Movie Reviews

Wicked Little Letters

  • Title: Wicked Little Letters
  • IMDb: link

Wicked Little Letters

Inspired by true events, Wicked Little Letters takes us back to the seaside town of Littlehampton in West Sussex which was turned upside down in the 1920s by a barrage of hate mail to a local spinster (Olivia Colman) whose controlling father (Timothy Spall) blames on their Irish immigrant neighbor (Jessie Buckley) known for her bawdy behavior and near-constant swearing that is mirrored in the letters. While most are willing to believe the worst of Rose (Buckley), despite any real evidence, a few in the town, including the sole police woman (Anjana Vasan) and even some of the victim’s friends (who, like others in the town eventually become targets of the letters) dig a little deeper to discover the truth of the situation.

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IF

  • Title: IF
  • IMDb: link

IF

IF is an uneven, if sometimes quite charming, family film centered around 12 year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming) who discovers imaginary friends are real while staying with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) after her father (John Krasinski) is hospitalized in need of surgery. The imaginary world is shown to Bea through Cal (Ryan Reynolds) who is sort of the self-appointed agent for the imaginary friends (called “IFs” for short) attempting to unite those who have been forgotten with new children.

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The Mummy

  • Title: The Mummy
  • IMDb: link

The Mummy

Returning to theaters 25 years after its release, The Mummy is an odd bit of entertainment. When it was released you could refer to it as a poor man’s Indiana Jones (of course, that was before the two lackluster attempts to revive that franchise in both Crystal Skull and Dial of Destiny). Part B-movie serial, part Evil Dead 2-style horror flick (never read the ancient evil book aloud!), and part wacky over-the-top comedy, it’s hard to argue that The Mummy is a good film, in fact in many ways it’s certainly not, but that doesn’t mean it can’t provide a good time proving that charm can get you an awful long way.

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The Fall Guy

  • Title: The Fall Guy
  • IMDb: link

The Fall Guy

The biggest strength of The Fall Guy, loosely inspired by the 80s television show, is its stars. Ryan Gosling as stuntman Colt Seavers coming back from a failed stunt to work with his former girlfriend Jody (Emily Blunt) on her first big movie is the kind of wacky dumb fun you would expect. Once arriving in town, things don’t go smoothly for Colt who is sent to find the film’s missing star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) by the producer (Hannah Waddingham) who dragged Colt out of retirement. This puts our stuntman in danger and also keeps him away from the woman he desperately wants to win back.

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Challengers

  • Title: Challengers
  • IMDb: link

Challengers

What a mess. You know you are in trouble when in the final act of a film, particularly a sports film, you find yourself with no investment or interest in the outcome. Honestly, shouldn’t I be cheering for someone? Anyone? Anyone at all? A Challenger is a tennis tournament, often with local sponsorship for small prize money, for those not quite good enough for the main tour tournaments. The film from director Luca Guadagnino and writer Justin Kuritzkes is aptly named as it too is not-yet-ready for prime time.

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