The Cinematic Review-verse

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'Is This Thing On?'-Funny, Emotional, Almost 'Annie Hall'

Poster of Is This Thing On?, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. Hello, Review-Verse fans. Earlier this month, I watched Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper's latest direction, Is This Thing On? . Arnett, who voiced a lot of characters in movies I grew up with, like Monsters vs Aliens , starred as Alex Novak, a husband divorced from his wife of 20 years, Tess, played by Laura Dern of Jurassic Park . Seeing Alex vent about his divorce at open mic nights at a comedy club reminded me of Woody Allen in Annie Hall . And Dern's character dealt with the divorce by putting passion into some volleyball coaching and getting back into the dating scene. I liked both Arnett and Dern's performances because they were doing something real-starting over with their social lives late into their adulting. There were fun jokes, there were sad moments, and kind of like Crazy, Stupid, Love, it doesn't explicitly show they call off the divorce and remarry, but it...

A Good Zoo Out There with 'Zootopia 2'

‘Zootopia 2’ poster. Courtesy of William Beavers. It took 9 years and change, but Hopps and Wilde came back to the case in ' Zootopia 2 .' With good returning of the clashing chemistry between Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman's Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde along with great scoring by Michael Giacchino , great new additional cast members such as Ke Huy Quan , Andy Samberg , and Patrick Warburton , and great vibrant animation, it was a fun zoo out there thanks to Disney. Taking place a week after the original film, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, voiced by Goodwin and Bateman, have to help a pit viper named Gary De'Snake , voiced by Quan, uncover a conspiracy involving the weather walls separating the different towns in Zootopia. Not only that, they must also contend with their compatibility as coworkers in law enforcement. Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman, and Judy Hopps, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, in a therapy session in 'Zootopia 2.' Courtesy of Disney and mo...

‘Now You See Me 3’: Best of the Series

After over 10 years of the magical Robin Hood act, it was good to laugh at a third appearance of the Four Horsemen with ' Now You See Me: Now You Don't .' With humorous companionship between original and new castmates, excellent magic scenes, and great heist music scoring by Brian Tyler , ' Now You See Me 3' was the best in the series. Over 10 years after outsmarting Walter Mably and Arthur Tressler from their last bout, the Horsemen, played by Jesse Eisenberg , Woody Harrelson , Dave Franco , and Isla Fisher , team up with younger aspiring magicians, played by Dominic Sessa , Justice Smith , and Ariana Greenblatt , to expose Veronika Vanderberg , played by Rosamund Pike , a diamond mining mogul who plans to launder money for war criminals with a diamond known as the Heart. Even if the Horsemen used a bunch of technology and trickery, Dave Franco's character Jack Wilder was right when he said that with the trouble with the COVID pandemic and AI and such, ...

Wicked For Good: Tricky Twists, But Beautiful Music

Character poster of Glinda the Good Witch , played by Ariana Grande (left), and Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West , played by Cynthia Erivo (right) from ‘ Wicked: For Good .’ Courtesy of Universal Pictures . Good evening, readers. Tonight on the Cinematic Review-verse, I will be reviewing ‘ Wicked: For Good .’ I enjoyed Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande ’s lovely singing from the heart throughout the film, and I liked how Erivo’s character of Elphaba Thropp was once again conflicted about her mantle of the Wicked Witch of the West . However, I was thrown off by the plot twists and Easter eggs referring to the original Wizard of Oz film. In ‘Wicked For Good,’ Elphaba and Glinda , played by Erivo and Grande, are taking on their respective roles as the Wicked Witch of the West and Good Witch . While trying to discover if either of them deserves true happiness, there’s also some mysteries involving their classmates from Shiz University , Madame Morrible , played by Mic...

‘Wicked: Part One’: Great Tale of Brief But Beautiful Friendship

Good evening, readers. Here is what I thought of ' Wicked: Part One ' last year: As I said in the video, I didn’t like Glinda the Good Witch, played by Ariana Grande , at first because of the whole self-absorbed ditzy blonde act. After watching the film again this week, my further assessment of Glinda is that she seemed like 'Clueless' and Regina George. But as the film went on, Glinda proved to be a well-meaning friend to Elphaba , played by Cynthia Erivo, and was determined to put her in a better light at Shiz University . As for Elphaba, she was like Elsa from 'Frozen'-misunderstood, couldn't control her powers, really just wanted acceptance and friendship. In that case, at least she wasn't the one-dimensional Wicked Witch of the West for most of the film. I liked their rapport, such as their dissing each other in ' Loathing ' or Elphaba's reluctant letting Glinda beautify her in ' Popular .' They were like Mike and Sulley in ...

‘Christy’: Ferocious and Tragic Sydney Sweeney Project

Sydney Sweeney as former professional boxer Christy Salters in the film ‘Christy.’ Courtesy of Black Bear Pictures. In a combination of ‘Rocky’ and ‘Fighting with my Family,’ Sydney Sweeney lead the way in ‘ Christy ’, a biopic about female former professional boxer Christy Salters . I really liked Sweeney’s performance as Christy when she empowered herself in and out of the ring. I also liked the scoring and cinematography, specifically during the fighting. The film started off with Salters’ boxing career taking off as she finished high school in the late 80s. Her brother seemed to be the only one who supported her, until she proved herself to doubtful trainer and her future husband Jim Martin , played by Ben Foster . As her career of successful knockouts went on, Christy took a turn for the worst when Jim’s paranoia and controlling behavior with her professional and home lives made her act like she was in her own psychological thriller. Christy Salters, played by Sydney Sweene...