Month: December 2018

Vice

Rarely have I seen a film that hates its audience as much as Vice does. Poised as a satire on the rise of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Adam McKay’s supremely misguided biopic is tantamount to yelling fire in a theater and then locking the doors. It isn’t just ugly, unfunny and stunningly mediocre, it’s the worst film of the year.

Aquaman

There are several ways to approach adapting the Aquaman comic book for the big screen. Unfortunately, Aquaman tries all of them. It never finds the right tone as a special-effects extravaganza, a more grounded human story about acceptance and expectations, or a more straightforward episode of good battling evil with tridents.

Mary Poppins Returns

Fifty-four years after Julie Andrews first appeared on screen as the titular nanny, Emily Blunt steps into her Oxfords to return to the Banks’ household just as things are falling apart.  Now grown, Michael (Ben Whishaw) with children of his own, finds himself in financial distress…

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

While not groundbreaking, this fresh twist on the comic-based mythology works best when it ditches the superhero mayhem and remains grounded as a charming contemporary coming-of-age story about a precocious yet mischievous Brooklyn teenager who gets in over his head.