The Cinematic Review-verse

Poster for 'Roofman.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Miramax. Channing Tatum played Jeffrey Manchester, an ex-Army Reserve soldier and divorced dad who had a penchant for details and thieving. He was known as "The Roofman" for breaking into his targets by drilling into their roofs. It was like Tatum channeled Sam Dawson and Scott Lang into one as his character managed to find a way to sneak out of prison underneath a truck with skills from prison shop, then make a home in a corner in a 2004 Toys 'R Us.  It was pretty funny and amusing how Jeffrey sort of took control of the store after closing. How he snacked on M and M's, skated around on Heely-like shoes, he acted like a grown man with a kid's bedroom with inflatables and Spider-Man merchandise, and he kept security with baby monitors. It was also kind of funny how he made money out of stealing and pawning a bunch of video games. While trying to get out of the country after fleeing to the store, Jeff...

Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in 'Rain Man', directed by Barry Levinson. Copyright 1988, United Artists. On Sunday night, I watched Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise in the Academy Award-winning 'Rain Man'. To those who are unfamiliar, Tom Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt, a troubled, shady Lamborghini dealer who's hoping for some inheritance money from his recently deceased, estranged father to pay the bills. But he gets more than he bargained for when he discovers the trustee of said money is his unknown brother, Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, an autistic savant with unique memorization skills, but often troubled mannerisms in socializing. Hoping to get Raymond to give him half his father's money, Charlie attempts to whisk him away to Los Angeles. But when he is forced to drive Raymond from Ohio instead of flying, a bond begins to grow between the brothers. At first, I didn't like Charlie's exasperated and greedy attitude toward Raymond. I also couldn'...

Disney/Pixar's 'Elemental.' Photo courtesy of movieposters.com and Disney. While most of the story of Elemental was too similar to other films such as Shrek 2, it was nonetheless adorable between the romance of the main characters and the bright lights of their city and fellow populace. Elemental was also abundant in awkward young adult humor and comical yet tense family drama. Elemental tells the story of Ember Lumen and Wade Ripple, voiced by Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athi e, anthropomorphic beings of fire and water, and how they try to overcome distrustful history between their kinds in order to protect their families and their blossoming romantic relationship. From the opening, I picked up a Zootopia- type vibe in the case of Ember's parents hoping to start a new life in Element City. The city had beautiful buildings and colorful characters, regardless of who splashes the water, prunes the fruits, or accidentally burns things to a crisp. Lewis' character of E...