March 28, 2019

Dumbo (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

March 28, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Tim Burton

Written by: Ehren Kruger

Starring: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin

Runtime: 130 min

Synopsis: Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) enlists former star Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his children Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins) to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock in an already struggling circus. But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland. Dumbo soars to new heights alongside a charming and spectacular aerial artist, Colette Marchant (Eva Green), until Holt learns that beneath its shiny veneer, Dreamland is full of dark secrets.

March 20, 2019

Us (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

March 20, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Jordan Peele

Written by: Jordan Peele

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Anna Diop, Evan Alex, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Madison Curry, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon

Runtime: 116 min

Synopsis: Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family. After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.

March 14, 2019

Captive State (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

March 14, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt

Written by: Erica Beeney, Rupert Wyatt

Starring: John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, Machine Gun Kelly, Vera Farmiga

Runtime: 109 min

Synopsis: Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict - the collaborators and dissidents. It follows a young man who participates in a conspiracy to rebel against the alien race that has invaded Earth, and enforced strict martial law on all humans.

March 07, 2019

Captain Marvel (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

March 07, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Written by: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, Jude Law

Runtime: 128 min

Synopsis: The story follows Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) as she becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

February 28, 2019

Greta (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

February 28, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Neil Jordan

Written by: Ray Wright, Neil Jordan

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Colm Feore, Stephen Rea

Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis: A sweet, naive young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn't think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends - but Greta's maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta's life is what it seems.

February 21, 2019

Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

February 21, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Tatsuya Nagamine

Written by: Akira Toriyama

Runtime: 115 min

Synopsis: A planet destroyed, a powerful race reduced to nothing. After the devastation of Planet Vegeta, three Saiyans were scattered among the stars, destined for different fates. While two found a home on Earth, the third was raised with a burning desire for vengeance and developed an unbelievable power. And the time for revenge has come. Destinies collide in a battle that will shake the universe to its very core!

This is the third canon (or official if you’re not familiar with anime terms) Dragon Ball movie, after Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ . So, unless you kept up with the anime, this film isn’t for you. Just letting you know right off the bat.

February 14, 2019

Happy Death Day 2U (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

February 14, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Cristopher Landon

Written by: Cristopher Landon

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu, Rachel Matthews, Suraj Sharma, Ruby Modine

Runtime: 120 min

Synopsis: Jessica Rothe leads the follow-up to Blumhouse's surprise 2017 smash hit of riveting, repeating twists, and comic turns. This time, our hero Tree Gelbman (Rothe) discovers that dying over and over was surprisingly easier than the dangers that lie ahead. Jason Blum once again produces, and Christopher Landon returns to write and direct this next chapter.

February 07, 2019

Alita: Battle Angel (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

February 07, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez

Written by: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis

Starring: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson

Runtime: 125 min

Synopsis: From visionary filmmakers, James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, comes an epic adventure of hope and empowerment. When Alita (Rosa Salazar) awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past - she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control.

January 24, 2019

Serenity (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

January 24, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: Steven Knight

Written by: Steven Knight

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Strong

Runtime: 106 min

Synopsis: Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) is a fishing boat captain leading tours off a tranquil, tropical enclave called Plymouth Island. His quiet life is shattered, however, when his ex-wife Karen (Anne Hathaway) tracks him down with a desperate plea for help. She begs Dill to save her - and their young son - from her new, violent husband (Jason Clarke) by taking him out to sea on a fishing excursion, only to throw him to the sharks and leave him for dead. Karen's appearance thrusts Dill back into a life he'd tried to forget, and as he struggles between right and wrong, his world is plunged into a new reality that may not be all that it seems.

January 17, 2019

Glass (2019) - SPOILER-FREE Review

January 17, 2019/ MSB Reviews

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Written by: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Sarah Paulson, Luke Kirby

Runtime: 129 min

Synopsis: From Unbreakable, Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn as does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, also known by his pseudonym Mr. Glass. Joining from Split are James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the multiple identities who reside within, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with The Beast. Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb's superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

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