For your consideration: A whole heapin’ helpin’ of real good performances in real good movies. My picks here: Brady Jandreau, Joaquin Phoenix, Kiki Layne & Stefan James, and Ben Foster & Thomasin McKenzie. Maybe the last two feel like cheats, and in a way they are. But in a totally different way they’re not, because … Continue reading
Simple answer to the question posed by the title of my latest piece at The Hollywood Reporter: Yes. Yes it does. Luc Besson’s latest and underloved summer CGI extravaganza, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, has its flaws, most of them being tied to Dane DeHaan’s ill fit as the cocky action hero type, … Continue reading
“Years go by, decades end, cultures change, and yet no matter the place and time, human beings constantly dream up new, horrible ways to kill one another. In the late 1600s, Sweden gave us the howitzer. In 1836, Samuel Colt invented the revolver and ushered in the retirement of the sword. In 1952, the United … Continue reading
“It doesn’t take much to green light a sequel—just a reasonable opening weekend gross coupled with better than toxic word of mouth—but that’s part of why the continuation to Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise is so special. Seriously, how many quiet, dialogue heavy indies actually get, much less deserve, a second chapter? As a sequel to a … Continue reading
“Between 1919 and 1924, the Newton Gang—a family owned and run operation based in Uvalde, Texas—robbed over eighty banks and six trains, sparing bloodshed in their outlaw ventures and taking in an astronomical tally of pelf in the process. The sibling quartet—Willis, Wylie, Jess and Joe—cut their legend from the same cloth as Jesse James … Continue reading
“When we talk about trilogies today, we tend to have a very specific visual in mind; we’re thinking of superhero rumpuses, decrepit horror series, action extravaganzas a few entries past being merely long in the tooth. We don’t usually think about talky love ballads that balance romance with aimless philosophical dissertations. In fairness, we didn’t … Continue reading
2003 brought us the campy Australian horror comedy, Undead, a refreshing take on the zombie genre courtesy of Michael and Peter Spierig. The film’s low budget and B-movie sensibilities lent it a certain scrappy charm; combined with the interesting perspective the siblings brought to the story, Undead became something of a cult favorite. All of … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 