Review shared with permission from Movie Review Mom. By Trina Boice WHAT'S DARK PHOENIX ABOUT? A young girl loses her parents in a car accident and is raised by Professor Charles Xavier because of her special mutant abilities. She struggles to understand her powers and who she is. Marvel attempts to connect former movies and their loose ends in the X-Men franchise with this grand finale. Unfortuna ...[Read More]
DARK PHOENIX Family Review- The X-Men Go Out With a Whimper
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Family Movie Review
By Jonathan Decker WHAT IS X-MEN: APOCALYPSE ABOUT? Professor X, Beast, and Mystique lead the battle against Apocalypse, a nearly-omnipotent being intent on mutant domination of the world. IS IT ANY GOOD? (GRADE: C+) Overstuffed with under-developed characters and murky motivations, X-Men: Apocalypse didn't grip me like the franchise's best installments (X2, First Class, and Days of Future Past). ...[Read More]
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Family Movie Review
By Jonathan Decker (Family therapist, film critic) ARTHUR CHRISTMAS REVIEW (GRADE: A-) If given the chance, this latest film from Aardman Studios (Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit, the underrated Flushed Away) will be a new Christmas classic. Arthur Christmas combines a wicked sense of humor with a warm heart, a balance nicely brought to life by the vocal talents of some of Britain's finest actors. ...[Read More]
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Family Movie Review
By Jonathan Decker X-MEN FIRST CLASS REVIEW (GRADE B+): After the sloppy and empty-headed X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this prequel gets the franchise back on track with style and smarts. In fact, I'd say that it's the second-best film in the series, behind only the exemplary X2: X-Men United (unlike many people, I like the first and third films about the same, finding both to be flawed but entertain ...[Read More]
THE CONSPIRATOR Family Movie Review
By Jonathan Decker Grade: B+ Director Robert Redford's The Conspirator is a soul-stirring, troubling, and thought-provoking examination of the sacred and true nature of the Constitution. It's also a warning against allowing fear to cause us to abandon our freedom in pursuit of revenge and security. This is a film that went largely overlooked this year, which is a shame, because it's a well-written ...[Read More]