Exhaustingly Excessive Actioner ‘BULLET TRAIN’ is Pure Joyless Destruction

August 2, 2022 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aaron Taylor Johnson, Andrew Koji, Bad Bunny, Brad Pitt, Brian Tyree Henry, Bullet Train., Hiroyuki Sanada, Joey King, Logan German, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, Zazie Beetzm 2 Comments

Snakes On a Train

The scourge that is the 2022 summer movie season continues with the loud, ultra-violent, and ultimately entirely mindless Bullet Train. Best known for the John Wick franchise, Deadpool 2, and the Fast and Furious spin-off Hobbs and Shaw, writer-director David Leitch is a creator of quickly diminishing returns. Here, he delivers an algorithmic Guy Ritchie wanna-be crime whodunnit packed with movie stars and the popular “gun-fu” combat style the former stunt man helped pioneer but short on actual plot locomotion and charm. All set on a train! It’s not an entirely feckless ride, the game performances are just enough to power the film forward and keep the groans to a minimum, but it’s as disposable as it is bloated with wanton destruction. For a movie this unconcerned with logical collateral fallout, one that childishly gawks at violence, it sure does have a strange amount of references to Thomas the Tank Engine. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘OCEAN’S 8’

June 7, 2018 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Anne Hathaway, Awkwafina, Cate Blanchett, Gary Ross, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Ocean's 8, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Rihanna, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Paulson Leave a comment

The king is dead, long live the queen. With the apparent demise of George Clooney’s smug, square-chinned Danny Ocean, kid sister Debbie (Sandra Bullock) has taken up the family mantle of thievery, having cooked up the perfect jewel heist while locked in a state penitentiary for the past five years. There’s double-crosses, jobs within jobs, slick montages, and a brand new bag of femme fatales to get to know but Ocean’s 8 is very much an offshoot of the popular rebooted franchise brought to life in the early 2000’s. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘OUR BRAND IS CRISIS’

October 29, 2015 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Ann Dowd, Anthony Mackie, Billy Bob Thornton, David Gordon Green, Joaqium de Almeida, Our Brand is Crisis, Out in Theaters, Peter Straughan, Reviews, Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy Leave a comment

David Gordon Green is as hit-and-miss a director as they come. He is also about as prolific as they come. Our Brand is Crisis is Green’s fourth film over the last three year period, coming on the heels of 2014’s widely panned Manglehorn starring Al Pacino. In 2013, Green saw two films open, the highly regarded backwoods drama Joe, starring a Nicholas Cage at the top of his game, and the off-beat buddy comedy Prince Avalanche. Even as a relative Green fan, I hated Prince Avalanche, citing its ill-fitting petulance and overwhelming sense of idiotic indecency as sources of extreme personal annoyance, but found Joe to be thoughtful and dramatically rich (if not excessively dour). Not to mention, it featured Cage’s best performance in years. Read More

Watch GRAVITY Companion Short ANINGAAQ Directed by Alfonso Cuarón's Son

November 21, 2013 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity, Jonás Cuarón, Sandra Bullock, Shorts

Discussion of events that occur in Gravity to follow so mild spoilers ahead.

Originally developed as an added feature for the Blu-ray release, the overwhelming love for Gravity has seen this intiguring companion piece, simply titled Aningaaq, come out of the gates early, giving it a shot at an Oscar ”Live-Action Short” nominee. Written with the help of father and Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón‘s short film takes the perspective of the Earth-dwelling eskimo on the other side of the line with Sandra Bullock‘s Dr. Ryan Stone as she decides to flick off life support and gives up on any hope of returning to Earth. The gentle mew of a distant dog, the call of a young baby and an unintelligible lullaby all give Stone a harmonious send off (before she’s shortly thereafter rescued by her hallucination). But what the film never shows us is what, or who, was on the other side of that line. This Jonás Cuarón‘s counterpiece fixes that in a stunning, and beautiful, manner.

Per Screen Rant,

“The filmmaker was especially interested in exploring the pivotal moment in Stone’s survival story from a different perspective – to expose the subtle connections that exist between the two characters even if they aren’t on the same literal page: “It’s this moment where the audience and the character get this hope that Ryan is finally going to be OK. Then you realize that everything gets lost in translation.” Nevertheless, Jonás wanted “to make Aningaaq a piece that could stand on its own” – an effort that, according to Gravity star Sandra Bullock, Jonás nailed. Since its debut, the actress has called Aningaaq an ”absolutely beautiful piece of loneliness,” further stating, “I get goose bumps thinking about it.”

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