By Robert Yaniz Jr.

In the wake of the 2018 Holiday Binge, I had planned to get back on a regular review schedule, pumping out at least one film review per week. While that is still very much the goal, I fell short in the first quarter of 2019. So, rather than allow the few new films I have seen to fall through the cracks, I recognized this as the perfect opportunity to revive the review montage format. Each of these posts aims to cover a trio of “relatively” new releases. This could be films that are streaming, recently hit home videos or even current theatrical releases that I just didn’t have time to review more thoroughly. Keep an eye out for more of these to come and (hopefully) even more full-length reviews as well.

Velvet Buzzsaw

Despite an intriguing AF trailer (which I analyzed alongside Screen Fever’s Adam Barnard), Dan Gilroy’s reunion with Nightcrawler star Jake Gyllenhaal never really achieves its full potential. While the film fancies itself a satirical takedown of art criticism, it gradually devolves into cheap slasher territory until the point where even the film’s internal sense of supernatural logic collapses in on itself. Still, Gilroy infuses some interesting ideas in here, even if they don’t really work. Considering it’s already available on your Netflix account, it’s worth checking out if you’re a Gilroy fan.

The Kid Who Would Be King

Generally, King Arthur is one of those characters — like Robin Hood, Hercules, etc. — that has been done to death so many times that any new take is essentially bound to feel derivative or simply absurd. Yet, somehow, writer/director Joe Cornish has found a way to make Arthurian legend accessible (and even relevant!) to modern audiences. Sure, the film occasionally falls prey to its goofier tendencies, but for the most part, Cornish’s autuerish sensibility and a charming cast of young actors (led by Louis Ashbourne Serkis, son of Andy Serkis) make it one of the best family films of the year so far.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

Everything was awesome for the LEGO film franchise after 2014’s The LEGO Movie became one of that year’s breakout hits. However, the diminishing returns of The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie put the pressure on this sequel to deliver. For the most part, it cleverly builds on its predecessor, even if it riffs a bit too often on established gags. Chris Pratt pulls double duty as Emmet and a new character (I’ll let you figure out why), but Elizabeth Banks remains the unsung hero of this franchise. At least this time around we get Jason Momoa as the voice of Aquaman. So there’s that.

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