Josh Board

Josh Board is a member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and has been reviewing movies since 1990.

Recent Articles

  • Booksmart

    This movie is getting so over-hyped. Critics are saying it’s the best film of the year. They’re calling it one of the best high school flicks ever. It’s basically Superbad with girls. The Jonah Hill character is played by his sister Beanie Feldstein. The Michael Cera character is played by Kaitlyn Devers (who reminded me of Ellen Page in Juno). This isn’t as good as Superbad, Mean Girls, Easy A, Love, Simon, Ladybird, Generation X, Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont […]

  • Aladdin

    I was really worried about this version of Aladdin. Early on, everyone was making fun of how goofy Will Smith looked in blue. And of course, there are all the complaints about remaking a classic. Coming off of the disappointment of Tim Burton’s Dumbo a few months ago, having Guy Ritchie direct seemed an odd choice. I’ve loved his movies Snatch, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRoll, and even his Sherlock Holmes film was fun. Not such a big […]

  • A Movie Theatre With Beds

    I’m on record as saying the Angelika Film Center & Cafe on Carmel Mountain Road is my favorite theatre. I like the reclining seats and their cheeseburgers. As someone that is 6’1” and…well, nevermind my weight…having the extra room in the seats is also nice. I’ve joked that I’m so comfortable I fall asleep when the seats are that relaxing, but…I’ve fallen asleep in the crampy, crappy seats of the AMC Mission Valley, too. It blew me away to hear […]

  • John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum

    I’ve always love looking at Ian McShane on screen. He’s got such an interesting face. Yet when I hear him say the word “excommunicado” about 53 times, I get a bit tired of it. And this is a 2 hour and 20 minute movie. I’ve never been a fan of non-stop fighting scenes. I think I was around 13-years-old and watching a Chuck Norris movie when I said to myself…this is garbage. Now, the first John Wick was a little […]

  • All is True

    There’s so much we don’t know about William Shakespeare, but that doesn’t mean creating fan fiction is the way to go, especially in a movie titled “All is True” when most of it, isn’t. Now, if anybody is going to do that, Kenneth Branagh is the guy. Shakespeare has been very, very good to him. So having him write, direct, and star in this…had me excited about seeing it. That was, until I was bored to tears and frustrated with […]

  • Trial by Fire

    I started watching this thinking it was going to be a run-of-the-mill melodrama (at times it was), but I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting it was. It helps that the fact-based film had two outstanding performances, from Jack O’Connell (Unbroken) and Laura Dern (who I only got to see in two scenes in the horrible Cold Pursuit earlier this year). The story is based on a New Yorker article that came out 10 years ago, about a man named […]

  • The Hustle

    I didn’t make it to the screening of this movie, but caught it tonight at the best movie theatre in town — the Angelika Film Center on Carmel Mountain Road. After finishing the delicious burger (there might not be a better hamburger at any theatre), I reclined in my seat and was prepared for some laughs. Yet when the movie starts with Rebel Wilson on a train, trying to con a guy into a free meal (and ordered burgers, french […]

  • Poms

    Anjelica Huston, the amazing Oscar winning actress (who I haven’t seen since 50/50) ticked me off in an interview she did recently. She talked about how what Roman Polanski did wasn’t all that bad because older men dated younger women in the ‘70s. She mentioned a relationship she had with a 40-year-old director when she was 18. The problem with that logic is — she was an adult. Polanski was with a 13-year-old, and gave her drugs and alcohol, before […]

  • UglyDolls

    I’ve reviewed movies on various outlets for over 25 years. Over that time, I’ve met hundreds of kids that tell me they want to get into the film industry. When I was at Scripps Ranch High School last week for the Falcon Visual Arts Festival (you can read about that here: https://fox5sandiego.com/2019/04/27/scripps-ranch-2nd-annual-falcon-visual-arts-festival/), I met a guy named Nick who had one of the best short films I’ve seen in some time, and might be the first that I actually think […]

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