#REVIEW: “SINNERS”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
In Writer-Director Ryan Coogler's vampire musical Sinners, a pair of Michael B. Jordans (as twins Smoke and Stack) return to Mississippi to open the hottest club in town--literally. Sinners posits that great music is a double-edged sword: an eternal bridge between the past, present and future, and--unfortunately for the locals--a doorway to demonsville. As Smoke and Stack recruit the town's finest talent for their grand opening, they're not ...
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#REVIEW: “THE WEDDING BANQUET”
By Mr. Will Wong
But really, how do you mess with perfection? Writer and Director Andrew Ahn's remake of the 1993 classic by Ang Lee certainly has big shoes to fill and while nothing will ever top the original, he does a great job telling this iteration through a fresh lens. True, we've made progess in leaps and bounds in the acceptance of being LGBTQ since the time the original film debuted, but generational pressures and stigmas still exist to this day.
At the center of this remake, we ...
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#REVIEW: “WARFARE”
Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Alex Garland – the man of a thousand different ideas and concepts is back with something similar to his last outing – Civil War – but this time with a Co-Director in war veteran Ray Mendoza in the incredibly unsettling yet realistic look at war in Warfare. The Movie is one of the most unflinching, unsettling looks at war ever depicted on-screen in a non-Documentary film period. It is 90 straight minutes of one unspecific mission where Ray and ...
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#REVIEW: “DROP”
Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Trying to write a ‘new’ Horror movie isn’t an easy task when it seems everything under the sun has really been done already. But sometimes it’s just about the right blend of Comedy and Terror along with some well-thought performances that can make a movie stand apart from the pack. DROP thankfully, has aScript co-written by Jillian Jacobs and Chris Roach (the team behind Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island) and is directed by Christopher Landon ...
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#REVIEW: “FREAKY TALES”
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
With a title like FREAKY TALES, you kind of expect something weird and freaky. And Writer/Director duo Anna Fleck and Ryan Boden sort of deliver on that promise with an Anthology of four interconnected tales all taking place over the course of two nights in Oakland, California in 1987 – one involving a group of punks taking on Neo-Nazis, one involving a rap battle, one involving an aging enforcer trying to get out of the game and another involving a ...
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#REVIEW: “A NICE INDIAN BOY”
By Mr. Will Wong
Roshan Sethi's A NICE INDIAN BOY brings back the RomCom in the best way possible in a way that feels familiar, yet fresh, giving a very knowing wink all the cliches of the genre.
The story centers on Naveen (Karan Soni, who also happens to be the real-life partner of Sethi), a young Doctor who's constantly told at family weddings "he's next". Little do they know that Naveen is actually into men and a traditional Indian wedding just might not be in the cards for him. Or is ...
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#REVIEW: “THE FRIEND”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Naomi Watts’ latest is an intimate film about grief and healing for man and man's best friend.
Iris (Watts) is a New York City writer struggling with Writer's Block. Her solitary life gets thrown into disarray when her close friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) commits suicide. Following his passing, he bequeaths her his Great Dane named Apollo (Bing). The dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to ...
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#REVIEW: “A MINECRAFT MOVIE”
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
I have never played Minecraft and my knowledge of the game is minimal at best. I feel this is the best place to start this review of the bewilderingly titled A MINECRAFT MOVIE because trying to explain makes me question my sanity. A group of individuals get sucked through a mysterious portal into something called the Overworld, where everything is cubed shaped and creativity is paramount to survival, and must find their way back to the real world. And ...
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#REVIEW: “THE PENGUIN LESSONS”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
The Penguin Lessons is a cute, quirky British Buddy Comedy.
Based on the Autobiography by Tom Michell, this Adaptation tells the story of an unlikely friendship that completely changed Tom’s outlook on life. Tom (Steve Coogan) arrives in Argentina in 1976, amidst a turbulent time in Argentinian history. The Englishman teaches at an all-boys school but lacks care for the position and pupils. That's until he takes a spontaneous trip to Uruguay, ...
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#REVIEW: “THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
The Ballad of Wallis Island is a megaphone of warmth and heart right when the world needs it.
Charles (Tim Key) is an eccentric lottery winner who lives alone on a remote island in Wales and dreams of getting his favourite bands, McGwyer Mortimer, back together. His dream turns into a reality when the two bandmates and former lovers, Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) and Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), accept his invitation to play a private ...
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