"American Dharma" gives Steve Bannon a voice, if you're already turned off by that prospect then documentarist extraordinaire Errol Morris' latest movie is not for you. The rest of us can go into this beguiling film with an open mind and accepting the challenge of an open dialogue with a man that many believe to be responsible for the emergence of the "Alt-Right" movement in this country.
Read moreDirector Jonah Hill relives his 'Mid90s' youth [TIFF]
"Mid90s" has Jonah Hill reliving his youth as writer-director of a skateboard coming of age drama that would fit quite perfectly with this year's other skateboarding flick "Skate Kitchen."
If the latter was a female perspective on adolescence, "Mid90s" is Hill's teenage male version. Focusing on the plight of 13-year-old Stevie (Sunny Suljic), tormented by his older brother (a surprisingly threatening performance by Lucas Hedges), and deciding to take a crack at hanging with the cool kids at a skateboarding store, Hill's debut shows real promise for the craft.
Read moreDamien Chazelle's "First Man" fails to launch [TIFF]
Neil Armstrong's story is adapted to the screen by director Damien Chazelleand talented scribe Josh Singer in "First Man" -- a mechanical, altogether flat attempt to recreate the events that led to Armstrong's historic trip to the moon.
The 33-year-old Chazelle, already known for his excellent work in "Whiplash" and "La La Land," stalls to find the same excitement and intensity of Armstrong's journey in "First Man." Why? Because he is restrained by adapting the story of a person that, quite frankly, was just not that interesting to begin with. Sure, Armstrong was the first man to step foot on the moon and the film's final stretch, delving into that historic voyage to space, is incredibly shot and ultimately very moving -- however, the getting there is rather dull and consists of mostly trial and error efforts from Armstrong and his NASA crew to prepare for the lunar journey.
Read moreMelissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant, both Oscar-worthy in "Can You Ever Forgive Me" [TIFF]
Because everything that seems to debut at Telluride is met with overpraise, the raves that met Marielle Heller's low-key but charming "Can You Ever Forgive Me" really don't do justice to its small little pleasures. In essence, this is a character-driven, and slight, film based on a true story which took place in New York City's literary world some twenty odd years ago.
Melissa McCarthy plays author Lee Israel with the panache and memorable flair we are used to seeing her invest in any role she undertakes-- except, in Heller's hands, McCarthy is given a character that is not only nastily hilarious but also darkened by alcoholism and severe pathological tendencies.
The story goes that Israel, down on money with an ill cat and having to find a way to pay its medical bills, decided to forge letters that she falsely claimed legendary authors, such as Dorothy Parker, had written to fellow cohorts. She found a niche market to sell these letters in the NYC literary world, and made thousands of dollars doing so. Of course, the FBI eventually started sniffing around and suspecting there was wrongdoing.
Along with her showstopper role in "Bridesmaids," this is easily McCarthy's best performance, Oscar will come knocking very soon with a nomination. However, I was even more smitten by her co-star Richard E. Grant, playing Israel's conspicuous drunkard sidekick Jack, he is indeed the scene-stealing reason to watch this predictably delivered rise and fall true-life saga. Every line he delivers stings with deadpan laughs, I actually wished there was more Jack and less Lee in this film.
Heller ("The Diary of A Teenage Girl") again showing a great knack for visually intimate drama, hasn't even come close to reaching her artistic peak yet, but you have a sense that it's coming. The screenplay she co-wrote here, with Nicole Holofcener, does its best to smooth around the rough edges that come with this kind of film. You do know where it's headed, but for 2/3 of its running time "Can You Ever Forgive Me" has no reason to be forgiven. [B-]
'Green Book' is high-level mainstream entertainment [TIFF]
"Green Book" is directed by Peter Farelly who, along with his brother Bobby, is the 'auteur' that gave us such classic artistic statements as "Dumb and Dumber," and "There Something About Mary." Presenting "Green Book" at the world premiere last night, Farelly, unsurprisingly, mentioned, that after 40 years in the industry, this was the first time he got to present one of his movies at a film festival. With "Green Book" he may have just delivered the most successful and rousing screening of any filmmaker this festival.
Read more“Vox Lux" is Brady Corbet's Beautiful, Dark, and Twisted Fantasy of Fame
Brady Corbet's "Vox Lux" is an unusual film. It starts off with one of the tensest high school shootings I've ever seen and ends with an elaborately conceived and hypnotic pop music performance, filled with tacky dancing and a light show. In between all the drama and fireworks is a character study about fame, trauma and the undeniable power of song. Does it all come together? Not really, but it's incredibly fascinating to watch an artist go for broke like Corbet does here.
Read more‘The Hate U Give' is a major TIFF discovery
The most pleasant surprise so far at this Toronto International Film Festival's first three days has to be George Tillman Jr's "The Hate U Give," an exemplary adaptation of Angie Thomas' popular YA novel, which centers around the Black Lives Matter movement. The film follows Starr, a promising student and cherished daughter whose life is upended, then galvanized, when a friend is senselessly shot dead by police.
Read moreBarry Jenkins' 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Disappoints [TIFF]
Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" was such a universally praised film that you knew whatever he made next would be met with tremendously high expectations. His decision to adapt James Baldwin's masterful 1974 novel "If Beale Street Could Talk" was unexpected but much welcome, as that novel's themes of social injustice, poverty, and racial disillusionment still very much resonate to this day.
Read more‘The Wedding Guest’: Dev Patel Stars In Michael Winterbottom’s Patchy Drama [TIFF Review]
Michael Winterbottom is a fascinating, genre-defying director but his latest continues his recent losing streak of duds. Where's the director of "24 Hour Party People" and "A Mighty Heart"? My review.
‘Ben Is Back’: Julia Roberts Delivers A Stunning Performance In An Uneven Rehab Drama [TIFF Review]
My review of Julia Roberts' return to form in "Ben is Back." Her best performance since? Who knows! The script may be a bit all over the place, but her performance deserves to be praised, ditto Lucas Hedges as her drug-addicted son struggling between recovery and relapse.
‘Widows’: Steve McQueen takes genre conventions and twists them inside out to messy glorious effect
Steve McQueen's first three films were all accomplishments. With "Hunger," "Shame" and "12 Years A Slave," the British-born director proved to be a master at his craft. Not only were his films visually groundbreaking, after all, his background does come from being a prize-winning photographer, but his films seem to be grounded in a humanism that expands on the highly-stylized nature of his films.
Read moreTIFF: Pedantic ‘Beautiful Boy' is saved by two strong lead performances
"Beautiful Boy" is a film that means well and that may be its biggest problem. It was a little too on-the-nose for my tastes and its emotions felt hardly earned in its tackling of the way drug addiction can affect a family's inner workings.
Director Felix Van Groeningen (Broken Circle Breakdown) adapts two memoirs (from real-life father and son David and Nic Sheff) into his first American film, which is bogged down by a lackluster screenplay filled with cliches and melodramatic moments.
David (Steve Carell) lives with son Nic (an excellent Timothee Chalamet), and second wife Karen (Maura Tierney) in their comfortable San Francisco home. Major problems arise when Nic becomes addicted to Methamphetamine. The movie then, for the duration of its 112 or so minutes, goes back and forth between Nic's continuous cycle of relapse and recovery.For a movie with considerable talents involved, "Beautiful Boy" lacks the dramatic fireworks needed to break through the genre conventions at hand. However, Groeningen isn't a risky enough visualist to achieve his take on this all-too-familiar story. Even worse, his penchant for using music to amp up the tears feels maudlin and unearned, safe for a rare, successful musical montage comes when at the tail-end of this never-ending film as the director uses Perry Como's version of “Sunrise, Sunset," to showcase a touching little montage of father and son's happier moments.On a more positive note, any doubts that Chalamet's breakthrough performance in "Call Me By Your Name" would be a one-time deal are easily vanquished by his passionate take here of Nic. If anything, he deserves more screentime in this film, which has a few stretches where he completely disappears from the story. Carrel, a comedic actor that has proven over time to be a solid dramatic one, also makes the best of a rather underdeveloped role. [C]
"Fahrenheit 11/9" is a scathing indictment of the American establishment
I had hesitations going into Michael Moore's latest one-sided opus "Fahrenheit 11/9." After all, this is a documentary that was supposed to be mostly about the Donald Trump presidency and how his ascension led to his becoming the 45th president on November 9th, 2016. What I didn't expect was a scathing indictment of the whole establishment, Democratic and Republican, which makes the film feel more fully conceived and surprisingly unbiased. It's his best movie since 2004's Palme D'or winning George W. Bush indictment "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Read moreTIFF Review: 'The Old Man and the Gun' is a slight, weightless but endearing ode to Robert Redford
As far as acting send-offs go, you could do much worse than David Lowery‘s "The Old Man & The Gun," (Fox Searchlight, 9/28), a slight, a tad too-gentle, ode to Robert Redford, who has stated that this would be his last acting performance before retiring into the sunset.
The film, clocking in at just 93 minutes, is not a tough sit by any stretch of the imagination but rather a harmless excuse to pay tribute to a Hollywood legend.
Read moreReview: 'Operation Finale' disappoints despite Oscar Isaac and Ben Kingsley's roaring performances
How can I actually explain what is wrong with Chris Weitz' "Operation Finale"? That's the question that I pondered as I exited the screening of this post-WWII Jewish hunt for Nazis, and was reminded, oddly enough, of the equally dull "Argo." What both films oddly share in common is a rather pedantic, oddly mediocre look at what is, in essence, an extraordinary true story. Suffice to say, this is not the invigoratingly authentic, no-frills cinema of Jews chasing Nazis that I had in mind. I guess what I'm trying to say is this: "Operation Finale" is no "Munich."
Read moreReview: All hail Regina Hall and Haley Lu Richardson in “Support the Girls"
Andrew Bujalski’s brash comedy “Support the Girls” was warmly received at this March's latest edition of the South by Southwest Film Festival. Bujalski - whose “Funny Ha Ha,” and "Computer Chess" have built a strong cult following among hipster cinephiles— loves to make movies that are minimalist in ambition and are more concerned in nailing the smaller, but nevertheless absurdist, details of everyday life.
Read moreReview: Why even remake "Papillon" to begin with? This new version doesn't answer that question.
When Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman tried to escape Devil’s Island back in 1973, the result was the messy, passionate, and watchable "Papillon."
The decision to remake "Papillon" in this day and age is a rather odd one, especially given the fact that a) these sort of prison escape flicks are a dime a dozen and are steeped in common genre clichés, and b) well, the original "Papillon" wasn't that great.
Read moreReview: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Is a Cultural Groundbreaker Steeped With Familiarity and Cliches
Despite the expected weekly barrage of summer blockbusters, it’s fairly hard for film writers to resist the culturally significant "Crazy Rich Asians." The film, directed by John Chu (“Step Up: 3D“) is the first Hollywood studio film with an all-Asian cast since 1993’s ‘The Joy Luck Club.” That’s 25 years of major studios shunning the Asian-American experience for the bottom line. Enter critically-acclaimed novelist Kevin Kwan.
Read moreReview: "Madeline's Madeline" is too pretentious in its ambitions to fully work
"Madeline's Madeline" is the third feature written and directed by Josephine Decker (after “Butter on the Latch” and “Thou Wast Mild and Lovely”). Just like its predecessors this one tries to break more rules than it can chew on. The result is messy. There's a strange absurdity to 'Madeline" that sometimes renders it as a brilliant exercise and other times makes it feel rather pretentious and "off."
Read moreSam Elliott Can’t Save ‘The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then Bigfoot’ [Fantasia Review]
I wrote about the peculiarly titled "The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then Bigfoot," as part of my coverage for Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival for The Playlist. I wasn't too keen on the film, even with the always welcome Sam Elliot in the lead role. Suffice to say, it wasn't as crazy as its title suggests. My next review from Fantasia will be much more positive, it'll be about the best surprise thus far at the fest, a film that was even bought by Netflix here last week. Stay tuned ...
Tim Blake Nelson has been making films for thirty years and hasn't directed a narrative feature in more than ten. "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd," is the best thing he's done since "The Grey Zone.”