THE OPTIMIST - MOVIE REVIEWS

        The Tim Burton directed fantasy/adventure Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children is, in a word...peculiar. I'm a huge Tim Burton fan, as a lot of people are, but that being said his track record at the box office recently hasn't been all that great. Frankenweenie underperformed and Big Eyes was kinda, "eh". Amy Adams did win a Golden Globe for her work in that film, however, so there's that. I don't know if it's just that people are over the Burton aesthetic, or that the stories are lacking the luster his visuals typically thrive with, but people seem less enthused about a Tim Burton film these days. Currently speaking, this latest film of his is really quite good. It's not perfect, but it's extremely entertaining. There is a bit of magic mingled with whimsical creepiness that makes Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children an intriguing choice at the cinema.    A young boy named Jake (Asa Butterfield) discovers ...

   This weekend marks the opening of yet again, another remake. A remake of a remake actually. Director Antoine Fuqua teams up with Denzel Washington once again in the action-packed, and highly entertaining western that will hopefully help turn the abysmal box office around. The Magnificent Seven , the Avengers of westerns, brings a lot of great talent to the table, with essentially the same story, but executed in a way that is fun, engaging, intense, beautiful, and all-around just a joy to behold at the movies. I really dig westerns, and like in any genre, there are great ones, bad ones, fun ones and unnecessary ones. The Magnificent Seven isn't the best western ever made, but it is definitely one of the most fun experiences I've had with a western in a long time.    In a nutshell, the greasy, slim-bucket of an industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (played brilliantly by Peter Sarsgaard), firmly grips the little mining town of Rose Creek in his no-goo...

    The combination of Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood is about as All-Star as you can get. Their new movie Sully opens this weekend and it's a powerful and realistic story that hearkens to the core of the human spirit. Based on the true account from January 2009, the story chronicles the investigation behind the Miracle on the Hudson. In a nutshell, Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger (Hanks), due to years of experience and intuition, was able to glide the plane he was piloting after it experiences dual-engine failure, safely across the waters of the Hudson River, saving the 155 souls on board. With his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) at his side, they overcame the nerves of the situation in order to do their job and return their passengers safely to the ground. Upon it's "landing", ferries, rescue boats, etc., raced to the aid of the passengers and crew as they braved the frigid January cold of New York out on the water. It's as touching as it is ...

       Writer and director Kevin Smith is a polarizing individual, whether he means to be or not. He's opinionated and his films are sometimes crude and/or offensive. His filmography has met harsh criticism over the years and his outspoken recognition of this has become a part of who he is today. I happen to be a huge Kevin Smith fan, not just as a director but as an overall person. I've never met the guy, but I've listened to a host of podcasts and interviews and other things to at least form an opinion and I think he's a cool dude. I'd be friends with him, for sure. He's a laid back guy who loves the medium of film. It's funny to listen to him talk about his career and how he's reached a point now where he really doesn't care about critics, because he knows they'll crap on whatever he makes. He's forsaken the big studio approach in order to tell stories that he himself would want to see. His latest batch of movies have this audacity ab...