REVIEW: ‘Chicago 7’ is a compelling look at justice and politics, despite flaws

In most court movies, there’s just one defendant on trial. This Netflix release gives seven for the price of one.

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, “Trial of the Chicago 7” takes place in the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. On the outside of the convention were large protests, and following the political event, eight were charged by the government for inciting riots.

The defendants included Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Alex Sharp (Rennie Davis), Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jeremy Strong (Jerry Rubin), John Lynch (David Dellinger), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins), John Froines (Daniel Flaherty) and Bob Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). During the trial, though, Seale’s case was severed and the defendant list went to seven. The federal prosecutor in the case is Tom Foran (J.C. MacKenzie) while the main lawyer for the defense is William Kunstler (Mark Rylance).

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REVIEW: ‘A Call to Spy’ is sadly underwhelming

This film features an amazing true story about brave individuals who volunteered to do daring work to hold back the German war machine in some of the darkest days for Europe in World War II.

One just wishes the movie was less dull.

The picture introduces British intelligence officer Vera Atkins (Stana Katic), who recruits candidates to help the French resistance communicate with each other and plan sabotage efforts. To do so, Atkins recruits Virginia Hall (Sarah Megan Thomas) and Noor Inayat Khan (Radhika Apte).

Atkins has the two young women go to two sections of France, with Khan focusing on radio communications and Hall planning sabotage efforts. Doing so isn’t easy, though, with Germany’s occupation forces everywhere.

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REVIEW: ‘Then Came You’ is neither compelling nor comedic

This is one of those films with some good ideas at play, but in need of stronger execution.

Kathie Lee Gifford, who also wrote the script, stars as Annabelle. A recent widower, Annabelle has decided to travel the world with the ashes of her deceased spouse, and the first destination is in rural Scotland.

There, she stays at a historic building-turned inn, which is operated by a man named Howard (Craig Ferguson). The two come from different backgrounds and at first don’t get along. However, the two grow closer as time goes on.

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REVIEW: ‘The Glorias’ is scattered but insightful

Julianne Moore was already partly ready for this role, as just a couple years earlier she played another character named Gloria in “Gloria Bell.”

The Gloria in this movie, though, is the real life Gloria Steinem. In this biopic, written and directed by Julie Taymor, the influential women’s rights advocate is played by several actresses, as the film explores multiple periods of Steinem’s life.

The audience gets to see Steinem’s experiences in childhood, her early jobs as a journalist, and later her involvement with ERA passage efforts. Along with insight into her career works, the film dives into many of the relationships Steinem had, from family to friends.

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Adventures in B-Movie Horror 1

The month of October is perfect for scary movies with Halloween as the grand finale. In most cases, it’s a good time revisiting those classics like “Psycho” and “The Shining.”

However, it can also be fun checking out some pure schlock. The best way to do that is with B-movies. Low on budget and often high on cheese, these flicks are often fun to view with friends over a couple beers.

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LAMB Movie of the Month: ‘Host’ review

The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t just changed how we watch movies right now, but how we make movies. “Host,” a film focused on paranormal Zoom meeting, is a prime example.

For their regular virtual get-together, the main character Haley (Haley Bishop) brings together her group of friends for an online seance. Haley, who’s hired the medium for the call, is taking the Zoom meeting seriously, but the rest of her friends see it as just harmless fun.

The call does start off innocently enough, with the friends getting settled. However, at one point, something goes wrong and an evil spirit is invited in. As a result, all of the friends are put in danger.

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REVIEW: ‘Enola Holmes’ fails to entertain

Sherlock seems to always gets the spotlight in the Holmes family. This time, though, it’s shared with his siblings.

The result? It’s mixed.

The titular character in this film, played by Millie Bobby Brown, is the younger sister of the famous detective Sherlock (Henry Cavill). Enola, a teenager, has grown up in the countryside with her mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). However, one morning Enola wakes up and her mother is missing.

In response, Enola’s brothers Sherlock and Mycroft (Sam Claflin) are called in to investigate the situation and look after her. Deciding she can manage on her own, though, Enola decides to go to London and figure out the situation by herself. During her trip to London, Enola meets Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), who’s dealing with his own family troubles.

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REVIEW: ‘Shortcut’ isn’t a satisfying horror genre entry

There’s no need to take a shortcut to the theater for “Shortcut,” because it’s not worth seeing at a cinema.

This thriller follows a group of teenage students riding on a bus in a rural area of the United Kingdom. Unfortunately the audience doesn’t get much background on the group, there are only five students which is odd for a field trip. Regardless, this is our crew of protagonists.

Things take a turn for the worse when the bus has to take a back road and, while stopping to move an obstacle out of the way, a criminal with a revolver comes aboard and holds the driver at gunpoint. That’s not the end of the main characters’ problems, though, as the eerie area they’re driving through also seems to be home to an evil creature.

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Taking a year off may be good for audiences

The new broke Wednesday that the Marvel film “Black Widow” has been delayed again, pushing back the studio’s whole superhero line up in the process.

The news is obviously a hit to theaters and Hollywood. There’s no doubt that Marvel and its all powerful umbrella company want their movies to hit theaters for the immediate success they bring.

This is true of course with all other movie studios that have had to make delays, too. Warner Bros. has had to consistently push back “Wonder Woman,” which has moved from mid-summer to Christmas. Universal, meanwhile, has shoved the next “Fast and Furious” film back a whole year to 2021.

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REVIEW: ‘Antebellum’ suffers from poor plot execution

There are good ideas and a more than capable cast in “Antebellum,” yet the film as a whole is, unfortunately, a mess.

The picture follows Eden (Janelle Monae), a Black woman who appears at first to be a slave during the 1800s at the height of the Civil War. The plantation she and others appear to be at is surrounded and controlled by a unit of Confederate soldiers.

As the film progresses, more truths are learned about the plantation and additional background is provided about who Eden is. With tensions building, Eden begins considering an escape plan.

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