Eighth Grade: Movie Review

Loneliness and anxiety in one adolescent girl.

Eighth Grade really is a different type of movie. It’s not hyper-sexualized nor edgy and dark. It’s just about one girl and her intense struggles with her place in life. The intensity comes solely from the pressures she places on herself to be cool. There’s a heartbreaking realness to her very palpable anxiety and that’s where this movie shines. Eighth Grade puts words and an empathetic face to the universal concept of every-day nervousness.		2018 Directed by: Bo Burnham Screenplay by: Bo Burnham Starring: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton

The Catcher Was a Spy: Movie Review

Fascinating story, interesting style.

The Catcher Was a Spy is a curiously good movie. Not quite a biopic, not quite a spy thriller, it’s actually the best of both worlds. The look of a spy thriller with charcoal fedoras and charcoal suits lit up only by street lamps and the occasional car headlight combined with the content of a biopic, and very importantly, using the intelligence of a smart character.		2018 Directed by: Ben Lewin Screenplay by: Robert Rodat Based on the book by Nicholas Dawidoff Starring: Paul Rudd, Mark Strong, Jeff Daniels

Set It Up: Movie Review

Enjoyable romantic comedy with a playful cast, charming romance and amusing comedy.

A romantic comedy that knows it’s a romantic comedy that is both romantic and funny. Set It Up just radiates the type of enjoyable energy that romantic comedies should have. The actual romantic comedy plot, the one that viewers know will happen in the movie, stays on the back burner while the main plot plays out. The main plot is not just a distraction, it’s a funny, albeit simple, story that allows our two leads to meet, get to know each other, become friends and fall in love.		2018 Directed by: Claire Scanlon Screenplay by: Katie Silberman Starring: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs