Articles by Paul Hall

Films dealing with shadowy government groups and mercenaries paid to carry out some of the most nefarious tasks imaginable are nothing new. Quite often there is a blurring of the lines in these films between what is acceptable and what is over the line. In American Assassin, from director Michael Cuesta, we look at one man and his passionate commitment to revenge — or is it patriotism? Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) seems like a relatively happy guy in his 20s. He is living the dream, vacationing at an exotic resort with his girlfriend. It is the perfect place to propose, […]

VOD Spotlight: Despicable Me 3 In Despicable Me 3 Gru (voice of Steve Carell) is working hard in the AVL (Anti-Villain League) to keep the bad guys at bay. With his partner Lucy (Kristen Wiig) by his side in life and in the agency, they work to thwart the evil plans that exist in the world. When one such mission ends in failure, Gru and Lucy are let go by the AVL and return to their life as mom and dad to Margo, Edith and Agnes. Out of the blue, a man comes and proclaims that Gru has a brother […]

Inspirational movies are a big winner at the box office. In the movie Leap!, we meet two children who yearn to follow their dreams despite living in an orphanage and having seemingly impossible aspirations. But can dreams come true? Their living situation is holding Felicie (voice of Elle Fanning) and Victor (Nat Wolff) back. Felicie yearns to be a great ballerina, and Victor wants to be the world’s next great inventor. But to proceed, they must carry out a daring escape from their home. And escape they do! It’s off to Paris. But once they arrive, the two are separated. […]

It’s 1989 in Berlin. East and West are separated by the iconic Berlin Wall, but that is soon to change. On both sides of this landmark divide in culture, politics and way of life are spies who work for every agency imaginable. KGB agents reign supreme in the East, and the rest of the free world is at home in the West. The spy game is alive and well in Atomic Blonde. MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is called upon by her superiors to assist in retrieving a list that contains the identities of countless agents. It is information […]

New to On Demand: Cars 3 Everything changes over time. Coca-Cola became New Coke and then went back to being Coca-Cola again. DVD became Blu-ray, and we moved from standard definition to high definition. In most cases, change is a good thing as innovation leads the way. But in the film Cars 3, what happens when the competitors in the Piston Cup racing series seem to have moved beyond Lightning McQueen? McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is looking to wrap up another stunning race against two of his best friends when a fresh-faced new car explodes through the pack. Jackson […]

Humans and apes. Are we really that different from each other? Our sense of community, our quest for survival, our emotions, whether buried or released, are all the same for both species. In the film War for the Planet of the Apes, we simultaneously celebrate and despise the similarities of the two species. As the wildly unpredictable Colonel (Woody Harrelson) escalates the battle with the apes, Caesar (Andy Serkis) is forced to fight to preserve the species he loves. Though Caesar has always kept an open mind about humans, there are moments that will push even the most level-headed individual […]

The films released under the umbrella of The Conjuring universe have been creepy successes. They are the rare blend of scares and story, a higher level of horror frights. Now, with the newest addition to that series, Annabelle: Creation, I’m happy to report we get more good creepy fun. Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) is an expert doll maker. He and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) have one young daughter and when Samuel’s latest doll order is ready to ship, the family looks to be living a dream. But when tragedy strikes, life changes and the Mullinses become reclusive. Fast forward […]

Spidey is back in the Spider-Man: Homecoming. We pick up with a story that has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) headed home after his battle alongside Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) during Captain America: Civil War. But his return home takes him from the adrenaline rush of being alongside the world’s greatest superheroes to that of an ordinary high-school student. Stark has plans for Spider-Man. He has gifted him with a new high-tech suit and all the accoutrements a teenage crime-fighter could ever want. But Peter is told to simply wait for his handler Happy (Jon Favreau) to call and put […]

The new film Wonder Woman is a big budget franchise extension of the DC Comics Universe featuring legendary superheroes. Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) was introduced as Wonder Woman in the 2016 release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. With her small role in that film, stealing scenes at every turn, we got a glimpse of the things that may be to come in the franchise. For her eponymous film, we are treated to the backstory of the photo that Bruce Wayne gave to Diana in Batman v Superman. Told mainly in flashback, this is Wonder Woman’s origin story. Growing […]

How can a studio follow up the 2014 hit Guardians of the Galaxy? It’s simple: go to the core of that film and create another awesome soundtrack. And that compilation of songs, cleverly titled Awesome Mixtape #2, is the heartbeat for the newest film, also cleverly titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Sure, there is more to it than just the music. The first film’s cast included some very unique heroes, from Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista) to the talking raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and the walking tree Groot […]