The Cinematic Review-verse

In a great step away from her tenure as Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson starred in and produced a well-executed Space Race romantic dramedy, 'Fly Me to the Moon. I enjoyed her getting a chance to be the funny one, alongside a dedicated NASA employee played by Channing Tatum. The beautiful, breathtaking story along with jazzy scoring by Daniel Pemberton, swinging pop and soul songs, and clashing romantic times between Johansson and Tatum's characters were the highlights that made 'Fly Me to the Moon' a dazzling spectacle. Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Jones and Channing Tatum as Cole Davis in 'Fly Me to the Moon'. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In a retelling of the Apollo 11 mission, marketing expert Kelly Jones, played by Johansson, and mission director Cole Davis, played by Tatum, had their own ideas for how the story should be told to the American public. Jones saw it as a chance to make Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins look great on commercials for ite...

Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, is back in 'Despicable Me 4'. Courtesy of Universal Pictures. On Friday, July 5, I watched Universal and Illumination's latest work, 'Despicable Me 4.' I felt like they were returning to the original film's roots with Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, being superbad and a super dad, along with cool original songs from Pharrell Williams, clever voice acting and characters, and humor and action that reminded me of 'The Incredibles' with slapstick. In this sequel, Gru is back in the Anti-Villain League and must contend with a villain without sea creatures, mutation serums, or a keytar. That villain was Maxime Le Male, voiced by Will Ferrell, a primadonna rival who plans to conquer the world with cockroaches. Gru must protect his wife Lucy, voiced by Kristen Wiig, daughters Margo, Edith, and Agnes, voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Madison Polan, respectively, and newborn son, Gru, Jr, voiced by Tara Strong. And of course, t...

Gal Gadot reprising her role as Diana of Themyscira in 'Wonder Woman'. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. When I watched Wonder Woman back in 2017, I was probably looking for a cool summer movie to watch at the time. Now that I've seen some behind-the-scenes footage, I appreciate it better. When I watched the DVD, I thought Gal Gadot's reprisal of Diana of Themyscira was like watching 'Captain America' and 'Mulan'. Her intense training also reminded me of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. And it was funny watching her struggle to blend in with humans with help from Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine.  Chris Pine as Steve Trevor from 'Wonder Woman.' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. But now, I get that this film was not just made to fill a Warner Bros./DC quota. It was and still is important to augment the "wonder" that is Wonder Woman. From director Patty Jenkins trying to stay true to the original character's iconic story to ful...

One of the posters for  The Bikeriders. Photo courtesy of William Beavers. Austin Butler  and Tom Hardy  did a great job acting in Focus Features'  The Bikeriders . There was occasional Johnny Cash and June Carter Walk the Line- esque chemistry between Jodie Comer and Butler's characters, enjoyable humor watching Butler act like Patrick Swayze and Hardy act like Robert De Niro, and amazing blues and rock and roll music depicted in the film. The Bikeriders  was also a great combination of tragedy and togetherness when it told the tales of humanity and inhumanity in members of a biker gang in the 1960s American Midwest. Based on a book by real-life photographer Danny Lyon, played by Mike Faist from Challengers,   The Bikeriders  tells the story of the Chicago chapter of the Vandals motorcycle club , led by Johnny, played by Hardy. One of his members and closest friends, Benny, played by Butler, is caught between enjoying the life of a dangerous bi...

' Inside Out 2'. Copyright 2024, Disney/Pixar. Good afternoon, everyone. This morning, I saw Inside Out 2 . From a scene that resembles Pandora from  Avatar  to a good blend of emotion, real-life perspective, and humor, it was a well-executed sequel courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios. After the original Inside Out , Riley Andersen , now voiced by Kensington Tallman, is 13, at hockey camp, and on the cusp of puberty and an identity crisis.  Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Disgust (voiced by Liza Lapira), Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), and Anger (voiced by Lewis Black) in Disney/Pixar's Inside Out 2 . Courtesy of Disney. Even though Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust are working well together now, more complex emotions such as Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke , have run amok, and they all must find a way to solve Riley's identity crisis together. Embarrassment (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser), Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke), Envy (voiced by Ay...

Chris Pratt's latest voice-acting venture as the leading lazy cat we know and love as Garfield was very humorous, and it had a few good twists to add more to the one-dimensional character. In addition to said twists, there were funny characters voiced by Samuel L. Jackson and Ving Rhames. 'The Garfield Movie' began showing Garfield's abandonment as a kitten, adopted by Jon Arbuckle (voiced by Nicholas Hoult, Beast from 'X-Men: First Class'), and modernizing his slacker behavior with food drone delivery and Netflix. But his routine, mundane albeit happy life took a change for the worse and better when his birth father, Vic, voiced by Jackson, gets into some trouble and needs his son's help. The film began as funny with Garfield's usual overeating lasagna and allusion to past Garfield media, such as his birthplace in Mamma Leoni's restaurant and former voice actor Lorenzo Music. Between the poignant piano music score by John Debney and Garfield trying ...

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'...