Jake's Cinema Room

2019. R. 135 mins. Directed by Benny & Josh Safdie Adam Sandler is an actor who has had an interesting career. He's made numerous comedies that range from arguably some of the worst comedies ever made to some that are actually really good. When he decides to take on roles where the movie's are more on the dramatic side he tends to shine and really show off his acting chops. Even in some of his lesser movies he still has moments where he show cases some of that great acting ability. Uncut Gems is the latest movie for Sandler to try and prove just how good of an actor he really is and with the Safdie Brothers directing it might just be the perfect match. Sandler stars as Howard, a jeweler in New York who is always looking for ways to make money. Most of the time that comes in the way of placing bets on basketball games, auctioning off priceless artifacts and pawning off any piece of jewelry from any celebrity he come sin contact with. Recently he's been able to secur...

2019. R. 110 mins. Directed by Lorene Scafaria Hustlers is the latest movie written and directed by Lorene Scafaria. She has had a great track record in previous years of directing and writing movies with seemingly unlikable characters that she manages to make you care for by the end. With Hustlers we follow Constance Wu as Destiny, a stripper who befriends a group of girls who come up with a scheme where they take advantage of clients that frequent their club in an effort to take more money from them. The ring leader of the group is Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) who takes Destiny under her wing and brings her into this life of crime that is full of sex, drugs and money. On paper this movie has a lot going for it. You've got a proven director/writer in Lorene Scafaria, Constance Wu is a hot commodity at the moment, the story is based on a popular article from New York Magazine and throw in a solid supporting cast that features Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer along with popular music acts...

2019. PG. 109 mins. Directed by Simon Curtis The Art of Racing in The Rain is the latest movie in the trend of following a dog as the central character as he narrates throughout his life. While the movie plans on obviously tugging at the heartstrings of it's audience it still manages to put together a thoroughly enjoyable story overall. In this movie we follow Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner), a golden retriever with a heart of gold who lives our his days with his owner Denny (Milo Ventimiglia). Denny is a Formula One race car driver and he frequently takes Enzo to the track with him during his younger years. The story continues on as Denny falls in love with a girl (Amanda Seyfried), they have a daughter together and over the years Enzo and Denny go through many ups and downs while managing to keep their strong bond in tact. It seems like every year studios try to put out a new movie that features a dog as it's central character or has a dog play a major part in the story. ...

Dark Phoenix marks the final movie in the X-Men series produced by 20th Century Fox. This is a series that has definitely seen it's ups and downs but overall it's been slightly more positive than negative. X2 and Days of Future Past being the clear two best in the series and Apocalypse and X-Men Origins: Wolverine being at the bottom of the barrel. So the question is with Dark Phoenix being the last go around where does it fit in with the other movies in the series? Unfortunately, it may very well be the worst outing in the entire X-Men series. We jump to the 90's this time around following the X-Men as they travel to space to save a crew of astronauts from their rocket. While saving them Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) gets stuck on the rocket ship and is exposed to a dark and ancient power. Once back on Earth she begins to show signs that this new power could be deadly, not just for the X-Men but for the entire world. This puts the X-Men in a situation where they must deci...

Ma follows Maggie (Diana Silvers), a teenager who just moved with her mom (Juliette Lewis) back to the town where her mom grew up. Things start out not so great for Maggie at school but surprisingly enough it isn't long before she finds of a group of friends, who are all typical high school stereotypes, and they start hanging out. On one of the first days of them hanging out the friends get Maggie to beg adults to buy them beer from a local convenience store. That's when they meet Sue Ann (Octavia Spencer). She reluctantly buys the beer for them and they go on to have a good time. Sue Ann continues to show up around Maggie and her friends and starts to become a friend all her own. From continuing to buy them beer to letting them party in her basement, Sue Ann seems like the coolest adult in this small town. Things may not be what they seem as they continue to hang out with Sue Ann and things start to happen that question their relationship with this woman. Director T...

Mean Creek was released back in 2004. It had a very limited run in theaters so it didn't really get the chance to be seen during it's theatrical run. When it comes to indie films some get the right treatment and get a lot of exposure and others don't get much money put into getting the film out there for people to see. The latter is where Mean Creek falls and it's a shame because it is one of the best teen oriented films to come out in the early 2000's. Featuring a cast of, at the time, up and comers some of which have gone on to have pretty solid careers and the others for the most falling into obscurity. The story follows Sam (Rory Culkin). Sam gets picked on at school by George (Josh Peck). George is a troubled boy who has consistently been bullying kids for quite some time now. After their last altercation, Sam's brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) has had enough and decides it's time for them to get back at George. Rocky and his friends Clyde (Ryan Kelly...

Murder Mystery marks the fifth movie from Adam Sandler to premiere on Netflix. Sixth if you count The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) but that one wasn't a Netflix original movie. The four movies preceding this have all been anywhere from flat out horrible to somewhat average. With not much in the way of competition, Murder Mystery makes its mark as the best Adam Sandler movie on Netflix. Is that enough to warrant a watch? Let's find out. Reuniting once again after the awkwardly bad Just Go With It, Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston play Nick and Audrey Spitz. They've recently been in somewhat of a rut. Nick is trying to become a New York City detective but has failed his test for third time. Their 15 year anniversary is coming up and Audrey can't stop thinking back to when they first got married and Nick promised her a trip to Europe. After feeling guilty being confronted by Audrey about why he still has never taken her, he books a vacation to Europe. While...

The How To Train Your Dragon series has become one of the more underrated animated series since the first one came out back in 2010. It spawned a really good sequel that was just as good, if not better than the first one. Now we come to the third and final movie in the series titled The Hidden World and it couldn't be more of a fitting ending to a really great franchise. In this outing we follow Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) as he is now the chief of his village. The village is starting to become over populated because of so many dragons that the humans share their village with. Hiccup plans to seek out the Hidden World, a place his father (Gerard Butler), used to tell him about when he was a little boy. This place is supposedly a sanctuary for all different kinds of dragons and would be a perfect place for the overabundance of dragons that are now in the village. To go along with seeking out a new place to live Hiccup's dragon Toothless has discovered he is not the only Night Fu...

When six friends decide to take a trip together to celebrate one of their 50th birthdays hilarity ensues and tensions from the past make their appearance. Wine Country reunites four Saturday Night Live cast members (Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch) along with two writers (Paula Pell and Emily Spivey) who all worked on the show during the same era. Amy Poehler not only stars but also makes her directorial debut here in what ends up being a decent little comedy yet feels like a missed opportunity at the same time. One of the best aspects of Wine Country is its cast. Since they've spent so many years together on SNL and have been real life friends for years it really brings out the relationships of the characters as it all feels very authentic. These ladies know the right way to bounce one-liners off one another and Poehler does a good job behind the camera getting the most out of these actresses. Even Tina Fey, who was on SNL in the same era as the res...

Second Act stars Jennifer Lopez as Maya Vargas, a newly turned 40 year old who is up for a big promotion at the value grocery store that she has worked at for the last 15 years. She is utterly disappointed when she is overlooked for the position and the company decides to go in a different direction, despite her being the best choice. Things change when Maya gets an interview with a company that seems way out of her league. The CEO of the company (Treat Williams) is very impressed with her and her resume, which has been altered by her best friend's son to help give her a leg up in getting a better job. Once she is offered a position she must go toe to toe with Vice President of the company (Vanessa Hudgens) to see who can make the most cost effective product. There's nothing here that hasn't already been done in hundreds of other romantic comedies. You have a character who gets into a situation caused by a lie and from the moment that happens it's pretty easy to fi...

Then Came You stars Asa Butterfield (Hugo) as Calvin, a hypochondriac who work as an airport baggage handler with his brother (Tyler Hoechlin) and father (David Koechner). Calvin is a very timid and worrisome person whose whole life changes when he meets Skye (Maisie Williams) at a support group for people diagnosed with cancer. Skye is the complete opposite of Calvin, more outgoing and somewhat of a loose cannon. She enlists Calvin to help her fulfill her bucket list, or as she calls it her "To-Die List" before she passes on. Hesitant at first, Calvin agrees to help her out in hopes that it may bring some light to his down on his luck life. There have been many of films to come out over the years with a lot of similarities to Then Came You. We've all seen the two strangers who meet and bond over a particular event or trait that they both share. Thankfully, everyone involved here does a great job at making this film stand out from the rest of the pack and prides its...