Articles by Paul Hall

The year was 1984 when a young director named James Cameron introduced us to The Terminator, a film that launched both the director and the franchise that would eventually become legendary. The year is now 2019 and the hero and villain we loved are back in the film Terminator: Dark Fate. For those of you who don’t know some of the Terminator series backstory, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) has been hunted by terminators sent from the future to eliminate her and later her son John to prevent them from stopping the encroaching doom. Early in Dark Fate we are greeted […]

Everyone looks in a mirror. Sometimes we like what we see, while other times our reflection is a painful reminder of who we are. What happens though, when the mirror image of you is trying to hunt you down and kill you? That’s just part of the story for the film Gemini Man from director Ang Lee. Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is an assassin. Working for various arms of the government, Henry is brought in for that special shot that takes the best, because he is the best. But the number of kills in Henry’s past is catching up with […]

It’s never fun to start a review to a sequel with this comment: “Did we really need a sequel to this movie?” But I have to admit my true feeling and related skepticism when sitting down with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, as when I left Maleficent I had no desire to see any kind of resumption of the story. Despite my total and complete apathy at there being a sequel released, I left my night with the Mistress of Evil in delight, as I actually enjoyed the sequel, maybe even more so than the original. I know; that last comment […]

Origin stories are a tough nut to crack. Trying to bring people up to speed about what came first for a character we know is more of a challenge than meets the eye. In the film Joker, we get a look at one possible story for the creation of one of the biggest nemeses Batman faces. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) lives a quiet life. Caring for his mother Penny (Frances Conroy) and working a variety of gigs for a clowning agency, Fleck is an unrecognizable individual walking the streets of the behemoth of Gotham City, but that slowly will change. […]

Some parts of the world call it Bigfoot, Sasquatch or yeti, but in the animated film of the same name, he is simply Abominable. Yi (voice of Chloe Bennet) is a resourceful young woman. She has dealt with loss in a very real way as her father has recently passed. Her mother (Michelle Wong) and Nai Nai (Tsai Chin) are doing their best to keep her happy as she still has not opened up about the situation. Yi is constantly moving from job to job and always on the go while her mother and Nai Nai wonder when she will […]

After receiving the screening invite for the Downton Abbey feature film, I didn’t know what to expect. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say upfront — I had no experience with the acclaimed television series before the day I sat down to view this film. That said, the review that follows comes from a totally green perspective. But let me be perfectly clear, I was delighted with the result and can’t wait to dive into the series. King George V and Queen Mary are paying a visit to the Abbey, and Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora Crawley […]

Storytelling is essential to every film. For director Quentin Tarantino, storytelling goes far beyond words on a page, and that is on display in the film Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. Tarantino has garnered a reputation in Hollywood for creating original content amid a flurry of sequels and reboots. And in his original content, there is definitely a very distinct look, feel and sound as Tarantino harkens back to filmmaking of old. In Once Upon a Time, Tarantino goes back to 1969. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an actor known for his roles as a bad guy. Dalton […]

When the markets were booming, business was good for everyone involved with Wall Street. The good times even trickled down to the clubs where dancers were able to live the high life. But the money machine eventually stopped, and what was simply business veered into something else, as shown in the film Hustlers. Destiny (Constance Wu), searching for a way to pay the bills, quickly lands a job as a dancer. As the new girl, she finds herself treading water in the every-woman-for-herself field as every male club employee takes a share of her nightly earnings. Destiny is quickly drawn […]

Life has progressed for the members of the Losers Club. It has been 27 years since they battled Pennywise in the small town of Derry. Things are happening around the town yet again, and a return home is in store in the film IT Chapter Two. The Losers Club has grown up and most have left their Derry hometown but Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) has not, and as he sees disturbing events unfolding around him, he gets in contact with the group and almost all of them start a pilgrimage back to a place they have tried to forget. Mike recalls […]

The United States Secret Service has been a longstanding beacon of protection for our president, among others. But what happens when one of the smartest agents responsible for guarding the commander in chief turns against him? First it was the White House in 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen. In 2016, it was London’s turn in London Has Fallen. Now, in 2019, experience what happens next in the film Angel Has Fallen. Three distinct action films, one common thread — Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler). In Angel Has Fallen, Banning plays a trusted confidant of President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman). […]