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Joshua Starnes

Joshua Starnes has been writing about film and the entertainment industry since 2004 and served as the President of the Houston Film Critics Society from 2012 to 2019. In 2015, he became a co-owner/publisher of Red 5 Comics and, in 2018, wrote the series "Kulipari: Dreamwalker" for Netflix. In between, he continues his lifelong quest to find THE perfect tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich combination.

As a war film, 1917 doesn’t have much in the way of new ideas to offer — and maybe there aren’t any for the genre now — but it’s so elegantly crafted it takes the breath away. The story is simple: a pair of infantrymen have been given a message to deliver across nine treacherous …

Read More about 1917 Review: Sam Mendes Film Takes the Breath Away

Sequels need to look forward. They almost never do; it’s very difficult to conceptualize an interesting new character in the first place, and doing so out of the blue means tying them in concretely to the story of the introduction, which usually also has a concrete end. Their lives may go on, but the most …

Read More about Frozen 2 Review: The Sequel Is Unable to Move Forward

As frequently funny as it is frequently messy, the newest iteration of the Charlie’s Angels franchise has all the ingredients for success but never gets them together. A strong supporting cast, a solid vision for the film, and top-tier department heads should and occasionally do create a zippy action comedy with just enough more on …

Read More about Charlie’s Angels Review: The New Film Comes Crashing Down

There are good films, there are bad films, and there are the worst films — the cinematic equivalents of a five-talent ballplayer who never gets out of the minors. They sound good on paper but just never live up to their potential. Last Christmas is one of those films that should be so much better …

Read More about Last Christmas Review: So Many Missed Opportunities

Martin Scorsese is no stranger to the gangster genre. While his oeuvre stretches across almost the entire breadth of 20th-century American cinema (no Western on there… yet), it’s no accident that he is primarily associated with his forays into crime film. They are the touchstones around which his career has been built and — fairly …

Read More about The Irishman Review: Martin Scorsese’s New Crime Drama

What makes Maleficent: Mistress of Evil so boring? Is it the ramshackle plot that flits from character to character, building up a giant climax without stakes or interest? Is it the strangeness of grafting large action pieces and violent character death onto children’s story characters? Is it the focus on world-building and mythology over character …

Read More about Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Review

For all the questions about the nature of humanity inherent in the premise, no one has yet made a good movie about cloning. From The 6th Day to Never Let Me Go to even Parts: The Clonus Horror or Duncan Jones’ superior Moon, everyone who comes into contact with the subject seems to prefer it …

Read More about Gemini Man Review: Two Will Smiths Face Off in Ang Lee Film

Man is a solitary creature. If there is anything to take from James Gray’s loving and lovingly strange 2001: A Space Odyssey hat tap, it’s the aching hole inside individuals that no amount of exploration or discovery can fill. That may not be particularly comforting to fans of human scientific advancement, but its combination of …

Read More about Ad Astra Review: Startlingly Beautiful with One of Pitt’s Best Performances

Continuation. Repetition. Encapsulation. In the realm of TV translation to film, these are the three potential options for what the audience will receive. A continuation of the story from its last episode, potentially with greater stakes and changes to the status quo on offer. A repetition of the most loved storylines in order to achieve …

Read More about Downton Abbey Review: Continuation, Repetition, Encapsulation

Surely, the most dreaded words in all of feature film development must be “it needs a new direction.” [Followed closely by “I have a few notes”]. Not that searching for a new direction is bad; some fantastic films have come from creatives throwing out what came before and, in the process, re-discovering an original truth. …

Read More about Dora and the Lost City of Gold Review

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is exactly what you think it is – a film with a ridiculously convoluted title. It’s also big, dumb, loud, and frequently great fun. It’s the kind of movie Michael Bay thinks he’s making but isn’t. It’s also frequently not the film it thinks it is. Mainly because …

Read More about Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Review

The great philosopher Tyler Durden once said, “The things we possess end up possessing us.” Taking that sort of glib pseudo-philosophy seriously is bound to backfire, but someone has anyway, so we may as well grapple with it. The possession under discussion is the haunted doll Annabelle, which has been traveling in search of a …

Read More about Annabelle Comes Home Review