What can I say about this sequel to the 1963 Disney musical? Its forced whimsy most definitely did not have me at hello; from “(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky” to “Nowhere to Go but Up,” I just wasn't won over. “Mary Poppins Returns” feels like a figment of another era, a film that felt like it should have been released in the 1960s.
Read more“On The Basis of Sex" Is A Disservice to the Exceptional Life and Times of RBG
I had high expectations for Mimi Leder‘s "On The Basis of Sex", after all was being been dubbed as the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic. I can't think of more appropriate Oscar-bait. However, you hear that thud in the background? That's the sound of a well-meaning but mediocre film losing all steam and buzz after critics watch it.
Read more‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is a visual groundbreaker [Review]
This was a very pleasant visual experience, to say the least. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," an animated take on the Marvel superhero, is the closest a movie has coming to making a comic book spring to life. The film tells the coming-of-age story of Miles Morales (voiced by Sameik Moore), teenage son to an African-American cop and a Puerto Rican nurse, who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and...well you know the set-up.
Read more“Vice" is a sprawling and satirical look into the evil psyche of Dick Cheney [Review]
Forget about the physical transformation that Christian Bale had to make to become Dick Cheney in Adam McKay's "Vice," Yes, the 44-year-old Welsh actor gained 40 pounds to play Dubya's Vice Prez, we expect that from the legendary Welsh method actor. No, this role isn't just an impersonation, it's a genetic inheritance, a cloning, if you will. He carries McKay's film with a towering performance that will be talked about for ages.
Read more“Stan & Ollie" Is a Touching and Heartfelt Tribute to a Legendary Duo [review]
When his best friend Oliver Hardy died, Stan Laurel refused to act ever again. That simple insight explains the core of what makes Jon Baird‘s "Stan & Ollie" (Sony Classics, 12.28) a touching tribute to the legendary Hollywood duo. The film is about a lasting friendship in a line of work where friendships shouldn't exist, and backstabbing is supposed to happen, every inch of your moral compass being tossed out of the window for the sake of fame.
Read moreSylvester Stallone Retires From Rocky Balboa Role
In a video posted this morning, which was shot during filming on the last day of “Creed II,” actor Sylvester Stallone revealed that he’s hanging up his gloves with “Creed II” serving as his final performance as Rocky Balboa. In the video he speaks with the the cast and crew of the film:
Read more‘The Favourite' is One of the Year's Very Best Films
Yorgos Lanthimos turned more than a few heads with his 2010 film, the bewildering "Dogtooth." The film, which was about a locked up family living by their own set of language, math and rules, announced the arrival of a new cinematic talent, albeit one that would no doubt be divisively met by critics and audiences alike. Lanthimos felt like a sort of heir to Bunuel's own provocative brand of cinema, which the late great master perfected in the '60s and '70s with "Viridiana," 'The Exterminating Angel," "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "The Obscure Object of Desire."
Read more‘At Eternity's Gate' Tackles an Artist Who Only Got Recognition Post-Mortem, And There Are Plenty of Them
Julian Schanbel's "At Eternity's Gate" tackles Vincent Van Gogh's life in deceptively simple ways. The film's eloquence derives in the fact that Schnabel is much more interested in the torment and the undue respect the painter of "Starry Night" never got from his cohorts. Van Gogh himself would approve of this intimate channeling — the visions and torment that seeped through the impressionist painter are dealt with head-on in Schanbel's film.
Read more‘Cam’ Is A Beautifully Twisted Peek Inside The World Of Online Sex Work
Daniel Goldhaber‘s “Cam” felt like a great, un-aired episode of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series “Black Mirror.” Goldhaber’s film is a mysterious dive into the unknown, a dreamy and surreal take on social networking that will make you think twice about not just webcamming, but what someone’s self-worth, and their own identity, might really mean online.
Read more'The Girl in the Spider's Web' delivers pulpy thrills [Review]
Let's get this out of the way; "The Girl in the Spider’s Web" doesn't remotely come close to replicating the artful resonance that David Fincher gave to his 2011 film "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," hell, Alvarez' film can't quite muster enough quality to stack up with the first two Swedish films, directed by Niels Arden Oplev based on Stieg Larsson’s bestselling Swedish novels (The third was a dud). However, I cannot dismiss the nerve-wrecking tension that is packed in 'Spider's Web,' a grisly 117 minute pulp noir.
Read more'Boy Erased' is well-intentioned but saccharine-inducing [Review]
An adaptation of Garrard Conley’s 2016 memoir about gay conversion therapy, writer-director Joel Edgerton's "Boy Erased" is a well-intentioned but maudlin attempt at Oscar-bait. Edgerton's film tackles the case of Jared Eamons, an Arkansas teen (Lucas Hedges), with conservative Christian parents, including his dad Marshall (Russell Crowe), a Baptist minister who has a knack, like many ministers do, of taking the bible a tad-too-literally. Mom Nancy (Nicole Kidman) is the sane voice of reason, but not enough to prevent Jared from being shipped off to a gay conversion therapy center when dad finds out that his son is gay. Nancy's reluctance is eventually turned into agreement with hubby when church leaders advise her it's the right thing to do, Jared needs to be 'cured.'
Read moreJoel and Ethan Coen's 'Ballad of Buster Scruggs': All six shorts reviewed
Joel and Ethan Coen‘s "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" was supposed to be a six-part Netflix anthology series, but it was then announced, right before the Venice Film Festival, that it would premiere and be released as a 132 minute feature-length film using the structure of an anthology. Any new work by the Coens should instantly be an automatic must-see for any serious cinephile. 'Buster Scruggs' is no exception. I've decided to review each of the six segments 0f the film and rate them based on their own merits. It's the only way to truly dissect the latest work from a directing duo that has become, quite possibly, the best working filmmakers in the world.
Read more‘Bodied’ Tackles Rap-Battling and P.C. Culture [Review]
Joseph Kahn’s "Bodied" has been dubbed a 'battle-rap comedy,' and it does start that way with the main character explaining to his girlfriend the gist of free-stylin'. If you've seen "8 Mile," you know how it works. You square off against an opponent, circled by a crowd of enthusiasts, in a freestyle battle, just two people in a ring and a war of rhythmical words. What can occur in such a battle is an apocalyptic-like sensation that has an ADD intensity and a cause/effect of whiplash.
Read more‘Bohemian Rhapsody' could have used more of that rhapsody [Review]
Nothing bold or original is splashed onto the screen in Bryan Singer's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Maybe that's the point. After all, what can a filmmaker possibly do to break the mold of the rise and fall biopic? It's not like critically acclaimed biopics such as "Ray," "I Walk the Line," "Bound for Glory," "Straight Outta Compton," and "Coal Miner's Daughter" had groundbreaking narratives either. No, but what made them work was the filmmaking and the way they told their stories. For all the conventional tropes tackled in these films, the filmmaking had a you-are-there sense of wonder that made them palpably felt and lived-in.
Read moreLuca Guadagnino’s ‘Suspiria’ is polarizing but fails to cast a spell
Good God, what did I just witness? Luca Guadagnino's "Suspiria," a remake of Dario Argento's blood-soaked RED 1975 classic, wants to be everything its predecessor wasn't -- a meandering 153 minute take on Argento's horror film.
“Suspiria” is set in 1977, the year that Dario Argento’s original came out. It deals with a coven of venal, sadistic, witches who set up shop in the basement of a Berlin dancing school, heralded by a well-renowned dance teacher played by Tilda Swinton. They raise a filthy, thorn-fingered demon that seems to signal the end of times. Their ultimate catch for ritual is a talented dancer from Ohio named Suzie (Dakota Johnson) whose dream was to join a dance company whose VHS videos she has watched on repeat over the years, memorizing every dance movie.
Read moreIntimate AIDS Drama ‘1985’ Is Admirable and, At Times, Very Convincing
New York City's struggle to cope with the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s has been well documented in films such as "Longtime Companion," "The Normal Heart," and yes, even "Rent." NYC was affected by the illness more than any other American city, especially its gay community.
There was fear, hate, and hysteria and "1985," Crafted by Malaysian-born writer/director Yen Tan, has the intention of showing us how things have not changed all that much thirty years later. His story tackles themes that have resonated in the American consciousness for decades; those of identity, the struggles of coming out, secrets (due to fear of telling the truth), acceptance, intolerance, and the crisis of loving family who may not love you back for who you are.
Read morePaul Dano's austere "Wildlife" is anchored by a sublime Carey Mulligan performance
What can I say about Paul Dano‘s "Wildlife'? It's a sluggishly austere film that lacks any kind of personality or poignancy but, hey, in this day and age of style over substance, I do understand why this otherwise strongly directed and photgraphed picture is being favorably reviewed by most critics. Dano shows a real knack for distilled, freezingly detached framing. You can tell he's learned a thing or two from working with Paul Thomas Anderson -- the photo snapping sequences in "Wildlife" will remind any knowledgeable cinephile of the mall photo scenes in "The Master."
Read more'On Her Shoulders' Tackles Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nadia Murad [Capsule Review]
Sundance has been known to include many films about what’s happening in the middle east throughout its yearly Documentary competition and premieres sections. However, Alexandria Bombach’s documentary “On Her Shoulders” is a unique addition. With the well-honed eyes of her camera lenses, Bombach tackles the incredible story of, just last month's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who was kept as a sex slave for ISIS when she was just 19.
Read more‘Halloween' is a dumbing-down of the genre; It feels like a slasher film that was made in the '90s... and that's not a compliment [Review]
Director David Gordon Green has built up an eclectic filmography since "George Washington," his visionary 2000 debut. There's Green, the artist ("George Washington," "All the Real Girls," "Snow Angels," "Undertow," "Prince Avalanche"), Green, the cult comedy filmmaker ("Pineapple Express," "The Sitter," "Your Highness") and Green, the Oscar-bait deliverer ("Stronger," "Our Brand is Crisis").
Read more'Bad Times at the El Royale' is a grimy good time, for the most part [Review]
"Alias" and "Lost" writer-producer Drew Goodard turned cinematic heads back in 2012 with his meta-horror directorial debut, "The Cabin in the Woods." After the success of that film, which turned horror movie clichés in over their heads, his cinematic career consisted of mostly writing successful pop-entertainment screenplays such as 'The Martian,' '10 Cloverfield Land,' and 'World War Z.' Not too shabby for a self-proclaimed 43-year-old movie geek, mostly known, up until then, as JJ Abrams' secondhand man on television. Now, six years later, Goodard returns with an ambitious 140-minute film infused with Tarantino-esque influences, the tongue-in-cheek titled "Bad Times at the El Royale." Although Goodard has been known for never adhering to formula in the past, this latest endeavor from the filmmaker is, however, steeped in more conventional influences, even if his intentions are quite the contrary.
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