post

Salty Grandpa Recounts a Life of Killing in Scorsese’s Opus ‘THE IRISHMAN’

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a gangster walks into a nursing home. Priest says to the gangster, “Unburden yourself, my child.” Gangster says, “But Father, I ain’t got no burdens.” “But of course you must,” the Holy Man states, “You’ve spent a lifetime murdering people. Burning businesses. Threatening men of all stripes. You’ve deprived wives of their husbands, children of their fathers.” “But I didn’t even know the families,” the grizzled old gangster mews. “So you don’t feel sorry for any of it?” the clothed man pushes. The old shriveled meat-bag of a man shrugs, ”I guess I do have one regret…”  Read More

post

‘CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ Reboot Delivers Fluffy Girl-Powered Fun and Peak Kristen Stewart

Who knew that Kristen Stewart could have this much fun? Whether she’s whipping her body around the dance floor or head butting Tinder dates in the kisser, K-Stew is straight lit. She’s scorching hot. As on fire as a Flaming Doctor Pepper. And it’s good to bask in the heat. The Twilight alum has spent the last decade reshaping public perception of her acting chops, starring in dramatic and critically-acclaimed Films with a capital F. Most notably through her partnership with Olivier Assayas in Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper, Stewart has become an actress of high repute and though she’s yet to land herself any kind of Oscar nomination, her star has risen from blockbuster starlet with a Razzie nom to respectable leading lady whose projects are worth seeking out through her association alone. For what seems like the first time in probably ever, the many sides and talents of Stewart come to a head in Charlie’s Angels, a cutesy and shallow fun time that would allow the actress the chance to let her hair down had she not cropped it short. Even so, Stewart is here to shake it off and actually have some fun. And boy what a show she puts on.  Read More

post

Shia LaBeouf Excises Demons In Emotionally Raw ‘HONEY BOY’

Everyone seems to have an opinion about Shia LaBeouf, the child-star turned Transformers/Crystal Skull actor turned Hollywood bad boy. But regardless of what you think you think, anyone who checks out Honey Boy, a revealing and emotionally turbulent tell-all written by and starring LaBeouf, will come out wanting to reach through the screen and deliver a big Shia hug.  Read More

post

Bone Dry Procedural ’THE REPORT’ Values Facts Over Emotion

From longtime Steven Soderberg collaborator and writer/director Scott Z. Burns, The Report is a well-researched and competently constructed journalistic procedural that lacks in human emotion. Very much in a similar vein as movies like Spotlight and All the President’s Men, but lacking their towering sense of immediacy and tension, Burns’ film values objectivity and nonpartisanship most highly, allowing little room for things like a heartbeat or even the cinematic thrills customary with similar dramatic procedurals.  Read More

post

‘FORD V. FERRARI’ is an Anti-Establishment American Western…with Race Cars

In 1966, the Ford Motor Company took on the very best in the business, Enzo Ferrari, at the world-renown Le Mans. The race? A 24-hour deathmatch that raged from dawn through dusk, past midday and midnight, through rain or shine, to its brutal conclusion. A showdown for the best and the ballsiest, Le Mans was won by the best cars driven by the ballsiest drivers. Over at Ford, men in slick suits seek corporate glory and a much-needed rejuvenation in sales. They attempt to reinvent the dad bod of cars that was Ford’s current models, opting for something sleek, sexy, durable. And, most of all, fast. In essence, a Ferrari. But a little elbow grease and a bunch of smoke-filled boardroom meetings do not a champion make. A champion requires an intangible; the perfect union of fallible machinery and the grit of man. Read More

post

‘MARRIAGE STORY’ Is a Heartbreaking Depiction of Love Ending (That’s Especially Traumatic for Divorce Kids)

“What’s the opposite of a fiancée?” Scarlett Johansson’s Nicole muses, trying to find the right word to describe her soon-to-be ex-husband Charlie (Adam Driver). She doesn’t really want to still call him her husband, because that ship has clearly sailed. But nor is he an ex yet either. There’s a lack of finality to their relationship. Unsigned paperwork. Unfought legal battles. Unclaimed wreckage from what was once a marriage.  Read More

post

‘THE INVISIBLE MAN’ Stalks Elisabeth Moss in Trailer for Blumhouse Redux

The Invisible Man is among my favorite of the Universal Monster classic movies. There’s something about a man’s sanity disappearing alongside his physical body that speaks to something very real and very dangerous. Led by Claude Rains’ sinister turn as the titular villain and James Whales’ boundary-pushing direction, it remains one of the might terrifying things to come out of the 1930s. Which makes it all the most shocking that the property has not been touched for over 90 years. Read More

post

Pixar’s First ‘SOUL’ Trailer Asks What You Want to be Known For

Pixar took a big risk with Pete Docter’s Inside Out, a movie that explored how human emotions worked. Portraying our outlook on life as an effect of little creatures like Fear, Joy, Anger, and Disgust operating control panels somewhere in the human brain, the conceptual animated feature didn’t feel reigned in by tradition or normal narrative boundaries. Soul looks to follow in the bold footsteps of Inside Out, dealing within the metaphysical in a similar way to Inside Out and from this first peak, looks to be asking similarly bold questions about human existence.

Read More

post

Contemplative and Dour ‘DOCTOR SLEEP’ Deserves the Patience it Requires 

39 years ago, Stanley Kubrick played a game of chicken with Stephen King’s novel “The Shining”, redefining the term “loose adaptation” as he bent the source material to his will. In the process, Kubrick created not just one of the greatest horror films of all time but one of the very best films regardless of genre. Ever an industry maverick, Kubrick swung an axe at King’s IP (“Here’s Johnny” indeed), hacking the story into one more befitting the film medium and his own vision. This meant stripping away the more abject supernatural horrors (though there’s no shortage of rotting bathers and ghost furry lifestylers) and replacing them Jack Torrence’s descent into catacombs of his own inner madness.  Read More

post

‘KNIVES OUT’ Boasts Killer Ensemble Cast, Mediocre Mystery 

Rian Johnson’s star-studded Knives Out is an Agatha Christie-esque whodunnit complete with a colorful cast of characters, a maybe-murder most foul, and an undercooked mystery that astute audience members will certainly figure out well before the intended reveal. As a fun, star-powered slice of old school murder mystery, Knives Out is a welcome bite of throwback entertainment, a high profile anti-blockbuster of sorts: free of CGI, action set pieces, and superheroics of any sort. In that capacity, the good-old-fashion Hollywood whodunnit is a welcome bit of counter-programming to the overly dramatic winter-season awards fare or the sensory-overwhelming, block-busting eye candy that dominates the box office, it’s just a shame that the whole enterprise feels so surface-level and ultimately easy to solve. Read More