post

Gothic Vampire Epic ‘SINNERS’ is the Movie of the Year

There’s an ironic poetry in the fact that it took Ryan Coogler walking away from the MCU — and Marvel quietly shelving Blade — for a Coogler-made vampire film to just appear out of nowhere. And thank God it did, because Sinners is the early contender for best movie of the year. A Gothic Southern vampire tale layered with the legacy of Jim Crow and pulsing to the rhythm of the blues, Sinners is a soulful, thoughtful, sexy, funny, riveting piece of big-ish budget studio filmmaking that actually has something to say. And says it with bloody fanfare. It’s the rare work of a genuine auteur embracing genre thrills while coloring outside the lines of what is expected within that genre, enriching the narrative with real history, spirited music, and undeniable soul. The real thrill of Sinners is in how it balances traditional vampire movie pleasures with embedded deeper ideas, making them textual rather than ornamental. Read More

post

Out in Theaters: ‘MONEY MONSTER’

From breaking out as a teenage prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s seminal Taxi Driver to becoming a household name to snatching a pair of Academy Awards to her semi-retirement from acting to focus on directing, Jodie Foster’s career has seen many evolutions. As a director, The Silence of the Lambs actress has sharpened her craft exponentially over the years, veering from such trite family-friendly material as Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays to more adult-oriented material such as Mel Gibson-starring drama The Beaver, itself a horrendous victim of terrible timing. Her latest feature is another confident step forward, its incisive themes and hard-R sensibilities informed by her tenure as a guest director for Netflix’s two biggest and most mature hits: House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. With Money Monster, Foster finally sheds the skin of an actress experimenting with the format and actualizes as an genuine director of note. Read More

post

Out in Theaters: ’71

71.jpg
On the ground during 1971’s deadly Belfast riots, a British solider is separated from his unit in Yann Demange‘s strategically taut ’71. Proving that not all action thrillers need over-the-top set pieces or larger-than-life villains, ’71 is an exercise in tactful realism that bleeds intelligence and authenticity between harrowing sequences of true blue terrorism, askew nationalism and boundless tension. Demange’s gripping piece of historical fiction is served sizzling hot with its hero positioned in a constant state of explosiony danger, giving new life to the phrase “out of the fire and into the frying pan.” Read More