It’s been a while since we’ve seen director Alexander Payne team up with the always welcome presence of Paul Giamatti. The duo previously collaborated on eventual Best Picture nominee, Sideways way back in 2004, almost 20 years ago. And after seeing The Holdovers, one thing is surely apparent: These two are a match made in heaven!
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Holdovers’ is a Delightful Holiday Present”
Second features are difficult when you’ve knocked it out of the park with your directorial debut (just ask Olivia Wilde). In the case of the remarkably talented Emerald Fennell, one could say the task might seem almost impossible, given how good her film Promising Young Woman was. Easily one of my favorite films of 2020, Fennell has followed that future classic up with her latest feature Saltburn. And the good news is Saltburn is just as darkly and devilishly clever as her previous endeavor, even if, comparably, it’s not quite as stellar.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Saltburn’ is Emerald Fennell’s ‘Mr. Ripley’”
Disney animated musicals have made achievements and advanced breakthroughs in visual storytelling since 1923. So, to celebrate its centennial anniversary, the studio honors its legacy with Wish, an all-new animated musical that tells the origin story of the Wishing Star.
Continue reading “‘Wish’ Delivers a Magical and Inspirational Gift for Generations of Disney Fans”
Marvel has been getting a lot flack lately, especially with the upcoming release of The Marvels. The film itself went through multiple reshoots and pushed its release twice. To many, especially the “film bros,” this marks the sign of a disaster waiting to happen. But, the end result of The Marvels wasn’t that bad.
Continue reading “‘The Marvels’ Finds its Savior in a Teenager”
It seems these days I start out every MCU review with some comments about how we’re in an era where “the death of Marvel” is prominently in the zeitgeist. And sure, a damning article from Variety and some online chatter, along with some lukewarm or worse receptions for certain projects here and there would have you think such a thing is imminent. Perhaps it’s true. Or perhaps it’s audience or critical cynicism at its worst.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Marvels’ is a Light and Breezy Blast”
What a disappointing start to the Fall Movie Season. First The Creator, now The Exorcist: Believer. These were two highly anticipated films for me this year, with this one supposedly being a follow up to my favorite horror movie of all time. And sadly, Believer simply doesn’t live up to what’s been otherwise a pretty solid year for horror, much less the legacy of its namesake.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ is Not Very Compelling”
Yes, it’s true that big budget original sci-fi films are rarely made this day and age. And I will admit, if you’re going to give any director a shot at one in this climate, Gareth Edwards, who in general I consider to be a terrific filmmaker, deserves it more than anyone. But (and I’ll probably be in the minority here) I found The Creator to be a massive and somewhat pretentious mess.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Creator’ is a Colossal Disappointment”
We review the latest in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise, discuss the natural disasters in Morocco and Libya that have killed, injured, and displaced thousands, the genocide by starvation in Artsakh, and the one year anniversary of the start of the current Iran protests.
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 56: ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 ‘Review”
It’s been 10 years since The Conjuring debuted to huge box office business and terrific reviews. And in that time, a universe has been established of the freakiest demonic presences in modern day cinema. The most terrifying of which was Valak, aka The Nun!
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Nun II’ is a Merciful Improvement Over its Predecessor”
Strays had all the makings in becoming a successful film. Cute dogs? Check! Star-power voices? Check! Dogs that curse? Check!
Continue reading “‘Strays’ Goes Straight to the Pound”
Yeah. You read that right. And look, I know the bar seems pretty low. When your past three releases include Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and The Flash — one of which was sold as allegedly “one of the best superhero movies of all time,” when it actually was a complete mess of obnoxiousness and bad VFX — it may not seem like high praise. But genuinely and truly, Blue Beetle is actually a really terrific film.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Blue Beetle’ is Genuinely One of DC’s Finest Films”
In my review of The Boogeyman, I talked about how we’ve been lucky to have such good horror entries to come out in recent years. Even this summer alone, we were treated to A24’s sleeper hit, Talk To Me, and even fans of Insidious came out to support The Red Door. And The Last Voyage of the Demeter seemed like a worthy candidate to follow in those footsteps with a slam dunk for August horror. But alas, this faux-Dracula tale still winds up second (as far as Dracula films this year go) behind Universal’s previous Dracula-inspired story this year, Renfield. And that’s actually pretty sad.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ Sinks More Than It Scares”
There is something to be said about movies that know their own ridiculousness and fully embrace it. The Sharknado films, Snakes on a Plane, and just about all B-grade monster movies know they need a hero, greedy antagonists, and a deadly monster. Meg 2: The Trench, the sequel for 2018’s The Meg – based on the popular books by Steve Alten, does just that.
Continue reading “‘Meg 2: The Trench’ is a Summer Blockbuster to Sink Your Teeth Into”
“Go ninja, go ninja, go!” Those were the immortal words uttered in the finale of arguably the last good movie based on Laird and Eastman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That may be a controversial statement for fans for the Bay-produced 2014 and 2016 films, the 2007 cheaply animated movie TMNT, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. But as a fan myself, whether for nostalgic or legitimate reasons, nothing ever really topped the first two live action films from 1990 and 1991. Until now.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ Goes Full Turtle Power”
Franchise resurrection. That’s a feat in Hollywood rarely ever achieved by most franchises, outside of, perhaps, Fast and Furious. Much like that movie series, there was a time when the Mission: Impossible faced the relative threat of extinction. But suddenly, it came skyrocketing back in 2010, with Ghost Protocol and the insane stunt work of its maestro, actor and star, Tom Cruise.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ is a Non-Stop Thrill Ride”
Name me a single raunchy R-rated comedy prior to 2022, starring Asian leads. Okay, you probably said the Harold and Kumar trilogy. But what about Asian women? That becomes a bit more challenging. It’s hard to find many Apatow-level comedies outside of Bridesmaids and Girls Trip even led by female ensembles or directed by female filmmakers, let alone a predominantly Asian one. But we now finally have one in Joy Ride.
Continue reading “NOC Review: Strap in for a Smart, Sweet, and Hilarious ‘Joy Ride’”
Joined by our friends Nadia Osman and Zaina Ujayli, The Middle Geeks review the latest Indiana Jones film and how it continues the franchise’s trend of racism and Orientalism against North African peoples.
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 55: ‘Indiana Jones’ Dials Up the CGI and Orientalism”
I think it needs to be said upfront that due to the controversies surrounding Ezra Miller’s criminal record and unforgivable behavior, we at The Nerds of Color believe that accountability needs to be taken into serious consideration regarding their place and future in this industry.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘The Flash’ is Fine but Fumbles Frequently”
It’s true that the best days of Pixar may be behind us. From modern day classics like Up, Wall-E, and Ratatouille, to more mediocre fare like Lightyear and Onward, the studio has essentially gone from “great” to “okay” after more than 20 years.
Continue reading “NOC Review: Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ is a Sweet and Colorful Treat”
The Flash is nearly here, and I was joined by Swara on our YouTube channel to discuss our initial, spoiler-free thoughts on the film. Subscribe to the podcast at hardnocmedia.com for the full spoiler-filled review when it drops on June 19!
Continue reading “Yeah… ‘The Flash’ is a Great ‘Batman’ Film”
Let’s be honest, we all wrote off the Transformers franchise long ago. As soon as they stopped the entire Age of Extinction movie to try and justify why it was okay for one character to date a minor, I instantly noped out. I didn’t even bother with The Last Knight, and it seems I was right not to. But then something funny happened. Bumblebee hit theaters, and ended up being a really charming movie.
Continue reading “NOC Review: ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ is a Worthy Successor to ‘Bumblebee’”
The best thing about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is that it’s an irreverent love letter that dares to challenge and satirize the Webslinger’s mythology. By introducing Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) into the cinematic universe, not only did we see the Spidey persona in a whole new way, but we also got to see the social impact of representation. Now Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse puts a twist on the themes explored in the first while diving into the complex themes of individuality.
Continue reading “‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Swings Further and Higher to Be a Masterful Sequel”
We’ve been so fortunate to have a treasure trove of genuinely great horror flicks in the past year. From the Scream legacy sequels, to Ty West’s X films, last year’s Smile, The Black Phone, Nope, and this year’s exceptional Evil Dead Rise. So please forgive me for being spoiled in terms of my expectations of horror.
Continue reading “NOC Review: You Won’t Lose Any Sleep Over ‘The Boogeyman’”