Comedian/singer-songwriter Bo Burnham has written and directed his first feature film. It’s not what you’d expect. “Eighth Grade” is a sophisticated, sentimental and surprisingly serious coming-of-age story that focusses on the final week of eighth grade for a quiet, socially awkward 13-year old. Elsie Fisher (the voice of Agnes in the first two “Despicable Me” […]
The heist movie is a quintessential part of American cinema. “American Animals” puts a new spin on the genre as part-documentary/part-dramatization of a 2004 robbery involving four Kentucky college students who attempted to steal a group of priceless books from the Transylvania University library. The film starts rather slowly, with a drawn-out and not exceptionally […]
It seems longer than two years and three months since the original “Deadpool”. Or maybe it’s just me, since I’ve been doing everything possible to forget that film. The biggest question I had going into “Deadpool 2” was would this just be more of the same, or would a new director steer this character and […]
When I talked with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody for 2015’s “Ricki and the Flash”, I asked her what she had in mind for her next script. She said she had nothing – and was looking for some inspiration. Well, they say “Write what you know”. My interview with her took place shortly before Cody gave […]
If you’re a fan of the 2001 cult stoner comedy “Super Troopers”, about a group of fun-loving Vermont highway patrol officers who constantly play pranks on each other and the public (often while on the job), then you won’t be disappointed with this long-awaited sequel, which brings back the entire cast and delivers plenty of […]
Oscar-nominated director and screenwriter Tony Gilroy is no stranger to crafting stories surrounding espionage, spies, agencies, double-crossing and deal-making with money and lives on the line. His resume includes the first four “Bourne” films, “Michael Clayton”, “State of Play” and “Duplicity”. “Beirut” is familiar and comfortable territory for Gilroy, who’s written a complex, intertwined and […]
“Red Sparrow” is being marketed as a sexy spy thriller in which Jennifer Lawrence shows a lot of skin. The truth is – while Lawrence is naked in a few scenes, not only is this misguided and often vile film NOT sexy, but it doesn’t contain a single thrill. In a time when Hollywood is […]
“Hollywood Game Night”, which debuted in 2013, is the fun NBC competition show, hosted by the always entertaining Jane Lynch. “Game Night”, the new Hollywood comedy, is neither fun nor entertaining. The minute you buy a ticket to this misguided misadventure, you’ve already lost. Husband and wife Max and Annie (they met years ago at […]
“Annihilation” is writer/director Alex Garland’s follow-up to 2015’s fascinating, visionary Oscar-winning drama “Ex Machina”. This time he adapts Book One of the popular sci-fi Southern Reach Trilogy, creating the most riveting and thought-provoking film of the year so far. Natalie Portman is excellent as Lena, a biologist and Johns Hopkins professor who specializes in cell […]
Scott Cooper continues to be one of the most fascinating, under-the-radar directors working today. Following his moving music drama “Crazy Heart” (which earned Jeff Bridges an Oscar), the gritty “Out of the Furnace” (with Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson) and “Black Mass” (starring Johnny Depp as gangster Whitey Bulger) Cooper now takes-on a genre that’s […]