Month: July 2022
Vengeance: Far from the Big Apple
by Matt Ward
B.J. Novak’s debut feature film opens with the former star of “The Office” on a New York rooftop in vapid, existential conversation with musician John Mayer, playing a somewhat exaggerated version of himself. The pair pontificate about having everything in life figured out and the ease of mindless dating women saved in their phones like “Random House Girl.” Then Novak’s Ben – a journalist … Read More Vengeance: Far from the Big Apple
Nope: Terror in the California desert
by Matt Ward
Excelling at genre movies is a tricky thing to pull off consistently. When a filmmaker becomes known for creating original, inventive content in a similar space, it becomes easy or derivative to praise them unabashedly as the next Spielberg or Hitchcock; or to go too far the other way, suggesting that their work isn’t as good as prior films and dismissing it outright. Things … Read More Nope: Terror in the California desert
The Gray Man: Action for the sake of action
by Matt Ward
No one seems to mind when every romantic comedy follows the exact same plot. Boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, something outlandish happens to separate them, love brings them back together. Rinse. Dry. Repeat. Somewhere along the way, it seems that moviegoers have lost their appetite – or perhaps more aptly, critics have lost their taste – for by-the-numbers action films that focus … Read More The Gray Man: Action for the sake of action
Thor Love and Thunder: Thunderstruck
by Matt Ward
As has been the case for several films now, Marvel Studios finds themselves at a crossroads in a post-Avengers: Endgame era of their cinematic universe. Many of their most popular characters are gone from the franchise and the massive decade-long arc came to a head several years ago now, leaving fans clamoring for the breadcrumbs of what’s to come in every single new movie, … Read More Thor Love and Thunder: Thunderstruck
Minions The Rise of Gru: Tiny laughter
by Matt Ward
Studios often bank on the fact that younger audiences don’t really care about what they’re watching, as long as it’s entertaining in the moment. That’s probably a large part of the reason why Universal has crafted five films around yellow henchmen that ramble in an incoherent blend of languages indecipherable beyond an occasional word or generic phrase that helps kids figure out what’s happening. … Read More Minions The Rise of Gru: Tiny laughter
Cinematic Considerations 