movie reviews

Chappie: The Implications of Man as Creator

Posted by Logan Judy on July 4, 2015

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Sci-Fi. Tagged: A.I., artificial intelligence, Chappie, christian review, futuristic, movie reviews, Neill Blomkamp, philosophy, Rating 3-3.5, robotic, Science fiction, Scifi, Theology. 5 Comments

Review by Logan

Hard as it is to believe, science fiction is cool now. Whether we’re talking about Star Wars, Doctor Who, or the Alien franchise, I’m reminded of something I heard a fantasy author say earlier this year: “We (nerds) won the culture war.” That’s opened up a new horizon for science fiction filmmakers, where it’s much easier to get a big budget and do your imaginative sci-fi film justice. It’s paved the way for new filmmakers like Neill Blomkamp, who want to explore, through science fiction, what qualifies beings as human, and what counts as intelligent life.

Much Ado About Nothing: Love and Intrigue in a Modern Noir Fantasy

Posted by Amber on May 19, 2015

Posted in: Comedy, Movie Reviews. Tagged: Joss Whedon, movie reviews, Much Ado About Nothing, Rating 4-4.5, William Shakespeare. 3 Comments

Review by Amber

Director/writer/producer Joss Whedon has become known and beloved through a number of action-packed movies and television series, including the Avengers movies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. But in his 2012 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Whedon applies his unique vision and a more subtle approach to one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies (sans superheroes and vampires).

Star Trek: The Flawed First Film

Posted by Logan Judy on April 25, 2015

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Sci-Fi. Tagged: Bones, Chekov, christian review, Kirk, movie reviews, Scifi, Spock, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Sulu, Trekkie, Uhura. 3 Comments

Review by Logan

My journey as a trekkie began later in life. I didn’t grow up on it, because no one else in my family was a sci-fi geek. It took a while for me to get my hands on it, but when I started watching The Original Series, I decided I had to go back and watch the movies. Then, my friends, I made a critical newbie mistake.

I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture first.

The Secret of Kells: Artistry Requires Bravery

Posted by Amber on February 17, 2015

Posted in: Animated, Family, Fantasy, Movie Reviews. Tagged: animation, art, artistry, book of kells, illuminator, movie reviews, Rating 5, secret of kells. 1 Comment

“I have seen beauty thrive in the most fragile of places. I have seen the book–the book that turns darkness into light.”

Review by Amber

The struggle between fear and creativity is endless. When we are children, creativity comes easily and naturally, but as we grow up, the concerns of everyday life begin to drown it out. The award-winning and Oscar-nominated gem The Secret of Kells (2009) illustrates how crucial our creativity is, and how we can use it to glorify God.

Benny and Joon: A Person is a Person

Posted by Logan Judy on January 31, 2015

Posted in: Drama, Movie Reviews. Tagged: Aidan Quinn, Benny and Joon, Christianity, johnny depp, julianne moore, Mary Stuart Masterson, mental illness, movie reviews, Rating 5, sanctity of life. Leave a comment

Review by Logan

Johnny Depp: the man, the legend. From Alice in Wonderland to Dark Shadows to Mortdecai, it seems like all you have to do to sell a movie anymore is to put the man’s name on it. But before all those films, before Pirates, and even without Tim Burton, Depp was in a film that confirmed his status as a world-class actor that can do just about anything: Benny & Joon.

Looking Back on 2014: Logan’s Take

Posted by Logan Judy on January 5, 2015

Posted in: Rants. Tagged: 2014 movies, captain america 2, Frankenstein, guardians of the galaxy, I, if I stay, maleficent, movie reviews, movies, snowpiercer, the amazing spider-man 2, The Hobbit, the lego movie, transformers 4. 3 Comments

Rant by Logan

It’s always exciting looking forward to the new year in film, but sometimes it doesn’t always pan out the way you’d hoped. Then again, there are always some surprise titles that make those disappointments worth it. Here are my thoughts on 2014.

Fantastic Four: Flawed Yet Enjoyable

Posted by Logan Judy on January 2, 2015

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Sci-Fi. Tagged: comic book movies, doctor doom, fantastic four, marvel, mister fantastic, movie reviews, Rating 3-3.5, superheroes, the human torch, the invisible woman, the thing. Leave a comment

Review by Logan

Imagine that you are on a trivia gameshow. If you get one more question right, that million dollars will be yours, and you can pay off your mortgage, buy that brand-new Camaro you’ve always dreamed of, and even get a house by the L.A. coast just for kicks. The final question: who was Marvel’s first superhero team?

Into the Woods: Be Careful What You Wish For

Posted by Amber on December 27, 2014

Posted in: Comedy, Fantasy, Movie Reviews. Tagged: Anna Kendrick, Broadway, christian movie review, christian review, Disney, Emily Blunt, Into the Woods, johnny depp, Meryl Streep, movie reviews, Musical, Rating 4-4.5, Steven Sondheim. 2 Comments

Review by Amber

What do you wish for? Love? Money? Adventure? We make all sorts of wishes, great and small—sometimes without even thinking. What would happen if we actually got everything we wished for? While Steven Sondheim’s Into the Woods is, on the surface, a musical mash-up of Grimm fairy tales, it is an intricate story full of trials, tribulations, and self-discovery.

The Hobbit Finale: Brilliance Stretched Too Thin

Posted by Logan Judy on December 23, 2014

Posted in: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Movie Reviews. Tagged: Battle of the Five Armies, Bilbo Baggins, christian review, fantasy, Gandalf, Goblins, J.R.R. Tolkien, Legolas, lord of the rings, Middle Earth, movie reviews, Orcs, Peter Jackson, Smaug, Tauriel, The Hobbit, Thorin. 8 Comments

Review by Logan

“What have we done?”

Those were the last words we heard from Bilbo in the doom-stricken finale to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It seemed at the time a brilliant place to end the second film of The Hobbit trilogy. It left us a cliffhanger for the next film, further emphasized the amazing presence of Smaug that Peter Jackson had accomplished, and all in all just felt like an epic conclusion to what had been a quite rocky road at times, almost redeeming itself in its conclusion.

Pan’s Labyrinth: You Are Never a Victim of Circumstance

Posted by Logan Judy on October 11, 2014

Posted in: Fantasy, Movie Reviews. Tagged: christian movie reviews, fantasy, foreign films, movie reviews, Pan, Pan's Labyrinth, Rating 5, Spanish Civil War. 1 Comment

Review by Logan

Light-hearted fantasy is good for the soul. But sometimes it’s the stories that take us to a dark place that show us how to learn deep lessons in our vile, twisted world.