Crimson Peak (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 16th, 2015 - Movie Reviews

With top-notch performances from Wasikowska, Chastain and Hiddleston, featuring stellar technical efforts from the entire production team, del Toro has crafted a magnetic spellbinder that does the genre proud. [Crimson Peak is] one of the acclaimed director’s better efforts and, more than that, it’s also one of the year’s most memorably fascinating thrillers.

With top-notch performances from Wasikowska, Chastain and Hiddleston, featuring stellar technical efforts from the entire production team, del Toro has crafted a magnetic spellbinder that does the genre proud. [Crimson Peak is] one of the acclaimed director’s better efforts and, more than that, it’s also one of the year’s most memorably fascinating thrillers.

Goosebumps (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 16th, 2015 - Movie Reviews

But the movie never lives up to its set pieces, and the last half hour is particularly insufferable. Third act twists land with a blandly mundane thud, and the visual freneticism is too nonsensical for its own good…While fans of the books, as well as younger viewers with a taste for the macabre, might disagree, for my part Goosebumps left me cold, the only rising fear I felt while watching it the sneaky suspicion decent box office might inspire the filmmakers to someday go through the process of creating a sequel.

But the movie never lives up to its set pieces, and the last half hour is particularly insufferable. Third act twists land with a blandly mundane thud, and the visual freneticism is too nonsensical for its own good…While fans of the books, as well as younger viewers with a taste for the macabre, might disagree, for my part Goosebumps left me cold, the only rising fear I felt while watching it the sneaky suspicion decent box office might inspire the filmmakers to someday go through the process of creating a sequel.

Momentum (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 16th, 2015 - Movie Reviews

I’m not sure the cloak and dagger thriller Momentum (2015) would even classify as C-grade, let alone rising to B level, this routine action spectacular amazingly pointless. From a clearly slumming Freeman picking up a quick paycheck, to a set of secondary characters straight out of central casting, there’s so little new here it’s almost impressive just how inconsequential the resulting motion picture proves to be.

I’m not sure the cloak and dagger thriller Momentum (2015) would even classify as C-grade, let alone rising to B level, this routine action spectacular amazingly pointless. From a clearly slumming Freeman picking up a quick paycheck, to a set of secondary characters straight out of central casting, there’s so little new here it’s almost impressive just how inconsequential the resulting motion picture proves to be.

Steve Jobs (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 16th, 2015 - Movie Reviews

Steve Jobs (2015) is an exhilarating spellbinder, moving at a fervent pace as it attempts to show genius and all that comes with it – the good, the bad and the decidedly in-between – as intimately as it can. In the end the orchestra being conducted are the audience’s own emotions, Boyle and Sorkin the clever maestros making beautiful music out of them for everyone to enjoy.

Steve Jobs (2015) is an exhilarating spellbinder, moving at a fervent pace as it attempts to show genius and all that comes with it – the good, the bad and the decidedly in-between – as intimately as it can. In the end the orchestra being conducted are the audience’s own emotions, Boyle and Sorkin the clever maestros making beautiful music out of them for everyone to enjoy.

Victoria (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 16th, 2015 - Four-Star Corner Movie Reviews

The movie is a trick, of that there is no doubt, Schipper’s storytelling precision coupled with cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen’s detailed handheld camerawork beyond impressive. But if it were only this trick, only a visual device utilized to get curious cinemagoers inside the theatre, then the movie would be good, maybe a bit better than that, but not extraordinary, and that is exactly what Victoria (2015) is.

The movie is a trick, of that there is no doubt, Schipper’s storytelling precision coupled with cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen’s detailed handheld camerawork beyond impressive. But if it were only this trick, only a visual device utilized to get curious cinemagoers inside the theatre, then the movie would be good, maybe a bit better than that, but not extraordinary, and that is exactly what Victoria (2015) is.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) – Criterion Collection

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 12th, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVD

Moonrise Kingdom is a masterful coming-of-age winner from the gifted hand of Wes Anderson, this 2012 sensation ranking up there with the auteur’s best including Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and last year’s Academy Award-winning The Grand Budapest Hotel. Criterion’s Blu-ray is stunning, and even for those who already own the previously available disc this is one instance where an upgrade isn’t just recommended, it’s essential.

Moonrise Kingdom is a masterful coming-of-age winner from the gifted hand of Wes Anderson, this 2012 sensation ranking up there with the auteur’s best including Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and last year’s Academy Award-winning The Grand Budapest Hotel. Criterion’s Blu-ray is stunning, and even for those who already own the previously available disc this is one instance where an upgrade isn’t just recommended, it’s essential.

Tomorrowland (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 12th, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVD

Disney’s Tomorrowland is considered a failure because it didn’t light up the box office or make back its massive budget. Thing is, there are countless fantasy-adventures made throughout the decades now thought of as classics that we could say the exact same thing about. Will Brad Bird’s hope-filled epic join that list? Who knows, as only time will tell, after all. I, for one, am eager to find out the answer. Here’s hoping those who take the time to give this excellent Blu-ray a look will end up feeling the same.

Disney’s Tomorrowland is considered a failure because it didn’t light up the box office or make back its massive budget. Thing is, there are countless fantasy-adventures made throughout the decades now thought of as classics that we could say the exact same thing about. Will Brad Bird’s hope-filled epic join that list? Who knows, as only time will tell, after all. I, for one, am eager to find out the answer. Here’s hoping those who take the time to give this excellent Blu-ray a look will end up feeling the same.

99 Homes (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 9th, 2015 - Movie Reviews

While not perfect, even with an ending that’s far too preordained and contrived than it needs to be, [99 Homes] is still an authentically realized stunner that packs a mean wallop, analyzing the financial crisis and the housing collapse in ways that feel intimately genuine. There is a purity to Nash’s journey that, as difficult and as catastrophic as it might be, is innately universal, and considering we’re in the early stages of a new Presidential contest this unquestionably is a story everyone, everywhere owes it to themselves to hear.

While not perfect, even with an ending that’s far too preordained and contrived than it needs to be, [99 Homes] is still an authentically realized stunner that packs a mean wallop, analyzing the financial crisis and the housing collapse in ways that feel intimately genuine. There is a purity to Nash’s journey that, as difficult and as catastrophic as it might be, is innately universal, and considering we’re in the early stages of a new Presidential contest this unquestionably is a story everyone, everywhere owes it to themselves to hear.

The Final Girls (2015)

by Sara Michelle Fetters - October 9th, 2015 - Movie Reviews

The Final Girls isn’t the first film to utilize a movie-within-a-movie scenario where the main characters discover themselves on the other side of the celluloid screen, but that doesn’t make it any less inventive. Working as both an irreverent, giggly eccentric homage to the ‘80s slasher movie craze as well as a solid little scare flick in its own right, it’s the somewhat surprising poignant maturity and warmth at the center of this lunacy that makes this anarchic hybrid memorable.

The Final Girls isn’t the first film to utilize a movie-within-a-movie scenario where the main characters discover themselves on the other side of the celluloid screen, but that doesn’t make it any less inventive. Working as both an irreverent, giggly eccentric homage to the ‘80s slasher movie craze as well as a solid little scare flick in its own right, it’s the somewhat surprising poignant maturity and warmth at the center of this lunacy that makes this anarchic hybrid memorable.

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