Review: "Christopher Robin"

by Chris Feil

Off in the Hundred Acre Wood, Winnie the Pooh and friends haven’t changed all that much over the decades. Our Christopher Robin however is all grown up in the real world, having lost his father at a young age before fighting in the war and never returning to visit his childhood daydream oasis. Like the rest of us, he’s grown rigid in adulthood while the rest of the beloved characters remain made of plush.

With Ewan McGregor taking on the adult Christopher, his namesake film presents something as soft as his friends in both its demeanor and its substance. Unlike its recent live action Disney brethren, this film follows its own narrative and is free to explore the characters as it sees fit. And yet it chooses the most obvious one, turning Christopher into an overworked businessman devoting more of his energy to his job than his wife and daughter. Send in Pooh’s implacable chill to play savior to his once kneesocked companion’s soul.

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Review Catch-up: Eighth Grade, Ant-Man and the Wasp, etc...

by Nathaniel R

A few recent major pictures we didn't post full reviews on. Oops. Let's take them in order of preference...

Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
Synopsis: A slice of life in middle school as an introverted teenager with an unwatched YouTube channel tries to survive eighth grade. 
Capsule: Such is the miracle of this movie that I felt pangs of recognition all throughout it even though I am basically the dad's age and not the daughter's, and also not a parent. I went to middle school a million years ago and so much about life as a teenager has changed radically since then. We didn't have social media, cel phones, and gun drills when I was a teenager...

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Review: "Mission: Impossible - Fallout"

by Chris Feil

There’s a new installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise on the block, but by now these films might best be referred to by their birth name, Tom Cruise Hangs Off Of Things. You may be aware by now that there will be stunts and Tom Cruise will be risking his life for your enjoyment. Likely in the air somehow. Mission: Impossible - Fallout provides him with plentiful airborne opportunities.

This time, Cruise’s Ethan Hunt deals with the immediate ramifications of Rogue Nation’s Syndicate, the global crime organization led by the now captured Solomon Lane. The dismantling has led to The Apostles, an offshoot terrorist organization that Hunt must prevent from stealing plutonium to be used for multiple nuclear weapons set for simultaneous explosion. Returning for the laughs are his cohorts played by Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, and a new mustachioed face: Henry Cavill as a somewhat unwilling CIA agent assigned to their unit to also keep a close eye on Hunt. Rebecca Ferguson’s British agent Ilsa Faust returns with a mission of her own that may or may not stand in opposition to Hunt’s.

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Harlots (S2:E1-2) New Law, Old Profession

Previously: Harlots Season 1 Review

by Nathaniel R

Jessica Brown Findlay, the jewel of "Harlots"

Season 2 kicked off with two disruptive episodes back-to-back, throwing previous power hierarchies into disarray. A relentless new Justice throws the once powerful Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville) into prison which sets off several plotlines including a new brothel run by Quigley's son Charles (Dougie McMeeken) and Emily Wells (Holli Dempsey). The show is moving with such speed that it's difficult to keep up with these working women. But we shall try since we want everyone watching this show to ensure a third season! The actressing is even more involving the second time around with new cast members, new alliances, and the masterstroke of adding the undersung Liv Tyler to the cast.

A quick review of the first two episodes before the fourth hits tonight so we'll have to have another post soon on episodes 3 and 4. It's so tough to keep up with these working girls and the 'culls' who can't get enough of them...

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Review)

by Jorge Molina

Almost ten years ago to the date, Mamma Mia! opened in theaters. The jukebox musical based on the theater phenomenon that at the same time was based on the biggest hits of Europop sensation ABBA went on to gross almost 600 million dollars globally, and became the highest grossing live action musical ever. That movie seems to be divisive among fans of the genre because of the fluffy, silly and often nonsensical joy that poured out of the screens (you can read about the emotional connection I personally have with the movie here). 

Ten years and a Cher later, Donna and her Dynamos make a return to the island of Kalokairi with a sequel that doubles down on everything that made adamant fans of the first one fell in love with it, and made the skeptics roll their eyes...

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