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The Rotunda
Sunday, May 25, 2025

Jacob DiLandro | A&E Staff | @spongejay1


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Reviews

The Reel Life: "Pacific Rim Uprising" (2018)

“Pacific Rim” shouldn’t really exist. It’s a western Hollywood film based around giant robot mechs fighting giant, Godzilla-inspired, monsters with actual effort put into its story and lore. In a world where the “Transformers” franchise has managed to stumble its way through five films with ...

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The Reel Life: "Tomb Raider" (2018)

After the abominations that were the Angelina Jolie “Tomb Raider” films, it’s understandable that public perception of the “Tomb Raider” video game series began to fall. What started as a series with a kick ass female treasure hunter began to devolve into a series of films and video games ...

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Reviews

The Reel Life: "Love, Simon" (2018)

Directed by Greg Berlanti, creator of “Supergirl,” “Arrow,” “The Flash” and “Riverdale,” and written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, the showrunners of "This Is Us” and writers of series like “Zack Stone is Gonna Be Famous,” "Love, Simon" is the first major studio teen rom-com ...

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The Reel Life: "A Wrinkle In Time" (2018)

Featuring a star-studded cast with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Mindy Kaling, a Disney-sized budget and award-winning director Ava DuVernay (“Selma,” “13th”), Madeleine L'Engle’s supposedly unfilmable classic novel comes to the big screen. How does this story ...

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Reviews

The Reel Life: "Game Night"

Comedy is a genre built on laughs, obviously, but it can’t just have jokes. A comedy film must still be a film, with work put into areas aside from jokes, because if the jokes fall flat at least there is a story or visual enjoyment to be had. Recently, most mainstream comedies (“The House,” ...

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Reviews

The Reel Life: "Black Panther" (2018)

With the character’s introduction and importance to the story of “Captain America: Civil War”, many fans were left equal parts concerned and excited for what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) could hold for T’Challa, the Black Panther. Now, director Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”, “Creed”) ...

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The Reel Life: "Peter Rabbit" (2018)

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoping along the fast track to box office success. Following in the footsteps of films like “Paddington” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” director Will Gluck (“Easy A,” “Annie” (2014)) tries to bring the beloved children’s book character into the modern age ...

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The Reel Life: "Fifty Shades Freed" (2018)

In order for a film to have a thriller, it must have certain elements. Suspense, intrigue, a sense of danger and semi-decent pacing. In order for a film to be erotic, it must excite the viewer, either giving them more than they thought they wanted or teasing them with just barely not enough. In order ...

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Reviews

The Reel Life: "The Cloverfield Paradox"

In a surprise move that only the most creative of theorists could have predicted, Netflix announced the third Cloverfield film during the 52nd Super Bowl. Even more shocking, the streaming giant announced that the film would be available to view after the game. In a move that only a member of the Cloverfield ...

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