Chuck Koplinski

Mermaid’s world not new enough In the eternal pursuit of a healthy bottom line, Disney has never learned to leave well enough alone. “More is better” is the mantra when it comes to generating profit as well as its approach to rebooting properties. The profits generated by the live-action remakes of their animated classics seem […]

Kadahar falls short of its ambition Though it’s being promoted as a standard Gerard Butler actioner, there’s far more at play in Ric Roman Waugh’s Kandahar. Working from a script by former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Mitchell LaFortune, it strives to present the current unrest in the Middle East from a variety of different perspectives. […]

Guardians 3 a fitting conclusion Though darker than its predecessors, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a more than satisfactory conclusion to the outlier trilogy of the Marvel Films Universe. More than anything, this is Rocket’s story (voice by Bradley Cooper) as we finally become privy to just how he came to […]

Pan a surprisingly effective update One of the year’s best films, David Lowery’s Peter Pan and Wendy provides a more adult, melancholy take on J.M. Barrie’s seminal tale, a brilliant reinvention that looks at the deceptive allure of childhood, the resistance to maturity and the cost of responsibility with an unflinching eye. The plot is […]

Margaret matches quiet power of Blume’s classic While I was in grade school, devouring every Encyclopedia Brown book I could get my hands on, apparently my female peers were reading Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s me, Margaret. Having finally gotten around to reading it at age 57 and seeing Kelly Fremon Craig’s delightful […]

Pipeline: A portrait of misguided activism Driven by a sense of genuine urgency and buoyed by practical – if flawed – logic, Daniel Goldhaber’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a real-world thriller that forcefully makes a case for domestic terrorism in the face of the environmental crisis. Utilizing a fragmented timeline, Goldhaber shows […]

Mario movie fun even for a newbie I knew practically nothing about The Super Mario Bros. Movie and its world when I walked into see it. Yet, despite my abysmal ignorance of all things Mario, it didn’t prevent me from having a good time as I was bombarded by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic’s kaleidoscope […]

Air soars Unlike its subject matter, there’s nothing particularly flashy about Ben Affleck’s Air. This less-is-more approach is vital to its success. He knows well enough to stay out of his own way, focusing on getting solid performances from his cast and telling his tales with a steady pace that sweeps the viewer along. While […]

Honor Among Thieves brings D&D to the big screen, Mystery 2 is charming, Wick 4 pushes limits Now Streaming |Chuck Koplinski Thieves a surprising, fun adventure You could write all I know about Dungeons and Dragons on a grain of rice and still have room to inscribe the Bill of Rights. Be that as it […]

Fury propelled by fun Effortlessly charming and genuinely funny, Shazam: Fury of the Gods lampoons the genre as often as it delivers an impressive piece of superhero derring-do. Billy Batson (the invaluable Zachery Levi) is suffering from a crisis of faith. He’s convinced he’s not worthy of the powers bestowed upon him by the wizard […]