Alan Ng

If you want to hear the story of dreamers fulfilling their outlandish dreams, this is the film.

There’s nothing new and nothing we haven’t seen, which means every single moment and plot twist is familiar and predictable.

The world of Calle Málaga is small. It takes place on a simple street in a simple town where everyone knows everyone else. Everyone is cordial and competitive at the same time, as the film focuses on the place we call home and how leaving can be a bitter pill to take. In the end, this family drama hits you in the feels like a warm cup of cocoa before turning in for the night.

In these divided times, films centering on political issues either make an earnest attempt to persuade the other side to consider its point of view or play to its political allies and demonize its enemies. The Public does the latter, and the result is to further widen the divide of political discourse with self-righteous finger-pointing.

In the end, the film and its storytelling is meh.

Montana Story is a solid film set on a standard story structure.

Sheep Without A Shepherd is good fun as both an action flick and a heartfelt crime-thriller at the same time. In case you were wondering, the ending is fantastic, which is traditionally problematic for thrillers in general. It wraps everything up nicely and in a satisfying way.

Congrats to Jared Bush and the Walt Disney Animation team for an overall solid effort with Zootopia 2. I can’t wait to see what you have coming next.

It features likable characters, and though it may not offend or make you laugh, it ultimately leaves you smiling. However, you can’t help but feel a sense of loss regarding the potential the film and its story had to be truly great.

In the end, Restoring Tomorrow reminds us that you can restore an old historic building to its original beauty, but it’s ultimately about the people.

While Bong Joon Ho delivers his signature visual flair and Robert Pattinson fully commits to the existential dread of his endlessly disposable character, the film struggles to keep its high-concept ideas fresh past the first act.

Great science-fiction storytelling is not going to come from the big studios anymore. We will find it from new filmmakers with big ideas and very little money. But thankfully, big ideas attract big talent (then hopefully big money), and that’s what we have with Edson Oda’s Nine Days.

If you’ve ever had a friend or family struggle with an addiction, you know that nothing you say or do will change their ways. It seems to always happen at their rock bottom. Nora Fingscheidt’s feature, The Outrun, starts at the bottom.

Dark Money does succeed in presenting a strong case for campaign finance reform.

Framed may not be the thriller you want, but it’s a fine drama and morality play.

Elio is a complete misfire—an ambitious premise that never takes off.

Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy is a big story with big action along the lines of Carlito’s Way. You can easily jump in on this story without needing to see the previous Ip Man films.

Not since The Florida Project have I felt this emotional about a story of children forced to grow up way too fast.

A far as coming-of-age stories go, Once Upon a River is a very sweet story. There’s not a lot of fluff, but there is a lot of heart in a story based on a novel and feels in a way like a novel.

No one is safe, and decency is thrown out the window. Not since Deadpool has a movie ever been so f****d up. Though Deadpool wandered more into the sexual and scatological terrain, The Suicide Squad, instead, blurs the line between cartoon violence and gory realism.

While the authenticity of a television show from that era may dampen the intensity of the scares, the film is still just plain fun to watch. The effects are wonderful, with the vast majority of them being practical. The Cairnes brothers lean on fun over terror, which may irk some. But, what fun is had!

Those first two acts feel fresh and different. I loved Pattinson’s take. He’s not a pretty boy, he’s a conflicted human being. He’s a hero who’s not so super.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an origin story, and director Destin Daniel Cretton, working from script he wrote alongside Dave Callaham and, Andrew Lanham did a masterful job telling a story that’s not only Asian-American but a Marvel movie at the same time.

Eternal Spring is a beautiful film about freedom. It’s also a film that is currently flying under the radar, rife with controversy but is well worth seeking out for a serious evening of cinema.

Paradise City is a fun and lightweight tale for an evening of Hulu and chill. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s entertaining enough, especially considering Willis’s recent retirement.

The endless loop, the anomalies, the reset — all of it connects back to who the man is and what his fundamental flaw as a person is. When the ending hits, it doesn’t explain itself. You just sit there and work backward, and then it clicks.

You expect excellence from Pixar, and excellence is what they deliver in Onward.

Waldo On Weed does a fantastic job following Waldo’s adventure of healing and convincing audiences on the benefits of medical marijuana. What sets this film apart from other documentaries on the same subject is the personal battles the Dwyer’s would go through.