'The Tragedy Of Macbeth' (2021) Movie Review

Full of witches, madness, and courtly power-grabbing machinations, not to mention it’s Shakespeare’s shortest play, Macbeth makes for good movie fodder. And now, with The Tragedy of Macbeth, we get Joel Coen’s take on The Scottish Play. Added bonus, this also marks the Coen Brother’s first solo joint, sans sibling, filmmaking partner, and career co-conspirator Ethan.

'The Equalizer 2' (2018) Movie Review

If you’ve always wanted to watch a movie that explores what Denzel Washington’s life would be like as a Lyft driver, you’re in luck, because that comprises the bulk of The Equalizer 2’s bloated, 121-minute runtime. And yes, it’s as dull as that sounds.

UPDATED: 'The Equalizer 2' Trailer: Denzel Washington Is Up To His Badass Old Tricks

From all appearances, I like The Equalizer more than most people. It has a lunatic edge and one of the villains is essentially the Devil, which I’m all for. So, of course I’m game for another team up between star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua. The Equalizer 2 drops this summer, and to get those of us fond of watching Denzel wreck dudes hyped up, it now has a new trailer.

'Fences' (2016) Movie Review

Already a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, Denzel Washington's film adaptation of August Wilson's Fences is going to add some accompanying award hardware to the roster this year, most notably in the acting categories. This, even as it struggles, often unsuccessfully, to distinguish itself from its stage roots.

'The Magnificent Seven' (2016) Movie Review

Studio westerns are a Hollywood staple, though one that has largely fallen by the wayside in recent times. Reworkings and narrative modernizations of the formula are more common—just look at this year’s Hell or High Water for an excellent example—but a straight-up old school western is something of a rarity. But that’s precisely what Antoine Fuqua’s star-spangled The Magnificent Seven delivers, though in bloodless, PG-13 fashion. It doesn’t bring anything new to the formula, but it doesn’t try to, and that’s fine.

'The Magnificent Seven' Trailer Is Totally Badass

To be honest, until some photos dropped yesterday, I forgot that Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven was happening. But if we were sharing the same boat, Sony is doing their level best to remind us both that this is on the way, because they just dropped the very first trailer.

'The Equalizer' Movie Review

Antoine Fuqua’s adaptation of the beloved, at least by me, 1980s television series “The Equalizer” bears almost no resemblance to the show except for a loose set up and the name of the protagonist. It offers even less in the way of surprise, but that doesn’t stop it from being nuts and awesome. And as much as I enjoyed the show when I was a kid, if this was on my TV now, I would tune in to each and every damn episode. The film continually ramps ups to such lunatic heights that eventually the protagonist, in true action movie form, slowly walks away from a full-size tanker he just blew without even seeming to notice. Now walking away from an explosion is standard stuff—satirized as it is in every way imaginable, from spoofs to car commercials—but the way the film approaches this moment is indicative of the overall manic approach.

'2 Guns' Movie Review

 

If you walk away from Baltasar Kormakur’s latest actioner, “2 Guns,” having learned one lesson it will be this: everyone will betray you, always. That’s the basic point of the movie. Everyone will screw you over in the end, even the people you call your People, and when they do it, that’s when it hurts the most. That’s also why undercover DEA agent Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) doesn’t have people. In fact, he has a few connections as possible. That’s about as deep as you’ll get in “2 Guns,” which falls into that category of late summer—or at least post-every massive blockbuster of the season—action film that looks groan worthy and generic before hand, but turns out to be a ton of goddamn fun. Last year “Premium Rush” surprised a lot of people, this year “2 Guns” might just do the same.

'Flight' Movie Review

 

“Flight” is less a movie about a plane crash, as you’ve been led to believe, than it is about a man facing off with his own personal demons. In this story those demons take the form of a severe battle with alcoholism. At its best, “Flight” resembles a cleaned up version of “Leaving Las Vegas” with airplanes. At the other end of the spectrum, the film is like a made-for-television cautionary tale about the evils of drink and excess, one that is just a little too clean, a little too easy and rosy-cheeked to ever truly get to the point it sets out to make. What keeps “Flight” from devolving into a full-fledged Lifetime melodrama are a strong beginning and Denzel Washington’s performance.

'Safe House' Movie Review

It’s difficult to take about “Safe House” without evoking the legacy of the “Bourne” movies, the influence is that obvious. Stylistically, thematically, and visually, “Safe House” is definitely getting an invite to the “Bourne” family reunion. This isn’t meant to be a knock against the film, especially since the “Bourne” films are some of the best kick-ass action movies in recent times, this is a simple statement of fact. And director Daniel Espinosa’s “Safe House” is a solid, if by the numbers, knock off. Though it isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, “Safe House” is lightning-fast, and full of shootouts, brutal fistfights, and chase scenes. In the end, isn’t that what you really want out of an action film?