Out in Theaters: ‘THE REVENANT’

December 4, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best of 2015, Domhnall Gleeson, Emmanuel Lubezki, Mark L. Smith, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Revenant, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter 1 Comment

Not since Jim Caviezel hitched himself to a cross and got struck by lightning playing JC himself has an actor suffered so mightily for his craft. Enter Leonardo DiCaprio, the heir to Mel Gibson’s “they killed my family, I will have my revenge” throne. In The Revenant, DiCaprio plays a guide for a fur-trading company who survives a savage Indian assault, is brutally mauled by a mama grizzly, finds himself stitched up like the Necronomicon, left for dead and buried alive all before dragging his ass across a frigid tundra hot on vengeance’s trail. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘EVEREST’

September 16, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Baltasar Kormákur, Best of 2015, Dario Marianelli, Emily Watson, Everest, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Michael Kelly, Naoko Mori, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Robin Wright, Salvatore Totino, Sam Worthington, Simon Beaufoy, William Nicholson 1 Comment

Human beings simply aren’t built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. At 29,000 feet, you body is literally dying. Lack of oxygen becomes a toxic, poisoning the brain and forcing your body to shut down non-vital organs. At such heights, it’s near impossible to breathe without a tank of O. Beholding Everest on a proper IMAX screen, I too found myself gasping for air. It’s literally breathtaking. Read More

Out in Theaters: THE END OF THE TOUR

August 5, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Best of 2015, Danny Elfman, David Foster Wallace, David Lipsky, Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The End of the Tour Leave a comment

*This is a reprint of our 2015 Sundance review*

To put a pin in the beauty of The End of the Tour is a philosophical venture potentially as challenging as James Ponsoldt‘s latest accomplishment. Detailing a three-day exchange between Rolling Stones journalist David Lipsky and rock star author David Foster Wallace, Ponsoldt’s film is talky and emotionally whirling, thick with dry-mouthed moments and cemented with a kind of human earnestness that cannot be bought or bartered for. Read More

Documentary Dossier: THE LOOK OF SILENCE

July 16, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Documentaries, Out in Theaters Tagged Adi Rukun, Best of 2015, Documentaries, Joshua Oppenheimer, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence Leave a comment

*This is a reprint of our 2015 SXSW review.

In psychology class, you learn about the concept of diffusion of responsibility, a sociopathic event that explains that when more people are present or complicit in an unfavorable event, the less personally responsible that group will feel for its outcome. The public murder of Kitty Genovese – in which a woman was stabbed to death in NYC but not one neighbor alerted the police – is a tragic true-to-life example of this but no piece of fiction or nonfiction has better captured the ghastly phenomenon than Joshua Oppenheimer‘s The Look of Silence. Read More

Out in Theaters: INSIDE OUT

June 18, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Poehler, Best of 2015, Bill Hader, Inside Out, Lewis Black, Out in Theaters, Pete Docter, Phyllis Smith, Pixar, Reviews, Richard Kind 3 Comments

It’s been five long years and three mediocre products since Pixar unleashed the beloved Toy Story 3, and years of bated breathe have contribution to the hot anticipation of their first original effort since 2012’s problematic Brave. The titanic mummer of Pixar’s throbbing heartbeat has been notably muted and palpably chunky over the last half-decade – the result of Disney dollars hierarchized above lush originality and narrative fervor. But with Inside Out, the Docter is in. Stethoscopes have been administered, a double bypass has been performed, the blockage has been loosened. In one fell blow, Pete Docter has served up a whopping Pixar masterpiece and restored the animation studio’s name to its former glory. All hail the king. All hail the Docter.

SXSW Review: LAMB

March 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews Tagged Best of 2015, Lamb, Oona Laurence, Reviews, Ross Partridge, SXSW 2015 Reviews 2 Comments

Director, screenwriter and star Ross Partridge unearths a ripe splintering of soul in the fragile, complex love story that is Lamb. Adapted from Bonnie Nadzam‘s sage but harrowing novel of redemption and temptation, Patridge repurposes the byzantine dynamic of Nadzam’s words to co-exist in the cinematic crossroads of nail-ruining suspense and earnest, didactic sentiments of humanity, all the while subtly wedging in thematic elements of Vladimir Nabokov’s will-they-or-won’t-they statutory misgivings. Read More