Saturday, December 29, 2018

Ant Man and the Wasp - Movie Review


The Movie: Ant-Man and the Wasp

The Director: Peyton Reed

The Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, T.I., David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburn, Michael Douglas

The Story: As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.

Ralph Breaks the Internet - Movie Review


The Movie: Ralph Breaks the Internet

The Directors: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore

The Cast: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Ed O'Neill

The Story: Ralph breaks the internet and then tries to fix it.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Mary Queen of Scots - Movie Review


The Movie: Mary Queen of Scots

The Director: Josie Rourke

The Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Gemma Chan, David Tennant

The Story: Mary Stuart's attempt to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England, finds her condemned to years of imprisonment before facing execution.

Aquaman - Movie Review


The Movie: Aquaman

The Director: James Wan

The Cast: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Temuera Morrison, Ludi Lin, Randall Park, Michael Beach, Graham McTavish,

The Story: Arthur Curry learns that he is the heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, and must step forward to lead his people and be a hero to the world.

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Mary Poppins Returns - Movie Review


The Movie: Mary Poppins Returns

The Director: Rob Marshall

The Cast: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Julie Walters, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Jeremy Swift, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Jim Norton, Noma Dumezweni

The Story: Decades after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Movie Review


The Movie: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The Director: J.A. Bayona

The Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Jeff Goldblum, BD Wong, Geraldine Chaplin, Isabella Sermon,

The Story: When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

Incredibles 2 - Movie Review


The Movie: Incredibles 2

The Director: Brad Bird

The Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Catherine Keener, Bob Odenkirk, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophia Bush, Isabella Rossellini, Jonathan Banks, Barry Bostwick,

The Story: Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is left to care for Jack-Jack while Helen (Elastigirl) is out saving the world.

Bumblebee - Movie Review


The Movie: Bumblebee

The Director: Travis Knight

The Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Dylan O'Brien, Megyn Price, Justin Theroux, Angela Bassett, Peter Cullen, Kenneth Choi, John Ortiz, Jorge Lendeborg Jr.

The Story: On the run in the year of 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.

Thursday, December 20, 2018

The Favourite - Movie Review


The Movie: The Favourite

The Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

The Cast: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, James Smith, Mark Gattis, James Melville, Joe Alwin,

The Story: In early 18th century England, a frail Queen Anne occupies the throne and her close friend, Lady Sarah, governs the country in her stead. When a new servant, Abigail, arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse - Movie Review


The Movie: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse

The Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

The Cast: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Valez, Zoë Kravitz, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, Liev Schreiber, Chris Pine

The Story: Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his reality and crosses paths with his counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.

Mortal Engines - Movie Review


The Movie: Mortal Engines

The Director: Christian Rivers

The Cast: Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Hugo Weaving, Jihea, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, Stephen Lang, Colin Salmon

The Story: In a post-apocalyptic world where cities ride on wheels and consume each other to survive, two people meet in London and try to stop a conspiracy.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Green Book - Movie Review


The Movie: Green Book

The Director: Peter Farrelly

The Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, Mike Hatton,

The Story: A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.

Sunday, December 9, 2018

I Am Paul Walker - Documentary Review


The Documentary: I Am Paul Walker

The Director: Adrian Buitenhuis

The Story: Documentary examining the life of the late actor Paul Walker.

Saturday, December 8, 2018

TwoOhSix Recap - 2018 Hawaii International Film Festival


This was my third year covering the Hawaii International Film Festival remotely from my home in Seattle, Washington and each year has been such a blast I am determined to actually attend in 2019. The lineup is always filled with gems, some hidden and some more the blockbuster variety, and they come from all over the world, mostly from countries in the pacific rim. Each of the ten feature films I was able to watch during the festival were entertaining in their own way although, as always, only one was given the title of "TwoOhSix Festival Favorite."

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Widows - Movie Review


The Movie: Widows

The Director: Steve McQueen

The Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Jon Bernthal, Carrie Coon, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Kevin J. O'Connor, Jon Michael Hill

The Story: Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities, take fate into their own hands, and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Bad Times at the El Royale - Movie Review


The Movie: Bad Times at the El Royale

The Director: Drew Goddard

The Cast: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pulman, Cailee Spaeny

The Story: 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.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

The Possession of Hannah Grace - Movie Review


The Movie: The Possession of Hannah Grace

The Director: Diederik Van Rooijen

The Cast: Shay Mitchell, Grey Damon, Kirby Johnson

The Story: When a cop who is just out of rehab takes the graveyard shift in a city hospital morgue, she faces a series of bizarre, violent events caused by an evil entity in one of the corpses.

The Review:
This is not a good movie. I tried to like it but it failed on just about every front. The worst is the CGI demon girl that looks like a CGI demon girl from 10 year old video game cut scenes. If I had a choice between watching this movie or smacking myself in the face with a fish for 90 minutes, I would actually choose the movie because the fish option sounds real gross. That being said, don't bother watching this movie. These are the things I do so you don't have to.






Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Prey - 2018 HIFF Movie Review



The Movie: The Prey

The Director: Jimmy Henderson

The Cast: Gu Shangwei, Vithaya Pansringarm, Byron Bishop, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Nophand Boonyai, Rous Mony, Dy Sonita, Vandy Piseth, Hun Sophy

The Story: After years of tracking down international criminals, a trip to a remote jungle prison will force Chinese cop Xin to become human prey to fight for his freedom - and to save his own life.

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Robin Hood (2018) - Movie Review


The Movie: Robin Hood

The Director: Otto Bathurst

The Cast: Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Jamie Dornan, Tim Minchin, F. Murray Abraham, Ian Peck, Cornelius Booth

The Story: A retelling of the classic tale that has been retold many times.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - Movie Review


The Movie: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The Director: David Yates

The Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp, Katherine Waterston, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Carmen Ejogo, Cornell John, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Claudia Kim

The Story: The second installment of the "Fantastic Beasts" series set in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World featuring the adventures of magizoologist Newt Scamander.

Friday, November 16, 2018

The Hungry Lion / 飢えたライオン - 2018 HIFF Movie Review



The Movie: The Hungry Lion / 飢えたライオン

The Director: Takaomi Ogata

The Cast: Urara Matsubayashi, Atomu Mizuishi, Mariko Tsutsui, Nanami Hidaka, Sakiko Kato

The Story: A high school teacher is fired when a video of him having sex with a teenage girl is exposed on the internet and one of his students suffers from being falsely pegged as the girl in the video.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Suspiria (2018) - Movie Review


The Movie: Suspiria

The Director: Luca Guadagnino

The Cast: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Doris Hick, Malgorzata Bela, Chloë Grace Moretz, Angela Winkler, Vanda Capriolo, Alek Wek, Mia Goth

The Story: A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

For Love's Sake / 恋のしずく - HIFF 2018 Movie Review



The Movie: For Love's Sake / 映画「恋のしずく」

The Director: Naoki Segi

The Cast: Chizuru Azuma, Rina Kawaei, Mantaro Koichi, Mao Miyaji, Yuichi Nakamura, Atsushi Nishida, Ren Ohsugi, Hayato Onozuka, Kanji Tsuda, Tomoya Warabino

The Story: An agricultural student who has a passion for wine is sent to a sake brewery on an internship she wanted no part of. While there, she begins to learn about how the creation of sake runs parallel to life and she begins to see the world in different ways.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Overlord - Movie Review


The Movie: Overlord

The Director: Julius Avery

The Cast: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier, Pilou Asbæk, John Magaro, Iain De Caestecker, Jacob Anderson, Dominic Applewhite, Erich Redman, Bokeem Woodbine, Marc Rissmann

The Story: During a World War II mission, American soldiers drop into enemy territory and discover that the horrors of war can be much scarier than they ever imagined.

Gatao 2: Rise of the King / 角頭2:王者再起 - HIFF 2018 Movie Review




The Movie: Gatao 2: Rise of the King / 角頭2:王者再起

The Director: Yen Cheng-Kuo

The Cast: Collin Chou, Shih-Sian Wang, Jack Kao, Peng Sun, Hsin Shao, Ying Di, Jen-Shuo Cheng, Shang-Ho Huang

The Story: A gang lord in Taipei runs into trouble when an old friend returns to force a drug trade into the markets he controls causing chaos and disorder among an otherwise organized and honorable criminal enterprise.

Friday, November 9, 2018

50 First Kisses - HIFF 2018 Movie Review



The Movie: 50 First Kisses

The Director: Yûichi Fukuda

The Cast: Takayuki Yamada, Masami Nagasawa, Taiga, Jiro Sato, Myhraliza Aala, Tsuyoshi Muro, Katsuya, Hiroyasu Yamasaki

The Story: Meeting the woman of your dreams in Hawaii is a blessing until you discover she has short-term memory loss and forgets everything the very next day.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Bohemian Rhapsody - Movie Review


The Movie - Bohemian Rhapsody

The Director: Bryan Singer

The Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aiden Gillan, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, Mike Myers, Aaron McCusker, Meneka Das, Ace Bhatti, Priya Blackburn, Dermot Murphy

The Story: A chronicle of the years leading up to Queen's legendary appearance at the Live Aid (1985) concert.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

TwoOhSix Picks - 38th Annual Hawaii International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani


This is my fourth year covering the 38th Annual Hawaii International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani and, after looking at the lineup the organizers have put together, this may be their best event yet. You would think that a lineup of amazing movies from around the world would be enough but there are also several other types of events that attendees won't want to miss including a special night honoring the one and only Awkwafina!

Sunday, November 4, 2018

TwoOhSix Recap - 2018 Portland Film Festival


One of the things I love about covering the Portland Film Festival is how they provide such a wide variety of unique films from all over the world giving viewers some truly one of a kind experiences. This year I was able to watch seven films that are about as different from each other as they could possibly be making it really hard to pick a favorite but of course I did because I had to for this recap post.

TwoOhSix Recap - My Saturday Adventure at GeekGirlCon


Getting to spend one day at the 2018 GeekGirlCon was a pleasure and quite the treat. The event was held at the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle on October 27th and 28th and was filled with panels, discussions, costumes, celebrity guests, vendors, artists, escalators, and culture fans of all ages. Since my time was limited, I wanted to focus on checking out the vendors and artists while fitting in a couple of the panels.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Rampant (창궐) - Movie Review


The Movie: Rampant (창궐)

The Director: Kim Seong-hoon

The Cast: Hyun Bin, Jang Dong-gun, Jo Woo-jin, Kim Eui-sung, Jung Man-sik, Seo Ji-hye and Lee Sun-bin.

The Story: A period zombie movie in which Yi Cheong (Hyun Bin) struggles to save the Joseon from evil that appears only at night.

Piercing - 2018 Ithaca Fantastik Film Festival Movie Review



The Movie: Piercing

The Director: Nicolas Pesce

The Cast: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Bond, Laia Costa, Wendell Pierce

The Story: A man kisses his wife and baby goodbye and seemingly heads away on business, with a plan to check into a hotel, call an escort service, and kill an unsuspecting prostitute.

Friday, November 2, 2018

Mid90s - Movie Review


The Movie: Mid90s

The Director: Jonah Hill

The Cast: Sunny Suljic, Katherine Waterston, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Alexa Demie

The Story: A thirteen-year-old in 1990s-era Los Angeles spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Campesino - 2018 Portland Film Festival Movie Review



The Documentary: Campesino

The Director: Mia Tate

The Story: Campesino celebrates the lives of the Cuban tobacco farmer as introduced to us by an American whose passion has been to photograph them for 15 years.

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Rust Creek - 2018 Portland Film Festival Movie Review



The Movie: Rust Creek

The Director: Jen McGowan

The Cast: Hermione Corfield, Micah Hauptman, Daniel R. Hill, Denise Dal Vera, Jeremy Glazer, Jake Kidwell, Jay Paulson, Sean O'Bryan

The Story: An overachieving college student gets lost on her way to a job interview. A wrong turn leaves her stranded deep in the Kentucky forest.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Hunter Killer - Movie Review


The Movie: Hunter Killer

The Director: Donovan Marsh

The Cast: Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Linda Cardellini, Carter MacIntyre, Toby Stephens, Alexander Diachenko, Michael Gor, Yuri Kolokolnikov

The Story: An untested American submarine captain teams with U.S. Navy Seals to rescue the Russian president, who has been kidnapped by a rogue general.

Mail Order Monster - 2018 Portland Film Festival Movie Review



The Movie: Mail Order Monster

The Director: Paulina Lagudi

The Cast: Madison Horcher, Charisma Carpenter, Josh Hopkins, Emma Rayne Lyle

The Story: A girl seeks help and guidance from a robot monster to cope with the bullies at school and her father's new girlfriend.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Meerkat Moonship (Meerkat Maantuig) - 2018 Portland Film Festival Movie Review



The Movie: Meerkat Moonship / Meerkat Maantuig

The Director: Hanneke Schutte

The Cast: Anchen du Plessis, Themba Ntuli, Pierre van Pletzen, Rika Sennett, Drikus Volschenk, Hanle Barnard

The Story: Gideonette, a timid and visionary girl, lives with her parents in a small town. Her dad Gideon, battles daily to allay her fears about the curse of the Gideon de La Reys.

Porcupine Lake - 2018 Portland Film Festival Review



The Movie: Porcupine Lake

The Director: Ingrid Veninger

The Cast: Charlotte Salisbury, Lucinda Armstrong Hall, Christopher Bolton, Delphine Roussel, Harrison Tanner, Hallie Switzer

The Story: A story of bravery and the secret life of girls set in Northern Ontario during a hot and hazy summertime when adulthood has not yet arrived, but childhood is quickly vanishing.

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