First thing’s first: Here’s the link to my review of Alien: Covenant at Paste Magazine. Second thing’s, uh, second: Spoilers. I have to get some shit off my chest after the baffling defenses mounted in the film’s favor by some of the most respected names in contemporary film criticism, mostly because their defenses hinge on the … Continue reading
Can any of my patrons who have both read M.L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans and seen Derek Cianfrance’s adaptation tell me whether the movie matches up with the book in its soapy, over-the-top, yet remarkably under-drawn melodrama? I either know people who have read the book or watched the film. I don’t know people who have pulled … Continue reading
“And now, for your edutainment: 2015’s second movie about Apple visionary and all-around jerk, Steve Jobs, creatively titled Steve Jobs for sake of ease. The film marks Danny Boyle as the second person in 2015 to attempt at parsing out the many faces of the late Jobs, or maybe the third. Boyle has the director’s … Continue reading
“There may be no more fitting way to kick off a celebration of storytellers than with a portrait of a storyteller, so combining Independent Film Festival Boston with The End of the Tour feels simply felicitous. This is the second time a James Ponsoldt film has commenced festivities at New England’s largest film festival; he … Continue reading
In a two hour movie brimming with finely calibrated, impeccably composed images that capture the brutal realities of America’s antebellum slave culture, a single shot of our nation’s looming capitol proves the most provocative. 12 Years a Slave, for all of its remarkable qualities, should be identified most of all as the rare movie that … Continue reading
Inky slime, metallic ampoules, body horror, androids, and questions about creation make up the DNA of Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated Prometheus. Does the film live up to its hype and serve as a worthy entry in the Alien franchise? Continue reading
Haywire, in its fashion, possesses many of the best qualities of its protagonist; like Mallory Kane, it’s lean, mean, efficient, and wholly focused on attaining its goals and realizing its purpose. It also teeters, occasionally, on the verge of emotional vulnerability. Neither Kane (MMA fighter Gina Carano) nor director Steven Soderbergh are especially willing to … Continue reading
While I doubt most of us can claim to come from the same circumstances as Mia, the rough-around-the-edges protagonist of Andrea Arnold’s 2009 coming-of-age film Fish Tank, I’m sure most of us can at least empathize on a spiritual or philosophical level with her eventual need to reach for something better in her life. That … Continue reading
Take a second and think about this: Ridley Scott has only made two science fiction movies in his career. Two. Not only that, but they’re two of the most influential contemporary sci-fi pictures– so his batting record in the field is pretty impressive, to say the least. Scott’s so celebrated for his work in the … Continue reading
We live in an odd world where the Lars Von Triers and Gaspar Noes come under degrees of attack for the overt depictions of violence and anti-humanity portrayed in their pictures while Steve McQueen receives almost universal praise for offering imagery that’s no less brutal and discomforting. This isn’t, by the way, an attack on … Continue reading
Part 2 of my 2011 preview commences…now! (Part 1 can be perused here, at your leisure.) X-Men: First Class— By happy coincidence, the first trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s period prequel to the X-Men franchise hit just last week, and guess what? It looks really good. Focusing specifically on the relationship between Erik Lehnsherr, the man … Continue reading
In roughly AD 117, Rome’s 9th Legion disappeared while on the march through Britain. What happened to them has been the subject of much debate and speculation amongst scholars; some assert that they were wiped out by Celtic tribes of Britain, while others believe that they simply disbanded, and still others suggest that they died … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 