The Cinematic Review-verse

  French release poster of Drive-Away Dolls . Courtesy of Universal Pictures. Hey, everybody. Media Mastermind, a.k.a. William Beavers, at your service. This Monday, a coworker friend and I saw Ethan Coen ’s Drive-Away Dolls , starring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan . Qualley and Viswanathan played lesbian friends who took a road trip to Tallahassee, Florida for a New Year’s Eve hookup, and accidentally got mixed in with some gangsters and went toe-to-toe with them and eventually, a crooked politician played by Matt Damon . It was a decent movie. While I’m no complete fan of vulgar or graphic language, there were a few laughs with the buddy moments between Qualley and Viswanathan. And though I said Drive-Away Dolls was "weird", I felt the film was good-hearted in showing that the lead girls, despite their clashing personalities, with Qualley’s free-spirited outlook and Viswanathan’s bookish and uptight mannerisms, just wanted somebody to love and connect wit...

  Hi, everyone. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. I watched Lisa Frankenstein today. In it, Kathryn Newton from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania plays a high school senior who bonds with Cole Sprouse playing a dead guy brought back to life in a Frankenstein esque manner. Though there were some good moments between Newton’s 80s gothic fashion sense, Sprouse’s funny struggles at re-adapting to humanity, and some new wave, pop or soft-rock music, I give the film a 5.5/10. That’s because I didn’t like Sprouse’s character being silent and turning into some crazed psycho killer-type boyfriend. I’d have liked it better if Sprouse got to be shared with Newton’s school and got to restart his life. Seemed like more horror than comedy if you ask me, and not the kind that would give you a rush like The Beekeeper or something. With respect to the cast and crew, do something different next time, or show what footage got cut. As for the audience, I don’t recommend the movie. But I am open to co...

 "Caste is a system that decides one kind deserves more freedom than another."  "You should love who you love and go where you want." Isabel Wilkerson , first woman of African-American heritage to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, and author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents . Photo courtesy of isabelwilkerson.com Ava DuVernay's 'Origin' stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson . Photo courtesy of Neon. The above quotes were paraphrased from Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor 's portrayal of Pulitzer-winning Isabel Wilkerson in Ava DuVernay's 'Origin '. They were denouncing the harsh caste system against races all over the world, and favoring that we should get to be with who we want to love and live our lives without anyone or thing tearing us down. ' Origin ' is about Wilkerson's journalistic journey to understand the why behind the murder of Tray'von Martin (whose birthday is today) and the racist caste systems ag...

Even though the plot was convoluted, Matthew Vaughn’s ' Argylle ' was a good watch. I said the plot was convoluted because the tricky spy life--i.e. not knowing who’s the true protagonist or villain from the get-go-- and a few twists left me puzzled. But what it lacked in a plot to keep up with, ' Argylle ' made up in great acting led by Bryce Dallas Howard and Sam Rockwell , well-executed fighting and dancing choreography, wily production design, and blazing pop or disco music. Thrills come in the form of super-spy Sam Rockwell and author Bryce Dallas Howard in Matthew Vaughn's 'Argylle.' Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures. ' Argylle ' is like 'Central Intelligence' in that a mild-mannered career person, this time an author played by Howard, unwillingly gets sucked into high-octane action, with her crazy guide being laid-back yet effective agent Rockwell. Once Howard managed to flip the script and get some action in her blood, I was im...

When I saw Mean Girls (2024) on Thursday night the 11th of January, I was enthralled by the musical numbers and the energy in the main teen cast. And though some of the original film's stuff got rehashed in a good way along with the music, it should've cut down on the old humor after a while and put in some new material. The plot's pretty much the same as the original film: After years of homeschooling in Africa, Cady Heron , played by Angourie Rice , who played Betty Brant in Marvel Studios' Spider-Man films,   transfers to North Shore High School  in America. But it's still a jungle adventure and misadventure when she must outwit the school's unscrupulous social hierarchy, dominated by  The Plastics trio clique, led by Regina George , played by Reneé Rapp, who is beautiful yet barbaric. She gets help and guidance in the form of Janis 'Imi'ike and Damian Hubbard , played by Auli'i Cravalho from Moana and Jaquel Spivey , respectively.   How to c...

Aquaman is ready to ride...the seahorse! Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. When I saw Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, it was similar to other adventure films, e.g. Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Avatar, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you get the idea. But what really astounded me was how it helped the main man Arthur Curry become more than his usual reckless, happy hour-loving self, and brought out his true heroic nature. In The Lost Kingdom , Aquaman, played by Jason Momoa, is trying to be a responsible king of Atlantis and have a life on land. But his hands, or should I say "fins", are about to get fuller when Black Manta/David Kane, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, seeks revenge and tries to destroy Atlantis and its multiple kingdoms. To save his loved ones and the sea, Aquaman has to turn to his least favorite person: his half-brother, Orm, played by Patrick Wilson. It started off with Aquaman telling a literal hard rock tale of his battling pirates with Steppenwolf in th...

  On Black Friday 2023, I saw   Trolls: Band Together! I could really dig it with the whole boy band primadonna drama between Branch and BroZone, and I have a lot of pop music to learn thanks to them. BroZone, from DreamWorks’  Trolls Band Together. Photo courtesy of DreamWorks In  Trolls Band Together , Branch (voiced by Justin Timberlake) is forced to confront his past when one of his long-lost brothers is in danger. It’ll take him, Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), and the power of upbeat music to save the day. I appreciate how the film shifted from focusing on Poppy to helping Branch get out of his shell, especially with the wild hair and frosted tips. It was great to see that he wasn’t always a cynical survivalist and that the film exposed his human side. I also enjoyed Kenan Thompson’s character of Tiny Diamond stealing the show a couple times. Tiny Diamond, voiced by Kenan Thompson, in charge of the road trip; do not sass him. Photo courtesy of DreamWorks. Even...