Overwhelming ‘WARFARE’ A Gonzo Descent into Garland’s Hellish Sandbox

April 10, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A24, Adain Bradley, Alex Garland, Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald, Charles Melton, Cosmo Jarvis, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, David J. Thompson, Evan Holtzman, Fin Oates, Finn Bennett, Henry Zaga, Joseph Quinn, Kit Connor, Matthew Penry-Davey, Michael Gandolfini, Noah Centineo, Peter Rice, Ray Mendoza, Taylor John Smith, Warfare, Will Poulter 1 Comment

Warfare, the immersive Iraq War survival thriller from Navy SEAL veteran and first-time filmmaker Ray Mendoza and co-writer/co-director Alex Garland, is a blisteringly intense procedural experience. On one hand, it’s an incredibly effective piece of transportive filmmaking—one that leans into both the numbing banality of war plans and its most barbaric excesses. Told through a real-time, boots-on-the-ground POV, the film drops us alongside a platoon of Navy SEALs tasked with infiltrating a seemingly innocuous position and establishing a sniper nest. That’s all the context we’re given. No grander mission, no tie-in to some greater geopolitical scaffolding—just a squad, a target, and a whole lot of code words. Which may very well be the point: a war without meaning, with boys playing at war. Read More

‘THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK’ and the Crushing Weight of Legacy

September 23, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alan Taylor, Alessandro Nivola, Billy Magnussen, Chase Vacnin, Corey Stoll, David Chase, John Magaro, Jon Bernthal, Lawrence Konner, Leslie Odom Jr., Michael Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Ray Liotta, Robert Vincent Montano, Samson Moeakiola, The Many Saints of Newarks Leave a comment

“Remember when is the lowest form of conversation,” Tony Soprano once remarked around a table of champagne, lobster shells, Paulie Walnuts, and some one-night-only broads. Despite his seeming disdain for callbacks to the good ole days, Tony Soprano remained a man often ruled by nostalgia. His admiration for the Gary Cooper generation, the strong silent type who took their licks quietly, informed the impending storm of dread that drove him repeatedly to the therapist’s chair. Whatever the New Jersey mafia had become under his watch, it surely couldn’t measure up to the hay days of the shy guys of his father’s generation. Read More

Sprawling Opioid Drama ‘CHERRY’ a Sometimes Entertaining Jumbled Mess

February 25, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Angela Russo-Otstot, Anthony Russo, Cherry, Ciara Bravo, Damon Wayans Jr., Forrest Goodluck, Jack Reynor, Jessica Goldberg, Joe Russo, Michael Gandolfini, Nico Walker, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tom Holland 1 Comment

Once you pop you just can’t stop. Or so goes the philosophy of the Joe and Anthony Russo when it comes to telling the story of a college-drop-out turned bank-robbing, dope-addicted war vet in Cherry. The directorial pair who rose to the highest of box office heights helming a handful of Marvel’s most critical and commercial smashes (including the last two Avengers mega-hits) prove uneasy with actual drama. Their telling of Nico Walker’s semi-autobiographical best-seller of the same name – adapted in part by screenwriters Angela Russo-Otstot and Jessica Goldberg, is meandering and unjustifiable long-winded. Read More