Author: Rob Dean

Being clever is difficult. That isn’t meant to sound patronizing, but it doesn’t take a genius to recognize how hard it is to operate on multiple levels while harnessing keen insight. This is especially true in entertainment, where many different masters must be served by one creation. The work must be entertaining, it must make some amount of financial sense, it must be original to some degree, and (in the best-case scenario) it must be about something slightly more than a superficial read. “Dumb Money,” the latest film from director Craig Gillespie, delivers on some of these items, but it’s…

It’s hard not to base expectations on what’s come before, especially in a movie franchise. The fairest thing to do is approach each film with the hope that it’s good and with no assumptions otherwise. But that’s difficult when it’s the third entry of a series and the previous two were not that good. “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile” had interesting costumes and set designs, but it wasn’t enough to cover up the hollow story and performances delivered by an impressive but disengaged cast. Director and star Kenneth Branagh tried to use the lavish decorations,…

I think kids will like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” but I can’t be 100% sure. There were plenty of children who were into it at my screening, laughing at the jokes and transfixed by some of the impressive visuals. And while they may enjoy the classic rap tracks that play throughout the movie as well, that aspect (like so many others) feels more geared to an older audience. That’s just one example of how “Mutant Mayhem” attempts to serve multiple audiences at once. In the end, it’s hard to say if it lands as well with children as…

Why are movies so dark nowadays? I mean in terms of actual lighting, not content. I know that there are some practical/technical reasons behind it, but it’s still a stylistic choice that literally dims the power of most films. Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” has a lot going for it, but one of its biggest flaws is just how much is muted due to the darkness that pervades every frame. Even scenes that take place in the blazing sun of the afternoon still have a shadowy tinge to them. This decision obscures so much on screen (possibly intentionally) that it impacts the…

“Oppenheimer” is unstuck in time. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is a non-linear account of the life and times of one of the most famous scientists of the 20th century. But while “Oppenheimer” presents a scattering of moments from across J. Robert Oppenheimer’s lifetime, the movie (based on the 2005 biography “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin) is mostly filtered through two main events: the building of the atomic bomb and the 1954 security hearing that called into question his patriotism. Thus, what is arguably Oppenheimer’s moment of greatest triumph is juxtaposed against his…

The idea of a Barbie movie seemed like a joke for a long time. It’s a doll with a checkered past due to perpetuating impossible physical ideals, and unlike G.I. Joe, there’s no inherent story built around it. While it has kept up with modernity and changing times, Barbie remains a symbol of a bygone era before many cultural revolutions took place. And yet, despite all those elements, director/co-writer Greta Gerwig has crafted an amazing film that transcends its plastic roots to become about so much more. Existential crises, third wave-feminism and consumerist society are just some of the targets…

While watching “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One,” I often found myself thinking about another recent action blockbuster, “Fast X.” Both movies involve action sequences in Rome, both movies involve a bridge lined with explosives, both movies involve an all-knowing computer program, both movies involve a villain from the protagonists’ past, and both movies involve a makeshift family of globetrotting heroes attempting to thwart an insidious plan in the face of opposition from law enforcement. They even tout bombastic spectacle in their action sequences, but only one makes these moments truly visceral. That’s because, despite all these surface similarities,…

Good comedy transcends stale formulas. If it strikes us as truly funny, we don’t mind that it adheres to a staple we all know. On paper, “Joy Ride” is just another movie about a traveling group of misfits in the same mold as “The Hangover,” “Girls Trip” and others. It features a bunch of quirky personalities who clash as they experience misadventures in unfamiliar territory, and though things will eventually go too far and someone will get sick of the shenanigans, the bonds of friendship will ultimately win out in the end. However, “Joy Ride” overcomes its well-worn premise by…

Seeing “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” was a unique experience. I can’t recall the last time I watched a movie and never felt fully engaged. Sure, there are moments of interest and excitement, and there are sequences that disappoint and fall flat, but outside of those few times, I never really felt much one way or the other. Director James Mangold’s newest film feels like the cinematic equivalent of the color taupe: it simply exists without being good or bad. I felt nothing during the majority of the latest “Indiana Jones” — not revulsion at the feeling of…

There’s a lot of pressure on any non-tentpole film these days. Every moderate-sized movie is looked to as the harbinger of a resurgence for the way “films used to be,” whatever that phrase means. The adult drama, sexual thriller, mid-tiered action film and even the R-rated comedy are always tentatively poised to make a comeback against the mega-franchises, as critics and cinephiles wait with bated breath to welcome back these subdivisions of movies. “No Hard Feelings” is not the resurrection of the raunchy comedies of the ‘80s and ‘90s, but it is an incredibly charming time at the theater. Buoyed…