Movie reviews of The Massie Twins

An apt soundtrack and ‘80s horror movie musical cues are the high point, along with jumpy scares and some hilariously brutal bear butchery, but the poor pacing and the excess of human fodder insist that there isn’t enough of a plot to stretch this ordeal out to feature length. Review

The proportions of this project are all off; attention is paid to the wrong people at the wrong times, developing subplots that are just too tangential to be poignant, and wasting valuable minutes on trivial details. Review

It’s a wealth of visual chaos that hopes to distract from the absolutely nonsensical ideas. Review

If the storytelling wasn’t so uninspired and awkward, it would be infinitely easier to admire the dance troupe’s undeniably spectacular vigor and remarkably sinewy figures... Review

Knock at the Cabin is a competent little exercise in tension. It’s weird, traumatic, and violent, borrowing ideas from Knowing, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and The Mist as it explores thought-provoking themes of destruction, salvation, and sacrifice. Review

It’s not enough; Under Capricorn’s plot and pacing crawl along, unable to keep up interest, trudging through exposition even when unsurprising revelations finally come – and despite a rather satisfying conclusion. Review

The visuals and basic premise are based on the comic book series by James O’Barr, which lends to the gothic makeup and styling, as well as the themes of revenge and salvation, but this latest chapter can’t find anything new to say. Review

What Plane does well, it does very well – primarily with the thrills of helpless victims finding hope in a dedicated savior. Review

The initial setup is a touch too much in the realm of sci-fi, struggling to sell the technological advancement, but much of that can be forgiven when supporting or background roles get to inject a line or two of sensibility, particularly as many characters fail to reasonably react when introduced to the spookily lifelike toy girl. Review

Fortunately, there’s slightly more to this picture than uninterrupted dialogue in a single location, but it’s nevertheless a tough sell to general audiences; despite heartrending performances, the structure and pacing of Women Talking will likely only appeal to viewers familiar with the book on which it’s based – or those interested in and aware of the premise beforehand. Review

Digesting the significance turns out to be mostly inscrutable and intermittently frustrating, regardless of minuscule little clues; the path is also overlong and perpetually bordering on an ambiguity surrounding reality and fantasy. Review

Most disappointing, however, is the humor. There’s a family-friendly theme of embracing one’s softer side, as well as the power and importance of friendships, but the much-needed, generally dependable laughs aren’t as frequent or as clever as they should be. Review

With its circuitous, tricky, disordered plotting, like the titular onion, peeling back layer after layer (in a reverse order of sorts) to chronicle various associations and machinations, the film struggles to maintain interest. Review

Despite the relish in hyperbolic style, there isn’t actually much originality. The story is fairly straightforward, even if buried beneath abundant details and derivations of all sorts of well-known properties. Review

The unique nature of Mars exploration makes this production worthwhile, providing details about the remarkable discoveries, while also showing the exceptional span of time. Review

The stop-motion animation is sharply done; movements and environmental effects are spectacular. Character designs are also engaging, though they’re not of the humorously weird sorts seen in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, or Rango. Review

Disappointingly, the story itself feels unoriginal, considering that director Damien Chazelle has touched upon many of the themes here before, with much better results. Review

And yet, though the graphics are still astounding, it’s difficult this time around not to realize the repetition; here, the story is far more important, since the sheer spectacle of Pandora and its inhabitants and hostilities no longer pose the luxury of never-before-seen wonderment. Review

Blanchett may be a tour de force in this rather straightforward yet timely rise-and-fall account, but her performance alone can’t invigorate such a colossally uneventful, crawling, seemingly interminable character study. Review

It’s strangely moving, and a joyous examination of a father/daughter relationship, but it’s ultimately too ambiguous and ephemeral to be game-changing or unforgettable. Review

The Whale is quite the experiment in misery porn; it’s hard to watch yet impossible to turn away from. Equal parts heartbreaking, frustrating, disturbing, and mesmerizing, it’s a monumental character study of so many damaged souls, struggling to find meaning or salvation. Review

This is a dragging, one-man show, featuring only a couple of other actors with any notable dialogue, and devoid of a love interest or any sort of consequential conflicts. Review

The hand-to-hand combat is engaging, while the dialogue is hilarious; it’s all quite cheesy, but in a fun, big-budget way, especially as countless yuletide tropes are sent up and ridiculed. Review

Sadly, the cleverness of the original setup is no longer as beguiling or unique, forcing the picture to dwell on the repetition of magic-infused quarreling and combat, and to bank on an overly easy resolution conjured not from felicitous rules but from the convenience and need to wrap things up neatly. Review