Jake's Cinema Room

  2020. R. 88 mins. Directed by Dave Franco First time director Dave Franco has put together something more than your average thriller with The Rental. We follow two couples; Charlie (Dan Stevens) & Michelle (Alison Brie) and Josh (Jeremy Allen White) & Mina (Sheila Vand) as they rent a vacation home for the weekend. Both couples look to enjoy a nice relaxing weekend but they grow suspicious of the homeowner when not all is as it seems at the house. Along with that secrets from the couples start to come out and cause friction among everyone. They start to see each other in a new light as they try to discover the secrets of the house. For a first time director Dave Franco, who is usually known more for his comedies, shows a lot of chops behind the camera. He's able to take a simple premise and flesh it out enough to make it quite entertaining. The film is marketed as a thriller, which it very much is, however it also works as a character drama as well. We spend around two th...

It is always nice to see an actor who is mostly known for their comedic performances want to venture out and try their hand at something different. Just last year we saw Adam Sandler give one of the best performances of his career in Uncut Gems and now one of his best friends in Kevin James is trying his luck at a role that is unlike anything he's ever done before. Should James stick to his usual comedy routine or does he have the chops to play more nasty villain roles? Becky follows the story of a young girl, played by Lulu Wilson, who is traveling with her dad Jeff (Joel McHale) to their lake house for the weekend. To her surprise her dad has also invited his girlfriend Kayla (Amanda Brugel) and her son Ty. This doesn't go over well as Becky is still not over the loss of her mother who passed away just a year ago so she sets off into the woods with the family dogs. Things get worse from there when a group of convicts, led by Dominick (Kevin James), take the family hostage....

2020. PG-13. 109 mins. Directed by Jeff Wadlow TV shows being adapted into feature length movies is nothing new. Sometimes you get a nice surprise like 21 and 22 Jump Street. Other times you get something that looked good on paper but ended up failing miserably like The Last Airbender. Fantasy Island is the latest show to get this treatment and production company Blumhouse has decided to try it's luck with the adaptation. Where does Fantasy Island fall in the many TV to movie transfers? Unfortunately it falls into The Last Airbender category. Five strangers head to Fantasy Island, a luxurious island where guests can live out one of their life long fantasies. The island is run by Mr. Roarke (Michael Pena) and he puts forth the rules for everyone when they arrive, each visitor is allowed one fantasy each and they each must see their fantasy until the end. Our guests set off to their fantasies where things almost seem too good to be true. As their fantasies progress the guests st...

2020. PG. 102 mins. Dan Scanlon Pixar is considered to be arguably the best animation studio in the film industry. So anytime they have a new movie coming out it is typically a big deal. With 21 total movies made since the original Toy Story came out back in 1995 Pixar has gone on to have only two misfires in my book, Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur. Onward marks the 22nd movie in their lineup and hopes to continue their impressive streak of some of the best animated movies to be made. Does it achieve this or does Pixar play it a little too safe with Onward? Onward tells the story of a world that used to rely heavily on the use of magic but over time ignored using magic and decided to tend to things on their own. Two elven brothers, Ian (Tom Holland) and Barley (Chris Pratt), get the chance to experience some of the old magic of their world when Ian is gifted a special crystal on his sixteenth birthday. The crystal was given to him but their late father and it holds the power to brin...