Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE’ Certainly Provokes A Response

October 6, 2025 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged A House of Dynamite, Anthony Ramos, Gabriel Basso, Greta Lee, House of Dynamite, Idris Elba, Jared Harris, Jason Clarke, Jonah Hauer-King, Kathryn Bigelow, Moses Ingram, Noah Oppenheim, Rebecca Ferguson, Tracy Letts 2 Comments

A House of Dynamite from Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy Award-winning creator of such American political thrillers as The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, and the more uneven Detroit, is a taut, ensemble-driven thriller that wants to hold a mirror up to the global powder keg we’re all currently living in. It’s smartly cast, technically precise, and structured around a compelling premise: what happens in the wake of a rogue nuclear missile headed for U.S. soil? And yet, despite its ambition to provoke, A House of Dynamite fumbles the landing. Or more accurately, it refuses to make landfall at all, leaving audiences with more questions than answers. That may be the point – being intentionally provocative here seems the modus operandi – but it results in less than satisfactory storytelling. Read More

Gerwig’s ’LITTLE WOMEN’ Is Exquisitely Crafted, Beautifully Acted Holiday Delight

November 25, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Bob Odenkirk, Chris Cooper, Eliza Scanlen, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Greta Gerwig, Laura Dern, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, Meryl Streep, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Letts 1 Comment

In 1868, Louisa May Alcott introduced the world to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy in her semi-autobiographical novel “Little Women”. Alcott’s novel was almost immediately met with huge commercial success and has gone on to be retold generation after generation. First adapted for the screen in 1917 as a silent film, Little Women has gone on to become a cultural reflection of its times, a new version unspooling every twenty years or so to capture the attention of new young audiences. From 1933’s Katharine Hepburn cut to 1994’s Gillian Armstrong take (whose all-star cast included Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, and Kirsten Dunst), Little Women is a story destined to play on repeat. And, in this one such example, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Read More

‘FORD V. FERRARI’ is an Anti-Establishment American Western…with Race Cars

November 11, 2019 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Andrew Buckland, Buck Sanders, Caitriona Balfe, Christian Bale, Dirk Westervelt, Ford v Ferrari, James Mangold, Jason Keller, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Marco Beltrami, Matt Damon, Michael McCusker, Noah Jupe, Phedon Papamichael, Ray McKinnon, Tracy Letts Leave a comment

In 1966, the Ford Motor Company took on the very best in the business, Enzo Ferrari, at the world-renown Le Mans. The race? A 24-hour deathmatch that raged from dawn through dusk, past midday and midnight, through rain or shine, to its brutal conclusion. A showdown for the best and the ballsiest, Le Mans was won by the best cars driven by the ballsiest drivers. Over at Ford, men in slick suits seek corporate glory and a much-needed rejuvenation in sales. They attempt to reinvent the dad bod of cars that was Ford’s current models, opting for something sleek, sexy, durable. And, most of all, fast. In essence, a Ferrari. But a little elbow grease and a bunch of smoke-filled boardroom meetings do not a champion make. A champion requires an intangible; the perfect union of fallible machinery and the grit of man. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘THE POST’

December 6, 2017 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Alison Brie, Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Coon, David Cross, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Rhys, Meryl Streep, Pat Healy, Sarah Paulson, Steven Spielberg, The Post, Tom Hanks, Tracy Letts, Zach Woods Leave a comment

The Post, a Steven Spielberg-directed drama about the Washington Post’s critical role in discriminating the notorious Pentagon Papers, has Very Important Movie Streep written all over it. A newspaper procedural starring awards giants Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, lit to resemble an Oscar winner by Janusz Kaminski and following a script from first-timer Liz Hannah and Josh Singer (The Fifth Estate, Spotlight) that touts the importance of its subject at every turn (sometimes in painfully obvious soliloquy), The Post is part important meditation on the unimpeachable import of the First Amendment, part desperate plea for Award’s attention and part Spielberg doing his Dramatic Spielberg thing. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘CHRISTINE’

November 1, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Antonio Campos, Christine, Maria Dizzia, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Sundance 2016, Sundance Reviews, Tracy Letts Leave a comment

Almost 7% of the American population has been diagnosed as suffering from depression. That’s roughly 15 million people today. In 1974, though depression was recognized as a serious mental disorder, it wasn’t regarded with the same weight that it is today. After all, the mental disease didn’t enter the DSM III until 1980. Christine, from Simon Killer director Antonio Campos, takes a look at infamous Sarasota reporter Christine Chubbuck and her struggle with depression in sad, sanguine, cinematic streaks. Read More

Out in Theaters: ‘INDIGNATION’

August 8, 2016 by Matt Oakes Posted in Festival Reviews, Out in Theaters Tagged Danny Burstein, Festival Reviews, Indignation, James Schamus, Linda Emond, Logan Lerman, Out in Theaters, Philip Roth, Reviews, Sarah Gadon, Seattle International Film Festival 2016, SIFF 2016, Tracy Letts 1 Comment

The basic plot structure of Indignation couldn’t be simpler. The precocious son of a New Jersey kosher butcher heads off to college, goes on a date, changes dorm rooms and gets appendicitis. For a film with such narrative simplicity, the margins are sprawled with a rich tapestry of emotionally vibrant reveals, loaded with unconventional wordplay comedy and brimming with decadent forbidden relationships, all pumping along to a mule kick of a curtain act. As a crossbred of coiffed 1950s romance and genteel protest piece, Indignation is a delicate ballet that culminates in first time writer/director James Schamus doing a tap dance on your fluttering, caved-in chest. Read More