Cosmic Circus has been covering movies and TV/streaming series for over five years now. Please take some time to read through some of our movie reviews below to find out what the writers think of past and new films.
Refer to the Stellar Picks archive to find some of our top-rated movies, shows, books, games, and more!
Horror, like any genre, is beholden to certain tropes. A well within the genre that’s been run into the ground is the possession sub-genre, to the point where trailers for a new Exorcist film are eliciting eye-rolls instead of the desired terror. Repetition of the same beats from possession films ad nauseam is to blame. To reinvigorate the possession movie, you
Read MoreDespite being different film subgenres, Your Lucky Day and What You Wish For are surprisingly similar. The two movies boast fantastic performers from Angus Cloud and Nick Stahl. Although Angus Cloud has passed away, his performance in the film is still a captivating force. Stahl, like Cloud, has also faced struggles, but his performance in What You Wish For may mark the beginning of a comeback for the underappreciated actor. Both
Read MoreFor those who read my Matilda: The Musical review from back in December, you may recall that the works of Roald Dahl were formative in my younger years. I remember being in first or second grade and choosing the box set of his most popular novels as my monthly reward for being an excellent student. Tearing through those books was a
Read MoreIn the present era, popularity has taken a unique shape. Platforms like TikTok have enabled short and meaningless videos to thrust someone into unexpected stardom. Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage, examines the contemporary idea of fame and how it can be a delicate issue in the public eye, even for something trivial. The movie cleverly utilizes satire to communicate its message,
Read MoreApproaching a Fall/Winter movie season full of promising films, one has stuck out a surprising outlier: Gareth Edwards’ The Creator. The filmmaker burst onto the scene with his debut Monsters, displaying comfortability in playing with human perspective against large-scale threats. He then parlayed that into 2014’s excellent Godzilla, which then catapulted him into 2016’s divisive Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Read MoreIt’s been an eventful weekend here at Fantastic Fest 2023, with lots of great films for fans of genre pieces. The festival started with a massive swing of a movie on the first night. Fans of the original Toxic Avenger are well aware of how nutso the original film is in execution. The remake is not much different and might be the
Read MoreEarlier this year, Keanu Reeves returned to the big screen as the titular assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4, arguably the most stylish and high-octane action franchise of our time. Directed by the talented Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, the film sees our dog-avenging anti-hero facing off against the High Table in another thrilling installment. On this action-packed John Wick podcast episode, members of The Cosmic
Read MoreSpy Kids was a formative film from my adolescence. I was 9 when the first film came out, following the adventures of siblings Juni (Daryl Sabra) and Carmen Cortez (Alexa PenaVega) as they save their parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) from the misguided villain Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). The original series was a wonderful combination of adventure, spy gadgets, and
Read MoreOut of all the franchises out there, The Expendables isn’t one where yet another sequel would be expected. After the first film, which opened to decent profit off its premise of teaming iconic action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, and every other icon your dad grew up on in one movie, a sequel, The Expendables 2, performed even better. The same luck
Read MoreWhat makes someone extraordinary? This question crosses my mind each and every time I watch a biopic. There must be something about the individuals whose lives we deem the general public needs to know. There’s been such an influx of biopics in recent years, each one showcasing the extraordinary lives of these larger-than-life individuals. Prime Video is releasing two such films
Read MoreDirector and actor Kenneth Branagh’s passion for the works of Agatha Christie continues with another murder mystery for Hercule Poirot. This time, Branagh takes a swan dive into the supernatural with A Haunting in Venice, an approach he has tried with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. A Haunting in Venice is not a perfect sequel. Some aspects feel slightly undercooked within its screenplay. However, this might be the most engaging
Read MoreA triumphant tale of a real-life perseverant hero, Jose Hernandez, who overcame many forms of failure to succeed and become the first migrant farmworker to go into space. The film stars Michael Pena (who also plays my favorite MCU character Luis!) as Hernandez, taking us through his discovery of the stars above and how he floated amongst them. A Million Miles
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