothing but longing hope for much the same sentiments with Solo here. And oh yeah! That’s what we’re gathered here today to tackle down below. Time to rev up the hyperdrive! Continue reading ‘Board, Blast Away and Have Fun with ‘Solo,’ A Star Wars Story (Movie Review)’
May 14th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
While various frivolous top ten lists come and go (and according to my previous stomping grounds Starpulse.com are the sole key to site traffic!) there always seems to be a slight disconnect between the writer and the cinematic subjects they are highlighting. Taking into account trends, movies with legacies and selections that stand out, most lists in a sole effort to be Goggled lack personal insight and passion from the scribe to take things to the next level. So in looking over my own work recently as a film critic I wanted to get a little more intimate and thus give anyone interested a detailed walk down movie memory lane Jason Coleman style. So what follows below are ten films that in my life changed the game in terms of what a film could be and my personal stories behind their inclusion. (Listed by year and not importance folks!) These are not merely popular choices nor films that were my only favorites, but flicks that took elements in their various genres and elevated them to a place that some movies only dream of going – in short films that had a profound effect on me. (And remember I grew up in the 80’s hence the small timeline!) Spilling my movie geek guts for all to see, here are my…Top Ten Movie Game Changers!
Continue reading ‘Jason Coleman’s Top Ten Movie Game Changers’
May 10th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Five new Indie flicks to check out this week that hopefully keep lesser-known cinema alive and well. (Or in some cases at least still breathing!) Tales of romance under dark circumstances, the passion of people climbing tall structures, what to do when disenfranchised with life, a wedding run amok and a little feisty female payback all headline the movies covered via this week’s Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the critical opinions on the five films Beast, Mountain, The Escape, Another Kind Of Wedding and Revenge all laid out below! Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Five New Indie Titles’
May 3rd, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Indie never ends – thanks goodness! Five smaller screen outings this week up for dissection that may or may not cleanse the cinematic palate for the avid film fan seeking on-screen solace. (You ultimately decide folks!) Tales of resurrecting love at all costs, putting life on the line for another, human survival in Nazi times, weird ways to clear the mind and body and the truth about the SAT’s are the subjects of the flicks via this week’s Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the cinematic skinny on the films Andover, Bad Samaritan, The 12th Man, The Cleanse and The Test & The Art Of Thinking all below. (Plus you can join me for a little Q&A fun this Friday, May 4th at 7pm AMC DINE-IN Sunset 5 in LA for Andover with the likes of Jonathan Silverman, Scout Taylor-Compton, Writer/Director Scott Perlman and many more – click HERE for tickets and details!) Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Five New Indie Titles’
April 26th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Sorry movie fans – sadly only a mere tripod of Indie flicks reviewed this week. (Both Backstabbing For Beginners and Disobedience were not made available to me!) But at least there’s a pinch of smaller film fare to provide some cinematic counterbalance to the mighty Marvel big budget stuff. Tales of being trapped on a highway by a rifle wielding madman, a saga of two bumbling lawmen looking to regain their jobs and the adventures of a woman in search of love via many gentlemen suitors all make up the movies dissected via this week’s edition of Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the skinny on Downrange, The Escape Of Prisoner 614 and Let The Sunshine In all below!
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Three New Indie Titles’
April 24th, 2018 by Brian White
You would have to be living under a rock if you’re not familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) of films by now. Avengers: Infinity War is basically the culmination that we have been waiting for all these years in regards to everything that has come before (referring to the Phase 1-3 of MCU films). I guess one could call this film a proverbial melting pot so to speak. It’s intended to be the sequel to pretty much everything that has happened thus far in the MCU. Coincidentally that would also make this the nineteenth film in the MCU too. Needless to say we’ve certainly come a long way since the very first Iron Man, which I remember like it was only yesterday, driving to Best Buy to buy it on Blu-ray and more. That’s what happens when you get old folks. Time becomes a big blur, but I digress. Let me grab my Infinity Stones gauntlet cookie jar (yes I have one) and get this ensemble party started down below. Continue reading ‘It All Converges Here – Avengers: Infinity War (Movie Review)’
April 19th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Keeping up with all things Indie, this week sports a massive eight outings that try to tickle movie bone in every genre. Coming of age stories with hair-raising results, disputes over home and hearth, kidnappings that get complicated, supernatural believe it or not encounters, a doc dissection of Grace Jones, a battle amongst humans and A.I., detective tales with a dark side and the perils of being young and full of angst all make up the various films covered in this week’s edition of Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the skinny on Wildling, Little Pink House, 10×10, Ghost Stories, Grace Jones: Bloodlight And Bami, Genesis, Dark Crimes and And Then I Go below!
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Eight New Indie Titles’
April 13th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
A half-dozen Indie outings up for critical dissection this week, some new, some not so new (got swamped with flicks from BHFF 2018 last week – but I’m catching up!), but all get their movie review day in the sun. Tales of love found and lost, inheriting a family, the effective of a passionate woman, therapy gone awry, horror via online video submission and a doc on the more damning possible consequences of technology all make up the six flicks covered in this weeks edition of Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the small size opinions on Submergence, All At Once, Krystal, Aardvark, #Screamers and Do You Trust This Computer? all below!
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Six New Indie Titles’
April 11th, 2018 by Jason Coleman
While it’s still early in the year, it seems five-star film fare of 2018 is alive and well. The captivating new thriller Marrowbone (out April 13 In Theaters, On Demand, Amazon Video, and iTunes from Magnet Releasing) is the latest flick to exceed cinematic expectations (at least in this critic’s humble opinion!) and as such is the singular focus of this extra special article. Marrowbone is a well-woven ghost story via The Impossible and The Orphanage writer Sergio G. Sánchez here making his directorial debut about four young siblings who work hard to become recluse inside the family home after their mother dies to avoid being separated – but their haunted homestead has some equally harrowing surprises. The film features a myriad of tasty twists and turns, some wonderful visual style and a killer cast across the board including the likes of Mia Goth, George MacKay (so good in Captain Fantastic!), Charlie Heaton of Stranger Things fame and the always amazing Anya Taylor-Joy. (She’s also in my other five-star favorite from this year Thoroughbreds!) So to celebrate the upcoming release of one damn stellar piece of cinema below is my full dogs review of the film (I give movie credit where it’s due film fans!) plus for those eager for a little bit more insight I scored an exclusive interview with the maestro behind the movie writer/director Sergio G. Sánchez who chatted about everything from balancing the film’s dark and hopeful tone to his inspired casting of the members of the Marrowbone family foursome. Highlighting awesome outings that deserve to be seen, here’s the skinny on…Marrowbone!
Continue reading ‘Exclusive: ‘Marrowbone’ Five-Star Review PLUS Bonus Director Sergio G. Sánchez Q&A!’
