Review: "War for the Planet of the Apes" Ends the Trilogy on a Satisfying Yet Predictable Note

Scene from War for the Planet of the Apes

In a time where spoiler culture is frowned upon, it becomes baffling that a franchise like Planet of the Apes is as popular as it is. After all, the reboot prequels that began in 2011 are building towards the back half of the title. In theory, there should be nothing exciting about seeing the birth of a planet of apes. However, director Matt Reeves has found a way to not only make it compelling, but use revolutionary technology to make gripping stories full of rich empathy and powerful allegories of the modern time. With the final piece of the new trilogy, War for the Planet of the Apes, he gets us to the final destination. Is it satisfying? In a sense, yes. However, it's more of the same from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (for better or worse) and it keeps the story from being more than a dark and sometimes too brooding parable of modern militarism and xenophobic ignorance. It's satisfying, but it's very much the third part of a trilogy at the same time.

The First Trailer for "Grandma" Sees Tomlin Being As Sassy As Ever

Left to right: Julia Garner and Lily Tomlin

In 2015, it seems like a very good time to be Lily Tomlin. For starters, she has gotten a lot of acclaim for her work on the Netflix series Grace and Frankie alongside co-star Jane Fonda. While she has been busy with small parts here and there, it feels like she has decided to take center stage with a series of projects that also includes Sundance favorite from director Paul Weitz called Grandma. In a film that sees her taking care of her granddaughter and having a very randy time about it, the first trailer looks to promise a lot of great times ahead, but is it possible that an Oscar nomination is in store as well?

Reitman Returns to Thought Provoking Drama with the First Trailer for "Men, Women & Children"

Left to right: Ansel Egort and Kaitlyn Dever

One of the great things about the end of summer is that it marks the beginning of Oscar season. While films like Inherent Vice, Interstellar, and Foxcatcher have their positions planned out, there is still the actual race. Despite what prognosticators will say, there are very few instances where predictions in July will be the same in January. There's way too much that comes out that takes surprising turns. For instance, did anyone see Gravity as a Best Director winner from the first trailer? Alfonso Cuaron fans maybe did, but all of the attention was on 12 Years a Slave. With the first trailer for director Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children, he looks to be back and ready to surprise the world not only with a film about technology and how it isolates as well as potentially surprising performances. Is this going to be Adam Sandler's foray into the Oscar race? Knowing Reitman's abilities, it just might.