Kaya Scodelario in a scene from Alexandre Aja’s Crawl
horror
Midsommar — Review
Jack Reynor and Florence Pugh in a scene from Ari Aster’s Midsommar
“It struggles to connect its cavalcade of disturbing sights and thematic arcs into a fully cohesive package.”
BLOG: Three Movies from the First Half of 2019, Reviewed
by Ken Bakely
Now that we’re about halfway through the year, the time has come to look back on the last six months. This week, I caught up with three critically acclaimed 2019 films that I had not yet seen. Here, you can read my short-ish reviews of them.
Escape Room — Review
The Hole in the Ground – Review
Seána Kerslake in a scene from Lee Cronin’s The Hole in the Ground
Velvet Buzzsaw — Review
Rene Russo and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from Dan Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw
“It’s difficult to figure out what Velvet Buzzsaw actually wants to accomplish, but you’re fairly certain that whatever it is, it doesn’t quite make it.”
Mom and Dad — Review
Nicolas Cage in a scene from Brian Taylor’s Mom and Dad
“It tries to placate its audience with sporadic violent bursts while struggling to press forward.”
1922 — Review
Thomas Jane in a scene from Zak Hilditch’s 1922.
“A reminder that there’s more to a movie than how an individual scene feels to you.”
Life — Review
Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from Daniel Espinosa’s Life, although presumably this is not a scene from Daniel Espinosa’s life.
“Like catching a great ballgame between two teams you don’t care about.”
Death Note — Review
Nat Wolff has an unexpected guest in this scene from Adam Wingard’s Death Note.
