Elstree 1976 Written by Jon Spira Directed by Jon Spira UK, 2016 There has never been a better time for a behind the scenes look at A New Hope. The Force Awakens revived the franchise to new heights, Rogue One is just around the corner, and the 40th anniversary takes place in 2017. Now, this …
The Family Fang Written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Kevin Wilson (adapted from his novel) Directed by Jason Bateman U.S., 2016 Jason Bateman’s sophomore directorial feature is not the follow-up to Bad Words that many expected. While that low-key comedy based around a grown man through a child’s spelling bee was a pleasant surprise, this adaptation …
Eddie the Eagle Written by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton Directed by Dexter Fletcher U.K., 2016 Fresh off of the success of Kingsman: The Secret Service, few would have expected Matthew Vaughn to pluck the young star from that film (Taron Egerton) and produce a film about Great Britain’s first Olympic ski-jumper. Yet as an …
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi Written by Chuck Hogan Directed by Michael Bay U.S., 2016 After the box-office success of Lone Survivor and American Sniper, the cottage industry of military themed January releases continues to go strong. Whereas those films came from Peter Berg and Clint Eastwood, directors known for taking a backseat …
Anomalisa Written by Charlie Kaufman Co-directed by Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman U.S., 2015 Weird is rarely used as a good quality in film criticism, but few words so completely describe Charlie Kaufman’s work as weird does. All of his films are a window into his very particular worldview, and that p.o.v. is certainly unlike …
Macbeth Directed by Justin Kurzel Written by Todd Louiso, Michael Lesslie and Jacob Koskoff (Based on the play by Shakespeare) U.K., France, U.S., 2015 There have been countless adaptations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, but with the exception of Roman Polanski’s 1971 film, Macbeth has largely gone ignored by cinema. Justin Kurzel, fresh …
Krampus Written by Michael Dougherty, Zack Shields and Todd Casey Directed by Michael Dougherty U.S., 2015 The last time Michael Dougherty tried his hand at making a holiday-themed horror film he made a cult classic, but it took years for the film to find its place. 2007’s Trick ‘r Treat deliberately toyed with fan expectations by …
The Night Before Written by Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, Jonathan Levine, and Ariel Shaffir Directed by Jonathan Levine U.S, 2015 Every November and December studios release holiday-themed flicks to cash in on the frenzy of the season. Every once in a while a gem like Gremlins or Elf comes out and becomes yearly viewing, but …
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington featured a young, authentic Jimmy Stewart who does battle with the corrupt political machine. Many decades later, that hardened view of politicians (and the machine that gets them elected) has not changed.
October is the perfect time of year to indulge in a few Halloween frights, and for those movie lovers with children, Paranormal Activity and Crimson Peak just won’t do. So Goosebumps will have to fill that gap. Twenty-somethings might feel the temptation to revisit the property since they grew up with it, but this is strictly kids’ fare.
Nancy Meyers makes romantic comedies for adults. She started directing in 1997 with The Parent Trap and in years since her films have grossed more than $1 billion dollars.
Watching Jack Nicholson in The Departed it would be easy to think “Wow, this guy can’t be real” but that would be incorrect.
That director Shohei Imamura’s 1963 film, The Insect Woman, can be found in a Criterion Collection box-set called “Pigs, Pimps & Prostitutes” should do more than hint at the content and themes of his work.
When Twilight debuted in the aughts everyone assumed that the copycats would last forever. Forever only lasted about four years, but the lasting impact was made by low-key fare like Let the Right One In. Taking a cue from that 2008 film, When Animals Dream places emphasis on atmosphere and dread, rather than buckets of blood.
Video game adaptations are not only uninteresting, but they can’t possibly be anything close to their source material given that the mechanics and visceral nature of video games aren’t easily recreated on film.
Jonathan Demme must enjoy weddings. His last theatrical endeavor, Rachel Getting Married, focused on the chaos one family is thrown into after a daughter returns home for rehab for her sister’s wedding. Ricki and the Flash takes the same fractured family dynamic, but the wrecking ball this time is mom. Ricki Rendazzo (Meryl Streep), left her husband and three kids behind when she decided to chase her dreams to be a musician years ago. Flash forward a couple of decades and Ricki’s life hasn’t matched up with her dreams.
All boxing films come down to three storylines, or all three wrapped in one—get beaten, get angry, get back to the top. Eighty years have passed since Wallace Beery made The Champ and Southpaw doesn’t try to rewrite the formula. It’s not a surprise, Barton Fink broke himself that way.
Amy Schumer already cemented her place on my year’s favorite entertainment list when she managed to loosely remake 12 Angry Men for the fourth episode of Inside Amy Schumer, but not satisfied with owning television, Schumer decides to revive the romantic comedy for 2015. Lazy writing has cursed the genre for much of the last few decades and studios have responded in kind by not pursuing that market with the gusto they used to.
Ruth Huxley (Sonja Bennett) is 35 years old grocery clerk with little ambitions, a perchant for heavy drinking and a collection of friends that are drifting away after they have children. To make matters worse Ruth scorches the earth at a baby shower with her drunken shenanigans, alienating all of her old high-school friends, who turn her into a pariah. Ruth is considered a disappointment by everyone in her life, and with this latest outburst, she’s thisclose to being written off completely.
Kill Me Three Times Directed by Kriv Stenders Written by James McFarland Austrailia, 2014 In the 1990s there was a overstock of Quentin Tarantino-knockoffs trying to cash in on the success of Pulp Fiction. These movies were wordy, featured well-dressed men with large guns, and nihilistic viewpoints that often excessively violent deaths. Other writers would …
There’s a scene in the first act of the film where the young protagonist Eric, in an effort to gain control of a situation to proclaim his innocence, bites down on a prison guard’s genitals and holds on like a dog with a chew toy. That moment alone does a lot to encapsulate the do-or-die realities of the film’s prison environment, but more importantly showcases the immediate talent of its star Jack O’Connell: Like it or not, he demands your attention and he’s not letting go anytime soon.