The Longest Ride: Movie Review

Romantic drama that checks all the right boxes.

The Longest Ride is Nicholas Sparks’ latest romantic drama to make it to the big screen, and I will still continue to watch them despite last year's The Best of Me being the worst one yet. That was unpleasant, but it’s also one of the exact reasons why it’s worth watching The Longest Ride (for fans of the genre only). No punches were pulled. What you see is what you get, and more importantly, what you wanted is what you get. No macabre twists, no deviations from the brand. Doesn’t that sound pleasant?		2015 Directed by: George Tillman Jr. Screenplay by: Craig Bolotin Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks Starring: Britt Robertson, Scott Eastwood

10 Cloverfield Lane: Movie Review

Uncertainty abounds at 10 Cloverfield Lane.

I tend to steer clear of monster movies, and I hate found footage movies, so I want nothing more to do with Cloverfield. But then this previously unknown J.J. Abrams-produced, Cloverfield “sequal” stormed out of the wood-work with tantalizing, mysteriously good critics reviews, and I couldn’t help but be intrigued. I’m a sucker for movies that can’t be fully explained, or rather shouldn’t be fully explained, and that’s exactly how the 10 Cloverfield Lane masterminds wants it to be.		2016 Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg Screenplay by: Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, and Damien Chazelle Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Movie Review

The female-side of war told in an entertaining and fascinating character study.

A movie about a female journalist covering the war in Afghanistan doesn’t exactly scream comedy, and getting the audience to accept that it is, is probably Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’s only misstep. The goal was to tell the female side of the story which is rarely its own subject. And that’s exactly what connected me to this movie, even if I wasn’t entirely enthralled by some its comedic details.		2016 Directed by: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa Screenplay by: Robert Carlock Based on book by Kim Barker Starring: Tina Fey