The Best TV Shows of 2021

December 30, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Dave, Dopesick, For All Mankind, Hacks, It's a Sin, Maid, Mare of Easttown, Midnight Mass, Physical, Squid Game, Succession, The Underground Railroad, The White Lotus, Yellowjackets Leave a comment

As the wide world of film shook and shuttered, trying to get its feet back under it while navigating the constant challenge of the pandemic, television entered a new golden age. The silver screen may have faded but the small screen burned brighter than ever. Last year, I listed my 25 favorite television series of the year and while many greats remain amongst my favorite, the amount of new amazing series in 2021 was blistering. Rather than diving in again on why something was a favorite in 2021, I mostly focused on newer shows, limited series, and series that made a triumphant return in 2021. So while I love comedies like What We Do in the Shadows (brilliant, still), Curb Your Enthusiasm (incredible, again), Ted Lasso (which proved slightly more dour in its second season, though hopeful and kind to its core), and Pen15 (creative and cringe as ever), they won’t appear on this list because I already said my piece on them last year. Read More

Spoiler Alert: ‘THE MATRIX: RESURRECTIONS’ Is Not Good

December 21, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Carrie-Anne Moss, Jonathan Groff, Keanu Reeve, Lana Wachowski, The Matrix: Resurrections, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 1 Comment

The spoon may not exist but after watching this third Matrix sequel, you’d wish it didn’t either. A numbing retread of past Matrix antics fastened onto an exasperatingly dull attempt at a revival, The Matrix: Resurrections is a bizarre, lumbering attempt to breath one final breathe into a franchise that redefined science-fiction action when it was first released in 1999. If the intention of this clunker is to make you appreciate the other sequels, job very well done. I take back every bad thing I ever had to say about Reloaded and even Revolutions. The Matrix: Resurrections is the antithesis of revolutionary, too busy looking back to take a step forward without stumbling and landing flat on its face. Read More

‘SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME’ and The Multiverse of Monsters

December 15, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alfred Molina, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, J.K. Simmons, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Jon Watts, Mauro Fiore, Michael Giacchino, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland, Willem Dafoe, Zendaya 5 Comments

Undisputedly the superhero event of the year, Spider-Man: No Way Home is a breakneck collision of past and present that explores the generational legacy of Spider-Man in unrelentingly entertaining fashion. The script from Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers wastes zero time, hitting the ground running as No Way Home picks up precisely where the previous endeavor, Far From Home, left off: with Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity revealed to the world by Daily Bugle alt-news tyrant J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). Desperate to undo the fallout from his being unmasked, Peter turns to Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to conjure up an amnesia spell that would make the world forget his identity. Read More

Spielberg’s ‘WEST SIDE STORY’ Remake A Handsome, Emotionally Flat Spectacle

December 9, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ansel Elgort, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Rachel Zegler, Reviews, Stephen Sondheim, Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner, West Side Story 1 Comment

Handsomely made but emotionally flat, West Side Story as told by blockbusting king of the box office Steven Spielberg plays like a slick, overproduced cover album. The songs are all there but they’ve been blown out to oblivion by overproduction, chasing technical mastery but never stopping to consider the why of it all. Like when a favorite band finally hits it big and subsequently loses the very sound that made them unique and your favorite band in the first place. There are no imperfections and, in effect, no spark. One would sound silly calling it “selling out” but there’s a similarly disappointing energy that washes over the viewer expecting a vibrant new take on timeless material only to rub up against a flashy reskin of a classic, sans any discernible new perspective. Read More

‘RED ROCKET’ is Magic Mike Meets Joe Dirt A.K.A. It’s Glorious

December 9, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Bree Elrod, Out in Theaters, Red Rocket, Reviews, Sean Baker, Simon Rex, Suzanna Son 4 Comments

Washed up porn star Mikey Sabre (Simon Rex) arrives by bus back in his hometown of Texas City, Texas. He’s beat up and sans belongings, bruised from some unseen brawl but still so motormouthed you’d think he were riding high on the Colombian marching powder. But Mikey doesn’t have the kind of money to fund such a habit. In fact, he has no money to his name. Which is why he’s in Texas City, Texas. Mikey hasn’t quite come crawling back to his estranged meth-head wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) to rekindle their extinguished flame but he does need to crash on her couch for a bit while he gets his affairs in order. If she’ll let him. Read More

Preposterous Doomsday Satire ‘DON’T LOOK UP’ Explodes With Snickers, Star Power

December 8, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam McKay, Cate Blanchett, Don’t Look Up, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Rylance, Meryl Streep, Rob Morgan, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet 2 Comments

“Don’t look up,” becomes the political mantra of President Janine Orlean (Meryl Streep) as a comet nine kilometers wide barrels towards Earth. Without immediate intervention, there is a one-hundred percent chance of an extinction level event. But midterms are fast approaching and an opportunity to save the world and existence as we know it gets fed through the political machine, to the chagrin of actual scientists the world over. Taking aim at the Trump-era invention of “alternative facts”, Orlean encourages her followers to not believe their own eyes, spinning an impending apocalypse into a culture war in ways that are both all too far-fetched and tragically feasible. Read More

‘BEING THE RICARDOS’ A Lucille Ball Biopic Without Bite

December 7, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aaron Sorkin, Alia Shawkat, Being the Ricardos, Clark Gregg, J.K. Simmons, Jake Lacy, Javiar Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Tony Hale 1 Comment

After three directorial efforts, I think it’s safe to say that Aaron Sorkin is a boring director. The celebrated scribe’s career began with early works like A Few Good Men and The Rock before rising to prominence pulling triple duties as writer, executive producer, and creator with NBC’s mega-hit The West Wing. Sorkin’s vocation hit a high note through the early aughts, earning an Academy Award nomination for his writing work on Moneyball and winning an Oscar for David Fincher’s excellent The Social Network – still his best work to date. Sorkin turned to directing with 2017 Molly’s Game and followed that decent-enough effort with the awards-desperate courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7. Both films revealed a creator that apes the style of other better directors with none of his own. Read More

Del Toro’s ‘Nightmare Alley’ A Sordid Tale of Geek Love and Snake Oil

December 2, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, David Strathairn, Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe 2 Comments

In circus nomenclature, a “geek” is the most run-down of men, almost always an alcoholic or junkie, who performs grotesqueries, like biting the heads off live animals, in front of jeering – but well-paying – audiences. The geek puts the “carnal” in carnival; reliably dirty of soul and desperate for work. He is the lowest in the act’s hierarchy because his role is easily replaceable, for it requires no skill other than a willingness to debase oneself publicly. The geek is to be gawked at, pitied, and feared, for he has fallen as low as any man can. Read More

Paolo Sorrentino’s Autobiographical ‘HAND OF GOD’ Tells Teenage Dirty Little Secrets

November 29, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Filippo Scotti, Hand of God, Paolo Sorrentino 2 Comments

A lyrical ode to family, fate, and the future, The Hand of God is an autobiographical coming-of-age story written and directed by The Great Beauty Oscar-winner Paolo Sorrentino. Drawing from his experience as a listless teenager in 1980’s Naples, The Hand of God tells the story of Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) who mostly just chills with his rambunctious older family until a cruel twist of fate leaves him reeling and searching for a way forward. Read More

‘HOUSE OF GUCCI’ A Funnier Than Expected But Tedious Tale of Fashion-Forward Betrayal

November 22, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Becky Johnston, House of Gucci, Jared Leto, Lady Gaga, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ridley Scott, Roberto Bentivenga, Sara Gay Forden 1 Comment

All empires inevitably crumble. But not all with such lack of style. House of Gucci is the story of one such fading empire as treachery, betrayal, and greed drive a wedge between the preeminent Italian family fashion business. That wedge is named Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), a commoner from a trucking family who worms her way into the Gucci family after capturing the attention and affection of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) at a nightclub. A lawyer by trade, Maurizio is not wrapped up with the family business but his romance with Patrizia takes foot and her business aspirations grow so too does his involvement in the Gucci brand’s future. All sense of familial loyalty is thrown by the wayside as ambition turns to avarice and blood becomes the new family currency. Read More