Out in Theaters: ‘THE BIG SHORT’

December 22, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam McKay, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Marisa Tomei, Melissa Leo, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, The Big Short 1 Comment

Adam McKay capped off his 2010 absurdist comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell with an out-of-field infographic featuring the numerics on Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme, bailout statistics and insulting ratios between executive and average employee compensation. A strangely politicized move at the time, especially considering chasing the heels of a movie where ho bos band together to have coitus in a Prius, but one that makes sense in the context of McKay’s star-studded passion project The Big Short. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘YOUTH’

December 19, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged DVD Reviews, Harvey Keitel, Luca Bigazzi, Madalina Ghenea, Out in Theaters, Paolo Sorrentino, Paul Dano, Rachel Weisz, Reviews 2 Comments

Paolo Sorrentino‘s Youth is a picturesque bore. A wandering meditation on the lives of those who’ve already lived it, Youth begs questions about family and legacy and the ugliness involved with both. Not unlike Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, Youth features handsome camerawork and lively, thoughtful performances but is ultimately unable to plant much reason for remembering it once it’s past or passing a recommendation along. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘THE DANISH GIRL’

December 17, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alexandre Desplat, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw, Eddie Redmaye, Lucinda Coxon, Matthias Schoenaerts, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper 1 Comment

Telling the rousing story of Lili Elbe, a landscape artist who was the first to undergo gender correction surgery, Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper enlists a talented crew lead by last year’s Oscar-winner Eddie Redmaye and illustrious hot ticket item Alicia Vikander. Both show off their acting chops like wolves gnashing at lambs but there’s an uncomfortable air of assumed prestige to Redmayne’s whisper-heavy performance and Tom Hooper’s mawkish tendencies on full display. Redmayne’s clearly a phenomenal talent but, in a role that requires so much externalization of ticking internal clockwork, his turn as Lili risks being too showy, much like the film itself. On the surface, The Danish Girl is among the most “progressive” movies of the year and yet it can never stay the feeling of being tame, almost safe. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’

December 16, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Carrie Fischer, Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt, Oscar Isaac, Out in Theaters, Peter Mayhew, Reviews, Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1 Comment

A long time ago in 1977, Star Wars (back then there was no ‘A New Hope’ to it) struck a cultural nerve, resonating like a tuning fork to the farthest reaches of the known galaxy. A flurry of rabid fans stormed the theaters, salivating for a product that was by and large rejected at first glance (Fun Fact: Fox had to strong-arm theater programmers by withholding the right to screen The Other Side of Midnight unless they also screened Star Wars, a film 99 out of 100 people probably don’t recognize today.) If they only knew the power of this sci-fi behemoth, one that even today holds the record for second highest grossing film when adjusted for inflation, there is no doubt that they would have flooded their holy grounds with screening after screening of the lauded space opera but history is a fickle thing. Just ask all those people caught on the news praising Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘HE NEVER DIED’

December 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged He Never Died, Henry Rollins, Jason Krawczyk, Jordan Todosey, Kate Greenhouse, Out in Theaters, Reviews, SXSW Reviews 2015 1 Comment

OG Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins has been lending himself out to little movie roles since he left the band in 1986. Arguably his most prominent and commercial appearance came out of his run on Sons of Anarchy as the muscle of white supremacist group the League of American Nationalists. In the role, Rollins hinted at a dangerous side – ok, “hinted” is a vast understatement – whereas with He Never Died, he pairs that dangerous edge with some delightfully droll humor. The combination keep the wheels turning in this laugh-out loud funny and mostly compelling midnighter. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘MACBETH’

December 10, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Arkapaw, Justin Kurzel, Macbeth, Marion Cotillard, Michael Fassbender, Out in Theaters, Reviews 2 Comments

Macbeth, an extremely well-made adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most revered tragedies, boasts inspired cinematography and voracious performances though is unlikely to win over anyone who’s not already a ravenous student of the Bard’s distinctly tricky prose. The film from director Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) is Shakespeare for Shakespeare buffs, one that – not unlike The Snowtown Murders – will inevitably shed casual viewers for the sheer indecipherableness of its composition. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘IN THE HEART OF THE SEA’

December 9, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ben Whishaw, Benjamin Walker, Brendan Gleeson, Charles Leavitt, Chris Hemsworth, In the Heart of the Sea, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ron Howard, Tom Holland Leave a comment

Chris Hemsworth was a rare find for Thor because he seems like a man beamed out of another dimension. The lacy lexicon of Marvel’s quasi-Shakespearean tragedy boasts Hemsworth’s Australian-cum-Nobleman accent, one with an ethereally hard-to-place, far, far away quality to it. When Hemsworth is smashed down to Earth and asked to perform New England for Ron Howard’s not-quite-Moby-Dick Moby Dick story he musters a punishing take on a Nantucket accent that turns the r’s in ah’s (that is when he remembers he’s supposed to be mussing up his voice at all.) Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘JOY’

December 7, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, Diane Ladd, Édgar Ramírez, Elisabeth Röhm, Jennifer Lawrence, Joy, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Robert De Niro, Virginia Madsen Leave a comment

Through most of David O. Russell’s latest film, Joy Mangano is a hot mess. So too is the movie recounting her admittedly impressive story. O. Russell’s mop drama, which tells of the meteoric rise of an enterprising, low-income single mom, reprises the director’s almost voyeuristic fascination with lower-class dysfunctional families. This narrative thread was accomplished to great effect with The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook (don’t forget the wide-eyed Tiffany lived in a makeshift hodunk studio in the later) and, if Joy is any indication, this recurring thematic motif has run itself dry as menopause with O. Russell. The once-great director, known for culling Academy Award worthy performances one after another, is left floundering with little but the awesome starring power of Jennifer Lawrence to revive this spark-less, cluttered trainwreck of soapy family melodrama. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘THE REVENANT’

December 4, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best of 2015, Domhnall Gleeson, Emmanuel Lubezki, Mark L. Smith, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Revenant, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter 1 Comment

Not since Jim Caviezel hitched himself to a cross and got struck by lightning playing JC himself has an actor suffered so mightily for his craft. Enter Leonardo DiCaprio, the heir to Mel Gibson’s “they killed my family, I will have my revenge” throne. In The Revenant, DiCaprio plays a guide for a fur-trading company who survives a savage Indian assault, is brutally mauled by a mama grizzly, finds himself stitched up like the Necronomicon, left for dead and buried alive all before dragging his ass across a frigid tundra hot on vengeance’s trail. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘THE GOOD DINOSAUR’

November 25, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Jack Bright, Jeffrey Wright, Meg LeFauve, Out in Theaters, Peter Sohn, Pixar, Raymond Ochoa, Reviews, Sam Elliot, The Good Dinosaur Leave a comment

Semi-charmed The Good Dinosaur is slight Pixar but nonetheless a small triumph of wonder and good-nature. Its lack of the distinct creativity that so often characterizes Pixar’s products is overshadowed by a big heart and a resplendent aesthetic palette. Even though the narrative is admittedly quaint, thinly plotted and largely derivative (The Good Dinosaur is essentially a mild repackaging of The Lion King), the overwhelming sense of goodness emanating from the center of Pixar’s 16th feature film had it strike poignant blows at my admittedly exposed softer spots. As Pixar is known to do. Read More