Clocking in at 152 minutes, director James Mangold (“Logan”) has made a rousing American epic that zooms by at lightning speed. The film does not feel like its length at all. Credit must go to the chemistry between Damon and Bale; every interaction and relationship is precisely on-point here. Mangold handles it all with the real care and feel of a filmmaking pro — the race car driving scenes here, especially at the climax, are some of the very best and most thrilling ever put on film.
Read more‘Doctor Sleep': A Shapeless and Meandering Sequel to ‘The Shining' [Review]
“Doctor Sleep” is based on Stephen King’s 2013 sequel to his 1977 novel “The Shining,” which of course served as the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s film. Did we really need a 40 years-later sequel? After all, Kubrick’s horror classic is only one of the most influential movies of all-time. It would have to take a heap of talent and ambition to prove the naysayers wrong and deliver a worthy companion to Kubrick’s masterpiece.
Read more‘Honey Boy': Shia LaBeouf's Meta Dissection of His Own Childhood Falls Flat [Review]
Alma Ha’rel’s debut feature “Honey Boy” has a screenplay written by Shia LaBeouf, based on his own childhood.
Read moreErrol Morris' ‘American Dharma': An Indisputably Great and Important Doc [Review]
"American Dharma" gives Steve Bannon a voice, so if you're already turned off by that prospect, then documentary filmmaker extraordinaire Errol Morris' latest movie is not for you. The rest of us can go into this beguiling film with an open mind and accept the challenge of an open dialogue with a man who many believe to be responsible for the emergence of the "Alt-Right" movement in this country.
Read more‘Terminator: Dark Fate' Meanders with Familiar Beats [Review]
“Terminator: Dark Fate” comes to us after a myriad of failed ‘Terminator’ movies. However, what separates ‘Dark Fate’ from, ‘Salvation’ and ‘Genysis’ is the fact that original star Linda Hamilton decided to come back for her first outing since 1991’s landmark “T2: Judgement Day.” There’s also her ex-husband, and “Terminator” creator, James Cameron hopping back on-board as a producer and creative consultant on this film.
Read more‘Harriet’: Cynthia Erivo Cannot Emancipate The Harriet Tubman Story From A Generic Biopic [Review]
Harriet Tubman deserves better. We deserved better.
Read more‘The Irishman' is Martin Scorsese's Eulogy to Gangster Cinema [Review]
Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” starts off with a tracking shot down a hallway, much like the Copacabana take in “Goodfellas,” except this one ends with a close-up of a geriatric and wheelchair-bound Robert De Niro. It’s no coincidence that Scorsese decided to open his movie with this shot as if to tell us this is the end of the road for the goombahs he has so legendarily depicted in classics such as “Mean Streets,” “Goodfellas” and “Casino.” It’s a potent wakeup call for the viewer that this will not be your usual Scorsese-directed mob movie.
Read moreEddie Murphy Steals the Show in ‘Dolemite is My Name’ [Review]
Craig Brewer’s “Dolemite Is My Name” has an electrifying Eddie Murphy playing 1970s-era blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore in a film about how Moore’s famous movie character Dolemite came to be. I first saw this infectiously likable movie at TIFF in September. It’s not only an incisive love letter to cinema, especially the bad kind, but also the funniest movie I have seen all year. Murphy is aided by a great cast which includes Craig Robinson, Keegan Michael-Key and Wesley Snipes. Netflix will start streaming it this coming Friday. Seek it out.
Read more‘Frankie': Ira Sachs' Rohmer-Inspired Drama Falls Flat [Review]
Sometimes being subtle with your movie can be an overdone trait. Case in point Ira Sach’s latest film “Frankie,” which just premiered in competition at Cannes. This unconventional family gathering takes place by the seaside of Portuguese town of Sintra, which makes this the first time Sachs has managed to shoot a film outside his native New York City. An attempt at evoking Eric Rohmer’s anti-romanticism, “Frankie” falls completely flat
Read more‘Western Stars’: Bruce Springsteen’s Indisputably Great Concert Doc [Review]
[Review Originally Published at the Toronto International Film Festival on 09.13.19]
In 2011, Bruce Springsteen started recording the album Western Stars, only to sideline the project for an E-Street Band tour. Recording sessions eventually continued over the years, the album was completed in 2018 and the belated release this year was met with glowing reviews. But Western Stars wasn’t backed by a tour, the first time the musician skipped the road on an album since his 1982 folk acoustic landmark, Nebraska.
‘The Current War': Edison, Tesla and Westinghouse Have Never Been So Dull [Review]
I was rather unimpressed by Thomas Gomez-Rejon‘s “The Current War” when it played at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival. Yes, that’s right, close to two years after its release, this formerly Weinstein-owned period movie is finally landing into theaters this October.
Read moreNadav Lapid's ‘Synonyms' Tackles Israeli Nationalism and Identity [Review]
Israeli director Nadav Lapid was thrust into the global cinematic stage with “The Kindergarten Teacher” and “Policeman.” However, with “Synonyms,” which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival this past January, Lapid should now be considered a formidable force in cinema.
Read more‘I Lost My Body' Is Bold and Inventive French Animation [Nouveau Cinema]
Netflix’s upcoming animated movie “I Lost My Body,” an existential mystery about a severed hand, won the Grand Prize award at the third annual Animation Is Film Festival, held last weekend in Los Angeles.
Read more‘The Lighthouse': Sophomore Effort Proves ‘The Witch' Director Robert Eggers is the Real Deal [Review]
“The Lighthouse” is Robert Eggers’ black-and-white nautical psychodrama. His much-anticipated follow-up to “The Witch” starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as men that end up at the mercy of nature.
Read more‘Jojo Rabbit’ is Conventional, Lazy and Irresponsible Filmmaking — [Review]
When Roberto Begnini’s “Life is Beautiful” was released back in 1998, many critics were disturbed by how the film trivialized the holocaust via its clownish, joke-making protagonist. However, if that movie managed to irk a few, and I have to mention that there also are plenty of fans of that Oscar-winning film, then they have no idea what’s in store for them when they catch Taika Waititi’s misbegotten “Jojo Rabbit.”
Read more‘A White, White Day' Slowly, But Surely Builds to a Wallop [Nouveau Cinema]
“A White, White Day” is an eerily beautiful Icelandic slow-burn about irrational and mentally unstable Ingimundur (Ingvar Sigurdsson), a smalltown cop who suspects that his late wife was having an affair. The story, in essence, is about a man’s spiral from grief to suspicion to rage.
Read more‘El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' is a Righteous Send-Off for Jesse Pinkman [Review]
Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story” may not have been what some “Breaking Bad” fans expected, but this was never supposed to play like another episode of ‘Bad.’ What “El Camino” actually is is a redemptive epilogue for Jesse Pinkman (indelibly played by Aaron Paul).
Read more‘Parasite': Bong Joon-ho's Film Feels like Kore-eda on Steroids [Review]
South Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho is more known for genre fare such as “The Host,” “Snowpiercer,” “Memories of A Murder,” and “Okja,” but—and don’t be fooled by its title—in his latest film, “Parasite,” the monsters are all human and even scarier at that.
Read more‘Memory: The Origins of Alien’ Is A Fascinating Deep Dive Into A Sci-Fi/Horror Classic [Review]
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott‘s “Alien,” a cinematic behemoth that influenced the next four decades of science fiction and horror. And because of this milestone, many fan tributes will pour in, as will countless opinion pieces detailing its lasting impact. That being said, one cannot see a more thorough and invigorating dissection of the classic being released than “Memory: The Origins of Alien,” Alexandre O. Philippe’s feature-length analysis of the DNA that molded “Alien” into the horror masterpiece that it is known as today.
‘Joker’: Joaquin Phoenix Gives the Performance of the Year [Review]
Here’s my review of Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” which I saw at the TIFF earlier in September. It’s a fascinating, dark and despairing arthouse movie that also happens to have been made by a big studio. Why are critics complaining that this could spark violence by way of “incels”? Because they can’t handle the truth. What is the truth? That “Joker” is a film mirroring our own society, and it dares us to look at ourselves in the mirror. The parallels to today’s world are there — societal alienation has never felt more current than it does today. Joker aka. Arthur Fleck’s situation could attest to 21st-century anxieties; his descent into madness is immaculately horrifying because it feels all too real and anchored up by present-day realities and tensions. The film comes out at a time when the country feels at a crossroads between civility and chaos. It’s understandable that many critics are calling the film dangerous in its, supposed, call to arms and revolution, but the fact that this movie is actually sparking panic in people must mean that it has hit a societal nerve, which renders it an indelible statement of current-day socio-political anxieties.
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