Talking With Greta Gerwig of MISTRESS AMERICA

August 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig, Interviews, Mistress America, Noah Baumbach 3 Comments

Greta Gerwig first appeared in film in 2006 with a supporting role in Joe Swanberg‘s LOL (not to be confused with the Miley Cyrus film of the same name). Today, her name is synonymous with a strong independent, feminist voice, her presence, one that cannot be ignored. Though Gerwig’s mainstream debut could be traced back to No Strings Attached, most probably know her from her eponymous role in Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha in which she was nominated for many accolades, including Best Actress in Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the 2013 Golden Globes. (If you don’t know Frances Ha, make it the next thing you see.) Read More

Out in Theaters: MISTRESS AMERICA

August 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Mistress America, Noah Baumbach, Out in Theaters, Reviews Leave a comment

Noah Baumbach again arrives in auspicious fashion, delivering a fast-talking farcical bumblebee of a film whose honey is sweet and sting is bruising. It’s as much a diatribe about the fickle nature of youth as it is a pure slapstick comedy, featuring a humdinger of a hipster prophet in the form of a footloose Greta Gerwig. Baumbach’s latest is also decidedly his lightest, opting for a kind of 21st century update to the surrealist verisimilitude of “I Love Lucy” or a feminist take on “The Three Stooges” – that is, it’s his brand of “But ours goes to 11” absurd. Everything he and his characters touch upon is based in reality – on someone, on something, on somewhere – but is forcefully exaggerated in its screwy presentation. As such, Mistress America has allowed Baumbach and Gerwig to craft modern day archetypes – the awkwardly desirable nerd, the college-bound tabula rasa, the hipster goddess – and mock them to high heavens in pure unapologetically absurdist manner. Read More

Out in Theaters: FORT TILDEN

August 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brian Lannin, Bridey Elliott, Charles Rogers, Clare McNulty, Fort Tilden, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Sarah Violet Bliss, SXSW Leave a comment

*This is a reprint of our SXSW 2014 review.

Remember when tying your shoes was an impossible chore? When you could only get places at the discretion of your mom’s minivan? When you didn’t know how to cook yourself a meal so you relied on someone else’s feeding hand so that you wouldn’t starve? These, among others, are lessons that Fort Tilden‘s anti-heroines never seemed to learn. Read More

Out in Theaters: STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

August 13, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aldis Hodge, Corey Hawkins, Dr. Dre, F. Gary Gray, Ice Cube, Jason Mitchell, N.W.A., Neil Brown Jr., O’Shea Jackson Jr., Out in Theaters, Paul Giammatti, Reviews, Straight Outta Compton 3 Comments

F. Gary Gray’s blimp rose alongside Ice Cube. In 1992, he directed Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” before directing the rapper-turned-actor’s cinematic debut Friday. He went on to carve a real name for himself at a ripe young age directing music videos for other black artists including Ice Cube homeboy and N.W.A. group member Dr. Dre, Tupac, Jay-Z and hip-hop supergroups Cypress Hill, TLC and Outkast. In 2003, Gray blew up the box office with a retelling of The Italian Job while his last film, Law Abiding Citizen, more blew up in his face. 6 years on, Gray has returned to Hollywood to aid in telling the tale of hip-hop superstar group N.W.A. (we’ll go by the innocent ignorance of Jerry Heller and pretend that’s the abbreviation for “No Whites Allowed) with Straight Outta Compton. Read More

Talking With Kevin Bacon of COP CAR

August 13, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Cop Car, Interviews, Kevin Bacon 5 Comments

To promote his new film Cop Car, a thinly plotted but hugely enjoyable genre flick that mixes suspense and high violence with a coming-of-age bent [review here], Kevin Bacon was in town, hitting the Seattle International Film Festival red carpet in style. After talking briefly about who he’d choose to bequeath the honor of Six Degrees of Bacon upon (other Kevin actors: Spacey, Klein, etc.) Kevin and I talked being Kevin Bacon, playing cops, not being pigeon-holed or type-cast, crafting a character from little dialogue, jumping back and forth from movies to television and not watching his old movies.

Out in Theaters: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

August 12, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki, Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill, Hugh Grant, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Leave a comment

Guy Ritchie is the Rembrandt of slick action capers. His signature twisty-turny plotting suggests a much more reined-in Shyamalan while his carefully syncopated, pop-art action beats share a locker with contemporaries Zack Snyder and Matthew Vaughn. From Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Ritchie has operated within a comparable sandbox, utilizing a very similar set of stock tools within shifting budgetary constraints. With The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Ritchie has set aside his signature accoutrements for something with an embarrassment of cinematic fervor. His latest creation is chic and classic, timely yet timeless, shiny on the surface with rich characters driving the engine underneath. This much fun is rare at the theaters. Read More

Talking With Jemaine Clement of PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS

August 12, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Flight of the Conchords, Interviews, James Strouse, Jemaine Clement, People Places Things, The Big Friendly Giant, What We Do in the Shadows 1 Comment

Jemaine Clement, introverted funnyman that he is, has an awkward charm to him that escapes most of his Hollywood peers. He’s coy with his comedy, firing off in quiet bursts rather than erupting like an attention-whoring lime light volcano. In short, his timidness is his strongest weapon. Read More

Out in Theaters: PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS

August 12, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Jemaine Clement, Jessica Williams, Jim Strouse, Michael Chernus, Out in Theaters, People Places Things, Regina Hall, Reviews 1 Comment

*This is a reprint of our 2015 Sundance review.

Having retired from his role as the Hiphopopotamus, Jemaine Clement frequents our living rooms and theaters all too infrequently. His 2014 cameo in Muppets Most Wanted didn’t nearly suffice to fill our favorite Kiwi quotient and we’ve yet to take in his lauded vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows [Editor’s note: we’ve now seen Shadows. We loved it.] Nor can we really kid ourselves into believing that Clement’s existence beyond Flight of the Concords has been far-reaching – though his role as Boris the Animal was an easy highlight of Men in Black 3 and tapped into his unrealized Hollywood potential. So it’s with a heaving sigh of relief that we can announce that Clement has finally been given a role worthy of his gawky stature in the delightful, funny and tender People, Places, Things. Read More

Out in Theaters: THE BOY

August 12, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Craig William Macneill, David Morse, Horror, Jared Breeze, Out in Theaters, Rainn Wilson, Reviews, The Boy Leave a comment

*This is a reprint of our SXSW 2015 review.

Ted (Jared Breeze) is a serial killer in the making. He’s only nine years old but all the warning signs are there in Craig William Macneill’s slow burning but explosively rewarding motion picture. Like the great unmade redneck prequel to The Good Son, The Boy shows the quiet transformation of ennui to psychosis as an immeasurably bored towhead graduates from coaxing animals to their death to killing them outright before finally setting his sights on his own genus and gene pool. Read More

DVD Review: MATCH

August 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Blu-Ray/DVD Reviews Tagged DVD Review, Match, Patrick Stewart, Steve Belber Leave a comment

Synopsis: “A successful Manhattan ballet instructor and former dancer must confront his past when two fans with mysterious motives display some fancy footwork in the compelling drama Match. Steve Belber’s film, based on his Tony-nominated play, stars Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard who each give captivating performances in this witty, emotionally gripping adaptation of the play. Stewart stars as Tobi, an eccentric, pot-smoking Manhattan ballet instructor whose quiet life is interrupted by the arrival of a young couple from Seattle. They are presumably there to interview Tobi about his colorful life as a dancer in the 1960s. But as Tobi spins salacious tales from his early days, an ulterior motive for the couple’s visit emerges, forcing the trio to confront a secret that may connect them all.” Read More