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

Out in Theaters: ‘THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’

September 20, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Antoine Fuqua, Byung-hun Lee, Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Haley Bennett, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Matt Bomer, Nic Pizzolatto, Out in Theaters, Peter Sarsgaard, Richard Wenk, The Magnificent Seven, Vincent D'Onofrio 2 Comments

Produced in 1960, the original The Magnificent Seven, directed by the celebrated John Sturges and starring such Western icons as Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson at the height of their fame, was itself but a hard reflection of Akira Kurosawa’s six-years prior work, Seven Samurai. In its import to the U.S. of A., Seven Samurai became The Magnificent Seven as the story of a ragtag band of heroes come to aid a village under heel relocated to the American Wild Wild West. Now 56 years on, director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) has taken it upon himself to bring his distinct visual flourishes and knack for smart aleck smarm to bear on another retelling of some of what has become one of the world’s most iconic pieces of source material. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘EXPERIMENTER’

October 27, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Experimenter, Michael Almereyda, Out in Theaters, Peter Sarsgaard, Reviews, Winona Ryder Leave a comment

For years, people questioned the ethics of Stanley Milgram’s infamous obedience experiments calling into question the intentional emotional distress inflicted upon the unknowing test subjects. Questionable though his tactics may have been, the fact that in 2015 every Psychology 101 class across the country is schooled in the teachings of Milgrim shows the lasting effects of his research. The film Experimenter, on the other hand, graphs the life of the controversial social scientist in a drearily scientific manner and will be forgotten moments after watching it. For all the intrigue and controversy surrounding Stanley Milgram, director/producer/writer Michael Almereyda is unable to conceive of a single moment of drama in his punishingly procedural biopic. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘PAWN SACRIFICE’

September 17, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bobby Fischer, Edward Zwick, Michael Stuhlbarg, Out in Theaters, Pawn Sacrifice, Peter Sarsgaard, Reviews, Steven Knight, Tobey Maguire Leave a comment

Chess players be mad crazy. This is the conceit of Edward Zwick’s latest film, Pawn Sacrifice. Telling the tale of Bobby Fischer‘s rise to the title of Chess World Champion, Zwick washes away the taste of Bobby Fischer the puny, prodigal chessmaster like with a mind-erasing swill of Everclear, replacing it with Bobby Fischer, megalomaniac, paranoid, delusional, dedicated anti-Semite. His competition, Boris Spassky, does not fare much better. These dudes ‘r’ nuts. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘BLACK MASS’

September 17, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Adam Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Black Mass, Corey Stoll, Dakota Johnson, David Harbour, Jesse Plemons, Jez Butterworth, Joel Edgerton, Johnny Depp, Julianne Nicholson, Juno Temple, Kevin Bacon, Mark Mallouk, Out in Theaters, Peter Sarsgaard, Reviews, Scott Cooper Leave a comment

Black Mass is a stage upon which Johnny Depp has revived his career, and little more. As the film’s malevolent heavy and famed criminal overlord “Whitey” Bulger, Deep is borderline excellent, brooding and prowling around the screen like a silverback gorilla. On the streets, he’s equally guerrilla, taking down his enemies as well as former-confidantes-turned-rat in maelstroms of cold-shelled slugs. And though Deeps is admirable as the callous and cold Jimmy Bulger, the film itself overwhelmingly replicates its star’s unenviable personality traits in its cinematic aura, resulting in a film that’s even more callous and cold than the iconic gangster at its center. Read More