Café Society: Movie Review

A clash of secrets and affairs in two different worlds.

Café Society presents a new style of Woody Allen film. Stylistically it’s perhaps similar to Magic in the Moonlight – romance in the air even if everything else isn’t quite clicking. Thematically it’s very similar to almost every Woody Allen movie – romantic idealism, romantic idealism within a comedy of errors, murder, and belief that another city or another time period is better than the one you’re currently living in. But narratively, it’s unlike any story Allen has told before.		2016 Directed by: Woody Allen Screenplay by: Woody Allen Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart

Undrafted: Movie Review

One baseball game, some comedy, some loud personalities, and one epic inning.

Let’s make this simple. If you don’t like baseball, this movie is not for you. However, if you do like baseball, it’s worth reading on. This has been compared to Everybody Wants Some!! but there are some key differences. While Everybody Wants Some!! is about the lives (college, partying, booze, and girls) of baseball players, Undrafted is about baseball players actually playing baseball.		2016 Directed by: Joseph Mazzello Screenplay by: Joseph Mazzello Starring: Aaron Tveit, Tyler Hoechlin

Bad Moms: Movie Review

Lessons on motherhood with some comedy and a lot of exaggerated simplicity.

Bad Moms is like one of those ideas that is both good and bad. A part of me feels like we’ve been given this lesson - that being a mother is hard and the dangers of modern perfectionism can destroy children and parents alike – a hundred times before, but upon reflection, perhaps we haven’t. And if they want to impart that lesson with some hard-core partying, then maybe it isn’t all bad.		2016 Directed by: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore Screenplay by: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, and Kristen Bell

Dear Eleanor: Movie Review

Charming and entertaining journey with history, family, friends and an escaped convict.

Dear Eleanor combines so many perfectly compatible elements that it just effortlessly tells a story both fun and light, and historically interesting. Set in 1962 with two fifteen year-old girls, the movie is part road trip comedy, part historical drama, part coming-of-age dramedy, and all flows together very nicely because the adventure the girls find themselves in is funny, delightful, thought-provoking and very charming.		2016 Directed by: Kevin Connolly Screenplay by: Cecilia Contreras, Amy Garcia Starring: Liana Liberator, Isabelle Fuhrman

Nerve: Movie Review

A gripping game of dare gets a little out of hand.

The premise of Nerve could have gone very wrong very quickly. But it doesn't matter that the game isn't real because the characters are real and very well established. Very swiftly the audience is immersed in this relatable but still exciting teenage world that definitely fits the movie. That's the first two acts. The third act bites off more than it can chew and attempts to undo the better elements already established. But at least it's still fun and interesting.		2016 Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman Screenplay by: Jessica Sharzer Based on the novel by Jeanne Ryan Starring: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco

Get a Job: Movie Review

Miles Teller and a few good jokes can't save a schizophrenic comedy.

Is the indie star-studded Get a Job a morality tale about the pitfalls awaiting recent college grads, or a ridiculous comedy about what not to do, or is it a romantic comedy about a guy trying to keep his girlfriend happy? Who knows. It never once feels like a quarter-life crisis dramedy even though that’s exactly what it should be. The characters and their situations never feel real, which also explains why it’s just not funny enough for a comedy.		2016 Directed by: Dylan Kidd Screenplay by: Kyle Pennekamp, Scott Turpel Starring: Miles Teller, Bryan Cranston