Author: T.J. Reid

Review Alien: Romulus

The titular beast from the Alien series is one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time, but as with everything, familiarity  breeds—well, not exactly resentment in this case, but it does facilitate a definite  diminishing  return when it comes to scariness.

A Quiet Place: Day One focuses on formula, succeeds 

What started as a tense little story of a family trying to survive in a world of aliens with an intense desire to maul everything that makes the slightest sound eventually did what most successful films do: It became a big ‘ol series.
Despite this, the second film did not lose its intimate and personal nature, and the prequel/, A Quiet Place: Day One, follows suit, much to its benefit. 

Hit Man skirts by on lovability, not much else 

Hit Man is a romance that isn’t really romantic, a comedy that isn’t really that funny, and a crime story that doesn’t delve too deeply into the law and the punishments of those who break it. But despite its nebulous genre I actually enjoyed Hit Man for the most part, mostly thanks to some incredible acting and the chemistry of the two leads. 

Review: The Acolyte

There are some plot holes that I take umbrage with, and it remains to be seen if the show will be faithful to the canon established before it, but the basic bones of The Acolyte look promising so far, especially the bits about family and sisterhood. 

Unfrosted ends up stale 

I’m not writing this today to wax nostalgic about my college experience; I am writing to tell you that Unfrosted, the extremely embellished and exaggerated story of how Pop-Tarts came to be, is similar to its namesake in that it is chocked full of artificial ingredients that are bad for you, but unlike the delicious breakfast pastry I took absolutely no joy in consuming it. 

Apocalyptic epic starts slow, finishes strong 

Once I finally got to watch it, I was initially thrown for a bit of a loop–the latest film in George Miller’s post-apocalyptic Aussie saga is considerably slower in a few segments than its predecessor. But once I got past that initial speed bump, what I discovered was a beautifully insane film that, while not a classic like Fury Road, is still a whole lot of fun for action film fans. 

Newest Apes film earns its Kingdom 

I was happy to learn that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes–awkward titles are just inherent to the series–wasn’t just another reboot. The Serkis trilogy was always going to be a tough act to follow and, despite the odds, they pulled it off. Kingdom is great. 

More thrills than education 

You don’t need to do much to impress me when it comes to documentaries. As long as they report the facts and feature subjects that are at least vaguely interesting, I can usually stomach them, music and editing aside. 

Sandler gets serious, again

Adam Sandler has admitted that often he picks roles depending on whether or not they let him travel to exotic locations so he can essentially have a studio-paid vacation while only occasionally doing work in front of the camera.