‘HOUSE OF GUCCI’ A Funnier Than Expected But Tedious Tale of Fashion-Forward Betrayal

November 22, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Becky Johnston, House of Gucci, Jared Leto, Lady Gaga, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ridley Scott, Roberto Bentivenga, Sara Gay Forden 1 Comment

All empires inevitably crumble. But not all with such lack of style. House of Gucci is the story of one such fading empire as treachery, betrayal, and greed drive a wedge between the preeminent Italian family fashion business. That wedge is named Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), a commoner from a trucking family who worms her way into the Gucci family after capturing the attention and affection of Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) at a nightclub. A lawyer by trade, Maurizio is not wrapped up with the family business but his romance with Patrizia takes foot and her business aspirations grow so too does his involvement in the Gucci brand’s future. All sense of familial loyalty is thrown by the wayside as ambition turns to avarice and blood becomes the new family currency. Read More

Vile Men Are Always the Heroes of Their Own Story in Medieval Court Drama ‘THE LAST DUEL’

October 12, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Alex Lawther, Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ridley Scott, The Last Duel 2 Comments

The Middle Ages, a vast period of cultural and intellectual bankruptcy. A thousand years of decline spent spilling blood in the soil over God, king, and country. The hoi polloi, excited by the rage of religious fervor, cheered for bread and circus and no circus promised more drama than a duel to the death. This is where we find ourselves at the start of Ridley Scott’s latest sword and sandal epic, The Last Duel, with two men, each believing God and the truth is by their side, equipping plates of armor and squeezing into chainmail, squires readying their steads, prepared to square off in an arena until one man claims the other’s last breath. All to prove that their truth is the truth. There’s no better way to prove veracity than by bloodletting – under God’s benevolent eye. Read More

Bone Dry Procedural ’THE REPORT’ Values Facts Over Emotion

November 12, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Corey Stoll, Jon Hamm, Michael C. Hall, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Scott Z. Burns, Tim Blake Nelson Leave a comment

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

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

November 8, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Marriage Story, Netflix, Noah Baumbach, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Scarlett Johansson Leave a comment

“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

SIFF ’19: Zom-Com ’THE DEAD DON’T DIE’ Is Stiff Attempt at Satire

June 6, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Iggy Pop, Jim Jarmusch, RZA, Selena Gomez, SIFF, SIFF 2019, Steve Buscemi, The Dead Don't Die, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits Leave a comment

As if struck with rigor mortis, Jim Jarmusch’s take on zombies is a DOA satire of sorts, one that’s much too self-aware for its own good. Foregoing the traditional scares of an undead creeper, Jarmusch swings and misses trying to put the “dead” in deadpan comedy. Even his pairing of stars Adam Driver and Bill Murray remains something that sounds better on paper than actually works in this context, their synchronized low-energy, unfazed drift through the world of the undead unable to get much of a rise. Read More

Every Generation Has a Legend in Trailer for ‘STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’

April 12, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Adam Driver, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, J.J. Abrams, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar Isaac, Star Wars, Star Wars Episode 9 Trailer, Star Wars: Episode IX, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Trailers Leave a comment

Cue the John Williams’ drumroll please, as it’s finally here: some long-awaited details and a stunning first look at the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, now officially titled Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Lupita Nyong’o, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels and even Carrie Fischer (!!!) and Mark Hammill is the 11th overall Star Wars film and the third of the third trilogy, which is said to be the last dealing with the Skywalker legacy. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI’

December 12, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Carrie Fischer, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Rian Johnson, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Last Jedi 1 Comment

Star Wars is and always has been an underdog story. An action-packed intergalactic odyssey about small legions of rebels rising against seemingly insurmountable adversaries, Star Wars is rooted in an idea of hope against all odds, and you don’t need C3P0 on hand to butt in for that calculation. After the politically-charged prequels, The Force Awakens (and Rogue One) returned to this central conceit of a Sisyphusian struggle – toil in the face of utter improbability – depicting new characters taking their turn against a tyrannical empire, its limitless armada and impossibly supercharged firepower and with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, hope has never seemed so out of reach and victory so unachievable. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘LOGAN LUCKY’

August 15, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Channing Tatum, Daniel Craig, Hilary Swank, Jim O’Heir, Katherine Waterston, Katie Holmes, Out in Theaters, Rebecca Blunt, Reviews, Riley Keough, Seth MacFarlane 4 Comments

Following a four year stint in “retirement”, American auteur Steven Soderbergh returns to the multiplexes with the kind of snappy, crowd-pleasing, whizzbang fare that throttled him from indie delight to box office superstar. Assembling a sublimely cast trio of Magic Mike (Channing Tatum), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Bond, James Bond (Daniel Craig) in a delightful supporting role, Logan Lucky, much like the film that rocketed Soderbergh to success (Ocean’s Eleven), rides on the back of its stars’ natural well of charisma as well as a pithy screenplay (courtesy of maybe pseudonym Rebecca Blunt) that constantly waffles between sly, chuckle-inducing commentary and witty narrative sleight of hand. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘SILENCE’

January 5, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, Issei Ogata, Jay Cocks, Martin Scorsese, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Rodrigo Prieto, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Silence Leave a comment

I guess it follows that a movie titled Silence should lack a score. Marty’s latest meditation on faith (arguably his third after 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ and 1997’s Dalai Lama humdrum biopic Kundun) opens instead with the sound of crickets, a telling forecast of the level of excitement soon to be unleashed. It’s not that Silence lacks artistry, there’s no shortage of stunning shots (but it’s no accident that those that standout most are the various Christians gettin’ tortured scenes), but there’s so much dead air, so much *ahem* silence, that getting from one beat to the next feels like an endless crusade towards but a mirage. Accented only by crickets and cicadas. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘MIDNIGHT SPECIAL’

March 30, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Driver, Bill Camp, Jaeden Liebeher, Jeff Nichols, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Michael Shannon, Midnight Special, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Sam Shepard 1 Comment

Jeff Nichols is very quickly solidifying himself as a distinct and essential American voice. The 37-year old Arkansas native blends the mystic nostalgia of Steven Spielberg’s great wonders with the romanticized bayou lyricism of a Mark Twain novel. The result is often staggering, the heavy, heady crossroads of lock stock ultra violence and meaningfully sentimental morality plays. In 2012, Nichols’ snaggle-toothed fable Mud sounded the starting gun for the McConaissance, just as he basically introduced the world to Michael Shannon as a leading man in 2011’s Take Shelter. More than just a emcee for introducing (or reintroducing) us to new or reinvigorated talent, Nichols has emerged as a bold writer/director willing to take big risks and reap big rewards and Midnight Special, a work of great wonder and beauty, is blinding evidence of this fact. Read More