Spoiler Alert: ‘THE MATRIX: RESURRECTIONS’ Is Not Good

December 21, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Carrie-Anne Moss, Jonathan Groff, Keanu Reeve, Lana Wachowski, The Matrix: Resurrections, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 1 Comment

The spoon may not exist but after watching this third Matrix sequel, you’d wish it didn’t either. A numbing retread of past Matrix antics fastened onto an exasperatingly dull attempt at a revival, The Matrix: Resurrections is a bizarre, lumbering attempt to breath one final breathe into a franchise that redefined science-fiction action when it was first released in 1999. If the intention of this clunker is to make you appreciate the other sequels, job very well done. I take back every bad thing I ever had to say about Reloaded and even Revolutions. The Matrix: Resurrections is the antithesis of revolutionary, too busy looking back to take a step forward without stumbling and landing flat on its face. Read More

Social Horror ‘CANDYMAN’ Radically Addresses Black Trauma in Brutal Fashion

August 25, 2021 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Candyman, Colman Domingo, John Guleserian, Jordan Peele, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Nia DaCosta, Out in Theaters, Reviews, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowes, Teyonah Parris, Win Rosenfeld, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 2 Comments

For what it does right – and it does do plenty right – Bernard Rose’s 1992 cult horror-slasher Candyman feels like a dated product of its racially off-putting times. Hone in on where it focuses the spotlight: Virginia Madsen’s curious and lily white grad student Helen Lyle, out to deconstruct the urban myths of a hook-handed boogeyman terrorizing the Black community. A white woman in distress scouring the trauma of the African-American hood, Helen is a peculiar cypher for a story about the lingering horrors of race. Read More

‘THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7’ A Timely, Effective But Unremarkable Courtroom Trial

October 15, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Out in Theaters Tagged Aaron Sorkin, Alex Sharp, Eddie Redmayne, Frank Langella, Jeremy Strong, John Carroll Lynch, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Michael Keaton, Netflix, Out in Theaters, Phedon Papamichael, Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II 3 Comments

Aaron Sorkin lives and dies by the legal pen. Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s within his characters’ puffed-up political proceedings or as they finesse through complex legalese is the writer-turned-director’s bread and butter. As a writer, no one can alchemize technical jargon and otherwise boring statistician noise into storytelling gold quite like Sorkin. Within the exhibits of his great successes, nothing towers higher than The Social Network, though dedicated fans of The West Wing would gladly point to that popular and long-standing series as the high watermark of his career. Read More

“Not the Bees!”: ‘CANDYMAN’ Returns in First Trailer for Jordan Peele-Produced Sequel

February 27, 2020 by Matt Oakes Posted in Trailers Tagged Candyman, Jordan Peele, Trailers, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Leave a comment

1992’s Candyman embodied the idea that good horror movies touch on greater social issues of our times. To an almost unwavering degree, the horror film spoke to racial superstition, director Bernard Rose using the projects as a backdrop to deliver an underrated supernatural slasher with something real on its mind. Leave it to Jordan Peele to pick up the ball nearly 30 years later and run with these ideas.