“Promising Young Woman” is arriving in theaters on Christmas Day via Focus Features. This is a gamble since we don’t even know how many theaters will be open nationwide by then, but, don’t fret my friends, a digital release is also in the books on that very same day. The film, which I saw this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, has a 74 on Metacritic and a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. No, it’s not the second coming of cinema, as some have over-excitingly pointed out, but it is a delightfully slick B-movie with an effective performance from Carey Mulligan.
Read more‘The Dissident’: Jamal Khashoggi Exposé Edited Like A Geo-Trotting Thriller [Capsule]
The story of slain Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi was erratically reported by the media back in 2018, so much so that one does wonder what fresh new territory Oscar-winning director Bryan Fogel (“Icarus”) could possibly tackle in his Khashoggi doc, “The Dissident.”
Read moreAsghar Farhadi’s Completes Principle Photography on New Film; Cannes 2021 Premiere Expected
Asghar Farhadi has built a career out of making breathtaking family dramas. With "About Elly," "A Separation," "The Past," and "The Salesman,” the Iranian-born writer-director cemented his name on the shortlist of modern-day world-class directors. I can count these rare and talented filmmakers in less than two hands. So it came as a major disappointment to dislike the 46-year-old director’s last film, the Spanish-language drama “Everybody Knows,” which I saw at Cannes 2018. It was a half-decent whodunnit affair, but we’ve come to expect much more from the Iranian-born director.
Read more‘Soul': Pixar's 23rd Feature is an Existential Jazz Tale [Review]
A good chunk of Pixar and director Pete Docter’s “Soul” is set in the serene nirvana called The Great Before. The surreal nature of this afterworld, with its soft, glowing edges and inviting colors, is populated by Don Hertzfeldt-esque stick figures who go by the name of Counselors, omnipotent God-like beings reminiscent of Hertzfeldt’s minimalist style and the friendly UFO’s in Spielberg’s “Artificial Intelligence.”
Read more‘The Little Things’: Denzel, Malek and Leto Star in Grisly Crime-Thriller [Trailer]
The Warner Bros. hybrid theatrical/streaming release model for its entire 2021 film slate will be tested out again in late January. If you remember, the Warner deal was to open their new releases in theaters on the same day they become available to stream on the streaming service HBO Max for 31 days.
Read morePedro Almodóvar's Favorite Movies of 2020 Include “First Cow" and “The Devil All The Time"
Pedro Almodóvar has had a fairly busy year, shooting a mysterious new project in the fall and even having the time to premiere a short movie titled “The Human Voice,” starring Tilda Swinton, at the Venice Film Festival this past September. Hell, he even spilled his thoughts during the pandemic, via the mighty force of the pen, for a weekly IndieWire column.
Read moreL.A. Film Critics Name BBC/Amazon Prime Anthology Series ‘Small Axe’ Best Movie of 2020
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) named their best films and performances of 2020 on Sunday. The awards were announced via the critics group’s Twitter account. The group is led by Claudia Puig as president, with more than 60 other journalists composing the voting body.
Read more‘Tenet’: Christopher Nolan’s Latest Epic is Ambitious, Fascinating, But Incomprehensible [Review]
This is a re-posting of my 08.26.20 review of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” as it is now available on home video via Blu-Ray, DVD, and rental streaming. I have seen the film three times now, each viewing a little better than the next, but I still contend that this is the weakest film of Nolan’s career.
Read moreGeorge Clooney’s ‘Midnight Sky’ Orbits Into an Unwatchable Space Opera [Review]
Based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel “Good Morning, Midnight”, George Clooney teams up with Netflix for the sci-fi drama “The Midnight Sky” (Netflix, 12.25.20) in which he also stars. In it, Clooney plays scientist Augustine, who races to stop a group of astronauts, led by Felicity Jones’ Sully, from returning to a post-apocalyptic planet Earth.
Read moreBarack Obama’s PR Team Chooses His Favorite Movies of 2020
I’m sorry to say, I don’t for a second believe that 44th President of the United States Barack Obama actually saw a majority of the films on his “Favorite movies and TV Shows of 2020” list. Nope. Sorry. Why? Well, Barry has always been about appealing to the mainstream consensus of hipdom. That’s it, that’s all. And yet, there is nothing hip about Barack Obama’s tenure as President of the United States. It was all coordinated; from the mic drop to his “impromptu” acapella of “Amazing Grace.” It was always about the image more than the authenticity. Sorry to break it to you and I’m saying this as someone who has always leaned more left than right in the politico stratosphere.
Read more“First Cow” Named Best Film of 2020 By New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), one of the most important critics groups in the country, are currently announcing their 2020 winners. In 2019, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” was voted best film of the year. See the full winners list below:
Read more‘Wonder Woman 1984’ is Decent Fun ..
I’m not sure what all the debbie downers expected before watching Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman 1984,’ but, quite surprisingly, I thought it was kind of amusing in its own retro ’80s glammy-hammy business. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t much of a fan of the original 2017 film, my expectations were down in the dumps for this one, or maybe it’s just the acceptance that this isn’t anything more than a silly superhero B-movie set to premiere via streaming on Christmas Day. You can do a lot worse when it comes to this type of movie. Maybe I’m overselling it.
Read moreBerlin Film Festival Going Virtual; Delayed Until March
If you thought film festivals were just going to be affected by the pandemic in 2020 then think again. It appears the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival, originally set for February, is the latest film victim of the pandemic.
Read moreGeorge Lucas Defends His Star Wars Prequels: “Most People Didn’t Understand the Style”
The Star Wars prequels ("Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones," and "Revenge of the Sith") don't exactly have the greatest reputation with movie fans, there is, of course, a subculture that absolutely adores them, including none other than James Cameron, but their reputation for being the weakest SW films is well known.
Read moreTom Cruise Warns Movie Crew “They’re ‘F***ing Gone” if They Break COVID Rules
A single careless COVID moment can knock a film production out of action for weeks, it already happened on the set of numerous films including Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” and the Olivia Wilde-directed film “Don’t Worry Darling”, both of which are now back in production.
Read moreSundance Film Festival Announces 2021 Lineup
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival was always set to be different than any other previous version in its history. The wintry film festival, pandemic be damned, has undergone changes including screenings held digitally via a Sundance-built online platform. That’s how I’ll be covering it, much like most of my colleagues in film journalism, and, purists be damned, I am excited to embark on another Sundance adventure filled with discovery.
Read more“How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?”: Infectiously Entertaining Doc Tackles Rise and Fall of The Bee Gees [Review]
It wasn’t easy being a Disco star back at the peak of the dance mania, just ask Ther Bee Gees who are the subject of a wildly entertaining documentary courtesy of director Frank Marshall. Titled “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?“ this compulsively watchable treatise on the Brothers Gibb was set to premiere at the since-canceled Telluride Film Festival during the first week of September, alas, it has now settled for a streaming exclusive on HBO and HBO Max.
Read moreThe 35 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021
With 2020 firmly in the rear-view mirror, thank the heavens for that, we now shift our attention to 2020, where some of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters return. From Paul Thomas Anderson to Martin Scorsese, and even the return of Joel Coen, solo, stepping behind the camera for the first time without his brother Ethan. We’ve expanded our list to 35 titles this year because, quite frankly, with all the big 2020 movies postponed to 2021, this coming cinematic year looks completely packed to the rafters, that is if studios are willing to embrace streaming or, at the very least, have patience until things back to normal, that is, if they ever do, by year’s end. So let’s roll through some of the possible must-sees of the year.
Read more“Nomadland” Named Best Picture of 2020 by Boston Film Critics
As we prepare for New York or Los Angeles film critics to announce their awards this week, their peers in Boston got a head start this afternoon.
Read more‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’: Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman Herald Stagey Jazz Drama [Review]
Director George C. Wolfe sets his sights during a single day’s recording session in Chicago, as a young trumpet player (Chadwick Boseman) sneakily attempts to modernize the blues music of his boss, singer extraordinaire Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), much to her dismissal. And yet, should he be trusted? Is he in it for his own gain of fame? Those are the questions being asked in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Read more
It’s been seven years since Alma Har’el’s feature debut, “Honey Boy,” which was written by and starred Shia LaBeouf — she is now set to direct her next film, with a very talented cast.