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Father Stu (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Apr 12th 2022

Is ‘Father Stu’ the Best Faith-Based Film Yet?

Not all faith-based movies are created equal. That’s never been more true than today.
The newer crop of spiritual fare features bigger stars, richer themes and, in the case of “Father Stu,” material that might not be appropriate for the kiddoes.
Yes the R-rated drama has a potty mouth … with a purpose. The profanity isn’t exploitative, nor is it designed to reel in...

Morbius (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Mar 31st 2022

How ‘Morbius’ Misses the MCU Mark (By a Country Mile)

“Morbius” and the “Venom” franchise have something in common, and it’s far from flattering.
Both Sony properties would be better received in the ’90s, long before the MCU revolution supercharged expectations for comic book fare.
“Morbius” has an advantage over its studio peer.
The anti-hero caper doesn’t wallow in the cheap yuks of that Eddie...

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Oct 11th 2021

Tarantino’s ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ Isn’t Worthy of Its Cult Following

Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk Til Dawn” opens with the criminal Gecko brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) destroying a convenience store and slaughtering those unlucky enough to run into them.
As the store burns to the ground and a man screams in agony, the Gecko brothers never waver in their hip, profane banter. They seem entirely detached from the chaos they just inflicted, both...

The Saint (1997)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Mar 26th 2022

‘The Saint’ Teased a Great Franchise (And Why It Never Arrived)

Phillip Noyce’s “The Saint” (1997) begins with an opening scene so dreadful, it’s (to use the film’s favorite word) a “miracle” that it eventually does improve itself.
We meet a little boy in an orphanage, who defies his abusive guardians, declares his name to be Simon Templar and commits an act of rebellion that leads to tragedy. This Dickensian start, both off-putting and cutesy,...

City Slickers (1991)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Oct 16th 2018

How ‘City Slickers’ Did Right By American Males

Quick, name the last great comedy that made you laugh and cry.
Not easy, is it?
Billy Crystal’s 1991 comedy “City Slickers [Collector’s Edition] [Blu-ray]” did just that. The film, enjoying a robust Blu-ray release from Shout Factory, returns to shame modern comedies in more ways than one.
The film captures the male psyche without denying masculine traits. Social...

PCU (1994)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Nov 26th 2018

The Movie H’Wood Must Remake (But Won’t)

Name a classic, or even not-so-classic, movie. Chances are it’ll be remade sooner than later.
The options are endless, and the list is growing:
“Ace Ventura” “Alien Nation” “Child’s Play” “What Women Want” (Now, “What Men Want” with Taraji P. Henson) The films in question don’t have to be hits or...

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

May 17th 2019

You’ll Wince, Laugh and Cheer at ‘John Wick: Chapter 3’

There are three kinds of people in the world.
Dog people. Cat people. And people who like watching dog people shoot, stab and slaughter hundreds on the big screen.
The “John Wick” franchise caters to the latter demographic. And boy, will they be delighted with the third film in the series.
“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” offers some of the most...

The Night House (2020)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Aug 21st 2021

Why ‘The Night House’ Won’t Keep You Up at Night as Promised

David Bruckner’s “The Night House” is a major bummer, yet another film that teases far more than it delivers and wastes the enormous talent of Rebecca Hall.
When we meet Beth (played by Hall), she’s grieving the suicide of her husband and well past caring what others think of her inability to keep it together. While meeting the parent of a student who she gave a C grade, Beth loses her patience,...

Dead Again (1991)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Sep 15th 2021

Before ‘Belfast,’ Branagh Scared Us Silly with ‘Dead Again’

There was a brief period of my life where I thought Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson were Americans, and that has everything to do with Branagh’s 1991 thriller, “Dead Again.”
I had initially missed Branagh’s debut film, the celebrated Shakespeare adaptation of “Henry V” (1989) and was convinced not only by the persuasive west coast accents he and Thompson (both Brits) sported in “Dead...

The Howling (1981)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Oct 16th 2021

Why ‘The Howling’ Is More than a Subversive Werewolf Thriller

Joe Dante’s “The Howling” (1981) is a noteworthy entry in the werewolf genre, a work that helped put Dante on the map (though “Gremlins” would do that far more so in 1984) and stands out for being an unusual horror film.
Whereas ’81 had a high number of slasher films and a few big budget, respected works that were financial successes, horror films still had the stigma of being disreputable...

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Dec 14th 2021

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Is the Anti-Woke Blockbuster We Crave

“Fan Service” gets a bad rap, and for good reason.
The Hollywood trend ladles out Easter eggs aplenty, hearkening back to past film and TV shows to fire up our nostalgia circuits.
There’s nothing wrong with that, on paper. It’s a problem when a movie summons the past without delivering a memorable present – i.e. a good story.
You won’t find a better example...

Shut In (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Feb 2nd 2022

Harrowing ‘Shut In’ Will Surprise Just About Everyone

The home invasion thriller remains a genre staple, even in the age of Ring doorbells and security systems.
Movies like “Hush” show the horror of having someone in your home who isn’t welcome. So when The Daily Wire announced “Shut In,” it seemed like a solid B-movie bet from the upstart platform.
Except the right-leaning streamer had something else in mind.
“Shut...

Grease 2 (1982)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Feb 20th 2022

That ‘Grease 2’ Cult Following, [Sort of] Explained

It was sometime around the late 1990s when I learned Patricia Birch’s “Grease 2” (1982) has a cult following.
In addition to fellow theater majors, bad movie junkies and Gen-X contrarians, I kept meeting rational people who’d tell me they not only loved “Grease 2” but preferred it to the 1978 original.
It first occurred to me that the adoration of the John Travolta/ Olivia Newton-John...

Man of God (2021)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Mar 23rd 2022

‘Man of God’ Recalls a Grave Injustice Met with Christian Piety

My Anglican priest recently recalled a trip to a monastery where a monk confided in him that he “didn’t like people very much.” My priest joked that he was in the right place.
The most bitter rivalries are often among those who dedicate their lives to public service, kindness, and faith. Religious institutions are among the worst afflicted, with one unnamed Benedictine monk joking that if “you...

Infinite Storm (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Mar 25th 2022

‘Infinite Storm’ Is Far More Than Survival 101

Never say Naomi Watts doesn’t suffer for her art.
The Australian star endured what must have been a brutal production for 2011’s “The Impossible,” the fact-based story of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
She also survived a serious flirtation with the title character in 2008’s “King Kong” remake.
Now, she’s buried under snow and wind in “Infinite...

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

May 12th 2022

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ – No Woke, Just Thrills and Nostalgia on Steroids

The 1986 smash “Top Gun” was both a movie and a pop cultural moment.
The latter mattered more, given the tenor of the times. President Ronald Reagan lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW D.C., and his confidence buoyed the nation. Pop hits like “Danger Zone” and “Take My Breath Away” crushed the Billboard charts, and rightly so.
The film’s star, Tom Cruise,...

Bros (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Sep 29th 2022

‘Bros’ Embraces Best Rom-Com Tropes

Gay-themed romances aren’t new to Tinsel Town. Think “Brokeback Mountain,” “Happiest Season” and “Call Me By Your Name,” for starters.
“Bros” is still a very different kind of film. It’s a rom-com featuring two male characters with all the trappings of a major studio release.
Everything else here is unapologetically heterodox.
The film’s frank depictions of gay sex, culture...

Amsterdam (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Oct 6th 2022

‘Amsterdam’ Can’t Get Out of Its Own Way

“Amsterdam” is a mess.
Not all messes are the same, of course. Nor does the word suggest “Amsterdam” is unwatchable. Director David O. Russell’s latest, a sprawling collection of pinpoint comic performances and inconsequential asides, is rarely dull.
The film’s vibrant morsels, brief but significant, should add up to something special, an artistic gestalt bound for Oscar glory. Russell’s...

Terrifier 2 (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Oct 22nd 2022

‘Terrifier 2’ Channels Woke-Free ’80s Horror

You can’t keep a killer clown down.
The soulless Art the Clown got an ultra-low budget closeup in 2016’s “Terrifier.” He’s back for the belated sequel, which spills more blood than any film in recent memory.
And, if you’ve seen the original, you know how high director Damien Leone previously set that bar.
The sequel expands the clown’s world while doubling down on the macabre humor...

A Man Called Otto (2022)

Hollywood in Toto #Christian #CenterRight

Jan 6th 2023

‘Man Called Otto’ Is Oscar-Bait at Its Worst

Audiences crave predictability in measured doses.
We want the superhero to save the day, the boy to both meet and stay with the girl in a rom-com. So when we see the curmudgeonly antihero in “A Man Called Otto” we don’t want him to stay curmudgeonly for long.
Formulas matter, but screenplays need something extra to make them magical. The classic quote, “I’ll have what she’s having,”...

Is ‘Father Stu’ the Best Faith-Based Film Yet?

How ‘Morbius’ Misses the MCU Mark (By a Country Mile)

Tarantino’s ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ Isn’t Worthy of Its Cult Following

‘The Saint’ Teased a Great Franchise (And Why It Never Arrived)

How ‘City Slickers’ Did Right By American Males

The Movie H’Wood Must Remake (But Won’t)

You’ll Wince, Laugh and Cheer at ‘John Wick: Chapter 3’

Why ‘The Night House’ Won’t Keep You Up at Night as Promised

Before ‘Belfast,’ Branagh Scared Us Silly with ‘Dead Again’

Why ‘The Howling’ Is More than a Subversive Werewolf Thriller

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Is the Anti-Woke Blockbuster We Crave

Harrowing ‘Shut In’ Will Surprise Just About Everyone

That ‘Grease 2’ Cult Following, [Sort of] Explained

‘Man of God’ Recalls a Grave Injustice Met with Christian Piety

‘Infinite Storm’ Is Far More Than Survival 101

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ – No Woke, Just Thrills and Nostalgia on Steroids

‘Bros’ Embraces Best Rom-Com Tropes

‘Amsterdam’ Can’t Get Out of Its Own Way

‘Terrifier 2’ Channels Woke-Free ’80s Horror

‘Man Called Otto’ Is Oscar-Bait at Its Worst

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