REVIEW: Despite award caliber cast and crew, ‘The Laundromat’ is a loss

With the closure of movie theaters because of the coronavirus pandemic, I’m taking a look back at more movies from 2019.

What a waste. This film has a talented Academy Award winning director, actors who’ve been nominated or won Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys, including one of the greatest actresses ever. On top of that, it had a rich, fascinating subject matter. Yet the picture as a whole is a complete mess.

Meryl Streep plays Ellen Martin in “The Laundromat,” a woman who loses her husband during a ride on a lake cruise. Following the accident, Ellen speaks with her financial adviser, but she finds issues with how the insurance is being processed.

With something seeming off, Ellen decides to explore what’s going on, and finds out that the insurance company she’s dealing with is linked to entities listed in the Panama Papers. The notorious documents detailing thousands of offshore financial transactions were leaked in 2016.

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REVIEW: ‘Satanic Panic’ is fun but scares are limited

With the closure of movie theaters because of the coronavirus pandemic, I’m taking a look back at movies from 2019.

When I first heard about this title, I had hoped the film would be about the Satanic Panic phenomenon of the 80s that dominated pop culture.

That’s not the case with this flick, but it’s still an alright watch.

Hayley Griffith plays Samantha in this 2019 horror comedy, a young woman just starting out her delivery job for a local pizzeria. With a lot of deliveries taking place in the rain to homes not interested in tipping, though, her first day isn’t going great.

However, she gets an opportunity for a bigger tip when she delivers to a very wealthy neighborhood. The only problem is the neighborhood group she delivers to just happens to be a Satan-worshiping cult that decide to use her as a sacrifice. To survive, she has to team up with the daughter of the cult leader, Judi (Ruby Modine), who’s also become a target.

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Monday Movie Report: Theater owners seek legislative assistance as movies go online

With thousands of screening auditoriums remaining dark throughout the country, theaters in the United States are hoping for some relief via a bill in Congress.

According to Deadline, the National Association of Theatre Owners has requested a set of measures to be included in a stimulus package. The legislation is currently in a negotiation phase.

Deadline reports NATO is looking to acquire “guarantees to ease a liquidity squeeze, tax benefits to support employees, recovery of remaining costs and other tax breaks to help recoup losses.

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Theater visits, reviews to stop for social distancing

While the COVID-19 coronavirus has yet to come to Bemidji, Minn., the city where I reside, it has reached Minnesota. As a result, I’d like to be careful during this time and do some social distancing, and that means no more trips to the movie theater.

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Monday Movie Report: Theaters, production companies respond to COVID-19

The COVID-19 coronavirus continues to have an impact on industries across the country, including movie theaters.

Here in Bemidji, Minn., the local cinema is operated by CEC Theatres. In a statement, CEC officials noted that the facilities are remaining open, for now.

“As it has always been, the safety and security of our guests and team members remain our highest priority. in response to the coronavirus, we have taken additional measures to make our cleaning and hygiene protocols even more rigorous.”

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REVIEW: Few things work in ‘The Hunt’

You better like buzzwords and dog whistles if you’re seeing this movie, because there sure are a lot of them.

“The Hunt” follows a group of characters who wake up one day in a clear field, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. When they eventually come together around a large crate, they find the box is full of firearms. Moments after finding the guns, the group is fired upon and several of them are killed.

The survivors, all seeming to have similar political leanings, learn that they are being hunted and must try to survive. The one with the most success in surviving the situation is Crystal (Betty Gilpin), who seems to have some combat experience.

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REVIEW: ‘The Way Back’ is enjoyable for fans of sports and cinema

Ben Affleck’s movie goes for the three point shot, at the buzzer, and… It’s not too bad.

While “The Way Back” prominently features basketball, it’s less a sports movie about basketball and much more about a man trying to pick up the pieces of his life. The movie follows Jack, a construction worker who was at one point an excellent basketball player in high school with a full ride to join the University of Kansas Jayhawks program.

His path in life took a different direction, though. The movie picks up with Jack now suffering from alcoholism after experiencing a personal hardship. He’s given a chance at escapism, though, when he’s hired by his high school to coach the basketball team midseason. Despite not having the best players, Jack’s coaching is effective and he’s able to help the team find success. Unfortunately, he still deals with drinking too much.

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REVIEW: ‘Onward’ offers a dull quest

This movie is all about magic, but doesn’t necessarily have that Pixar magic.

Tom Holland voices Ian in “Onward,” a young elf living in a world that, despite fantasy and magic elements existing, has become like our own modern society. A high schooler, Ian lives with his mom Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and his older brother Barley (Chris Pratt) who hasn’t exactly found his way in life.

Ian’s father Wilden passed away before he was born, something that weighs heavily on him. When he turns 16, though, he receives a staff for his birthday and finds a spell to bring back his dad for one day. He starts the spell, but is only able to bring his dad’s legs back. Knowing they only have a day, Ian and Barley decide to go on a quest to find a way to complete the spell.

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Movie Report: Film industry events canceled, delayed due to virus

Like other businesses, Hollywood isn’t immune to the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.

More than 100,000 cases have been reported and over 3,800 people have died according to the World Health Organization. As a result, production work and events in the film industry has been impacted.

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REVIEW: Moss, special effects boost ‘Invisible Man’

No Dark Universe, no problem.

After the shared cinematic universe idea for Universal’s famous movie monsters crashed, plans were reworked to have more independent, individual films. The first one up is “The Invisible Man,” written and directed by Leigh Whannell. The movie stars Elisabeth Moss as Cecilia, a woman who just left her abusive boyfriend.

Cecilia is shaken from the relationship and is left with anxiety, fearing that her ex, Adrian, (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) will come after her. However, she soon learns that Adrian has supposedly committed suicide. Just as she begins trying to rebuild her life, though, Cecilia begins to feel stalked and terrorized by an unseen force, which she believes is Adrian.

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