Articles by Paul Hall

The Avengers are under fire in the new film Captain America: Civil War. After a couple of missions cause unacceptable collateral damage and loss of life, a number of the world’s governments decide they’ve had enough. Together they push through the Sokovia Accords in the United Nations. These accords will only allow the Avengers to get involved in a conflict after receiving U.N. approval. Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man) approves of the regulation while Steve Rogers (Captain America) is intent on responding to a wrong whether or not he has a green light to proceed. After an incident at the […]

Money Monster is director Jodie Foster latest film, and it delves into a real world financial mess with gritty realism. Lee Gates (George Clooney) is known as the “Money Monster.” His television show of the same name mimics a kind of extreme sports version of a financial show with some pretty savvy dancing. When a mysterious man (Jack O’Connell) walks onto the set with a gun and an explosives-filled vest, things instantly transition from fun to ultra serious. Of course the mysterious man — who we soon learn is named Kyle — has a story to tell. Kyle wants answers. […]

The Jungle Book is back and this mixture of stunning visuals, great voice talent and a brand new actor brings Mowgli to life like you’ve never seen him before. As a child I grew up with the animated version of The Jungle Book. I sang along in my head to songs like “The Bare Necessities” and marveled at the life of the man-cub named Mowgli. For those who never sang along, here’s the quick overview of the story. As a baby, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is found by a panther named Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley) and brought into the jungle […]

It’s been four years since we took a journey with Snow White and her Huntsman. Now, in the new film The Huntsman: Winter’s War, we see what happened before that film. As Ravenna’s (Charlize Theron) wicked ways grow, her battle with her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) careens forward. After a life-altering event, Freya leaves Ravenna’s kingdom to create her own legacy and come out from under her sister’s rule. In her new kingdom, Freya is now ruling with an iron fist, collecting children from the territories her armies invade in an effort raise a Huntsman army loyal to protecting her […]

Although it seems that Angry Birds, the game, has been flying on phones everywhere for ages, it only debuted in December 2009 on Apple iOS. As of December 2010, 12 million copies of the game had been sold and 30 million copies of the app had been downloaded. Angry Birds had taken the world by storm. Now, after countless other versions of the popular game have been released, these lovable and flightless birds are smashing into Hollywood in the new film The Angry Birds Movie. Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) has never really fit in. He has anger issues and […]

In director Garry Marshall’s most recent film, Mother’s Day, we meet a variety of women, and one man, trying to succeed at one of the most difficult and thankless jobs in the world — being a mom. Mother’s Day is also Marshall’s last film. He died last month at the age of 81, after a long career in film and television. Sandy (Jennifer Aniston) is a single mother raising two boys while her ex-husband (Timothy Olyphant) is off with a much, MUCH younger woman. Sandy can feel that motherly role slipping through her fingers as that younger woman starts sliding […]

For eight years, starting in 1984, Tony Danza ran the Bower household on the television show Who’s the Boss? Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) is an entirely different brand of leader in the new film The Boss. She brash, she’s raunchy, she makes human resources managers everywhere cringe and, oh yeah, she’s going to jail. Although she is extremely wealthy, Michelle is sent to do six months of “hard” time in a minimum-security prison after being convicted of insider trading. Upon her release, it is abundantly clear that her life has changed. All of her assets have been seized and she […]

What is 10 Cloverfield Lane? The new film has an aura of the unknown and leaves critics like myself scratching our collective head about how much to expose, without giving away the surprises. After a disagreement with her significant other, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has set off on her own, presumably to start over. But this journey is far from uneventful as she finds herself in a cold and colorless room with a man she does not know. Howard (John Goodman) tells her that she was found after a car accident and that he saved her. Howard later informs Michelle […]

Can predator and prey truly live together in harmony? They can and do in the Walt Disney release Zootopia. Judy Hopps is a rabbit, and Zootopia’s police department has never had a bunny for an officer. Her family is both proud and terrified to send her from the sleepy Bunnytown to the dangerous big city of Zootopia. It is there that Judy will fulfill the dream that everyone said she couldn’t have: to be the first rabbit to become a police officer. The road isn’t easy for Officer Hopps. Her boss has sent everyone on the force to track down […]

Inspired by true events, The Revenant focuses on a legendary explorer named Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio). While on a trip to the uncharted American wilderness, Glass and his young Pawnee son are all that are keeping his hunting crew out of harm’s way. But an attack on Glass by a wild animal leaves him near death in the arctic weather of an American winter. With few left in the party, the captain leaves a couple of men behind to care for Glass until his seemingly inevitable death. Under the care of John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the young Bridger (Will Poulter) […]