Doctor Sleep (2019)

Decades after escaping the Overlook Hotel, Danny Torrence is still haunted by the memories, and spirits, of that evil place. To suppress them, and his psychic abilities, Danny has followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming an alcoholic. When he hits rock bottom, however, and is given the chance to redeem himself by working at a hospice, Danny takes it, using his “shine” to comfort dying patients in their last moments, earning the nickname, “Doctor Sleep.” He also begins communicating with Abra Stone, a young girl with abilities even stronger than his. Their joy won’t last long, however, since the True Knot, a group of people who eat those with the shining, have become aware of their presence, and are hunting them down. So now, to save Abra, Danny will have to lure the True Knot to the Overlook Hotel, and awaken it, and his own, suppressed demons. Will this desperate plan work? Watch the movie and find out.

Knives Out (2019)

When a wealthy novelist winds up dead, the police and a highly eccentric detective are brought in to investigate. Through a series of interviews with the dead man’s quirky, narcissistic relatives, the officers realize that just about everyone had reason to kill him. The only person who seems to have no motive is Martha, the author’s nurse. This, coupled with the fact that she is physically incapable of lying (she throws up whenever she thinks about falsehood) leads them to recruit her in their investigation. But what will happen when they realize that Martha has her own secrets she’s been keeping from them? Watch the movie and find out.

Raving For Rian: Looper (2012)

 

In the future, Time Travel has been outlawed. The only people who use it are crime syndicates, as a means of getting rid of bodies. If the mob wants someone gone, they send them back to the present, and then a special assassin called a “Looper” kills them, and disposes of their corpse. The only rule of looping is that you never let your target escape, even if that target is yourself. So what will Joe, a selfish, drug-addicted Looper, do when his future self appears, and manages to escape hiss grasp? Hunt him down, and pray that he can kill the latter before he changes anything.

Raving For Rian: Brick (2005)

Welcome to Raving For Rian: a brief series of reviews I decided to write in preparation for the release of Rian Johnson’s new movie, Knives Out. Every day this week, leading up to the Thanksgiving premiere, I’ll be reviewing one of his movies. I covered his fourth flick, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, when it came out, and now I’m going all the way back to the beginning, to his directorial debut, Brick.

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

It’s 1970, and Rudy Ray Moore is ready for comedy stardom. There are just a few things standing in his way. He’s over 40, overweight and black. It’s the 70s, so these things pretty much prevent him from ever achieving mainstream success. But he’s determined. When he works out a particular routine, involving vulgar, rhyming stories about a character named Dolemite, he produces a comedy record in his own apartment. And when record stores refuse to carry his work, calling it “filthy,” he decides to put the albums out himself, actually selling them from the trunk of his car. Eventually, he builds up enough of a following that he decides to bring Dolemite to the screen. Unfortunately, no one will invest in him, believing that there isn’t a big enough audience and that he isn’t leading man material. Rudy doesn’t let that stop him, though. As he always does, he finds a way to do it himself, discovering an abandoned hotel where he can shoot the movie without permits, and assembling a motley crew of film students, amateur actors, and strippers to bring the thing together. Will they succeed in creating a classic for the ages? Watch the movie and find out.

Parasite (2019)

The Kims are a family at the bottom rungs of society. Literally, since their shitty, one bedroom apartment is in a basement. They’re so poor that they have to use a neighbors fumigation to kill the cockroaches crawling over their belongings. They’re willing to do just about anything to get ahead, even if that means lying, and getting other people fired. Which is precisely what they wind up doing when the son gets an opportunity to act as a rich girl’s English tutor. He forges a university degree, and when the parents of  this girl like him, he’s able to find the rest of his relatives employment as the rich people’s art teacher, driver and maid, respectively. All is well, until they realize that the maid they got fired has been hiding something in the rich people’s basement, and that they just might have walked into something far more dangerous than they could have imagined.

Abominable (2019)

When she discovers a Yeti on the roof of her apartment, Shanghai teenager Yi decides to return him to his Himalayan home. So she sets off with her neighbors, Jin and Peng, to reunite their furry white friend with his family. But their journey won’t be an easy one, as there is a crazed billionaire who wants to capture the Yeti hot on their trail. 

Guardians Of The Galaxy (To Infinity Retrospective)

“Come and get your love!” Oh, hey there. Welcome to the To Infinity Retrospective. “Come and get your love!” A series created in preparation for Rise Of Skywalker. Each month, I review a different Space Opera, and, this time, we’re returning to the world of films that people have actually seen with Guardians of the Galaxy. What’s it about? Well…

First Love (2019)

When he’s diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, orphaned boxer Leo finds himself without purpose. After visiting a fortune teller, who urges him to “fight for someone other than yourself,” Leo saves a young woman, Monica, from a man chasing her. What he doesn’t realize is that Monica, real name Yuri, is a prostitute, the man he punched, Otomo, is a corrupt cop, and that by saving the former, he’s unintentionally caught himself up in a large, extremely dangerous scheme involving stolen drugs, the yakuza, and a crazed female assassin. Now he and Monica must survive the night by avoiding the many parties coming after them. Will they? Watch the movie and find out.

Ender’s Game (To Infinity Retrospective)

ATTENTION! At ease, cadets. Welcome to the To Infinity Retrospective, a series created in preparation for Rise of Skywalker. Each month, you will receive reviews of different Space Operas, and it will be your job to read said reviews, like them, and share them with all your friends. Failure to do so will mean the end of the human race. This month, you’ll be looking at a critique of 2013’s Ender’s Game. What’s it about? Well…