Timothy Writes

I’ll be honest – I wasn’t planning on seeing Ghostbusters this weekend. It’s not that I have a bias against it. I was actually really pumped when they first announced the reboot, because I love the cast they’ve assembled for this new movie! But, all cards on the table, I’m not a diehard Ghostbusters fan. I grew up with the original film, and I watched the crap out of our VHS copy, but it was more of a passive passion that I had as a child. I enjoyed the movie, but I can’t quote it to you today, and I can’t tell you the last time I saw the original Ghostbusters in its entirety. I know this might discredit my opinion of this reboot in the eyes of some people, considering how rabidly cultish the fanbase is for this franchise, but I believe it worked out to my advantage. I bought my ticket online, on a whim, 20 minutes before the show started. I drove around the theatre’s parking lot, hit up some local Pokéstops, and then sat down in the theater with two expectations for the movie I was about to see. I wanted to laugh at some funny jokes, and maybe get scared by a few jump scenes. Nothing more, nothing less.

And it’s my pleasure to say that Ghostbusters delivers, and it delivers hard.

Continue reading “Ghostbusters Review | I Ain’t Afraid of No Haters!”

From the moment I saw the first trailer, I knew The Shallows was a film I needed to see. I’ve been a fan of Blake Lively since her Gossip Girl days, so I’m always down to check out her work. But more than that, The Shallows looked like a gorgeous film – the color palatte and cinematography looked exceptional, and the tension in the trailer alone was palpable. With my newly discovered taste for horror/genre film, I decided I’d give this movie a go with the hope that it would be marginally entertaining and pretty to look at. I was right about the latter, and I wildly underestimated the former, because this film is nothing short of gripping to watch.

Continue reading “The Shallows Review | A Surprisingly Sharp Set of Jaws”

I’ve had an interesting relationship with the horror genre over the years. Growing up in a conservative home, I was never allowed to watch your traditional “horror” film. I never saw Nightmare on Elm Street or Hellraiser – even Goosebumps was off the table! As a result, I never considered myself a horror fan, and it wasn’t until I started watching NBC’s Hannibal (RIP) that I began to realize that maybe, just maybe, I’ve always been a horror fan. After all, I’ve always enjoyed the darker sides of stories. It would only make sense, then, that I would enjoy a story that was nothing but dark. This realization opened a flood-gate of sorts, and since then I’ve drowned myself with movies like Hush, Scream, The Witch, Starry Eyes, The Babadook, and, most recently, The Conjuring 2.

And if I’m being completely honest with you, The Conjuring 2 is the scariest film I’ve ever seen.

Continue reading “The Conjuring 2 Review | For the Love of Horror”

Pixar has always held a special place in my heart. I grew up with their movies, with their characters, and I typically use them as a barometer for not just animated films, but stories in general. No one can craft a story quite like Pixar – just mentioning the name conjures up memories of watching Toy Story and Monsters Inc. for the first time – but that doesn’t exempt the animation powerhouse from making poor films.

Outside of Inside Out, the studio hasn’t delivered a truly compelling film in quite some time, so as the release date for Finding Dory approached, I grew more and more concerned that this movie wouldn’t achieve the same iconic status as its predecessor. And, if I’m being honest, I don’t think Finding Dory is better, or even as good as Finding Nemo.

It’s a good film, yes. But it’s not a great one.

And it’s certainly not a great Pixar movie.

Continue reading “Finding Dory Review | Just Another Fish in the Sea?”

X-Men: Apocalypse came out this holiday weekend, and it’s already been met with a myriad of negative reviews. A quick Google search will reveal a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a host of articles all bemoaning the lackluster character portrayals, the flimsy storyline, uneven pacing, and “been-there-done-that-itis.” It seems that everyone wants to take a turn crapping on this latest X-Men film, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

Continue reading “X-Men: Apocalypse Review | The End Times for the X-Men?”

One of the last movies I saw before the New Year was Justin Kurzel’s version of Macbeth. Up to that point, I had never seen something as beautifully crafted and haunting unfold on the screen. The use of music and lighting and color all worked together to heighten the performances of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in breathtaking ways. That movie left such an impression on me that, as I was walking in to see The Revenant, I tweeted that Macbeth would be my standard for this movie. I wanted to see if Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest theatrical endeavor could leave me as breathless as I was after Macbeth.

It was a tall order, an almost impossible expectation, but I wanted this movie to impress me — and impress me, it did.

As I sat in my seat, watching the end-credits roll, two words floated to the surface of my mind that perfectly summarize The Revenant:

Unrelenting severity.

Continue reading “The Revenant Review | A Storm of Unrelenting Severity”