MoviesMillers

Deep Water - Movie Review Critics Score - 4 of 10 General Audience Score - 6 of 10 Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the term erotic thriller was introduced into the world of cinema. Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and at least fifteen Michael Douglas films brought in the audiences as viewers wanted sexy actors and actresses showing some skin combined with stylized filmmaking. But demand fell off and we only get a few of these films that would fall into this sub-genre these days. In steps Adrian Lyne with his latest film to try and revive the sex-fueled melodrama, debuting recently on Hulu is Deep Water. While the film’s tone and aesthetics work well, so many other aspects of the movie fall short. Ana De Armas plays the horny housewife well but Ben Affleck’s acting, while fine through the first act, turns into a one note performance by the end. Deep Water tries, as Justin Timberlake would say, “bringing sexy back. Them other boys don’t know how to act.” I bet Ben was one of them b...

Scream (2022) - Movie Review Critics Score - 4 of 10 General Audience Score - 7 of 10 For those of us that grew up in the 1990’s, the Scream phenomenon sparked an almost immediate change, it proved that audiences wanted new takes on the age old genre. I Know What You Did Last Summer and Final Destination followed as new audiences began steering away from the genre’s tropes that the Halloween and Friday The 13th franchises had made bank on. But the original Scream had unmasked things about the horror genre that no film had before. It deconstructed a slasher film, certainly in some meta ways but also in an extremely intelligent way through it’s characters and dialogue. The Scream franchise has been trying to a capture the same level of intellectual twists and surprises ever since that first film dropped in 1996, but it’s never quite succeeded. The new Scream (2022), not to be confused with Scream 5, tries to go back down the rabbit hole with Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley an...

Sonic 2 - Movie Review Critics Score - 6 of 10 General Audience Score - 7 of 10 Kids Score - 8 of 10 Anybody remember what the second highest grossing film of the 2020 year was? It was actually 1917 but third place went to Sonic The Hedgehog as it made it's bankroll before COVID-19 took a wrecking ball to the box office. Kids were delighted to watch a fast-talking Sonic throw out goofy one liners and parents were taken back to the 1990’s with the wildly outrageous version of Jim Carrey they grew up loving. Sonic 2 spins into theatres and takes the top off the box office it’s first weekend, with kids of all ages ready for another go round of blue mischief. Although the sequel isn’t nearly as inspired, especially in its humor, as the original film, there’s still a good time to be had, especially for the younger audiences. While parents will forget all about the film upon exiting the theater, kids will be bouncing off the walls, partially from all the bagged sugar they sell in theater...

FRESH - Movie Review Critics Score - 8 of 10 General Audience Score - 8 of 10 I love films that push the envelope in exploring ideas and topics that most will shy away from. Take the IFC film Swallow, Denis Villenueva’s under appreciated Prisoners or the DiCaprio mind bending Shudder Island. These films explore the mental side of suspense and terror, with less physical danger and more mental uncomfortableness. They do to you mind what running your nails across a chalkboard does to your ears. In the vein of psychological thrillers, the latest film from Fox Searchlight is currently available to stream on Hulu, it is FRESH. This film effectively pulls the viewer in, sucking us into it’s wicked, wild ride of twists and turns, each reveal pushing us further into discomfort with it’s constitution challenging sequences. Without dropping spoilers or even the general premise of the film, this one is not for the faint of heart. But even if you’re not in the mood for the main course that FRESH is...

The Adam Project - Movie Review Critics Score - 7 of 10 General Audience Score - 7 of 10 Ryan Reynolds rockets onto Netflix in one of the streaming service’s latest exclusive films that takes us on an adventure into the world of time travel. Reynolds is a bankable name in the world of cinema, his voiceover work in Detective Pikachu helped that film clear over $430 million dollars worldwide, with no other actors of note among the cast. Girls show up for the looks and the bod, guys come for the sarcasm and laughs. While Reynold’s humor is an acquired taste for some, for those of us that have trained our palette to enjoy it, there’s a hearty meal waiting for you here. Unless Reynolds isn’t your type or you really don’t jive with his wit and humor, The Adam Project may prove to be one science project you might actually look forward to. SYNOPSIS - This twist on Back To The Future begins in 2050 with Adam (Ryan Reynolds) escaping earth’s atmosphere in a spacecraft akin to the Avengers je...

Turning Red - Movie Review Critics Score - 8 of 10 General Audience Score - 8 of 10 The latest film from Disney/Pixar, Turning Red, just dropped onto Disney+ yesterday and even though the years of Pixar’s “golden age” have passed us by, the quality of content they produce is still fantastically high. Even though this film doesn’t quite get back to level of storytelling from the glory days of Wall-E, Ratatouille and Cars, we’re given a very good coming of age film with humor and a surprising amount of sexually related content for a Pixar film. The topics of lusting after teen boys and needing tampons are recurring bits and it was honestly a bit of a shock to hear anything like that mentioned. But overall Turning Red is an enjoyable little film that’s fun for the whole family. SUMMARY - Our deep dive into the world of red pandas begins with an introduction to Meilin Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang) or Mei as we watch photos of her life as she hangs out with her parents. We hear her narrate ...

The Batman - Movie Review Critics Score - 7 of 10 General Audience Score - 8 of 10 Robert Pattinson has been one of the premier Hollywood heartthrobs since he sank his teeth into audiences everywhere back in the days of the Twilight saga. Since then he’s put out plenty of good to great performances, but now he’s donned the bat suit as our latest version of the Dark Knight. Some are taking issue with Pattinson’s portrayal but I was impressed and thought he embodied the character well, his anger and sullen demeanor shone through the mask. The Batman is ambitious and different from any anything we’ve seen before but Bruce Wayne and all his money couldn’t make this a perfect movie experience. SYNOPSIS - Our costume dress up party begins on Halloween, we watch as someone is doing surveillance on a politician and we can smell it, there’s murder in the air. We then switch over to and follow Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) as he wanders the city streets looking for ne’er-do-wells and putting th...

House Of Gucci - Movie Review Critics Score - 7 of 10 General Audience Score - 7 of 10 There are some films that almost demand longer runtimes, the epic cinematic experiences like Gone With The Wind, Titanic or Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King come to mind. Among that group I’d include the 2000 Best Picture winner Gladiator from director Ridley Scott, my #4 favorite film of all time. But now Scott brings us his latest, House Of Gucci, a film that doesn’t quite make it into the realm of epic like some of the previously mentioned titles. The film is easy on the eyes, the hues of blue and gray combined with an all star cast makes up for quite a bit, even when the film is unnecessarily dragging it’s feet to get where it’s going. Cutting a good twenty to thirty minutes off the runtime, focusing on the family drama while building momentum toward the finale would’ve given us the film we all deserved. There’s no earthly reason this film should push past the two and a half hour mark, y...

Eternals - Movie Review Critics Score - 5 of 10 General Audience Score - 7 of 10 The name Chloe Zhao is one that movie lovers and cinephiles all over the world started hearing over the last few years, directing a great smaller film The Rider before getting acclaim within the industry for last years’ Nomadland, which won Best Picture. Now Chloe turns her directing attention to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, doubtless for an untold large sum of money. She’s brought us Eternals, one of the more obscure groups of Marvel comic book characters, but it’s clear Zhao is just not in her element working with massive budgeted superhero films and an already patented Disney formula. Besides the tired acting from an otherwise aesthetically pleasing cast, the screenplay really lets these actors down and it’s difficult to invest anything in any of their journeys. While superhero and action movie fans will probably get their money’s worth, at an over two and a half hour runtime, the film’s title says it...

My Top 10 Films Of 2021 #1 - The Power Of The Dog  Critics Score - 10 of 10 This was my favorite film experience of 2021 and it wasn’t really that close. The Power Of The Dog is a masterpiece of cinema from director Jane Campion, and it totally blew me away. I got home from work late and tired on Dec. 1st, December being the busiest month at my nine to five job. I started watching this film and within a half hour I was sucked into the world that Jane had created. Even though I was watching this film at home, by the time I was halfway through, I was standing up in front of the screen with the remote in my hand swaying back and forth trying to get a read on where it was all heading. I was anticipating somebody to bite the big one but the way it played out was not only a shocker but also the final shot sent this film to a perfect score in my book.  #2 - Riders Of Justice  Critics Score - 9 of 10 While many of the other films on my list I was partially expecting to be good mo...