The Cynical Cinephiles

Director: Morten Tyldum Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne After years stuck in developmental hell, Passengers  seemed destined for greatness after the necessary components started to fall into place. Morton Tyldum, Academy Award nominated director of The Imitation Game  was brought on board to helm the space flick. Two of Hollywood's hottest talents, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, were cast as the leads. For this long awaited project, the stars had aligned in cosmic fashion, but does this impressive alchemy translate into an out-of-this-world cinematic experience, or does it plummet to the Earth with a thud? Aboard the Avalon, 5,000 passengers in suspended animation/hyper sleep make the journey to the planet Homestead II to create a new colony. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, passengers Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) and Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) are awoken - 90 years too soon. Resigned to the knowledge that they won't ...

Director: Gareth Edwards Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forrest Whitaker, Donnie Yen, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelshon, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen The producers of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have described the deviations away from the episodic formula and foray into spin-offs, with Rogue One , being the first as an experiment. Testing the waters to see whether or not audiences would react positively to a narrative not revolving around the Skywalker lineage, if you will. It's safe to say that the producers of the picture have executed one of the most successful so called "experiments" in Hollywood's history and showcases that Lucas Film continues to go from strength to strength. Leading into the events that occur in Star Wars: A New Hope , Rogue One  tells the story of how the revels came into the possession of the Death Star plans. An eclectic group of freedom fighters, led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), band together to find Jyn's father, Galen (Mads...

Director: Kelly Fremon Craig Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner The Edge of Seventeen may sound like a corny title for a film thats genre is so often riddled with the same old tropes (y'know, the thoroughly liable but misunderstood heroine, the cohort of bullies intent on making her life hell, the impossibly dreamy guy who falls in love with our underdog heroine...), but Kelly Fremon Craig's directorial debut avoids all of the above cliches and produces one of the smartest and most thoughtful 'teen films' in years. Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) is an awkward, socially inept and quick-witted high school student whose singular and difficult attitude means she has only one friend, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). Nadine's world plummets around her when Krista begins to date her brother Darian (Blake Jenner), with whom Nadine has always had a contentious relationship with. Nadine feels discarded. Alone. And she descen...