Pastel-Plastered ‘BARBIE’ A Hilarious and Incisive Indictment of Modernity, Gender Roles

July 18, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Alexandra Shipp, Ana Cruz Kayne, Barbie, Dua Lipa, Emma Mackey, Greta Gerwig, Hari Nef, Issa Rae, John Cena, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Margot Robbie, Ncuti Gatwa, Nicola Coughlan, Noah Baumbach, Ritu Arya, Ryan Gosling, Scott Evans, Sharon Rooney, Simu Liu 2 Comments

When Mattel recently announced that they would be launching their own extended cinematic universe (the Mattel Cinematic Universe, or MCU2), the internet groaned in exhausted unison. After all, what could be more unappealing in our era of modern moviemaking than yet another corporate attempt to coalesce blatant brand synergy and Hollywood’s necrotic trend of interconnectiveness, all to satisfy a company’s stakeholders and their own bottom line? From my very anecdotal research, this is simply not a thing that the movie-going public is clambering for. No one is demanding a theatrical showcase where Hot Wheels, Sock ‘Em Robots, and Barbie team up in some kind of Avengers-style plot to take down the dastardly Hungry Hungry Hippos. And yet, Mattel is currently in some stage of development on a vast number of feature films based on just that with Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, He-Man, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Polly Pocket, View-Master, American Girl, and the card game Uno all in some form of gestational pre-production. Theirs is a gloomy future that presupposes that Hollywood hits come purely from brand recognition – a future that forecasts the further sidelining of anything truly original, championing nostalgia and brand dominance over the creation of the new. Read More

Gerwig’s ’LITTLE WOMEN’ Is Exquisitely Crafted, Beautifully Acted Holiday Delight

November 25, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bob Odenkirk, Chris Cooper, Eliza Scanlen, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Greta Gerwig, Laura Dern, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Meryl Streep, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts 1 Comment

In 1868, Louisa May Alcott introduced the world to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy in her semi-autobiographical novel “Little Women”. Alcott’s novel was almost immediately met with huge commercial success and has gone on to be retold generation after generation. First adapted for the screen in 1917 as a silent film, Little Women has gone on to become a cultural reflection of its times, a new version unspooling every twenty years or so to capture the attention of new young audiences. From 1933’s Katharine Hepburn cut to 1994’s Gillian Armstrong take (whose all-star cast included Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, and Kirsten Dunst), Little Women is a story destined to play on repeat. And, in this one such example, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘ISLE OF DOGS’

March 20, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Greta Gerwig, Isle of Dogs, Jeff Goldblum, Koyu Rankin, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson, Wes Anderson 4 Comments

Maestro of whimsy Wes Anderson returns to stop-motion animation nearly a decade after Fantastic Mr. Fox to tell a story of political corruption and grassroots rebellion starring a bunch of scruffy mutts and overzealous kiddos in the absolutely delightful Isle of Dogs. Draped in quirky Andersonisms, understated humor, and brassy real-world parallels, the auteur’s ninth film is an irreverent celebration of outsiders that’s steeped in Japanese culture and plopped within a dog-eat-dog political treatise on inclusion and the dangers of nationalism. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘LADY BIRD’

November 7, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A24, Beanie Feldstein, Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Odeya Rush, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Saorsie Ronan, Timothée Chalamet 1 Comment

Indie darling Greta Gerwig breathes life into directorial “debut” (she co-directed Nights and Weekends in 2008) Lady Bird with passion and pathos. Gerwig’s strong freshman feature strikes a balance between the mumblecore sensibilities of frequent collaborators Joe Swanberg and Noah Baumbach while bringing a refreshingly anarchical female voice into the choir. Lady Bird as a character and film manages both tenderness and lawlessness; caught in the confuddling mix of teenage hormones and perceived oppressive parenting; rebelling against the grain, oft to her own detriment; Gerwig’s capable filmmaking expertly capturing that claustrophobic feeling of teenage angst and insurgency; Saorsie Ronan performing the hell out of the role. Read More

Out in Theaters: ’20TH CENTURY WOMEN’

January 18, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged 20th Century Women, Annette Bening, Billy Crudup, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig, Lucas Jade Zumann, Mike Mills, Out in Theaters, Reviews Leave a comment

Mike Mills’ 3rd feature film takes him to the tail end of the groovy seventies where a pubescent boy is raised by a freewheeling mother and two other women whose help she enlists. Though nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Comedy, 20th Century Women is a loose-lipped drama first and foremost; an exploration of youth and young manhood through the lens of budding feminism. That it hedges in a good lick of ha ha’s only sweetens the experience. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘JACKIE’

December 15, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Billy Crudup, Greta Gerwig, John Hurt, Natalie Portman, Noah Oppenheim, Out in Theaters, Pablo Larraín, Peter Sarsgaard, Reviews 5 Comments

Heartache and quiet dignity define Jackie Kennedy Onassis in Pablo Larraín’s thoughtful biopic Jackie. Recounting the events immediately following the assassination of the 35th US President John F. Kennedy, the film written by Noah Oppenheim (Allegiant, The Maze Runner) explores an intricate swatch of issues facing both the United States on a macro level and Mrs. Kennedy on a micro level. Oppenheim and Larraín’s ability to overturn so many stones and explore so many corners of both American life and Jackie’s personal descent into melancholia, all under the watchdog snouts of overeager politicians, public scrutiny and the constant threat of the media’s clicking cameras, is nothing shy of hugely impressive, especially operating within such a relatively constrained run time, a mere 110 minutes. But Jackie’s true staying power lies in star Natalie Portman. Read More

Talking With Greta Gerwig of MISTRESS AMERICA

August 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Interviews Tagged Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig, Interviews, Mistress America, Noah Baumbach 3 Comments

Greta Gerwig first appeared in film in 2006 with a supporting role in Joe Swanberg‘s LOL (not to be confused with the Miley Cyrus film of the same name). Today, her name is synonymous with a strong independent, feminist voice, her presence, one that cannot be ignored. Though Gerwig’s mainstream debut could be traced back to No Strings Attached, most probably know her from her eponymous role in Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha in which she was nominated for many accolades, including Best Actress in Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the 2013 Golden Globes. (If you don’t know Frances Ha, make it the next thing you see.) Read More

Out in Theaters: MISTRESS AMERICA

August 14, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Mistress America, Noah Baumbach, Out in Theaters, Reviews Leave a comment

Noah Baumbach again arrives in auspicious fashion, delivering a fast-talking farcical bumblebee of a film whose honey is sweet and sting is bruising. It’s as much a diatribe about the fickle nature of youth as it is a pure slapstick comedy, featuring a humdinger of a hipster prophet in the form of a footloose Greta Gerwig. Baumbach’s latest is also decidedly his lightest, opting for a kind of 21st century update to the surrealist verisimilitude of “I Love Lucy” or a feminist take on “The Three Stooges” – that is, it’s his brand of “But ours goes to 11” absurd. Everything he and his characters touch upon is based in reality – on someone, on something, on somewhere – but is forcefully exaggerated in its screwy presentation. As such, Mistress America has allowed Baumbach and Gerwig to craft modern day archetypes – the awkwardly desirable nerd, the college-bound tabula rasa, the hipster goddess – and mock them to high heavens in pure unapologetically absurdist manner. Read More