movie-review

By Bob Garver

For the second week in a row, I'm surprised by which movie I'm reviewing. The social media thriller "The Circle" was supposed to be the biggest hit among new releases at the weekend box office. That film boasted big stars in Emma Watsonand Tom Hanks and a release on over 3,000 screens. But not only did the film lose the weekend to "How to Be a Latin Lover" on just over 1,000 screens, it lost to the Indian epic "Baahubali 2" on less than 500. The former film did the best out of the three with an estimated $12 million, so it gets the review. 

By Bob Garver

By Bob Garver

For over a decade, you knew exactly what you were getting with a "Fast & Furious" movie. You went to see one of these movies, you got fast cars, gratuitous shots of women, dumb one-liners, ruminations on family during the slow parts, and completely implausible action sequences. The movies were fun if you were in the right mood and grating if you weren't, but they never aspired to be anything more.

By Bob Garver

By Bob Garver

By Bob Garver

By Bob Garver

"Beauty and the Beast," the Disney animated classic from 1991, holds a special place in my heart. It was the first movie I saw in its original run in theaters. The film kicked off a lifelong love of movies, and in that time I've seen a scant few that were on its level. But I've also seen many worse movies, including the new live-action "Beauty and the Beast."

By Bob Garver

I bet when most people hear the term "Viet Cong" for the first time, they snicker at a mental image of King Kong fighting in Vietnam. Almost everyone outgrows this joke in about a minute, but not the makers of "Kong: Skull Island." They've spent $190 million and years of effort making the King Kong/Vietnam crossover that nobody was demanding, but nobody's in a hurry to reject either.

By Bob Garver

After 17 years, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are saying goodbye to the "X-Men" roles of Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier, respectively. And I truly believe that this is it for them. At first I was skeptical. "Even if both characters die, they can do some hocus-pocus resurrection." "The franchise is non-linear, so they can come back for some in-between films." Those are both valid theories, but they don't take into account that "Logan" is such a perfect end note that I don't see the actors treating it as anything other than a grand finale.

By Bob Garver