The Cinematic Review-verse

On Thursday, February 26, 2026, I saw ‘Crime 101.’ Despite knowing the cast but not the plot, I thought it was well-executed. It felt like a neo noir film, particularly like Steve McQueen’s ‘Bullitt’ movie with the California setting and Chris Hemsworth’s character in chases with stylish classic cars. Speaking of Hemsworth, I think he, along with co-star Mark Ruffalo, showed some star potential away from his frequent Marvel Studios films. And Halle Berry’s character proved that just because you’re older, doesn’t mean you don’t still have some gas left in the tank. In ‘Crime 101,’ Hemsworth played a jewel thief named Mike Davis who preferred to be nonviolent while trying to be rich. I liked him best when he was just cruising around in a Dodge Challenger and charming a publicist’s assistant named Maya, played by Monica Barbaro. Chris Hemsworth as Mike Davis in ‘Crime 101.’ Photo courtesy of IMDb.com and Amazon MGM Studios. Monica Barbaro and Chris Hemsworth in character as Maya, and Mike...

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...

‘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...

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, ...

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...

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 ...