jared leto

REVIEW: Blade Runner 2049

/ Chris Luckett / Leave a comment

Image: Warner Bros.

Chris Luckett

I don’t tend to get excited for movies. (You see enough Transformers or Madea vehicles and it’s easier to just let yourself be pleasantly surprised by the gems.) And, sacrilegious as it is to say, I’ve always felt Blade Runner was an overrated movie. Incredibly innovative and paradigm-shifting to sci-fi, don’t get me wrong; but not a perfect film from a narrative point of view.

Yet Blade Runner 2049 has been my most anticipated movie in the back half of 2017. Part of it was the brilliance of the first trailer, part of it was seeing the world Philip K. Dick and Ridley Scott envisioned with modern CGI, but the crux of it was director Denis Villeneuve.

Villeneuve has made three movies. He debuted in 2013 with the fantastic Prisoners, followed it up with the even more intense Sicario, and topped it all off with last year’s Best Picture-nominated Arrival. All three masterpieces, and each better than the one prior. It set the expectations for his fourth, Blade Runner 2049, so high for me the movie couldn’t meet them. But it comes close.

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REVIEW: Suicide Squad

/ Chris Luckett / Leave a comment
Photo: Warner Bros.

Photo: Warner Bros.

Chris Luckett

(Note: The overall plot of Suicide Squad is not spoiled here. When I discuss the story’s setup, it may sound like I’m giving away a lot, but that’s just because the entire movie has so much going on, even just sticking to the first act reads like I’m spoiling the entire plot. You can trust in me: I’m not.)

Warner Bros. continues their emulation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (while refusing to admit that’s what they’re doing) with Suicide Squad. It’s likely the last blockbuster of the summer — as well as the studio’s desperate hope of cleansing the palettes of audiences that felt burned by March’s pedestrian Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

What should have been a carefree offshoot of the main DC Extended Universe saga now comes with the added expectations of redeeming the franchise, an unfair burden the movie understandably can’t really handle. As a late summer piece of brainless entertainment, you could do a lot worse. As a superhero movie — even just compared to other 2016 fare, for that matter — you could do a lot better.

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REVIEW: Dallas Buyers Club

/ Chris Luckett / Leave a comment
Photo: Focus Features

Photo: Focus Features

Chris Luckett

Matthew McConaughey doesn’t get enough credit. Yes, he’s done his share of stinkers like Sahara, but he’s also done gems like A Time to Kill and Contact. Over the last few years, McConaughey has refocused himself and delivered a string of complex performances in The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie, Magic Mike, and Mud. His acting in Dallas Buyers Club is the apex of his career so far.

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