Tinseltown Reviews

A Star is Born  is a romantic musical drama directed by Bradley Cooper and starring himself, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliot, Andrew Dice Clay, and Rafi Gavron. The movie, the fourth iteration of this story on the big screen, centers on the relationship between a rock-country musician who is nearing the end of his career due to his recklessness and deep alcoholism. He happens to meet a young waitress with a beautiful voice who aspires to become a singer, and the two begin a relationship where he tries to push her to "tell the world what she has to say" while also trying to overcome his personal struggles. This movie absolutely took me by surprise. Judging from the trailer, I expected this movie to be a fairly generic romance movie/chick flick about an established and jaded musician who pushes the young and naive girl to chase after her dreams, and in doing so remembers his own love for music. I expected a cheesy love story with twists and turns, ups and downs, ending with eith...

Venom  is a superhero movie directed by Ruben Fleischer, starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, and Riz Ahmed. The movie follows journalist Eddie Brock as he becomes bound to an alien symbiote known as Venom and learns to work together with the symbiote to prevent an alien invasion. I will come out right now and say that if Venom  is definitely the worst superhero movie of 2018, although technically Aquaman  does have a chance to snatch that title. I was always very skeptical of this movie since it was first announced, and I've gone on record to say there are only two ways that a Venom  movie could have been anything other than a disaster: 1) if it's a dark and brooding tale about a broken man wrestling with this new manifestation of his dark desires (in the same vein as Logan ), or 2) if it goes full on campy with a movie that constantly makes fun of its own lore to the point of self-parody that seeks to do nothing other than be a fun, dumb action movie...

Crazy Rich Asians  is a romantic comedy-drama directed by Jon Chu and starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, and Gemma Chan. Based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name, the film centers on Rachel Chu, an Asian-American professor who travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend's family only to discover that they are (say it with me now) crazy rich Asians. The film is the first by a major Hollywood studio to feature an entirely Asian cast in a modern setting in 25 years. Final Verdict Crazy Rich Asians  is a rom-com through and through, and comes with all you'd expect in a rom-com. However, the Asian  part of the movie isn't tacked on, as it's clearly weaved throughout the narrative which focuses highly on the ideas of family, lineage, and culture. All parts of the movie were well-acted (especially the hilarious Awkwafina) and the movie features a good number of Asian celebrity cameos. Perhaps most impressive was the film's tre...

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies  is a 2018 animated superhero comedy based on the television series Teen Titans Go!  The movie is written and produced by series developers Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, directed by series producer Peter Rida-Michail and Horvath, and stars Scott Menville, Tara Strong, Khary Payton, Hynden Walch, Khary Payton, Will Arnett, and Kristen Bell. The movie follows Robin as he tries to get himself a starring role in a superhero movie in order to gain credibility among the superheroes, inadvertently finding himself a new nemesis in the form of Slade Wilson. Final Verdict Teen Titans Go! To the Movies  is a surprisingly fun and sometimes hilarious comedy for kids and comic-lovers alike. It's a simple movie that never takes itself too seriously (or at all seriously) and yet feels really quite genuine. You really can tell that everyone involved had nothing but fun in making this movie, especially when it comes to sneaking in a bucketl...

Ant-Man and the Wasp  is a Marvel superhero movie directed by Peyton Reed and starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Peña. The sequel to 2015's Ant-Man , this movie follows Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, and Hank Pym as they attempt to retrieve Janet van Dyne from the quantum realm while on the run from the government after the fallout of Captain America: Civil War  while also battling Ghost--an opponent who gained the ability to phase through objects after her own encounter with the quantum realm years prior. Final Verdict Ant-Man and the Wasp  isn't terrible by any means, but it really feels more like a TV special than an action blockbuster. It's a fun romp that feels largely inconsequential and there are some fairly decent action scenes and story moments, all of which I would have preferred to watch for free at home than paying to go see in a theater. Score: C+