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‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' Trailer Has Tom Hanks Playing Mr. Rogers
The story of Fred Rogers, the honored host and creator of the popular children’s television program, "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood" (Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelechi Watson, Tammy Blanchard).
Read more‘Judy’ Trailer: Renée Zellweger Brings Judy Garland's Tortured Soul On-Screen
Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland isn’t a terrible casting decision. It could work. Zellweger and Garland both have what you might call "unconventional movie star looks". Garland did, however, age terribly in her ‘40s. All the mentally draining stuff she had to go through eventually took its toll .
Read moreClint Eastwood Will Produce/Direct Next Film In Georgia Despite Hollywood Abortion Bill Boycott
It doesn’t look like the Hollywood boycott of Georgia will have any effect on Clint Eastwood’s next movie.
Read more‘Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo' Review: Abdellatif Kechiche's Male-Gazing Shocks Cannes
Abdellatif Kechiche‘s “Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo” is a 212-minute cinematic revolution. It means to destroy our notion of what a movie should be in 2019, and the fact that the film was included in Cannes competition is a message in itself from Thierry Fremaux and the gang.
Read more‘Booksmart': Olivia Wilde's Directorial Debut Aims to be the Female ‘Superbad' [Review]
A film like “Booksmart” lives and dies by its two central performances. Beannie Feldstein (Lady Bird) and Kaitlyn Dever (Short Term 12), respectively, play Molly and Amy, two upcoming high school graduates that have built up their own hermit-like worldview together. It’s not like they are anything like the central character in Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” who had to fend her miserable experience all by herself, no, Molly and Amy are two peas in a pod, they are the kind of inseperable friends that complete each other’s sentences and are content with hanging out in their rooms instead of going out and socializing with the rest of their classroom. And yet, they do have a rapport with the rest of their classmates, it’s very apparent in the classroom sequences where the cliches that may have once been apparent in John Hughes and teen movies from the ‘90s completely evaporate. There is no bully, there is no jock, there is no cool kid, the stereotypes are not there and that is incredibly refreshing to witness.
Read more‘Matthias & Maxime' Review: Xavier Dolan's Return to Quebec Cinema Misses the Mark — Cannes
30-year-old Xavier Dolan, returns to his native Quebec for “Matthias & Maxime.”
Read more‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood' Review: Tarantino's Latest is Brilliant, Ambitious and Personal Filmmaking —Cannes
Quentin Tarantino was just 6 years old and living in Los Angeles when Charles Manson sent his gang of toxified flower children to murder Tate and four others at the home she shared with husband Roman Polanski. At the time of her death, she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. There is absolutely no chance that Tarantino doesn’t remember that time, even at a young age. The Manson murders are credited as changing the landscape of American society and culture.
Read more‘A Hidden Life' Review: Terrence Malick's Comeback Will Have to Wait— Cannes
I had hoped that Terrence Malick‘s “A Hidden Life” would finally be the movie to bring the auteur back into tip-top shape, after a trio of bad movies (“To the Wonder,” “Knight of Cups,” “Song to Song”), however, alas,that is not the case. The story of Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl), the Austrian farmer that refused to fight for the Germans during World War II, is fascinating one, but Malick decides to self-indulge yet again; Clocking in at close to three hours, the film is an hour too long. Someone really needs to tell him to hire an actual editor,
Read more‘Detective Pikachu' Is Strictly For Die-Hard Pokemon Fans [Review]
I don’t really want to waste too much ink on Rob Letterman’s “Detectve Pikachu.” It does adhere to diehards of Pokemon, despite the comedic voicework of Ryan Reynolds as the titular private eye.
Read more‘Hail Satan’ Plays Devil’s Advocate [Review]
“Hail Satan” is, first and foremost, about resistance; resistance against sectors of Christianity which have heavily deviated into their own toxic kind of militant evangelism. In fact, it’s this problematic nature of religion that kick-started the creation of The Satanic Temple. In Penny Lane’s documentary, The temple is rendered as nothing short of a troll-punking organization. It’s also an atheist-minded religion which keeps the positives that would come with religion — such as the camaraderie, organization but intersects these positives with progressive liberal values. You might ask, where does Satan fit into all of this? Oh, he’s mostly used as a direct conduit to infuriate Christian extremists, most of which actually believe The Satanic Temple abides by Lucifer’s throne. They don’t. In fact, The Satanic Temple does not worship Satan as a literal god at all. It’s all about the symbolism, baby. After all, the lord of darkness was the ultimate rebel by which the earliest biblical stories were told. These post-modernist Satanic followers mostly just want to place his statues all around red-state public spaces, including a Baphomet smack-dab in the middle of the Arkansas State Capitol. The fight to take the statue down, not to mention the idea of replacing it with a replica of the ten commandment plates, thanks to one Arkansas lawymaker, form the absurdist drama of the doc. Lane uses talking-heads footage from high-ranking TST members to forward her narrative, including the inner dilemmas such as the ethical rivalry between spokesman Lucien Greaves and Jex Blackmore, the founder of TST’s Detroit chapter who caused controversy within the organization, and ensuingly got booted out of it, after deciding to incite violence towards the temple’s enemies. Blackmore believes the separation of church and state isn’t enough, and that anarchy is needed to further promote the Staanic Temple’s goals.The rest of the movie is surprisingly infused in light and satirical manner by Lane, to further establish Satan’s rebelliously playful demeanor. If anything, Lane tries to make the case for America, in all its divisiveness, to take the moral examples presented by these lord-of-darkness-worshiping jokesters and change its mindset for the greater good. [B/B+]
‘Rafiki' is the first Pro-LGBTQ Movie Made in Kenya [Review]
You will read people raving about the importance of a movie like “Rafiki“ even existing and I can understand and agree with that. This is an openly pro-LGBTQ movie financed in a country that is a vehemently homophobic and, for that, a movie such as this one should no doubt exist. However, the meandering plot and contrived romance at the heart of this film does the film’s outer importance a major disservice.
Read moreTaylor Schilling Rules in Safe but Watchable ‘Family' [Review]
Sometimes a performance can carry a film and make it work despite an average screenplay. It takes a talented actor or actress to make this happen, but when it does, it becomes a testament to their ability to carry a film all by themselves, which is that rare thing that producers in this industry always look for.
Read more‘Her Smell' Is Absolute Movie Hell [Review]
Alex Ross Perry is a filmmaker that I’ve never fully warmed up to. His films tend to be both slight and pretentious. His latest film is titled “Her Smell” and it is no doubt an audience-test movie — a story about an unlikable character in the form of manic-crazy rock star Becky (played by Elizabeth Moss) who is the lead singer of a fictional all-female band named Something She. Since this film is set in the ‘90s, and these gals hail from Seattle, I presume the music they perform is grunge, although there are definitely punk remnants to it as well. This trio of gals all wear heavy mascara and eyeliner makeup and like to flick their tongues in demonic punk-rock fashion any chance they get, whether it be on-stage of off. I honestly was not down with this movie within the first 10 minutes, I just knew this wasn’t for me, but I stuck around, waiting for the film to gradually improve.
However, clocking in at 135 minutes, “Her Smell” should very much be qualified as an endurance-test for anyone except Alex Ross Perry’s most ardent of fans. The fact that you have to succumb to the camera and follow Becky’s point-of-view during the entirety of this film feels like hell because she’s nothing more than a mean-spirited individual who gets her endorphin rush not just from the drugs she injects, in what seems to be an hourly basis, but most especially from putting down anyone and everyone around her orbit; Some of her victims include her two bandmates (Agyness Deyn, Gayle Rankin), the opening act (Cara Delevigne, Dylan Gelula, Ashley Benson), her ex-husband (Dan Stevens), a record-label owner (Eric Stoltz) and her manager (Virginia Madsen). Rather than putting a stop to Becky’s mayhem, these individuals stick around, facilitating her bullying by not calling her out for a good portion of the film, that is until they are near the breaking point of their sanity. Coincidentally enough, that’s how we feel watching the movie.
Things do get better in the final few minutes, when Becky tries to find redemption and make amends for her grotesque behavior, especially when she decides to play a piano rendition of Bryan Adams’ ‘Heaven’ to her little baby girl. It’s a wonderfully humane and intimate moment in a film filled with vile degradation and mean-spiritedness. This is absolute movie hell. [D+]
‘Hellboy' is a Grade-A Stinker [Review]
I mean, did you really believe that this latest incarnation of "Hellboy" would actually be better than the two excellent Guillermo del Toro films we got back in '04 and '08? Of course not.
Read more‘Colorism' Backlash: Critics Saying Will Smith Too Light-Skinned to Play Serena Williams’ Father in Movie
A new film by the title of “King Richard” is now facing allegations of “colorism,” with critics saying that Will Smith, set to play Venus and Serena Williams’ father in the film, doesn’t have a dark-enough skin tone to play Richard Williams.
Read moreSpike Jonze Directs Pro-Marijuana Short Film ‘The New Normal'
This is totally my jam.
Read moreGaspar Noe's “Climax": Vibrant Dance Movie and Horrific Bad-Trip [Review]
Gaspar Noe‘s Climax is split into two movies, both running about 45 minutes, both relying on risky, over-the-top camerawork and both heavily relying on an EDM soundtrack.
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