Blu-Ray Review: ‘PETE’S DRAGON’

November 29, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Blu-Ray/DVD Reviews Tagged Blu-Ray/DVD Reviews, Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence, Pete's Dragon, Robert Redford Leave a comment

Synopsis: “Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford), a woodcarver, delights local children with stories of a mysterious dragon that lives deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. His daughter Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) believes these are just tall tales, until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley), a 10-year-old orphan who says he lives in the woods with a giant, friendly dragon. With help from a young girl named Natalie (Oona Laurence), Grace sets out to investigate if this fantastic claim can be true.” Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘NOCTURNAL ANIMALS’

November 22, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aaron Taylor Johnson, Amy Adams, Armie Hammer, Austin Wright, Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Linney, Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals., Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tom Ford 1 Comment

In 2009, Austin, Texas native and noted fashion designer Tom Ford made his feature film debut with A Single Man. A delirious and stunningly photographed vision quest through loss and grief, A Single Man defined Ford as a filmmaker whose haute couture background greatly influenced his aesthetic and in turn his very process. Earning a Best Actor nomination for Colin Firth, A Single Man also established Ford as an actor’s director and helped in turn attract the likes of two of Hollywood’s finest, Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams, for his latest feature, Nocturnal Animals. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘RULES DON’T APPLY’

November 22, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alden Ehrenreich, Annette Bening, Lily Collins, Matthew Broderick, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Rules Don’t Apply, Steve Coogan, Warren Beatty Leave a comment

Following an 18-year hiatus, Warren Beatty returns to the silver screen with free-wheeling throwback Rules Don’t Apply. Following the twilight years of American aviation and film baron Howard Hughes as he slowly descends into paranoia and madness, Rules Don’t Apply affixes the bones of an old-timey romantic comedy to an unconventional biopic making for a nostalgic glimpse into film making’s past that’ll have you asking “Why don’t they make ‘em like they used to?” Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘MOANA’

November 21, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Auli’i Cravalho, Chris Williams, Disney, Don Hall, Dwayne Johnson, Jemaine Clement, John Musker, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Moana, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ron Clements, Temuera Morrison Leave a comment

Following the sage advice of her kooky grandma (a la Pocahontas) princess Moana must leave the enclosed life she’s always known behind (a la Aladdin’s Jasmine) to return a mystic item to the mountain from whence it came (a la Lord of the Rings). Moana, for its great many strengths, falters bringing a truly original tale to the screen, running on the fumes of Disney movies past to craft a well-loved, good-natured and visually decadent, but still somewhat second-tier Disney Princess potboiler, to the big screen in eye-popping 3D. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘BLEED FOR THIS’

November 17, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aaron Eckhart, Ben Younger, Bleed for This, Ciarán Hinds, Katey Sagal, Miles Teller, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ted Levin 2 Comments

The boxing movies formula – arrogant but determined go-getter faces uphill battle and training montage to take on personal issues and superior veteran contender – is one that has been honed and sharped since Rocky defined it for the mainstream in 1976. There have been an astounding number of excellent additions to the sports sub-genre (Warrior, The Fighter, Million Dollar Baby, and just last year, Creed, to name but a few) and many more middling efforts to boot. Bleed for This may not be one that goes down in history as a boxing great but with a knockout performance from star Miles Teller and plenty of heart and good humor, it’s enough of a contender to warrant ringside seats. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK’

November 16, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Beau Knapp, Ben Fountain, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, Jean-Christophe Castelli, Joe Alywn, Kristen Stewart, Life of Pi, Mackenzie Leigh, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Steve Martin, Vin Diesel 1 Comment

Let’s get one thing out of the way first. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a terrible name for a film. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it. A clunky mouthful, the title is culled directly from the celebrated novel of the same name from Ben Fountain, who won several novelist awards for his work including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, but that doesn’t mean that such a jargony mouthful needed to remain in place when translated to film. The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad name comes under fire again when you realize that Billy Lynn doesn’t really walk all that much, he kinda just plops down in his Dallas Cowboy stadium seat and remembers exchanging “I Love You’s” with Vin Diesel until it’s his chance to perform with Destiny’s Child. If the previous sentence didn’t make a lick of sense, welcome to Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.
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Out in Theaters: ‘LOVING’

November 16, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Jeff Nichols, Joel Edgerton, Loving, Michael Shannon, Nick Kroll, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ruth Negga 3 Comments

There is much to respect and admire about what Jeff Nichols has done with Loving. However its incredibly restrained tactics and slow as molasses narrative kept it at a bit of an arms length for me emotionally. But Nicols’ methodology is no mistake. Loving purposefully emulates its subjects – Richard and Mildred Loving, both of whom are played to quiet perfection by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga – an interracial couple who accidentally change the course of post-Jim Crow American history when they become embroiled in a critical constitutional law case. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM’

November 15, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alison Sudol, Colin Farrell, Dan Fogler, David Yates, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling, James Newton Howard, Johnny Depp, Jon Voight, Katherine Waterston Leave a comment

A pleasant but slight distraction from the wickedness of 2016, J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them turns back the clocks on the Harry Potter Universe to 1928 where the pesky Newt Scamander and his suitcase full of fantastic beasts have just entered New York City. Beasts earns points distinguishing itself from its predecessor by taking on a new time period, centering on an older (if still largely charming) cast and moving the action to America where new rules, regulations and verbiage (“muggles” are no more, “no-maj” being the US equivalent) prevail. There’s hints of magic peppered throughout – James Newton Howard’s electrifying score, sharp visual tricks up the sleeve, Eddie Redmayne’s recklessly crooked smile – but as a standalone installment, Fantastic Beasts certainly stops short living up to its titular adjective. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘ARRIVAL’  

November 10, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Adam, Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Heisserer, Forest Whitaker, Jeremy Renner, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Out in Theaters, Reviews 3 Comments

A palindromic tour de force, Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival is a real film lover’s film. A product of deep emotional and intellectual beauty, loaded with provocative philosophical treatises, smart symbolism and crafty red herrings, Arrival’s rich palette of heady questions and satisfying answers make for a movie-going experience that will surely dwell on long after the film reaches its sock-knocking, bittersweet conclusion. Cast doubt aside. Villeneuve, after four English-language films, manages to maintain his unfathomable winning streak and appears to only continue to sharpen his craft as a storyteller and visual artist. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘DOCTOR STRANGE’

November 3, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Strange, Kevin Feige, Mads Mikkelsen, Marvel, Out in Theaters, Rachel McAdams, Reviews, Scott Derrickson, Tilda Swinton 2 Comments

With Doctor Strange, Marvel pries open a doorway to a new realm, one filled with magic and mysticism, dark dimensions and malevolent deities. Filled with heady three-dimensional visuals and eye-bulging psychedelic set pieces, Doctor Strange fulfills the promise of its inspired marketing push. That is, it is as close as Marvel has come to being Inception on crack. And let me assure you, that is a good thing. Led by a game Benedict Cumberbatch playing on type as a smarmy elite member of the intelligentsia, Doctor Strange nonetheless suffers the Marvel formula, the “portal problem” and yet another utterly disposable single serving villain. Read More