Out in Theaters: ‘THE FITS’
A brief (70 minute) foray into an experimentalist meditation on maturation, Anna Rose Holmer’s feature debut 'The Fits' is a subtle cinematic firecracker that probes fundamental metaphysical treatises of self.…
REVIEW
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE’
Taika Waititi spreads his wings with 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople', a genuinely hilarious and emotionally engaging tale of a naughty foster child and his surrogate uncle who venture off into…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘SWISS ARMY MAN’
One of the most bizarre and bizarrely beautiful films to grace the Sundance Dramatic Competition in quite some time, 'Swiss Army Man' is not a film to be puzzled out…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘THE BFG’
Regardless of The BFG’s big-heart, handful of winning performances and across-the-board impressive technical marksmanship, the grueling, threadbare nature of its story marks it as one of Spielberg’s least inspired and…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘THE LEGEND OF TARZAN’
From the laughable script to the horrible performances, bad computer-generated imagery to asinine action beats, 'The Legend of Tarzan' is a gravely unpleasant big-budget sedative. Without anything of narrative, visual…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘THE NEON DEMON’
Like the hackneyed runway model, 'The Neon Demon' is all external flash, little internal substance. For the most part. Aggravatingly vacuous but undeniably seductive, Nicholas Winding Refn’s hostile takedown of…
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘FINDING DORY’
CONCLUSION: A Neptunian pathos piece showcasing masterfully slick animation and plenty of good humor, 'Finding Dory' still can’t escape the grasp of ancillary, auxiliary storytelling. And for all its trying,…
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘UNDER THE SHADOW’
With Under the Shadow, Babak Anvari has his finger on the pulse of what we want, and deserve, from an independent horror movie. A potent location in 1980s missile-wary Tehran, a compelling lead in Narges Rashidi who grapples with cultural and professional oppression in addition to her family being haunted, and an actively restrained director...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘MIDDLE MAN’
Ned Crowley stresses “comedy” in his offbeat desert kill spree comedy of errors Middle Man. A darkly humorous dredge through despair and desperation, Crowley’s film emulates the dark comedy stylings that define greater desert noir the likes of No Country for Old Men with enough tics to call its own to warrant an existence. Parks...
FESTIVAL
SIFF ’16 Capsule Review: ‘DON’T THINK TWICE’
Improv is about following the germ of an idea until it’s reach its most preposterous conclusion and with emotionally honest and rib-tickling seriocomedy Don’t Think Twice, Mike Birbiglia has, like a great improv thread taken to its most radical extreme, tangentially bloomed into himself as a director. His comedy manifesto has always tilted at harvesting...