Reelly Good Movies

                        - Head over to Elements of Madness where this review was originally posted! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back with a new animated adventure. After a rocky track record in live-action adaptations, the writing team of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Jeff Rowe attempts to deliver a new take.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem follows the turtle brothers,  Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon), and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) all wanting the love and acceptance of New York. To the dismay of their mutant-rat father Splinter (Jackie Chan), the heroes stumble upon a mutant army led by the villainous Superfly (Ice Cube).  This forces the turtles to try and uncover what it really means to be loved in the world. Mutant Mayhem succeeds at being a visually stunning and thoroughly entertaining time at the movies. T...

Cinema is finally returning to its truest form after the pandemic.  Studios are attempting a return to regular releases weekly, thanks to two films. Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures released two of the year's biggest blockbusters, Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day . Both films were released at a time when theaters were hurting. Audiences were not returning to theaters, because the product was hard to come by.  Thankfully the “ Barbenheimer ” phenomenon helped reignite the love for the silver screen! Oppenheimer: Mini-Review Christopher Nolan is beloved by cinephiles all over the world.  His latest film Oppenheimer is a rousing, complex, and superbly acted historical epic. The story follows the American Scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his role in the atomic bomb development.  That premise may not sound interesting to those who do not already know the history.  The problem with Oppenheimer resides in the first half’s thor...

The Mission: Impossible franchise has had an interesting trajectory over the years. Starting in 1996, the films have evolved from a strictly espionage series to an Americanized take on James Bond. Since Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol , the series has reinvented itself for modern audiences. Each film has upped the action, story, and spectacle in ways that demand to be seen on the big screen.  Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One takes the franchise up another level. The story follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), his team (Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, and Simon Pegg), and their mission to keep a dangerous Artificial Intelligence system from the wrong hands.  Plots in Mission Impossible films teeter between being slightly intelligent and majorly convoluted.  The story of Dead Reckoning has eerily relatable similarities to the modern world. Our reliance on A. I and technology in general is an interesting idea for a villain in one of these films. That is because t...

Nimona is one of the biggest surprises I have seen in 2023 thus far. Originally a production of Blue Sky Studios, and now picked up by Annapurna Pictures, the film will be on Netflix this Friday. Set in a futuristic world, the story follows Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) who is framed for a crime he did not commit. The only person who can prove his innocence is a magical shapeshifter named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz). The only catch is that Ballister was sworn to destroy those of her kind. What follows is a cyberpunk meets medieval times adventure with universally relevant messages.  Nimona’s biggest success is in the relationship between Nimona and Ballister. Both characters are outsiders. Each one has been cast aside (both literally and figuratively) and they find harmony in being together. Ahmed and Moretz deliver two nuanced and relatable voice performances. With the message being something as simple as “it’s ok to be different,” there is a fear that it could be underwhelming....

 - Head over to Elements of Madness where this review was initially published! Indiana Jones is one of cinema’s most beloved franchises. Those films resonate with audiences on a massive scale. After three successful classics, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull divided the fans. 15 years have passed and a fifth film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, hopes to end the franchise on a high note. The story follows Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) as he becomes entangled in a race to find a mysterious artifact with his goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). They are up against the villainous Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) and his henchmen. What follows is a muddled and very entertaining action-adventure story. Dial of Destiny works best in its sweeping and exciting action set-pieces.  Director James Mangold and Harrison Ford understand what audiences want to see. They want to see Ford in his classic outfit, cracking jokes, and traversing the world to find treasure. Ford’s pe...

- Head over to  Elements of Madness  where this review was initially published! Jennifer Lawrence is known to have a funny off-screen persona. Her no-nonsense personality has made her a fan favorite celebrity for audiences. That funny personality has never shown in her performances, until now. No Hard Feelings is a raunchy R-rated comedy with plenty of heart to spare.  The story follows Maddie (Lawrence), an Uber Driver in Montauk New York who is in a tight money situation. Faced with losing her childhood home, Maddie finds an intriguing job listing on Craiglist. A set of helicopter parents (Laura Benanti, and Matthew Broderick), are looking for someone to bring their 19-year-old introvert son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) out of his shell. Maddie has one summer to make a man out of him. The weaknesses of No Hard Feelings reside in the screenplay by director/writer Gene Stupinsky and co-writer John Phillips.  The story rides a narrative line between a raunchy comedy a...