The ever-growing definition of a “comic book movie” expands in a deeply meaningful way with the creation of “Go For Broke.” Directed by Alexander Bocchieri (a helmer of short films, making his feature length debut) and written/produced by Stacey Hayashi, this made-in-Hawaii, World War II drama depicts the lives of young Japanese-American men living in…
Disney/Marvel is releasing their “Avengers: Infinity War” on the 10-year anniversary of their lavish, mammoth successful experiment, the creation of the Marvel Comic Universe. It began a decade ago with the still-wonderful “Iron Man” and now concludes with this new phase. While the films themselves are hit and miss, the overall goal of the MCU…
Early into Peter Berg’s still-fantastic 2003 action/comedy “The Rundown,” Dwayne Johnson walks into a bar (stop me if you’ve heard this one) and bumps into Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ah-Nuld taps Johnson on the shoulder, says “Have fun in there” and literally walks out of Johnson’s movie. The moment is a symbolic gesture on Schwarzenegger’s part, as…
The introductory scenes of “A Quiet Place” allow the audience to enter a world so intriguing, many will find themselves obeying the film’s core rule to remain silent. The film opens on “Day 89” of a world where humankind appears to have either gone missing or become mostly extinct. As a man (played by John…
In 2045, Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan) escapes from his dreary reality by entering a virtual reality world called The Oasis. While everyone living in Watt’s home of The Stacks (with living quarters of trailers and junk piled high and tight) plays in this digital world, Watts is attempting to uncover a puzzle within…
“Brian Kohne’s eagerly awaited “Kuleana” is a film island audiences deserve but might not be expecting. The only quality this has in common with “Get A Job,” Kohne’s goofball, debut 2011 indie comedy is a wealth of cameo appearances by local Maui celebrities and personalities. Otherwise, everything in Kohne’s sophomore effort is far more polished…
Following the events of “Pacific Rim,” Guillermo Del Toro’s charmless, bloated 2013 film, the world has been ridden of the gigantic Kaiju monsters and the massive Jaeger robots are no longer needed. At least, that’s how it is for a few minutes of “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” in which John Boyega stars as the son of…
Every great director has the occasional creative set-back and helms a project that falls short of its potential. Some of our best dialog/character-driven filmmakers, who have a gift with casual onscreen conversations, stumble once in a while. To cite a few examples, the late, great Mike Nichols had “What Planet Are You From?,” Jason Reitman…
Does anyone really want to see Lara Croft’s origin story? Specifically, do we really care about the life of one of the all-time most famous video game characters, before she was super-cool? Think about this for a moment. If you imagine Croft as intelligent, attractive and fierce, wearing shorts and a tank top while scaling…
The lists of the best high school movies seem to always start with John Hughes’ “The Breakfast Club” or “Sixteen Candles.” As much as I enjoy Hughes’ works and the genre in general, the finest movies about high school are directed by women. Why? Because there’s a needed balance in their depiction of adolescent sexism,…