Ready Player One, Unsane, Death Wish, Thoroughbreds Reviews

Ready Player One

Dir. Steven Spielberg

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So often I hear complaints from people: "Hollywood doesn't make original ideas anymore!" Yet, like flies to a light, these same whiners continually pack in to see the hundredth mindless Marvel, Star Wars, or Harry Potter movie. We're a culture obsessed with nostalgia and the past, and Ready Player One, based on the popular book by Ernest Cline, both celebrates and criticizes this very notion. It's both a blast from the past, a dazzling action flick filled top to bottom with pop culture references rewarding the mindless absorption of decades-worth of movies and video games, but it also argues not to lose sight of our connections in the real world. 

Red Sparrow, Annihilation, A Fantastic Woman, The Insult Reviews

Red Sparrow
Dir. Francis Lawrence
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One of the oldest spy movie cliches is the love affair between two secret agents. From classics like Hitchcock's Notorious in 1946 to more modern fare like 2016's Allied, it's a well that's been run pretty dry by this point. But that didn't stop the dynamic Hunger Games duo Francis Lawrence and Jennifer Lawrence (no relation) from adding to the pile with Red Sparrow, a thriller based on the book of the same name. In this case it's a Russian and an American spy cautiously eyeing each other in a dull, lifeless game of "can we trust each other?"

Predicting the 90th Academy Awards [UPDATED]

The Oscars are almost here! The biggest, most glamorous movie awards ceremony is celebrating its 90th anniversary this Sunday (March 4th, 8:00pm EST!), and even though it's way cooler to not care about it, I'm kind of obsessed with Oscar season. While I'm disappointed in some key snubs (The Florida Project deserves much better), I'm glad to see "offbeat" genre movies like Get Out and The Shape of Water making a big splash (literally in the latter case).

This year also marks one of the most diverse Oscars ever - with the 5th-ever female director nominated (Greta Gerwig) and the 5th-ever black director nominated (Jordan Peele, who also made history by also being nominated for Picture and Original Screenplay). There's also the first female ever nominated for cinematography (Mudbound), and the first trans director for the documentary Strong Island.

The Oscars may not be so white anymore, but the real question is who will get the gold? Below are my predictions - leave yours in the comments to play along!

* = I haven't watched it yet