Out in Theaters: THE FACE OF AN ANGEL

June 15, 2015 by Jill Landon Posted in Out in Theaters Leave a comment

At the halfway point of Michael Winterbottom’s The Face of an Angel, Thomas Lang, a film director in the process of adapting a book about a high-profile murder case, is sitting at lunch with his collaborators on the project. The murder case involves Jessica Fuller, an American student accused of killing her study-abroad roommate in Italy, which the viewer will recognize as a story based on the real-life Amanda Knox case, which made headlines in 2007. When prompted to speak about his angle for the story, Thomas says: “The story is that there’s no such thing as real truth or justice. It’s just a popularity contest.”

Netfix: 7 Recent (Underrated) Thrillers Streaming on Netflix

June 15, 2015 by Drew Powell Posted in Netfix Tagged Blue Ruin, Compliance, In The House, Lists, Side Effects, The Den, The Hunter, The Sacrament Leave a comment

The great thing about Netflix is that it gives you a lot of TV and movie watching options. The bad thing about Netflix is that it gives you…a lot of TV and movie watching options. So many that it can be overwhelming. I’d guess around ninety percent of our time spent on Netflix is scrolling through thousands of movies and TV shows, before finally deciding on something three hours after you’ve first logged on. The aim of this column is to provide easily accessible Netflix suggestions based on a different focal point each week.

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Season 3, Episode 1 Recap “Mother’s Day”

June 14, 2015 by J Simpson Posted in TV Reviews Tagged Orange is the New Black, TV Recaps Leave a comment

In which old friends return, people move on, plots are hatched and parties are planned, as Caputo’s “kinder, gentler regime” struggles to take hold.

Mother’s Day can be one of the hardest, as well as most exciting, days of the year in a women’s penitentiary. Inmates with children get to see how much their kids have grown, while also being reminded how powerless and trapped they are behind razor wire.

It’s a time for reflection, for remembering, which serves as an excellent re-introduction to the complex, convoluted world of Litchfield Penitentiary, in the brand new season of Jenji Kohan’s Orange Is The New Black.

[This recap will discuss ‘Mother’s Day’ in detail, and may contain spoilers. Be advised.]

Talking with Alfonso Gómez Rejón of ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL

June 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Interviews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Leave a comment

Six months ago, Alfonso Gómez Rejón‘s stock was of Jordan Belfort’s penny list variety. He himself had to push it on people. And that’s exactly how he landed a gig directing the Sundance-winning, indie-record-breaking, standing-ovation-inducing Me & Earl & The Dying Girl [our review here]. Says Rejón, “I had to fight for the job…. It was torture.” But Rejón would gleefully admit that the painstaking process that got him from point A to point sitting behind that coveted director’s chair was one well worth it. After all, he’s gone from penny stock to Fortune 500 in one quick go. Read More

The Deepest Cuts: FRANKENHOOKER

June 12, 2015 by Madelyn Sutton Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Frank Henenlotter, Frankenhooker, James Lorinz, Patty Mullen, The Deepest Cuts Leave a comment

Sci-fi and horror nerds are championing the return of a certain much-beloved low-budget aesthetic heralded by the success of George Miller’s newest installment in the Mad Max franchise, Fury Road, and in the use of practical effects in evidence in trailers for the upcoming Star Wars episode. In the case of the latter film, this reliance on puppets and robots represents a return to the ethos of episodes IV-VI – but one needn’t go back as far as 1977 to see actors interacting with real objects in the same physical space for the sake of thrills. Read More

Director Face/Off: Anderson vs. Linklater (Round One – Reusing Actors)

June 11, 2015 by Lillian Angelle Posted in Retrospectives Tagged Bottle Rocket, Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater, Slacker, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson 1 Comment

Wes Anderson and Richard Linklater –prominent writer/directors, Texas natives (both have roots in Houston) and coincidentally my two favorite humans. Their latest films were nominated for Best Motion Picture this year and, delving further, their careers have evolved at very similar rates, humbly paving the quaint dirt road that was the indie film scene in the ‘90s with Slacker and Bottle Rocket. Onward, they transitioned to tastemakers, acquiring cult followings with Dazed and Confused and The Royal Tenenbaums. With each film Anderson and Linklater make, their toolbox gets a little bigger without compromising their eclectic and pridefully offbeat styles, one vastly different from the other, yet hauntingly similar. Which leads to the question, who does it better?

Out in Theaters: SPY

June 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Allison Janney, Bobby Cannavale, Jason Statham, Jude Law, Melissa McCarthy, Out in Theaters, Paul Feig, Reviews, Rose Byrne, Spy Leave a comment

Like Funyuns, Melissa McCarthy is an acquired taste. In her least delicate projects, she vaults around the frame, sharting and cursing to the apparent delight of squealing audiences that I just don’t relate to. Even in Paul Feig‘s Spy – a film that affords her at least an attempt at a three-dimensional character – a wide margin of the comedy is rooted in McCarthy’s heft and just how riotous it is to see a fat lady try to do normal lady things. Tee-hee. Read More

Out in Theaters: INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3

June 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brian Pearson, Dermot Mulroney, Insidious: Chapter 3, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Stefanie Scott 1 Comment

The first tick box I’ll address on this lengthy list of movie sins is that Insidious: Chapter 3 is misnamed. A more accurate title would be Insidious: The First Chapter or Insidious: The End of the Beginning. or Insidious: Unbelievably, The Shittiest One Yet. Chapter 3 implies the continuation of a story that began in chapters one and two. People who’ve read chapter books likely already know this fact. Unfortunately, it appears that the creators of this film weren’t privy to the vestige of knowledge contained within chapter books. Because outside of setting up a character whose appearance in the first Insidious movie also suspiciously marked its drastic dip in quality, this third chapter has absolutely nothing in common with the two that hit theaters before it. It’s like reading “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and then “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and then “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. Except Rowling intended for you to read it in that order. Read More

Talking with Atticus Ross of LOVE & MERCY, GONE GIRL, SOCIAL NETWORK

June 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Atticus Ross, Composers, David Fincher, Interviews, Love & Mercy, SIFF 2015 Leave a comment

There are few composers who intrigue me enough to want to pursue an interview: John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desplat. Atticus Ross. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Ross lends his talent out sparsely – completing just a pair of film scores each year while his peers often churn out four to seven. He earned his name alongside Nine Inch Nails band leader Trent Reznor scoring David Fincher‘s The Social Network, a game-changing composition that went on to Academy Award acclaim. Since then, Ross has joined each of Fincher’s projects working alongside Reznor to provide dark, harrowing musical compositions to underscore Fincher’s devilish palette. Read More

10 Best Movies of 2015 So Far

June 11, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists Tagged Ex Machina, Inside Out, Lamb, Mad Max: Fury Road, The End of the Tour, The Look of Silence, The Overnight, The Witch, Trainwreck, Wild Tales Leave a comment

For the casual film-goer, 2015 has started off on relative slow footing. Dumping ground months January and February held few critical or commercial surprise hits – outside of one release featured on this rundown – with anything of worth reserved for festival-going audiences. Barring the outrageous international money-vacuum that is Furious 7, Summer 2015 has proved a touch disappointing with expected giants such as Avengers: Age of Ultron landing softer than anticipation (while still claiming the second biggest opening weekend ever) and big franchise resets like Terminator: Genisys and Jurassic World waiting in the wings with big question marks (and budgets) hanging over their heads. Read More