Critic

Aaron Peck

Reviewing for The Reel Place since October 2009

You know you’re destined to write about film when you think Roger Ebert is the coolest person alive. Aaron started writing real movie reviews in college for Utah State’s newspaper, The Utah Statesman. After graduating in English, with a Technical Writing emphasis, Aaron decided that he still wanted to write about movies for a living. He got a job doing the movie reviews for Logan, Utah’s newspaper, The Herald Journal.

Print isn’t the only place you can find Aaron’s work published. He’s written extensively for Blogciritcs.org, and still writes regularly for HighDefDigest.com (Blu-ray reviews), and Film.com (film commentary).

Now Aaron can be found crouched over his laptop furiously updating The Reel Place in order to make it the most interesting, thought-provoking film commentary site on the net. Yes, we’ve got a long way to go, but you’ve got to start somewhere right?

Favorites

Rated 4½ stars and up

PG-13 ★★★★½

Godzilla

A Godzilla movie that once again embraces the idea of Godzilla as a hero.

PG-13 ★★★★½

Noah

A deep tale of humanity, bolstered by the mind of a truly visionary director.

R ★★★★½

The World’s End

Perfect comedic insight into mid-life crises coupled with a hilarious alien invasion.

PG ★★★★★

The Muppets

It's clear that Jason Segel has a deep love for all things Muppets. That's what makes this movie so good.

R ★★★★½

Drive

A suspenseful, and intense thrill-ride that shows action movies don't have to be confusing pieces of climactic nonsense.

PG-13 ★★★★½

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally come face to face with Voldemort in a harrowing battle for Hogwarts and, the world.

Harshest takes

2 stars and under

PG-13 ★★★★★

Divergent

A dopey dystopian drama about a girl, a guy, and a whole lot of semi-futuristic nonsense.

R ★★★★★

The Counselor

A vague, misguided, misogynistic tale of the woes of the ruthless drug trade; with a whole lot of pseudo-parable speak thrown in for good measure.

R ★★★★★

Riddick

A brief look at the universe's most dangerous CGI animal park until the universe's dumbest bounty hunters arrive.

R ★★★★★

Gangster Squad

An overly stylized shoot'em up video game of a movie.

PG-13 ★★★★★

The Woman in Black

A haunted house, things that go bump in the night and a gigantic yawn of a plot.

PG-13 ★★★★★

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Bella and Edward get married and play chess on their honeymoon. And that's about it.

Latest reviews

PG-13 ★★★★★

Jurassic World

A cliché-driven action adventure that never gives itself time to establish meaningful scenes or dramatic scenarios.

R ★★½★★

Entourage

A sorry state of bro-culture run amok. Ari and Drama are the only sacks of life in a sad sack TV-series improbably gone big screen.

R ★★★★★

Spy

A surprisingly tight, constantly humorous espionage spoof that finds new ways to be funny given the familiar material.

PG-13 ★★★★★

Edge of Tomorrow

A smart, futuristic war movie with fresh ideas, surprisingly dark humor, and splendid acting.

R ★★★★★

A Million Ways to Die in the West

An often chuckle-worthy look at the raunchy Wild West, and why it would suck to live there.

PG ★★★½★

Maleficent

The surprisingly profound story of a villain who wasn't always obsessed with grotesque thorns and terrible dragons.

PG-13 ★★★★½

Godzilla

A Godzilla movie that once again embraces the idea of Godzilla as a hero.

R ★★★½★

Neighbors

A bawdy prank war, which may have a deeper meaning, but who cares? It's funny.

PG-13 ★★★½★

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

A heartfelt movie, with a great hero, and an unflinching willingness to go dark and bleak when necessary.

PG-13 ★★½★★

Transcendence

A stodgy, uninteresting view of artificial intelligence. With enough plot-holes to go around.

G ★★★★★

Bears

A harmless, at times harrowing view of the animal kingdom without all the gory details.

G ★★½★★

Rio 2

A grating kid's movie, with bland songs, and only one standout character in Nigel who deserves his own movie.

PG-13 ★★★½★

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A decently entertaining color-by-numbers Marvel superhero tale.

PG-13 ★★★★½

Noah

A deep tale of humanity, bolstered by the mind of a truly visionary director.

PG-13 ★★★★★

Divergent

A dopey dystopian drama about a girl, a guy, and a whole lot of semi-futuristic nonsense.

PG ★★★★★

Muppets Most Wanted

Another solid entry into the Muppets franchise, with great songs and funny cameos.

PG-13 ★★½★★

Need for Speed

A reckless, ridiculous racing movie about a bunch of selfish characters who endanger countless lives to settle personal vendettas on the road.

R ★★★★★

300: Rise of an Empire

A bland mess of chaos and blood, whose only saving grace is Eva Green's completely endearing insanity.

PG ★★★★★

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

A harmless, pun-filled, time-traveling adventure with a beagle, his son, and his son's girlfriend-bully.

PG-13 ★★½★★

Non-Stop

A nonsensical plot which paints itself into a corner, a brain dead screenplay, and Liam Neeson confined to an airplane cabin make for a very dull action movie.

PG-13 ★★★½★

3 Days to Kill

A genre mish-mash, which may be too messy for its own good, but who cares?

PG-13 ★★★★★

Ender’s Game

A thought-provoking coming-of-age drama about a genius young boy faced with an impossible task.

R ★★★★★

The Counselor

A vague, misguided, misogynistic tale of the woes of the ruthless drug trade; with a whole lot of pseudo-parable speak thrown in for good measure.

R ★★★½★

Prisoners

An expertly acted crime thriller that buckles under the weight of its own plot once the big reveal rolls around.