Not sure which film to pick among the fray out in theaters right now? Allow the members of the Houston Film Critics Society to assist you with their reviews below:
Frozen II
Donna Copeland (Dr. Donna’s Movie Reviews) — “Do take your children/grandchildren to see Frozen II to delight, inspire, and thrill them.”
Chris Sawin (Bounding Into Comics) — “A few new characters, a new dress, and a reindeer sing-a-long aren’t worth a 103 minute strained serenade of monotonous fluff.”
Joshua Starnes (Vital Thrills) — “The result is just a discombobulated mess.”
Jason Escamilla (Eskimo TV) — “… is not as sharp as the original, as it suffers from a convoluted plot.”
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Meredith Borders (/Film) — “It would be easy for Heller to rest on Hanks’ laurels, but A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD has so much more on its mind than one tremendous lead performance.”
Dustin Chase (Texas Art & Film) — “…boils down to a movie studio wanting to capitalize on the popularity of the documentary and squeeze a feature film out of it.”
Kiko Martinez (San Antonio Current) — “It’s innocuous, yes, but it’s also as comforting as a warm cardigan sweater.”
Donna Copeland (Dr. Donna’s Movie Reviews) — “… is not likely to encourage reminiscences about Mr. Rogers or his show for children.”
James Cole Clay VII (FreshFiction.TV) — “Heller’s depiction leaves lots of space to explore deep emotions through Rogers’ singular perspective, but the result is a mile wide and an inch deep.”
21 Bridges
James Cole Clay VII (Consequence of Sound) — “… is not without thrills, but it’s in service of a clunky story about corruption.”
Dustin Chase (Texas Art & Film) — “Solid action and suspense sequences leave little time on the back-end to explore more interesting and relevant topics about corruption and financial motivations.”
Honey Boy
Cary Darling (Houston Chronicle) — “Written by LaBeouf and directed by documentary filmmaker Alma Ha’rel, ‘Honey Boy’ is catharsis as compelling character study.”
Dustin Chase (Texas Art & Film) — “… a moving experience to watch as Shia LaBeouf finds catharsis by putting his own brutal past on the screen.”
Donna Copeland (Dr. Donna’s Movie Reviews) — “Delving into one’s extraordinary past as a child movie star living with an abusive father takes courage and Shia LeBeouf shows he has that courage and willingness to share it with others as catharsis and possibly as a model for others from similar circumstances.”
Special pieces!
After watching the first episode of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, HFCS member Pete Vonder Haar dives into spoiler culture for Houston Press.
Still on a Parasite high (as one should)? HFCS member Cary Darling would like you to know that the Bong Joon-ho hit film isn’t the only cinematic gem from South Korea. Read his article on Houston Chronicle to uncover more!
