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IR Film Review: BLACK WIDOW [Marvel/Disney]
Scarlett Johannsen, of course, is good but there is an expectation but the weight that Florence Pugh brings in as Yelena really gives it a pit of interesting despair yet joy at different points.
IR Film Review: F9 - THE FAST SAGA [Universal]
A franchise like "The Fast & The Furious" going into its 9th film has to have some fun at its own expense but not play too outside the box. The issue is it is hard to take it seriously at all and yet it demands at times a gravitas. It is not about overcoming odds. it is just about wanting that adrenaline of life.
IR Film Review: BATMAN - THE LONG HALLOWEEN - PART ONE [Warner Brothers Animation]
In "Batman: The Long Halloween - Part One", the story follows a multi-issue comic art that integrated the pursuit of a criminal called Holiday (which definitely has shades of Rorschach from Watchmen"). But the psychological aspect that plays most readily is that Batman can be wrong.
IR Film Review: THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD [Lionsgate]
Ryan Reynolds is currently and easily the biggest star in "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard" but he knows when you have the generation before you with their heavy hitters playing in the sandbox that you let them do their thing. That takes a confident star (and a penitent one too).
IR Film Review: IN THE HEIGHTS [Warner Brothers]
There is rugged beauty that flows through "In The Heights". There is a love for the area it speaks of as Lin Manuel Miranda flows it through. As someone who spent many and evening traveling up to the Heights to head to Jersey over the George Washington Bridge while at school in the East Village, that glowing sunset over the bridge looking from the streets is undeniable.
IR Film Review: THE CONJURING - THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT [Warner Brothers]
The aspect of connection is the fuel that permeates every being. "The Conjuring" as a series of films have always been about trying to understand that which at times cannot be explained. But the film themselves in their main form work best because of the two characters at the center and specifically the actors playing them.
IR Film Review: CAVEAT [Shudder]
The crux of "Caveat" is based in the structure that everything needs not to have an exact reason. The film itself may be an exploration of the consequential cause and effect but the way it is built in the perception of the characters is both understandable in mood but also ethereally unconnected.
IR Film Review: A QUIET PLACE - PART II [Paramount]
The approach in any sequel is one of structure and continuation. The interesting idea of "A Quiet Place" and its actual effectiveness was based on the notion of silence. The question becomes how to do that especially with one of your main protagonists is, story-wise, not really available for the second film.
IR Film Review: THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD [Warner Brothers]
"Those Who Wish Me Dead" is an intriguing spin on a movie we have seen before and yet is effectively done and entertaining. It is a fun romp with dark and dramatic overtones that doesn't hit the viewer over the head to learn something (or watch a bunch of CGI). It is old school while still being refreshingly of its time.