Flash Frames

Sally Hawkins in Bring Her Back A movie that came out a few years back that ended up being a nice surprise was a supernatural horror movie called Talk To Me , which is the directorial debut of brothers Danny & Michael Philippou. They also have a YouTube channel called RackaRacka, which is how they blew up. Do you remember those old YouTube videos about the creepy Ronald McDonald trying Burger King or something? That’s them, and learning after watching Talk To Me that it was directed by the guys behind RackaRacka was incredible to see. On top of that, Talk To Me is a lot of fun and what a modern horror movie should be: great premise, a good blend of funny and scary moments, and once again, just a fun time to watch. That made me even more excited to see what they’d do next, and Bring Her Back (which opens tonight) is the complete opposite of fun, but intentionally so. It dips its toes in the same water as Talk To Me with its premise, which follows a brother and sister being adopt...

Abel Tesfaye in Hurry Up Tomorrow What I like to show in these reviews is an exercise in bias. Every single person has their own bias to something, whether they realize it or not. I feel like I’ve stated this in at least one other review on this site, but let me promise you this: The statement “exercise in bias” will permeate throughout this review, mainly because of this movie’s star/driving force. I like Abel Tesfaye, who grew to popularity as his stage name The Weeknd, a lot. The man’s got insane musical talent, and as I think you know, he’s not a great actor. Some people say that he isn’t an actor at all. If you don’t know, Tesfaye has already tried acting in the HBO series The Idol , which was a massive disaster for nearly everybody involved. You know a show is bad when they cut the last episode and gaslight everyone into thinking that it was 5 episodes instead of 6 the whole time (yes, that’s real). However, it’s not to say that he won’t quit. This movie here, Hurry Up Tomorrow ,...

Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, and Sebastain Stan in Thunderbolts* This one’s a little late too, I know, but during the last two weeks of stewing on Thunderbolts* and superhero movies in general, I’ve hit a small realization about comic book movies. There’s a good chance that the glory days are done. I know, just hear me out. Remember when westerns were so insanely popular, and the popularity of them just waned over time? Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re in the middle of that. Oddly enough, maybe that’s why I feel like Thunderbolts* , the 36th (!) film in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe, is such a breath of fresh air. The closest thing to a relative comparison to the Thunderbolts team in other media is DC’s Suicide Squad , but even then, this team is pretty different, at least in Thunderbolts* . The main focus here is Yelena Belova, played excellently by Florence Pugh, a former Black Widow and m...

Michael B. Jordan and Michael B. Jordan in Sinners (Michael C. Jordan…?) Look, I know this is late. Plain and simple reason for it. I wanted to get out and watch Sinners again before I wanted to write about it. I finally ended up doing that, so I now feel pretty confident in how I want to put into words just how incredible Sinners is. If you didn’t know already, this is the latest film from Ryan Coogler, who’s directed Creed and Fruitvale Station , as well as the Black Panther films. Already, Coogler has been a part of huge hits like the Black Panther movies, the first arguably being a cultural phenomenon that hasn’t really happened yet. We often forget that Black Panther made more money than Avengers: Infinity War , and while Coogler wasn’t at the forefront of that conversation, he was the writer and director, and that alone may be enough. Sinners is the first original movie Coogler’s made, not based on any existing material or a real event, and just to keep it simple, it real...

Charles Melton in Warfare War movies usually aren’t my thing. I think that a lot of them do end up having the same message of “war is bad,” but there are certainly ones that I respect a lot. The big modern ones like Saving Private Ryan , Dunkirk , and The Hurt Locker are all great stuff, but I’d never go back to them personally. I’ve seen the recent remake of All Quiet on the Western Front , mainly because it was a big Oscar contender that year, but even then, war movies still aren’t my cup of tea. Alex Garland, however, has been someone I’ve at least admired. Even though Men is probably one of the worst movies of the decade so far, he’s got a really good track record as both a writer and a director. He’s directed Ex Machina , Annihilation , and the FX series Devs , as well as being a writer on Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later , who he’s reuniting with this summer for 28 Years Later . Garland’s last movie, Civil War , ended up stirring a lot of controversy with its depiction of a civil wa...