Matthew Rainis, Author at The Statesman

“The Predator:” Just another mediocre reboot

Matthew RainisArtsSeptember 26, 2018March 18, 2020

If the filmmakers had been willing to stay in their lane on this one, this would have been a solidly entertaining action flick.

Review: Avengers: Infinity War

Matthew RainisArtsMay 6, 2018

Marvel has mastered the formula for fun and serviceable superhero films, but despite its scale and ambition, “Avengers: Infinity War” fails to propel itself above middling Marvel fare.

Review: “Ready Player One” struggles to deliver its message

Matthew RainisArtsApril 10, 2018April 10, 2018

While the film frames this struggle as an “everyone vs. big corporation” story, it fails to recognize that the whole film itself exists to shout out the creations of other corporate entities.

“Love, Simon” is the optimistic coming out story we needed

Matthew RainisArtsMarch 25, 2018

The positivity and normalcy the film portrays Simon’s struggles makes it pleasant and watchable, occasionally tugging at the heartstrings a bit.

Visuals of “Annihilation” thrill even when film falters

Matthew RainisArtsMarch 4, 2018

Deciding whether a movie is good or bad is a relatively simple task that can be accomplished by assessing one variable: was the movie a pleasurable experience the whole way through?

Jaden Smith’s genre-hopping “SYRE” is a directionless, yet enjoyable listen

Matthew RainisArtsDecember 10, 2017

Overall, “SYRE” is an enjoyable listening experience most of the way through, even if the constant tone and tempo switches are exhausting at times.

Review: “The Snowman” is a shockingly bad film

Matthew RainisArtsOctober 29, 2017October 30, 2017

In its complete failure to reach even my bare minimum expectations for a film, “The Snowman” manages to be entertaining in a completely different – and unintentional – way.