Old-Timey Underdog Sports Drama ‘THE BOYS IN THE BOAT’ Lacks Personality, Punch

December 15, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alexandre Desplat, Callum Turner, George Clooney, Joel Edgerton, Mark L. Smith, Martin Ruhue, Out in Theaters, Reviews, The Boys in the Boat 1 Comment

George Clooney’s adaptation of Daniel James Brown’s biography, ‘The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,’ is a study in contrast. Brown’s diligently researched and thrillingly told biography loses its texture and depth, succumbing to formulaic filmmaking. The film falls prey to the pitfalls of a tepid adaptation, trading the story’s nuance for Hollywood shorthand, effectively reducing it to a SparkNotes version of events. As a film, The Boys in the Boat overlooks its most crucial element: the individual boys in the boat. Presented as a singular unit, the boys emerge as a vague assortment of working-class underdogs, lacking distinct individual characterization. By glossing over the individual motivations of each boy, the film forfeits its inspirational potential, resulting in a glossy and paint-by-numbers recounting of events. Read More

‘WONKA’ Delights in Making the Roald Dahl-Verse Dreamy Again

December 14, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Calah Lane, Hugh Grant, Jim Carter, Matt Lucas, Matthew Baynton, Natasha Rothwell, Neil Hannon, Olivia Colman, Paterson Joseph, Paul King, Rake Thakrar, Reviews, Rich Fulcher, Roald Dahl, Simon Farnaby, Timothée Chalamet, Tom Davis, Wonka 2 Comments

Two words: Paul. King. The 45-year old British writer/director has not so much stumbled as pioneered his way into the most winsome of formulas with his trifecta of perfectly delightful family friendly films, Paddington, Paddington 2, and, now, Wonka. By exploring the backstory of the mysterious titular character from one of Roald Dahl’s most iconic tales, King seamlessly blends the charm and whimsy that have defined his previous works with the musical fantasia of the 1971 Gene Wilder-starring film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The result is a truly special prequel: a largely wonderful and never-not-dazzling film that revels in oodles of fun, deliciously lavish set pieces, and many a toe-tapping song and dance numbers. Read More

Bureaucracy of Evil: ‘THE ZONE OF INTEREST’

December 5, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Christian Friedel, Johnnie Burn, Jonathan Glazer, Lukasz Zal, Mica Levi, Reviews, Sandra Hüller, The Zone of Interest 3 Comments

How dare the guardians of hell find solace on its perimeter? That is the question that Jonathan Glazer’s harrowing holocaust drama asks. Not so much about the banality of evil as the bureaucracy of evil, the stomach-churning film ruminates on the operational complexities of the Holocaust and the monstrous administrators who oversaw its execution, making for a new entry to the Holocaust recreation sub-genre that’s starkly unique and entirely haunting. Glazer and cinematographer Lukasz Zal capture the simple, beautiful domesticity of a Germany family living just outside the barbed-wire walls of Auschwitz, juxtaposing the visually appealing nature of their idyllic grounds against the soul-piercing aural nightmare sounding on the other side of the wall. That stark contrast and cognitive dissonance – trapping the audience between seeing beauty and hearing hell – creates a truly disturbing tension in The Zone of Interest, sure to make viewers queasy and entirely unsettled. Read More

Off-Target, Annoying ‘NEXT GOAL WINS’ Misses Wide

November 7, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged David Fane, Elizabeth Moss, Iain Morris, Kaimana, Michael Fassbender, Next Goal Wins, Oscar Kightley, Reviews, Taika Waititi 2 Comments

How far the once bright star of Taika Waititi has fallen. Just a few years ago, Waititi was amongst the freshest new voices in the industry, having cut his teeth with heartfelt and genuinely endearing comedies like Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, as well as the sleeper vampire-comedy banger What We Do in the Shadows. His pivot to more commercial enterprises saw him direct a Marvel fan favorite in Thor: Ragnarok and earn a number of Oscar nominees for his Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit. His last few projects have been…less appealing. His return to the MCU with the fourth Thor film, Love and Thunder, was a true misfire, an early indication that the once-never-miss studio was on truly shaky ground, and his latest film, a half baked underdog sports drama once thought to have awards considerations, Next Goal Wins, has garnered the New Zealand native the worst reviews of his career. Read More

Bittersweet Symphony ‘THE HOLDOVERS’ Waxes on Holiday Loneliness

November 3, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Alexander Payne, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, David Hemingson, Dominic Sessa, Paul Giamatti, Reviews 3 Comments

Winter is coming. At an Exeter-esque New England prep school circa the 1970s, students ready themselves for Christmas break. All but a handful of Barton students anticipate time with family, away from the academic demands of their coursework and the prying eyes of their hawkish professors. A small collection of eponymous “holdovers” are left behind, stranded at the snow-bound school for various reasons, forsaken under the tyrannical cross-eye of Dr. Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti). Amongst the abandoned is resident reprobate Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a whip-smart smart-ass who’s a bit of a loner and has a troubled home life. There to ensure the collection is fed during their holiday stint is cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who recently lost her son, a recent Barton graduate, in the Vietnam War. Director Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, Nebraska), working from a fantastic script from long-time TV writer David Hemingson, finds every avenue to make these characters collide, collude, and refract one another in a dizzying display of heart, humanity, and humor. Read More

Scorsese’s Osage Nation Crime Opus ‘KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON’ is a Sprawling Tragedy of American Indifference

October 17, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Killers of the Flower Moon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Robert DeNiro 5 Comments

Marty makes ‘em long. His most recent crime opus, Killers of the Flower Moon, based on David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction novel of the same name, explores themes that have long rumbled the conscience of the American auteur: corrosive greed, masculine rot, and the unsettling notion of violence as an accelerant for upward mobility. This time out, he’s dedicated 208 minutes (nearly three and a half hours, only a minute shorter than The Irishman) to telling this version of that story. That’s a full hour longer than Goodfellas, a movie that similarly deconstructed the idea of the American Dream and reframed it through the lens of rugged individualism, sickening violence, and moral decay, with startling clarity and explosive plotting. The result this time around, however, is a narrative that feels hazier in its execution, though no less lurid in its exploration of these enduring themes. By not framing this savage tale from the perspective of the affected indigenous people, Scorsese inadvertently echoes the same indifference he condemns. Read More

‘THE CREATOR’ Updates Humanity With Technically Brilliant Original Sci-Fi

September 28, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Allison Janney, Chris Weitz, Gareth Edwards, Hans Zimmer, John David Washington, Ken Watanabe, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Sturgill Simpson, The Creator Leave a comment

Good science fiction straddles the line between grappling with contemporary anxieties and reflecting on the essence of humanity, often through non-human characters. Movies such as Blade Runner, Ex Machina, Her, and even Terminator 2 explore the notion that our innate humanity transcends mere flesh and blood. Any truly meaningful exploration of humanity tends to exceed the boundaries of pure science and biology, delving into the metaphysical realms of the soul. Qualities like empathy, love, or even the ability to crack a good joke are as fundamentally human as opposable thumbs or the capacity to biologically reproduce. In one pivotal scene in Gareth Edwards’ stark and striking science fiction film The Creator, the best original sci-fi film in years, a group of American soldiers descend upon a village to extract the location of a concealed weapon. One of the soldier threatens to execute the dog of a trembling little girl unless she gives up information. It’s a stark reminder that humanity often eludes those who are, ostensibly, human themselves. Read More

‘DUMB MONEY’ A Meme Movie With Moderate Returns

September 18, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged America Ferrera, Anthony Ramos, Ben Mezrich, Clancy Brown, Craig Gillespie, Dumb Money, Lauren Schuker Blum, Myha’la Herrold, Nick Offerman, Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Rebecca Angelo, Reviews, Rushi Kota, Sebastian Stan, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, Talia Ryder, Vincent D'Onofrio 3 Comments

The premise of Dumb Money is simple: slap an ensemble of human faces on the viral Game Stop stock story and run the highlight reel. The star-studded meme movie from director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella) effectively transports us to a not-so-distant past: January 2021. The pandemic was still in full swing, masks were mandated, the term “essential worker” applied to nurses and DoorDash drivers alike, and people were looking for something to root for. Enter Keith Gill (Paul Dano), aka Roaring Kitty aka DeepFuckingValue (DFV), a low-level financial analyst and hobbyist YouTuber who dumps his $53,000 life savings into GameStop positions and decides to tell the internet why. In turn, Gill starts a movement of retail traders who follow suit, looking to enrich themselves but also – and equally importantly – take down the proverbial man. Read More

Nolan’s Three-Hour Biopic Opus ‘Oppenheimer’ is Not Da Bomb

July 19, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Casey Affleck, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh, Matt Damon, Out in Theaters, Rami Malek, Reviews, Robert Downey Jr. 2 Comments

Christopher Nolan, the revered father figure of Film Twitter Bros the world over, has made his Mank (or his JFK, depending on who you ask.) Much like David Fincher’s polarizing and 10-time Oscar-nominated biopic, Oppenheimer offers a sprawling and contemplative portrayal of technology that reshaped the world, all while navigating the invasive presence of McCarthyism in America. It presents a sprawling, intricately layered narrative reminiscent of a Russian Nesting Doll, with stories within stories and a dynamic interplay of multiple timelines, including both colorized and black-and-white sequences, complemented by an ensemble cast of A-list actors. Those who caught early screening have already flocked to Twitter to lob terms like “masterpiece” and “best of the century” at Nolan’s three-hour biopic about the Father of the Atom Bomb but, much like Mank, Oppenheimer sees a celebrated filmmaker delivers a work seemingly tailored for awards recognition, though very clearly near and dear to him, yet ultimately fails to ignite the explosive impact it promises. Read More

Only Tom Cruise Can Stop Dastardly A.I. in ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE’

July 5, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Christopher McQuarrie, Hayley Atwell., Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Out in Theaters, Reviews, tom cruise 10 Comments

A lesser Mission Impossible movie is still better than 90% of the dreck that passes for big budget blockbusters these days. Unfortunately, though, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is lesser Mission Impossible. A handful of the choices made by writer-director Christopher McQuarrie in his third effort behind the camera for this franchise just didn’t quite work for me. The array of villains are undercooked and ill-conceived, particularly the introduction of a sinister mystery man from Ethan’s past who falls mostly flat by virtue of his story feeling either one-dimensional or incomplete; the attempt to capitalize on AI (2023’s buzziest buzzword) as the ultimate baddie didn’t quite feel in step with the franchise; a decision to remove a particular character (in a weirdly blatant attempt to “make room” for another younger version) irked me; as did the bifurcation of this film into two halves, leaving this particular installment hanging as if Tom Cruise himself dangling from a precarious cliff face. A lot of complaints, I know, but there’s also plenty to love here. Read More