How to Build a Girl

Frustrating but brash and captivating.

I don’t know what I was expecting going into How to Build a Girl, but it definitely wasn’t that. It is way more frustrating than it was entertaining, but it has an unrelenting brashness that makes it very captivating. Right off the bat, the casting of Beanie Feldstein just seems all wrong. She is not a teenaged British wall-flower hiding in obscurity, and I was screaming at my TV, did the entire world forget that there are other up-and-coming actresses?		2020 Directed by: Coky Giedroyc Screenplay by: Caitlin Moran Based on the novel by Caitlin Moran Starring: Beanie Feldstein, Frank Dillane, and Alfie Allen

Bad Education: Movie Review

A character-rich true story.

Bad Education is a movie where almost every choice they made was perfect. Let’s start with the casting. Hugh Jackman stars as Frank, a school superintendent, a former English teacher promoted into the world of wealth with higher pay, more responsibilities but less direct impact on the students and adults of tomorrow’s world. He’s an aging man, who tries hard to maintain his youthful looks and works hard to be relevant and popular.		2019 Directed by: Cory Finley Screenplay by: Mike Makowsky Based on the New York Magazine article "The Bad Superintendent" by Robert Kolker Starring: Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Geraldine Viswanathan and Ray Romano

The Half of It: Movie Review

Refreshing teen rom-com, but also dull, drab and uninteresting.

When Netflix first announced The Half of It, it was met with a lot of complaining and wondering why another teen romance was necessary. But for those with an attention span longer than the time it takes to read one sentence, the answer was pretty clear: this is a new take on the old teen romance story. It’s not just about adding diversity, it’s about adding new characters who can take the old story in new directions. Directions that aren’t possible without diversity.		2020 Directed by: Alice Wu Screenplay by: Alice Wu Starring: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire