Coming Distractions - The Latest Movie and TV Reviews

Director Edgar Wright goes full on style over substance in his latest getaway driver centered film, Baby Driver. Centered around Baby (Ansel Elgort), a wheelman for Doc (Kevin Spacey) who is a criminal kingpin of sorts. Working to pay off a debt to Doc, Baby works with some shady characters and looks good while doing it. A film that is driven by its soundtrack and audio design is a unique entry into the Edgar Wright's collection of films. While the style is a large part of the premise here, does Wright and the cast deliver a solid story that leads you wanting more? Check out the review to find out. Cast: Ansel Elgort Kevin Spacey Jon Hamm Jamie Foxx Jon Bernthal Lily James Eiza Gonzalez Budget: $34 Million

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Movie Review of #WarForThePlanetOfTheApes Director Matt Reeves returns to the Apes franchise, with War for the Planet of the Apes, to fully explore the war that has been brewing since the franchise's beginning in Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011. The film decides to take the series into a deeper character driven direction than even the previous films and works to show Caeser as a fully realized character underneath all the excellent CGI and MoCap work by actor, Andy Serkis. PREMISE: Two years after the events of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar, and his apes have been embroiled in a war against humans. As the ape population decreases, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts in order to avenge his fallen companions. The encounter with the apes and humans puts them into the ultimate confrontation, to determine the fate of the Earth. Caesar is pitted against a rogue colonel played excellently by Woody Harrelson who's number one goal is to rid the Earth of these intelligent apes and secure humanity's place at the top of the food chain no matter what. Dealing with issues of humanity, character introspection, violence, subjugation, ends justifying the means, and other topics, War for the Planet of the Apes isn't just a run of the mill summer blockbuster but rather something altogether special. So check out our War for the Planet of the Apes movie review. Watch, Share, and of course, Subscribe. Cast: Apes --------- Andy Serkis Steve Zahn Karin Konoval Terry Notary Judy Greer Max Lloyd-Jones Devyn Dalton Ty Olsson Michael Adamthwaite Aleks Paunovic Alessandro Juliani Sara Canning Humans -------------- Woody Harrelson Amiah Miller Gabriel Chavarria Chad Rook  

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Selma Hayek and John Lithgow star as representatives of opposing views in the ongoing grand debates of American society: rich/poor, immigrant/native born, man/woman, minority/white, liberal/conservative, and so on in the 2017 Miguel Arteta-directed film, 'Beatriz at Dinner.' #BeatrizAtDinner tells the story of when massage therapist #Beatriz (#SalmaHayek) attends the dinner party of her wealthy clients Kathy (#ConnieBritton) and Grant (#DavidWarshofsky) after her car breaks down at their house. During the party, Beatriz finds out that Kathy and Grant's wealthy colleagues are involved in business practices that she finds repellent. In particular, she suspects that she has a past connection with Doug Strutt (#JohnLithgow), whose business has come under fire from environmental groups. As the night progresses, tensions escalate between Beatriz and Doug as the two butt heads over their opposing philosophies. Does the film deliver on its promise of being the first true film to deal with Americans ideological splinters in the age of Donald Trump? Cast: Salma Hayek as Beatriz Chloë Sevigny as Shannon Connie Britton as Kathy Jay Duplass as Alex John Lithgow as Doug Strutt Amy Landecker as Jeana John Early as Evan David Warshofsky as Grant  

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Director #ColinTrevorrow decides to take a short break from large budget films like Jurassic World to delve into his newest indie film project, The Book of Henry. Starring Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, and Jacob Tremblay as a single mother and her two young sons. #JaedenLieberher plays Henry, an 11-year-old boy genius who has a hyper focus on the ideas of good and evil, and what his legacy should be to his family. His mother Susan (#NaomiWatts) is a woman who has disempowered herself to allow Henry to become this guiding male figure in their lives. When Henry suspects that there is something strange happening to the girl next door, he decides to create a plan and he pulls his mother in for the task. The film delves into the ideas of parentification of children, and that impact on what it does to both the child and parents. Issues of role reversals and maturity are peppered throughout #TheBookOfHenry. PREMISE: In a small suburban town, a precocious 11-year-old boy, named Henry Carpenter, and his younger brother, Peter, are being raised by their single mother, Susan, who works as a waitress. Henry has a crush on their next-door neighbor Christina Sickleman, a girl around his age, who is the stepdaughter of the police commissioner. To protect Christina from harm at the hands of her abusive stepfather, Glenn, Henry comes up with a plan to rescue her that he writes in a book. Henry's mother discovers the book and decides that she and Peter will put Henry's scheme into motion. Other cast members: Dean Norris Maddie Ziegler Lee Pace Sarah Silverman Bobby Moynihan Tonya Pinkins Budget: $10 Million  

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Every cinematic universe begins somewhere, and Universal's #DarkUniverse begins with Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella's, The Mummy. The adventures begin in ancient Egypt, Princess Ahmanet is first in line to replace her father Menehptre only to be replaced when his new wife gives birth to a son. Determined to usurp the throne, Ahmanet sells her soul to the the god Set, who promises to make her Queen in exchange for gaining a corporeal form. After killing her family, Ahmanet prepares to sacrifice her lover only to be captured and condemned to be buried alive with flesh-eating scarabs. Fast forward to the modern day with Nick Morton (#TomCruise) finds Ahmanet's tomb and mistakenly releases her upon the world. The Mummy is more action than horror and works to set up the budding Universal #DarkUniverse.  

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Director #PattyJenkins has taken on the herculean task of directing the first large-scale female-led comic book movie, #WonderWoman. Starring relative newcomer #GalGadot (Batman v. Superman) as the titular character of Wonder Woman/Diana Prince, Wonder Woman works to tell the story of young woman who is plucked from her safe life on a secret island and thrust into the atrocities of World War I. However, the obvious twist is that she isn't just some woman, she's the daughter of the Amazons who possess more power than even she realizes. DC/WB has had hit a couple of rough patches launching their cinematic universe, aka #DCEU. However, in Wonder Woman they have found their footing. Utilizing true emotion, heart, action, and properly placed comedy finally brings DC/WB a movie that they can say critically, and likely financially, rivals the competition. Gal Gadot impresses with her ability to play the "fish out of water" warrior princess alongside #ChrisPine as Steve Trevor, a WWI soldier who recruits her to save the world. The story is large enough to show scale in the universe, yet personal enough to be emotionally well balanced and solid.

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Director #RidleyScott returns once again to his beloved #Alien franchise to go further in depth with the franchise's lore. After a mixed reception to his Alien prequel, #Promethus, Scott goes back to the prequel well to once again try and recapture the magic of the original films. Does he pull it off? PREMISE: "In 2104, the crew of the colony ship Covenant is bound for a remote planet, Origae-6, with some 2,000 colonists and over 1,400 embryos on-board, monitored by Walter, a more advanced android resembling the earlier David. A neutrino shockwave damages the ship and waking the crew from stasis. While repairing the damage, they intercept a human radio transmission from a seemingly lifeless nearby planet. Against the objection of Daniels (Katherine Waterston), the ship's terraforming expert and acting executive officer, Captain Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup) decide to investigate."

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Movie Review of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Director #GuyRitchie works to put his unique spin on the classic telling of the #KingArthur story in this modern-ish remake. Starring #CharlieHunnam as Arthur, a young man raised in a brothel not quite knowing his true lineage. Meanwhile, Arthur's uncle, played by #JudeLaw, works to consolidate his power and find and kill #Arthur so that he can wield the famous #Excalibur. There are no SPOILERS in this review. We discuss the film's premise, actors successes/failures, overall thoughts on the film, what we liked, disliked, and more. Does Guy Ritchie unique style help or hurt the retelling of the classic English high fantasy story? Check out the review to find out. Also, remember to watch, share, and subscribe.  

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#Marvel's favorite group of cosmic outlaws and misfits are back in their sequel adventure. Bringing back the team of #StarLord (Chris Pratt), #Gamora (Zoe Saldana), #RocketRaccoon (Bradley Cooper), #BabyGroot (Vin Diesel), #Drax (Dave Bautista), #Nebula (Karen Gillian), #Yondu (Michael Rooker) to take on a new enemy and deal with the issues of newly arriving characters: #Ego (Kurt Russell) and #Mantis (Pom Klementieff). The movie works to establish the family aspects of the Guardians and what that truly means in the larger sense. Action, comedy and just plain old fun are back under the watchful eye of returning writer/director #JamesGunn. Does Marvel hit another out of the park, or does the sophomore project disappoint? Check out our review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to find out in out 2017 review.  

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