Raptor Reviews

2017 was a movie year marked by what I would call uncommon consensus. It’s not that everyone liked all the same movies, but, well, everyone kind of liked all the same movies.

Upstart movies like Get Out and Lady Bird were immediate hits with critics and audiences alike, which held all the way through awards season where both are now Best Picture nominees. Lacking a high-profile foreign-language crossover like Toni Erdmann, critical opinion coalesced around a few arty indies like Personal Shopper, A Ghost Story, Call Me By Your Name, and The Florida Project. Audience favorites Christopher Nolan and Edgar Wright released Dunkirk and Baby Driver respectively to positive box-office and generally good reviews. Audiences loved The Greatest Showman and Beauty and the Beast – again. They hated Darren Aronofsky’s mother! with a fiery but not altogether unexpected hatred.  READ FULL ARTICLE

by Daniel Stidham

At the end of The Force Awakens, Rey has finally tracked Luke Skywalker to a secluded island and approached the legendary Jedi to hand him his own lost or forgotten lightsaber. The film ends on a cliffhanger, forcing fans to stew on this charged, enigmatic moment for two years until the next installment came around. Well, ladies and Gungans, the next installment is here; and how you feel about what writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) does with this moment may determine whether or not you’ll be on board with the rest of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

At this point I’m jumping straight into SPOILERS so if you haven’t seen the movie and you’re still reading this, consider this your final warning. READ FULL REVIEW