MovieGawd Movie Reviews

“A Star Is Born” Directed by Bradley Cooper (American Sniper, Guardians of the Galaxy) ScreenPlay by Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters. Based on a Story by William A. Wellman & Robert Carson. Starring Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga ( American Horror Story, Machette Kills) Sam Elliot (Road House, The Big Lebowski) & Greg Grunberg (Alias, Hollow Man).  Seasoned musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers-and falls in love with-struggling artist Ally (Gaga). She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer - until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons. This movie has been done 3 times before and Bradley Cooper is tackling it for the 4th time. Is that a bad thing? Not really. Is the movie formulaic? Yes it is but again that’s not a bad thing. The directing of Bradley Cooper is really gr...

Venom Directed by Ruben Fleischer (ZombieLand, Gangster Squad) ScreenPlay by Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, Kelly Marcel & Will Beall. Based on the Marvel Comics by Todd McFarland & David Michelinie. Starring Tom Hardy (Warrior, Locke) Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine, Take this Waltz) Marcella Bragio (Sorry to Bother You, Ride) & Riz Ahmed (Four Lions, NightCrawler).  When Eddie Brock acquires the powers of a symbiote, he will have to release his alter-ego "Venom" to save his life. This movie is very difficult to talk about and in some ways I am torn about it. I think the biggest mistake this film made was not sticking to the rated R theme and you can see it with the way the characters are being portrayed. Some make it seem like this is a dark gritty movie and some are more light hearted knowing it’s PG-13 and that takes a lot away from the film. Tom Hardy as venom especially doing the venom voice is the best part of the film. The action scenes are real...

“Bad Times ay the El Royale” written and directed by Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods, the Martian) Starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Heart of the Sea) Dakota Johnson (50 Shades, The Social Network) Jon Hamm (Baby Driver, The Town) & Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart, True Grit).  Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption - before everything goes to hell. First off if you have not seen any promotional material for this film or trailer or know nothing about this movie make sure you keep it that way. Go into this film not knowing anything about it at all and thank me later. Cabin in the woods is one of my favorite movies made and that movie came out of nowhere and was a huge surprise. With that said it didn’t surprise me to see Chris Hemsworth in this film since they worked on that film together. Drew Goddard when he has something ...

“HellFest” Directed by Gregory Plotkin (Black Mass, Paranormal Activity: Ghost Dimension) Screenplay by Seth M. Sherwood & Blair Butler. Story by William Penick & Christopher Sey. Starring Bex Taylor-Klaus (The Killing, Arrow) Reign Edwards (Snowfall, MacGyver) Amy Forsyth (Rise, Beautiful Boy) & Tony Todd (CandyMan, The Crow).  A masked serial killer turns a horror themed amusement park into his own personal playground, terrorizing a group of friends while the rest of the patrons believe that it is all part of the show. The premise for this film is very intriguing. The thought of this actually happening is very real which is why this concept is pretty much terrifying. So just off the bat this movie is not deep there is no character development. The story is not that great but it’s a wild gore fest with a lot of brutal kill scenes where you can shut your brain off and just enjoy. The setting is cool the mazes are awesome it’s a thrill ride but for most it can g...

Night School Directed by Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip, Best Man Holiday) Written by Kevin Hart, Harry Ratchford, Joey Wells, Mathew Kellard, Nicholas Stoller & John Hamburg. Starring Kevin Hart (Jumanji, Fist Fight) Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip, Keanu) Brook Butler (Ozark, The Resident) & Taram Killam (Killing Gunther & 12 Years A Slave).  A group of troublemakers are forced to attend night school in hope that they'll pass the GED exam to finish high school. Right off the bat this movie is ok. It’s nothing special. It’s not something I would say go right away and see it for a good non stop laugh. The chemistry with Kevin and Tiffany is there. Also the same shtick with Kevin and Tiffany is there. They do have some laughs but the movie survives with the supporting cast who in my opinion are funnier than they are. The movie succeeds with the setup of the supporting cast the problem with the film is that there is no payoff for them. The director who did girls trip and...

“The House with a clock in its walls” directed by Eli Roth (Death Wish, The Green Inferno) written by Eric Kripke ( Timeless, Boogeyman) Starring Jack Black (School of Rock, Jumanji) Cate Blanchett (oceans 8, Thor: Ragnarok) Owen Vaccaro (daddy’s Home, Morhers Day) Kyle MacLachlan (Dune, Inside Out).  Lewis Barnavelt, after losing his parents, is sent to Michigan to live with his uncle Jonathan. He discovers his uncle is a warlock, and enters a world of magic and sorcery. But this power is not limited to good people: Lewis learns of Isaac Izard, an evil wizard who wanted to cause the Apocalypse so that he could see what happened afterwards. To do this, he constructed a magical clock with black magic, as long as it exists it will keep ticking, counting down to doomsday. He died before he could finish the clock, but he hid the clock in his house, where Uncle Jonathan now lives. Now Lewis and Jonathan must find the clock before it's too late, and before Isaac's wife, Selena, ...

Tomb Raider Directed by Roar Uthaug (The Wave, Escape) Screenplay by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Sherlock, Captain Marvel) & Alastair Siddons (In The Dark Half, Trespass) Starring Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Ex-Machina) Dominic West (The Wire, The Forgotten) Walton Goggins (Predators, The Hateful Eight) Daniel Wu (New Police Story, Warcraft) & Kristin Scott Thomas (Only God Forgives, The English Patient.  Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father's global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he's truly gone. Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even...