Gabe Lapalombella 
Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a largely thrilling although imperfect continuation of the franchise. The Planet of the Apes franchise has become a staple in cinematic history. Starting with the 1968 film of the same name, audiences were swept away to another world. That film transported viewers …
Satirical and meta comedies can be hard to deliver effectively. Classics like Monty Python and The Holy Grail, The Truman Show, and the overall work of Mel Brooks revolutionized the concept. Now, those comedies have been ushered in for a new generation. Films like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Cocaine Bear, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story took …
Author/Vietnamese-American Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer is a spy novel unlike any other. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book balances many different themes and ideas. Following an unnamed narrator, it tells a story that is equal parts political thriller, romance, and occasional comedy. That helped make the novel a resonatory and powerful piece of …
Romantic time travel movies have become a subgenre unto themselves. Recent films like About Time, Midnight in Paris, and The Time Traveler’s Wife are examples of this. Granted, It has been some time since those stories graced the big and small screen. The Greatest Hits hopes to remind audiences why they’re beloved stories in the first …
Sardonic humor can be a difficult feat to accomplish in media. Very few feature films or television series have made that humor engaging. HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of the only successful examples. Larry David’s unfiltered nature has set a high bar for curmudgeon-leading men. That has made films with those types of …
Religious horror films have carved a niche within the horror genre. These films have scared audiences for years, drawing criticism from the spiritual community. Say what you will about the quality of those films, but they have remained in the cultural conversation. That sort of baggage makes new religious horror …
Certain movies make a splashy entrance into prestigious film festivals, and while making a grand entrance, those films take time to appear in cinemas. In some cases, that can be a good thing. Recent examples include Martin Scorsese’s Killers of The Flower Moon, which earned ten Academy Award nominations. Whereas other films from …
Liam Neeson might have one of Hollywood’s most exciting career trajectories. From his Oscar-winning work in the 1990s (Schindler’s List), his career pivoted in 2008. Neeson’s hit action film Taken turned him into a different kind of actor. Flash forward twenty-two years, and he has morphed into an action star. That delivered universally enjoyable cinema …
Ghostbusters could be considered one of the 1980s most iconic films. It holds a place of nostalgia for many, thanks to the cast involved. Putting actors like Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson together proved to be a recipe for success. The combination resulted in a film that has stood the test …
Michael Keaton has been considered one of the generation’s best (and most popular) actors. Besides his oozing on-screen charisma, he is arguably one of the most likable people in Hollywood. This includes his starring roles in iconic films including but not limited to Batman, Batman Returns, and Beetlejuice. Those films made him a household name that …
Mark Wahlberg, the star of Arthur The King, had numerous peaks and valleys throughout his career. These include highlight performances in films like The Departed (for which he was nominated for an Academy Award) and The Fighter. On the flip side, he has also had many cinematic misfires like Max Payne, The Happening, and some films in the Transformers franchise. In the …
Specific true-life stories demand the big-screen cinematic treatment. In some cases, those true stories can go on to earn Academy awards (Braveheart, Schindlers List). In other cases, some films can dishonor those stories’ legacies. Adapting those stories can be some of the most challenging films to make. The story of the …
The world of Hollywood comedians is an interesting one. Comedians like Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, and Whoopi Goldberg (to name a few) started in stand-up comedy. Those comedians turned out to be some of the best actors of their generation. In the following years, other comedians (i.e., Bill Burr, Andrew Santino, and Illiza Shlesinger) did the same …
Sundance thrives on a level of strangeness within their films. Some premises are so absurd one wonders if they can be successful. This year’s festival alone offered plenty of surrealist entertainment. Movies like Presence, Loves Lies Bleeding, and Freaky Tales delivered a level of hyper-stylized fantasy. It helped the festival to give audiences …
Sundance can always be an interesting start to the cinematic year. The festival’s films thrive on teasing audiences about the potential of great movies. In some cases, those films can even lead to prestigious Oscar winners like Coda. That does not mean every Sundance film has to have aspirations for awards. …
Director Jesse Eisenberg returned to Sundance this year with his sophomore directorial effort, A Real Pain. The film has already made waves in the industry, with the worldwide rights acquired by Searchlight Pictures for $10 million. This news has made the film hotly anticipated in the movie world, as fans are eager to see …