If I were to boil down my experience watching Rocketman into one feeling, it would be déjà vu. As soon as the film began, I already knew exactly which beats the story would follow because Rocketman is like so many other movies. By the time the end credits rolled-around I was bored.
Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart is the kind of movie that can make an entire theater buzz with laughter and excitement. Set in LA, the film tells the story of two best friends, Molly and Amy (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) on their last night as high schoolers. The girls spent their high school careers focused exclusively on activities that would ensure their acceptance to top tier universities—and it worked; Molly is off to Yale and Amy to Columbia.
Ten separate franchises. 21 full length movies. Over 48 hours of total runtime. All of this led up to one epic movie that Marvel had been building up to for the 11 years since the first Iron Man movie was released.
It takes a lot of good faith with an audience to bring together humans and a world of trading card monsters and still make it work. But with a lot of humor—nd even more Ryan Reynolds—Detective Pikachu is somehow able to pull it off for a sometimes shallow but childishly amusing end product.
Forty-seven years after it was recorded in 1972, the legendary R&B singer Marvin Gaye’s album "You’re the Man" was released posthumously on March 29th. The album was supposed to be a follow-up to the 1971 classic "What’s Going On," but it didn’t end up getting put out due to a variety of reasons, including the poor performance of its lead single as well as political differences between Gaye and the more moderate head of Motown Records, Berry Gordy.
Writer and producer Jordan Peele capitalized on the success of his 2017 Academy Award-winning film "Get Out" with the release of his latest project "Us" this past March. In "Us," Peele employs doppelgängers to explore themes of equity and opportunity. "Us" implores audiences to think about the dispossessed by using characters who live in tunnels situated beneath the US. These people are literally unseen, but imagine if they could live our lives and have the same opportunities. What would stop them from becoming us?
"Captain Marvel," the latest entry in the continuing Marvel Cinematic Universe, delivers on about everything you would expect. There’s a hero, splashy costumes, and plenty of action to go around. But despite checking every box, "Captain Marvel" lacks something at its core, never fulfilling on any of its best aspects.
Capitalism in the US isn’t working for ordinary people. The richest 10% of Americans have received almost all of the benefits of economic growth while living standards for the average household have stagnated. In response to this extreme inequality, critiques of capitalism are becoming more mainstream. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren are proposing drastic changes to the core of American capitalism, and a growing group of authors have published books suggesting their own systemic changes as well. Among these authors is the longtime business journalist for "The Washington Post," Steven Pearlstein.
Just by reading the title, you can already correctly assume the level of subtlety and tone achieved in "Velvet Buzzsaw." Attempting a very meta narrative, the film tries to dive into the position and purpose of art in our modern world, but can’t quite live up to its potential. Writer and director Dan Gilroy finds a somewhat easy target with the world of modern art, not-so-subtly bashing the people responsible for the exclusivity of art. But, sadly for Gilroy, he’s unable to see his own failings as a filmmaker, falling short in the same areas he attempts to critique.
What could I possibly say about "Happy Death Day 2U" that isn’t already told by the name alone? If you go into the theater thinking you’ll enjoy yourself, I’m doubtless you will. However, if you’re the type to hear that title and immediately form some harsh opinions, then it’s probable you’ll hate every minute of the runtime. Not guaranteed, though.
Future, colloquially known as the “Codeine King,” “Future Hendrix,” and, most recently, “The WIZRD,” is an artist defined by one thing, and one thing only: hits. Future has undoubtedly shaped the soundscape of the 2010s with his warbly and mumbled delivery, his dark and distorted melodies, and his love of the purple drink.
By now, you’ve probably heard about the disaster that was FYRE Festival. It took place in the Bahamas in April of 2017, when thousands of rich millennials flew out to an unfinished festival site that had almost no food and water, nowhere for them to sleep, and no way to get back to the States.
