YEAR IN REVIEW: THE 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2021

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/31/2021
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME teaser poster | ©2021 Sony/Marvel

2021 was in many respects a nightmare year in real life, but it managed to deliver some really good movies. Here are my totally unscientific picks for the ten best. BELFAST. It’s a tough decision, but director/writer Kenneth Branagh’s ode to his childhood gets the edge, precisely because it could easily have been trite or average or, worst of all, boring. Instead, it’s informative and glorious and full of sorrow and joy. CYRANO. Directed by Joe Wright and adapted by Erica Schmidt from her stage musical (lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin Besser, music by Aaron Dessner & Bryce Dessner), […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: SING 2

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/22/2021
SING 2 movie poster | ©2021 Universal Pictures/Illumination

Rating: PG Stars (voices): Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Tori Kelly, Taron Egerton, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Bono, Halsey, Pharrell Williams Writer: Garth Jennings Director: Garth Jennings Distributor: Universal Pictures/Illumination Release Date: December 22, 2021 SING 2 is a sequel to 2016’s animated musical SING. Like the first film, SING 2 is written and directed by Garth Jennings. Both take place in a world of anthropomorphic animals, and both are jukebox musicals, with songs taken from pop culture rather than being composed specifically for the film. In the original SING, Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), an ambitious koala […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: ALPHA RIFT

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/21/2021
ALPHA RIFT movie poster | ©2021 Vertical Entertainment

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Lance Henriksen, Aaron Dalla Villa, Rachel Nielsen, Philip Williams, Graham Wolff, Chris Ullrich, Allyson Malandra, Chris James Boylan Writer: Dan Lantz Director: Dan Lantz Distributor: Vertical Entertainment Release Date: November 19, 2021 ALPHA RIFT has more ambition than budget. This creates some obvious challenges, but at the start, it has a certain charm. For a while, ALPHA RIFT plays like a combination of HIGHLANDER Extra-Lite and THE LAST STARFIGHTER. It opens with two men in medieval full-head helmets, one in a duster coat no less, engaging in a serious swordfight on a big-city street. They are tracked […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: NIGHTMARE ALLEY

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/16/2021
NIGHTMARE ALLEY movie poster | ©2021 Searchlight Pictures

Rating: R Stars: Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, David Strathairn, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, Richard Jenkins, Holt McAllany, Mary Steenburgen, Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Beaver Writers: Guillermo del Toro & Kim Morgan, based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham Director: Guillermo del Toro Distributor: Fox Searchlight Release Date: December 17, 2021 NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a beautifully-made, hypnotic Depression-era thriller. William Lindsay Gresham’s novel was previously adapted for the big screen in 1947, with Tyrone Power in the lead. This time around, Bradley Cooper essays the role of Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, the antihero at the center of […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: CYRANO

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN
CYRANO movie poster | ©2021 MGM/United Artists

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn Writer: Erica Schmidt, lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin Besser, music by Aaron Dessner & Bryce Dessner, based on the stage play CYRANO DE BERGERAC by Edmond Rostand Director: Joe Wright Distributor: MGM/United Artists Release Date: December 17, 2021 CYRANO, among other things, reminds GAME OF THRONES fans just how much we’ve missed seeing Peter Dinklage be swashbuckling. Of course, this being a film version of the stage musical CYRANO DE BERGERAC by Erica Schmidt, with lyrics by Matt Berninger & Carin Besser, and music by Aaron Dessner […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: AGNES

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/10/2021
AGNES movie poster | ©2021 Magnet Releasing

Rating: Not Rated Stars: Molly C. Quinn, Jake Horowitz, Rachel True, Hayley McFarland, Zandy Hardig, Chris Browning, Ben Hall, Mary Buss, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn Writers: John Selvidge and Mickey Reece Director: Mickey Reece Distributor: Magnet Releasing Release Date: December 10, 2021  AGNES starts out like a typical exorcism film, but it doesn’t stay that way for long. We begin at a cloistered Carmelite convent in upstate New York. It’s the present, but it might as well be the 1950s, or further back, as far as the strict Mother Superior (Mary Buss) is concerned. Rule-bound and stern though Mother Superior […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: BEING THE RICARDOS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/09/2021
BEING THE RECARDOS Movie Poster | ©2021 Amazon

Rating: R Stars: Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale Writer: Aaron Sorkin Director: Aaron Sorkin Distributor: Amazon Studios Release Date: December 10, 2021 BEING THE RICARDOS is about a very stressful week in the life of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, played here respectively by Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. Writer/director Aaron Sorkin also includes plentiful flashbacks and some flash-forwards to underscore points he wants to make. Sorkin’s ambitions with BEING THE RICARDOS are admirable. He wants us to get to know Ball and Arnaz, as individuals, as a couple, and as artists. He wants us […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: DON’T LOOK UP

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/08/2021
DON'T LOOK UP Movie Poster | ©2021 Netflix

Rating: R Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Melanie Lynskey, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet Writer: Adam McKay, story by Adam McKay & David Sirota Director: Adam McKay Distributor: Netflix Release Date: December 10, 2021 DON’T LOOK UP plays something like a gentler modern DR. STRANGELOVE. Instead of nuclear war, Earth is threatened with destruction by a giant comet. While this is an act of nature rather than of human aggression, never fear – greed and stupidity will find a way to make things worse. When University of Michigan doctoral astronomy student […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: HURT

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/07/2021
HURT movie poster | ©2021 Gravitas Ventures

Rating: Not Rated Stars: Emily Van Raay, Andrew Creer, Michelle Treacy, Stephanie Moran, Bradley Hamilton, Adam Drodge Writers: Solomon Gray & Sonny Mallhi Director: Sonny Mallhi Distributor: Gravitas Ventures Release Date: December 9, 2021 HURT begins with a prayer for Biblical vengeance. This is followed by an onscreen statement that what we are about to see is inspired by true events: “In 2012, a teenage girl went camping with her sister and her mother … as usual, the teenage girl wanted nothing to do with her sister or her mother.” Things can’t get much truer than that. But this sets […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

Movie Review: DEATH VALLEY

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN
DEATH VALLEY Movie Poster | ©2021 Shudder

Rating: Not Rated Stars: Jeremy Ninaber, Ethan Mitchell, Kristen Kaster Writer: Matthew Ninaber Director: Matthew Ninaber Distributor: Shudder Release Date: December 9, 2021 DEATH VALLEY has an odd title, considering its contents. There’s plenty of death, but we’re not in the Mojave Desert, nor in any sort of valley at all. Our primary locations are a Russian forest, and the underground biolab beneath it. This aside, DEATH VALLEY is surprisingly well-done. Moments that seem to be plot missteps are actually clues. Despite the clearly low budget, director/writer Matthew Ninaber and his cinematographer, Brent Tremain, establish plausible lighting sources. They make […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)
  1. Pages:
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. ...
  14. 41
Increase your website traffic with Attracta.com

Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory

bottom round