Out in Theaters: ‘T2 TRAINSPOTTING’
Like a shot of cinema to the main vein, 'T2 Trainspotting' is a lively and thoughtful companion piece to Boyle’s darkly comedic addiction saga. Choose strong performances, choose a rocking playlist,…
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘WIN IT ALL’
A more lovable loser there may not be than Jake Johnson’s Eddie Garrett in Win It All. The 18th (!!!) feature from mumblecore originator Joe Swanberg, Win It All is the second “official” collaboration between Swanberg and Johnson, who paired up last year to middling success with Digging for Fire after previously working in a...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘THE DISASTER ARTIST’
There in perhaps no film in existence that better exemplifies “cult” status than Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. A titanic miff on every level imaginable, Wiseau’s self-produced “romantic drama” is often called the worst movie ever made. And rightfully so. Anyone who’s had the privilege of witnessing this filmic trainwreck is treated to a level of...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘GAME OF DEATH’
Upon reading that Game of Death was an amalgam of a web series stitched together into a feature, I feared the worst. The formats, though not incongruous, ostensibly serve different ends – one drives towards a rollercoaster of micro-climaxes, the other tells a rounded whole narrative arc. It’s a case of a dozen acts versus...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘BABY DRIVER’
It’s been a hot minute since Edgar Wright has graced us with his genius. The man responsible for such perfect fare as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Wright has long been a pioneer of the Trojan horse comedy, trafficking highbrow laughs in with genre trappings. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Wright is known...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘THE LIGHT OF THE MOON’
The Light of the Moon is an ambiguous enough film title. Jessica M. Thompson’s movie ostensibly could be a werewolf coming-of-age independent film. A non-canonical sequel to Moonlight. Even a bone-headed YouTube short about community college bros flashing their buns to one another. It’s none of those things, thankfully. Instead, The Light of the Moon,...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘THE ARCHER ’
Robin Hood. Legolas. Katniss Everdeen. That dead-eyed kid from We Need to Talk About Kevin. Archers all. The Archer’s Lauren Pierce is not a name you’ll need add to that list. Bailey Noble does a fine job as the cocksure protagonist, a going-places high school competitor with a sharp eye and a short fuse who...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘COLOSSAL’
Colossal, about a drunken dead-ender who discovers she has become an unwitting remote control for a massive horned monstrosity, is a film at war with itself. On the one hand, the spectacularly strange conceit prompts a delicious revision of the monster movie genre. Still, the potential novelty fails to take flight, making Colossal both too...
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SXSW ’17 Review: ‘PREVENGE’
A case of in utero homicide, Prevenge comes born of triple-threat Alice Lowe’s fertile but twisted mind. Taking duties as writer, director and star in this slop-rock ballad of killer prepartum impulses, Lowe weaves her story of a knocked up avenging angel in the strangest of circumstances. Pregnant at 37, art found itself mimicking reality...
REVIEW
Out in Theaters: ‘KONG: SKULL ISLAND’
'Kong' is king-sized entertainment, a riveting spectacle showcase that races from dizzying set piece to set piece, fastened by standout technical work across the board. A wowing blockbuster enlivened by…