Trauma (and Push-Pins) Are Buried Deep in Cringy ‘SWALLOW’

March 2, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Austin Stowell, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, Elizabeth Marvel, Haley Bennett, Horror, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Swallow Leave a comment

An experience that’s both lurid and cathartic, Swallow is not the movie you think it’s going to be and yet its unpredictable journey is one that’s well worth taking. Focused on sedate young housewife Hunter’s relationship with her family, old and new, and her newfound habit for swallowing non-food objects (a psychological disorder called ‘pica’ that gives people an appetite for normally ”inedible” things like cat hair or pins and needles), Swallow is a delicately-told, well-acted, and often-cringe-inducing tale of identity and reclamation at death-defying costs. Read More

Victorian Love Lives Matter in Pampered, Prissy, Punctuated ’EMMA.’

February 27, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Amber Anderson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Autumn de Wilde, Callum Turner, Emma, Jane Austen, Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor, Mia Goth, Out in Theaters, Reviews Leave a comment

Thank Black Phillip that Anya Taylor-Joy accepted the devil’s bargain to live deliciously, otherwise we would have been spared the scrumptious spreads of Emma’s delectable buffet of baked goods and mouthwatering treats. From the nimble macaron to the towering croquembouche, just gazing at the saccharine foodstuffs of Autumn de Wilde’s Jane Austen adaptation is enough to give the viewer a diabetic flair-up. Read More

Believing Women and The Power of ‘THE INVISIBLE MAN’

February 26, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Aldis Hodge, Elisabeth Moss, Harriet Dyer, Horror, Leigh Whannell, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Storm Reid, The Invisible Man 3 Comments

The idiom of the wolf in sheep’s clothing is a particularly terrifying one. By virtue of his unassuming appearance, the predator becomes non-threatening. He can hide in plain sight and hunt with all the privilege of inconspicuousness. If looks could kill. The only thing worse than a predator in sheep’s skin is one with no skin at all. Those who lurk not in the shadows, but in the light of the lord. Luring the unsuspecting into their hidden traps. Predators do live among us but thankfully they are visible. With visibility comes consequence, accountability. The hunters have to at least make an effort to conceal their predatory behavior. We can, at the very least, see their fangs. And we can fight back. Read More

Comeuppance Is a Bitch in Gritty Midnighter ’BLOOD ON HER NAME’

February 25, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bethany Anne Lind, Blood on Her Name, Don M. Thompson, Elisabeth Röhm, Jared Ivers, Jimmy Gonzales, Matthew Pope, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Will Patton Leave a comment

In the same vein as an early Coen Bros crime yarn or a blood-stained Jeremy Saulnier shoot-em-up, Matthew Pope’s Blood on Her Name is a homegrown working-class tale of bungled domestic criminality and the hefty price of conscience. With similarities to homegrown crime fiction like Blue Ruin, Cold in July, Calibre, and A Simple Plan, Pope’s Blood on Her Name begins with accidental death and quickly spirals beyond the realm of control. Read More

Pixar’s Quest To Pull the Heartstrings Continues With Solid But Unremarkable ‘ONWARD’

February 24, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ali Wong, Chris Pratt, Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Keith Bunin, Lena Waithe, Octavia Spencer, Onward, Out in Theaters, Pixar, Reviews, Tom Holland Leave a comment

I knew from the very onset that Onward was going to work my tear ducts like a German milkmaid squeezing at a bovine’s teat. It didn’t matter that the blue teenage elves looked more like the brainchildren of Dreamworks than Pixar, or that some of the comedy was a bit low-brow and slapstick, or even that Onward settles more in the mid-to-lower tier ranking of the once-unflappable animation studio’s filmography, this movie was always gonna turn me into a mushy adult sniveling away in a dark theater. And that it did. Read More

Frosty Cabin in the Woods Horror ’THE LODGE’ Preaches the Hell of Child-Rearing

February 4, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alicia Silverstone, Goodnight Mommy, Horror, Jaeden Martell, Jia McHugh, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Richard Armitage, Sergio Casci, Severin Fiala, Sundance, The Lodge, Veronika Franz 2 Comments

Austrian screenwriting and directing duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala either have terror children or were terror children. They love staging a good the-children-will-be-the-death-of-us yarn, pivoting from a story about two young mischievous twins torturing their mother (who’s recently undergone facially reconstructive surgery and, consequently, her children now refuse to believe is actually their mother) in their celebrated German-language debut Goodnight Mommy to a tale of two young mischievous siblings torturing their soon-to-be stepmother in their English-language horror show The Lodge. Read More

‘THE GENTLEMEN’ Review

January 24, 2020 by Pedro Schwarzenegger Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Guy Ritchie, Matthew McConaughey, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Gentlemen Leave a comment

THE PLOT: Bear with me while I untangle the plot into a more manageable narrative. A California kid (McConaughey) with a penchant for dealing weed and a nasty temper rises through the UK underworld to become the greatest dope peddler the British Isles have ever given immigration status to. But when he goes to sell his, rather substantial, operation to a diffident American billionaire (Strong) other parties want in. Namely a brigade of bloodthirsty Chinese nationals who won’t take no for an answer. Read More

‘UNDERWATER’ is Peak Incoherent January Hollywood Flotsam

January 9, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Cozad, Brian Duffield, John Gallagher Jr. Jessica Henwick, Kristen Stewart, Out in Theaters, Reviews, T.J. Miller, Underwater, Vincent Cassel, William Eubank Leave a comment

The first month of every year may start with resolutions about self-improvement, working out more, sleeping more, eating better and the like, and yet the new offerings at the movie cineplexes are more reliably junky than any other time of year. Underwater is peak January movie; a bungled poof of a plot, shoddy direction, feckless characters, unimpressive production work. It’s movie empty carbs, devoid of any nutritional value or artistic takeaway. The kind of movie you can throw in the pile with the other countless shameless impressions of Alien (alongside 2017’s super lame Life) that fundamentally misunderstands what makes that movie oh-so-great. Read More

FYC Capsule Review: ‘JUST MERCY’

December 17, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Brie Larson, Destin Daniel Cretton, Jamie Foxx, Just Mercy, Michael B. Jordan, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tim Blake Nelson Leave a comment

A punched-up Lifetime movie with a laudable cast, Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy is a courtroom procedural where the message burns brighter than the filmmaking. A predictable affair with limited emotional stopping power, and one that plays by a very familiar rulebook, the third film from the Short Term 12 filmmaker follows a young civil rights defense lawyer played decently by Michael B. Jordan (who may have been a bit miscast here) who comes to the defense of convicted felons on Alabama’s death row. Just Mercy struggles to connect by virtue of its uninspired path-following nature, the movie cruising along on autopilot without ever really justifying what makes this particular story work as a feature film. This kind of filmmaking flourished in the 90s but just feels out of place and rearview mirror-y in 2019. Strong performances from Jamie Foxx and Tim Blake Nelson make the film almost worthwhile, though starlet Brie Larson has little more than a nothing role. All and all, Just Mercy is just meh. (C) Read More

FYC Capsule Review: ‘BOMBSHELL’

December 10, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bombshell, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman, Out in Theaters, Reviews Leave a comment

Like Adam McKay before him, Jay Roach has shifted from the world of comedy to that of the didactic and politically-tinted American drama and with the effective and affecting Bombshell, his transformation is complete. The film follows a number of women working at Fox News under Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) as details emerge about the newsman’s sexual misconduct. With Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie all on the marquee, the acting is the center showpiece here, with Theron in particular embodying controversial conservative reporter Megan Kelly to an almost-frightening degree. The makeup and prosthetic work cannot be underplayed. The film can be challenging to watch as it puts Ailes’ disgusting behavior into hyper-focus and details the emotional fallout inflicted upon his victims, who have to weigh professional aspirations against their emotional well-being. Roach manages to synthesize a message in a bottle film with all the window dressings of a flashy drama and everyone, particularly Fox News devotees, should be forced to take a hard look at what goes on behind these particular curtains. (B)