Abbas Kiarostami’s goal as a filmmaker was to make a film that took place entirely in a car. He got his wish with the wonderful TEN. Since then, we’ve been treated to other efforts confined to a single space that seem doomed by aren’t. Think Stephen Knight’s excellent drama, LOCKE, Ryan Reynold’s tour de force… Read More »
MADAME WEB
The short version about MADAM WEB is this. No. Just no. Seriously. No. The long version is this. After spending 1 hour and 57 minutes with MADAME WEB, the word that floats to mind is insipid. Written by a committee, and showing all that is wrong with that approach, it flouts any sense of logic,… Read More »
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
Drew Goddard crafts tales that are multi-layered and philosophically challenging. From his days in the Whedon-verse to the deliciously exercise in meta-text, CABIN IN THE WOODS, there is always much more going on than the surface narrative. And so it is with BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE, which may not be the flawless wonder… Read More »
FIFTY SHADES DARKER
I have not read any of the Grey books, as in 50 Shades of, or the one on which FIFTY SHADES DARKER is based. Thus when I see Kim Basinger flitting through the edges of this film, looking petulant and warning our mousey heroine, Anastasia (Dakota Johnson), away from the eponymous Grey, as in Christian… Read More »
BLACK MASS
It is only the smallest of exaggerations to say that there are only two types of scenes in BLACK MASS. One is of James “Whitey” Bulger either having someone executed with a vicious precision, or doing the dastardly deed himself. The other is an assemblage of characters having an extended conversation about what has happened… Read More »