INFINITY POOL is a Hedonistic Descent into Vacation Goblin Mode

January 26, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alexander Skarsård, Brandon Cronenberg, Cleopatra Coleman, Horror, Infinity Pool, Jalil Lespert, Mia Goth, Out in Theaters, Reviews 2 Comments

“Is this a dream?” Em (Cleopatra Coleman) asks. Back at their luxurious vacation resort in the far-flung fictional developing country La Tolqa, she can’t get over the most recent heinous encounter with local law enforcement involving her and her second-rate author husband James Foster (Alexander Skarsård). They have just killed a man, having struck him with their vehicle after a day of beach gayety. As is standard practice here, his punishment is as steep a price as they come. James is sentenced to die. However it isn’t actually James who is made to pay the ultimate price. He is wealthy and therefore inoculated from consequence. A clone will do just fine. Or as they are referred to in Brandon Cronenberg’s warped vacation thrillerInfinity Pool, a “double”. Read More

Soggy ‘AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER’ A Gateway Drug for the Return of 3D

December 13, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Amanda Silver, Avatar: The Way of Water, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Rick Jaffa, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Zoe Saldana 1 Comment

After thirteen years, countless production delays, and allegedly tectonic technological leaps forward, Avatar: The Way of Water is finally here. And it’s… fine. This long-awaited but not-that-anticipated sequel to the highest grossing movie of all time reintroduces audiences to the world of Pandora and the Na’vi people who occupy its lands and oceans. The second film in a planned total of five films, The Way of Water features some groundbreaking tech advances but for a three-plus hour movie, the plotting is notably sparse, the characters are weak, and it feels very much like a middle chapter. Read More

A Bit Naughty, A Bit Nice, ‘VIOLENT NIGHT’ Lives Up to Its Aggressive Holiday Title

November 29, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Beverly D’Angelo, David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Leah Brady, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Tommy Wirkola, Violent Night Leave a comment

There is perhaps no man in Hollywood who more perfectly exemplifies the idyllic dad bod than David Harbour. There’s something inimitable about his physique – not quite towering at 6’3” but still imposing; a man of considerable mass. From his turn in the mega-hit Netflix series Stranger Things to roles in Black Widow and as the titular figure in Neil Marshall’s ill-fated Hellboy reboot, Harbour leans into the physicality of his characters. It informs his intimating demeanor – or is just cheaply poked at for “fat jokes” (for shame Marvel, for shame.) Even when playing a gritty version of Oscar the Grouch on an SNL digital skit, Harbour imposes. Read More

Cannibals Need Companionship Too In Rangy ‘BONES AND ALL’

November 23, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged André Holland, Arseni Khachaturan, Bones and All, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, Luca Guadagnino, Michael Stuhlbarg, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Taylor Russell 2 Comments

Sympathy for The Devil

Luca Guadagnino has made a career of sucking every last ounce of fat from the narrative bones of his projects. From his arthouse critical darling Call Me By Your Name, a sweeping pedophilic queer romance, to his celebrated – though gaudy and overwrought – remake of Suspiria, Guadagnino suckles on the teat of indulgence. This viewer has found Guadagnino’s style overtly lugubrious, feigning depth by overstaying his welcome, applying a Terrence Malick aesthetic template to otherwise intriguing conceptual pitches. This is no different in his latest adaptation, Bones and All, a cannibal love story that 100% should be my jam but wasn’t entirely. Read More

Weinstein Investigative Procedural ‘SHE SAID’ Puts the Whole System on Trial

November 18, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Carey Mulligan, Maria Schrader, Out in Theaters, Patricia Clarkson, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Reviews, She Said, Zoe Kazan Leave a comment

Nasty Women Unite

An effective tribute to the institution of the free press, Maria Schrader’s She Said traces the roots of the #MeToo movement back to a high-stakes investigation into Miramax’s super-producer, the now-incarcerated Harvey Weinstein. Told through the lens of an old-school investigative procedural, Schrader’s film is an examination of individual injustices against specific women – both familiar high-profile actresses and lesser-known assistants who suffered Weinstein’s advances equally – and the structural hierarchy put in place to protect their violators. Read More

‘THE MENU’ Deliciously Satirizes the Cult of Kitchen

November 17, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Acturo Castro, Anya Taylor-Joy, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, John Leguizamo, Mark Mylod, Mark St. Cyr, Nicolas Hoult, Out in Theaters, Ralph Fiennes, Reviews, Rob Yang, Seth Reiss, The Menu, Will Tracy 1 Comment

A Taste of Honey

Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) is not supposed to be dining out at Hawthorne. After all, a table at Hawthorne is amongst the most difficult reservations to land on the planet, held solely for the affluent, celebrities, and those with their own gravitational sphere of influence. From the moment she arrives at the esteemed remote island restaurant, Margot is out of place against the other diners. Esteemed critics, minor celebrities, finance bros – the usual suspects have gathered to taste the creations of Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). And then there’s Margot. The worst part? She doesn’t even really like the food. Read More

‘HALLOWEEN ENDS’ Simultaneously a Weird and Rote Send-Off to a Killer Icon

October 13, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Andi Matichak, Chris Bernier, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Halloween, Halloween Ends, Horror, Jaime Lee Curtis, Out in Theaters, Paul Brad Logan, Reviews, Rohan Campbell 14 Comments

Evil Goes Viral

Even if Halloween Ends is a messy, weird, convoluted, predictable, and only quasi-satisfying conclusion to the 40-plus year Michael Myers saga, you have to give it credit for actually trying something new. For much of director David Gordon Green’s trilogy-capper and alleged conclusion to the franchise (at least for now), Mike Myers is MIA. He’s gone. Not involved. For the vast majority of the film, he exists moreso as the lingering idea of the nature of evil than as an actual hulking killer. Instead the focus is on an entirely new character, Corey (Rohan Campbell), a hapless teen who gets roped into a night of babysitting. One prank gone wrong later, Corey accidents kills his charge. Read More

‘THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN’ Examines the Tragic Hilarity of a Country at War With Itself

October 6, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Barry Keoghan, Ben Davis, Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Kerry Condon, Martin McDonagh, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Sheila Flitton, The Banshees of Inisherin Leave a comment

A Very Civil War

The year is 1923. In Inisherin, a small, remote island off the east coast of Ireland, the days are filled with an almost apocalyptic ennui. From across the bitter cold of the Atlantic, the report of gunfire and cannons signal the ongoing Irish Civil War. Ireland’s Civil War came on the heels of their War of Independence from Great Britain. And claimed even more lives. It pit brothers and friends against one another, forcing allies who had fought alongside each other just the year prior against England at each other’s throats. The war was deeply personal and subsequently bitter and bloody. Read More

‘SMILE’ Curses Audience With a Bloody Good Time

September 29, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Horror, Jessie T User, Kal Penn, Kevin Keppy, Kyle Gallner, Laura Hasn't Slept, Out in Theaters, Parker Finn, Reviews, Robin Weigert, Smile, Sosie Bacon 2 Comments

Grin and Bear It

For those who have experienced it, trauma becomes a dormant passenger. Quietly lurking, but always there behind the curtain. A pile of kindling awaiting a match. In Parker Finn’s supernatural-psychological horror movie Smile, trauma manifests as a suicide curse. When a therapist’s patients brutally kills herself in front of her, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) becomes the latest victim in a trauma cycle where a compulsion to commit suicide is passed on like a baton. In the world of Smile, if you watch someone kill themselves in spectacularly horrific fashion, you become doomed to die next.

‘BEAST’ a Shaggy Summer Slasher With Sharp Claws

August 18, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Baltasar Kormákur, Beast, Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, Leah Jeffries, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Ryan Engle., Sharlto Copley 1 Comment

Be Prepared

Idris Elba is Dr. Nate Samuels, a man visiting his late wife’s African homeland with his two teenage daughters in the predictable, playful creature feature Beast. The Savannah-set B-movie from director Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, 2 Guns) is a lean, mean summer slasher, all tightly-coiled, knuckle-headed muscle and razor-sharp claws lacking any more brain cells than absolutely required. A vengeful lion hunting humans for sport attacks the good doctor, his daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Jeffries), and their anti-poacher family friend Martin (Sharlto Copley) while the group is on safari. They must lean on their wits to outsmart the beast and come out of the bush in one piece.