THE OPTIMIST - MOVIE REVIEWS

   Folks, we're one week away from the summer movie season. That's right, all of those huge blockbusters that permeate the summer movie scene are biting at the heels. Before venturing into the mass hysteria that these bloated-budget spectacles offer, I found it quite fortuitous to see that opening this week was a smaller film, made by a fairly new-ish director, and it turns out that it was just the palate-cleanser I needed before bracing for the mania to come. I'm talking about J.D. Dillard's Sleight , a slick drama with a small, contained story that follows predictable story tropes, but ultimately remained fairly fresh and entertaining...despite it's many shortcomings. It's one of those movies that you think is one thing, then it ends up being something completely different by the end, an aspect I ultimately enjoyed.    The story follows Bo (Jacob Latimore), a young street magician who is left to care for his little sister after the sudden passing of their

   As the summer movie season creeps ever so near, the weeks leading up still have some interesting selections to offer for your viewing pleasure. This weekend in particular features the wide release of the Ben Wheatley-directed Free Fire , an interesting action/shoot-em-up that was not quite what I had expected. It was if Reservoir Dogs decided it was going to be almost a slapstick comedy rather than an intense drama with comedic aspects. With a packed cast and quipy dialogue, this movie offers some serious laughs among the barrage of gunfire that spans almost the entire run time.    Set in Boston in the late 1970s, an arms deal in a deserted warehouse between two gangs turns into a shootout and a game of survival. The tone of the movie is set early on and does a pretty decent job of maintaining that tone throughout. As we are introduced to the characters we get a sense early on that this is going to be an exaggerated narrative. Sharlto Copley plays the arms dealer selling the w

   The eighth (yes, eighth) film in The Fast and the Furious franchise opens this weekend. In what can only be described as pure popcorn entertainment, The Fate of the Furious does exactly what I figured it would do, while also doing something I thought it couldn't. Fans of the franchise will agree that the sad and touching end to Furious 7 was almost picture perfect when it comes to closing out a franchise. Dom and Letti were married, Brian and Mia retire from the game, and the gang ends up exonerated and left to live the lives they wish. Riding on the nostalgia of the late Paul Walker, Furious 7 became a billion dollar movie. It was fun, mindless action that doesn't take itself serious, while delivering an exciting and thrilling spectacle of insanity that only this franchise can seem to get away with. The Fate of the Furious , I thought, wouldn't be able to match that success. For starters, it's the first entry without Paul Walker, who was as much a face of the