The 91st Academy Awards will be the first ceremony since 1989 to not have a host due to original host Kevin Hart stepping down following controversy. (Courtesy of ABC) Troy Lafond Connector Staff Last Tuesday, Jan. 22, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 91st Academy Awards. Leading the…
‘Mandy:’ An underrated gem of 2018
“Mandy” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Jan. of 2018. (Photo courtesy of Spectrevision) Jaden Mendola Connector Contributor “Mandy,” starring Nicholas Cage and Andrea Riseborough, changed the way I look at film. Phrases like ‘A hallucinatory trip’ or ‘The psychedelic fever dream of a blood lusting metal head’ are perhaps the best way one…
‘The Grinch’ steals Christmas, but not the show
“The Grinch” was released by Illumination Animation, the same studio that made the “Despicable Me” franchise. (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures) Owen Johnson Connector Editor It is time for Hollywood to understand that the stories of Dr. Seuss only work as 20 page children’s books, and not in feature length form. As Christmas time approaches…
Kurt Russell sleighs in “The Christmas Chronicles”
“The Christmas Chronicles” was streamed 20 million times its first week up. (Photo courtesy of Netflix) Linda Poe Connector Contributor Should a Christmas film contain a high speed car chase and a jailhouse rock number? Apparently for director Clay Kaytis and screenwriter Matt Lieberman, the answer is an enthusiastic, “Yes.” These elements, along with many…
A heartfelt defense of ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’
Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee makes a nonspeaking posthumous cameo in the movie. (Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) Hannah Manning Connector Editor Beneath the sometimes pandering and relentless references to the Internet of today and the lingering feeling that this film will be almost embarrassingly dated within six months of its release, “Ralph…
‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ and the franchise
Imagine Dragons performed the lead single “Zero” for the soundtrack. (Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) Owen Johnson Connector Editor “Ralph Breaks the Internet” is less “Wreck-it Ralph,” and more “The Emoji Movie.” In other words, yikes. After Ralph’s (John C. Reilly) hijinks in the Sugar Rush arcade game cause the game’s steering wheel…
‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ is criminally dull
Actors such as Christian Bale and Benedict Cumberbatch were considered for the role of Dumbledore. (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures) Owen Johnson Connector Editor Magical spells and fantastic creatures might sound fun and interesting, but they are nowhere close to being enough to save “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” from being a dull…
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is not killer Queen
Rolling Stone magazine noted multiple historical inaccuracies in the film. (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox) Owen Johnson Connector Editor For a personality as idiosyncratic as Freddie Mercury and a band as revolutionary as Queen, their biopic is incredibly lackluster and surprisingly uninspired. From the early days when he first met his band mates to Queen’s…
