Director Yorgos Lanthimos has made some rather, well, quirky films. 2016’s “The Lobster” left audiences puzzled, yet his screenplay earned him an Oscar nomination. His latest movie is slightly more mainstream yet at the same time very niche. “The Favourite” is a dark comedic take on the 18th Century British monarchy, with an unstable Queen […]
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is a tough sell. This is a new, slightly darker and more mysterious visionary tale loosely based on one of the most famous ballets and musical compositions in history. Disney has taken “Alice in Wonderland”, mushed it with “The Chronicles of Narnia” and sprinkled it with Sugar Plum Fairy […]
“Wildlife” marks the directorial debut of actor Paul Dano, best known for his roles in “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Prisoners” and “Love & Mercy”. He also co-wrote this screenplay with longtime partner Zoe Kazan (“Ruby Sparks”) – based on the 1990 novel by Richard Ford. We are transported to 1960 in a small Montana town, where […]
“United 93” and “Captain Phillips” director Paul Greengrass tackles another perilous, true story with the Netflix drama “22 July”. The film centers on the July 22nd, 2011 attacks is Oslo, Norway in which a lone terrorist killed 77 people and wounded more than 200 others. The film is not only being streamed by the online […]
The incredibly talented and beloved comedian Gilda Radner died nearly 30 years ago at the too young age of 42. “Love, Gilda” is a sweet but superficial tribute to the iconic “Saturday Night Live” star. Clearly well intentioned and researched, this documentary fails to go as deep as it could or should have. Maybe that’s […]
2008’s “Taken” starred Liam Neeson as a father dealing with the “worst nightmare involving your child”. That film and subsequent franchise re-vamped Neeson’s career, elevating him to iconic action movie star status. Now, “Taken” director Pierre Morel presents the mother’s perspective of an even worse situation in “Peppermint”. The revenge thriller features the return to the […]
Six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close stars in “The Wife”, a drama based on the 2003 novel – set in 1992. As the film begins Close’s Joan Castleman is celebrating her husband, well-known author Joe Castleman (played by Jonathan Pryce) receiving the Nobel Piece Prize for Literature. But there seems to be something wrong. We […]
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” is the sixth installment in the Tom Cruise action movie franchise. As I mentioned in my review of 2015’s “Rogue Nation”, this should’ve been simply titled “M:I6” (to go along with the name of the British Secret Service, which is a part of this movie). The length of time between “Rogue […]
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 […]
Millennials, Gen X-ers, and Gen Z-ers will be streaming into theaters over the next few weeks to see a couple of highly-anticipated new releases. “Book Club” is not one of them. No, this is a movie about women over a certain age made specifically for… women over a certain age. Think of it as “Sex and […]