Movie reviews of Hope Madden

This is the strongest set of shorts in a V/H/S installment in a while. It’s fun, gory, creepy and bite sized – ideal for the season. Review

It’s not the reawakening it may want to be, but for fans of the franchise, it’s finally an installment worth watching. Review

Director Andy Palmer delivers a hodgepodge of moments from Eighties comedies, each one drawn out to a painful length. Molly Singer feels too traditionally staged, almost like a reimagining of Revenge of the Nerds, minus the homophobia and rape. Review

Harboe’s understated turn, particularly in a handful of breathtaking scenes, helps Rasmussen blisteringly articulate an everyday horror women face. Review

Dumb Money is a crowd pleaser, partly because the writing team keeps the script simple, and partly because Gillespie keeps the energy high. But mostly because it’s never not fun to see somebody stick it to the man. Review

The entire ensemble shines, but Bernal owns the screen, his ever present smile a heartbreaking and beautiful image of the resilience and determination that fueled an icon of wrestling and LGBTQ culture. Review

Elevator Game is in want of more imagination. Review

And though the animation is reason enough for an adult to give The Inventor a go, the simplistic storytelling and characterization will likely leave them cold. Review

The collection absolutely boasts some inspired talent having a blast, and when is that ever a bad thing to witness? Review

Can this excellent idea for a villain be put to good use, finally, with Michael Chaves’s sequel, The Nun II? Meh. Review

Seligman’s tone, her image of high school and high school movies, is wildly, irreverently funny and fearless. It’s hilarious, raunchy, and so much fun. Review

Astrakan is an impressive, moving slice of life that understands what turns a child into something troubling. Review

But a cast of eclectic, sometimes weirdly melancholy characters, Pegg’s angry befuddlement and Driver’s charm are almost enough to make up for it. Review

Goofiness and seriousness, the eerie and the grim, the surreal and familiar all swim the same bloody hallways, practice the same open shooter drills, and speak up at the same assemblies honoring the latest missing girl. Review

It’s not a war movie by any stretch – there’s no action to speak of – and as a political thriller, it’s a bit too plodding to keep your attention. Frustrating is what it is. Review

The context is specific to Tunisia, but the themes are universal. As greed and corruption overwhelm a city, victimizing the poor and the powerless, political protest blends with cultural grief. Simultaneously pessimistic and hopeful, grim and beautiful, Ashkal is a meditation on modern times. Review

The plot may not break new ground, but the film itself feels revolutionary. Like Nana. Review

Strays is the laziest kind of “road picture” – a series of unrelated sketches. There’s a Point A and Point B, but those steps in between are random skits about red rockets and chew toys. And those moments are just not funny enough to merit a full feature. Review

Moss can’t quite stick the landing, but their shoestring Frankenstein fable feels closer to the truth than most of them. Review

The plot does nothing intriguing, the story offers nothing new nor does it do anything to deepen or enrich the Dracula legend. The inevitability of the story doesn’t help, nor does the full 2-hour run time. Review

Turtletaub can’t quite pull those threads together, though. While Jules is a lovely film, its big-hearted take on mental health and science fiction made me just want to watch Colin West’s somewhat similar but vastly superior Linoleum again. Review

A messy, anarchic animation style delivers on the promise of the outsider theme and especially impresses in 3D. Somehow simultaneously creepy, jubilant and cool, the look is like no other piece of animation to be seen on the big screen. Review

It’s smart humor, one that recognizes the defensiveness and fear at the heart of Ben’s disdain for anything that swings for the fences, and for anyone who puts themselves in the vulnerable position to try and fail. Review

I cannot figure out why it’s so hard to mine the dozens of ghosts mentioned in this ride and book for a decent haunted house story, but I’ve definitely learned to stop getting my hopes up. If Justin Simien can’t do it and the Muppets can’t do it, it’s probably time to give up. Review