Film Reviews

Movie reviews, films, news, and entertainment in Charlotte, North Carolina

Film

JK Rowling’s imagination shines through in cluttered movie ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’

By Bill Mazzola November 18, 2018 J.K. Rowling’s magical (and profitable) pre-Harry Potter Wizarding World expands both visually and story-wise in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The enchanting film is, as usual, rife with strange new beasts and incredible visual flair but it becomes somewhat cluttered...
By CLTure November 18, 2018
Film

Steve McQueen’s heist film ‘Widows’ is the American crime genre at its fullest potential

By Dan Cava November 16, 2018 Widows is cold-hearted but warm-blooded, a masterful thriller that combines heady social critique with delicious genre pleasures. Working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn, director Steven McQueen (12 Years A Slave) has given us the rare gift...
By CLTure November 16, 2018
Film

‘The Grinch’ offers a fun, colorful, and family-friendly escape before the holidays

By Jessica Owoc November 9, 2018 “That could have been so much worse!” exclaimed The Grinch moments before he was catapulted from the top of Mt. Crumpit into the town of Whoville and, quite frankly, Illumination’s updated take on the Dr. Seuss classic elicited the...
By CLTure November 9, 2018
Film

Melissa McCarthy adds drama to her repertoire with ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’

By Jessica Owoc November 4, 2018 Can You Ever Forgive Me? depicts the true events of writer Lee Israel (portrayed by Melissa McCarthy) as she gets caught up in a world of deception and crime trying to earn enough money just to keep food on...
By CLTure November 4, 2018
Film

For fans of Queen, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is an exhilarating experience

By Jonathan Shuping October 31, 2018 The opening 20th Century Fox fanfare plays out not with the standard horns but an electric guitar making it apparent from the very beginning that Bohemian Rhapsody is Bryan Singer’s love letter to rock ‘n’ roll. It’s not a...
By CLTure October 31, 2018
Film

Neil Armstrong biographical drama ‘First Man’ is a raw film with indie feel

By Ryen Thomas October 14, 2018 First Man, brought to us by Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, also nominated for Whiplash) and starring Ryan Gosling, promises a telling of Neil Armstrong’s race to becoming the first man ever to set foot on the...
By CLTure October 14, 2018
Film

‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ is definitely worth a visit

By Jessica Owoc October 6, 2018 Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A salesman, a priest, a lounge singer, and a hippie walk into a hotel and what happens next…well, you’ll have to head to your nearest theater and see Bad Times at...
By CLTure October 6, 2018
Film

‘A Star Is Born,’ Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut starring Lady Gaga, is one of the best films of the year

By Douglas Davidson October 3, 2018 At a key moment in A Star Is Born, Bobby Maine (Sam Elliott) explains that “music is essentially 12 notes between any octave.” Bobby explains that music is a cycle of repetition every musician, every storyteller, utilizes over and...
By CLTure October 3, 2018
Film

‘Smallfoot’ has everything you want in a kids movie

By Jonathan Shuping September 30, 2018 In order to reach the bar set by animation powerhouses Pixar and Dreamworks, Warner Animation Group (whose previous endeavors consist of three Lego movies and the underwhelming Storks) really needed to step up their game. With Smallfoot, they do...
By CLTure September 30, 2018
Film

Glenn Close delivers a tour de force in marriage drama ‘The Wife’

By Bill Mazzola September 17, 2018 As The Wife begins, Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) and her husband Joe, a renowned novelist, have just settled in for the evening when a life changing phone call sets the film’s chain of events in motion. Joe has won...
By CLTure September 17, 2018

Film

By Dan Cava November 16, 2018 Widows is cold-hearted but warm-blooded, a masterful thriller that combines heady social critique with delicious genre pleasures. Working from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn, director Steven McQueen (12 Years A Slave) has given us the rare gift...

By Jessica Owoc November 9, 2018 “That could have been so much worse!” exclaimed The Grinch moments before he was catapulted from the top of Mt. Crumpit into the town of Whoville and, quite frankly, Illumination’s updated take on the Dr. Seuss classic elicited the...

By Jessica Owoc November 4, 2018 Can You Ever Forgive Me? depicts the true events of writer Lee Israel (portrayed by Melissa McCarthy) as she gets caught up in a world of deception and crime trying to earn enough money just to keep food on...

By Jonathan Shuping October 31, 2018 The opening 20th Century Fox fanfare plays out not with the standard horns but an electric guitar making it apparent from the very beginning that Bohemian Rhapsody is Bryan Singer’s love letter to rock ‘n’ roll. It’s not a...

By Ryen Thomas October 14, 2018 First Man, brought to us by Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, also nominated for Whiplash) and starring Ryan Gosling, promises a telling of Neil Armstrong’s race to becoming the first man ever to set foot on the...

By Jessica Owoc October 6, 2018 Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A salesman, a priest, a lounge singer, and a hippie walk into a hotel and what happens next…well, you’ll have to head to your nearest theater and see Bad Times at...

By Douglas Davidson October 3, 2018 At a key moment in A Star Is Born, Bobby Maine (Sam Elliott) explains that “music is essentially 12 notes between any octave.” Bobby explains that music is a cycle of repetition every musician, every storyteller, utilizes over and...

By Jonathan Shuping September 30, 2018 In order to reach the bar set by animation powerhouses Pixar and Dreamworks, Warner Animation Group (whose previous endeavors consist of three Lego movies and the underwhelming Storks) really needed to step up their game. With Smallfoot, they do...

By Bill Mazzola September 17, 2018 As The Wife begins, Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) and her husband Joe, a renowned novelist, have just settled in for the evening when a life changing phone call sets the film’s chain of events in motion. Joe has won...