Long before he was mild-mannered chemistry teacher turned fearsome drug lord on Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston made his mark in television comedy by, among other things, keeping Malcolm in the middle, and tending to Seinfeld’s teeth. Those comedic chops stand him in good stead for WHY HIM?, an intermittently hilarious hybrid of the buddy film… Read More »
ALLIED
There is an artistic license that we allow films that sweep us along when their emotional resonance is overpowering. Minor plot points that aren’t resolved, or factual errors. For an example of the latter, one need look no further than the Letters of Transit, desired by so many in CASABLANCA. No such thing. Yet it… Read More »
HACKSAW RIDGE
Mel Gibson’s HACKSAW RIDGE begins with a quiet shot looking down (from heaven?) on corpses. They are horrific, with bits missing and gore everywhere. It’s a moment that will quickly give way to the battle of Okinawa that made them. Bodies ripped by bullets falling to the ground, others engulfed in flames running in panic.… Read More »
THE ACCOUNTANT
THE ACCOUNTANT is a flabby, overlong film with an earnest mission to make us all think differently about autism, and also to give us the cheap thrill of seeing justice meted out to those slimy financiers who manipulate high finance to the detriment of the little guys at the bottom of that particular food chain.… Read More »
GOAT
GOAT is not a subtle film, though the performances by its young cast are wonderfully nuanced. Based on the eponymous memoir by Ben Land, it opens with a mob of naked frat boys caught up in slow-motion frenzy of testosterone-driven, gleeful aggression. We do not see what it is that they are kicking, but we… Read More »
OPERATION AVALANCHE
There is something irresistible about a well-constructed conspiracy theory. The juxtaposition between the secret hands behind the scenes pulling the strings that control our destiny, and the peculiar sense of security that the world is not just a series of random events, that there is an order to it even if he have no collective… Read More »
BLAIR WITCH
Once again college kids with video cameras march into the dark piney woods in search of something better left undisturbed. Unlike previous attempts to capture the lightning in a bottle that was the original BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, attempts that went down in flames, writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard have taken the found-footage format… Read More »
IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE (Kraftidioten)
IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE is a bracingly original foray into very black humor. Set in the arctic-lite of rural Norway, it is a tale of relentless pursuit, clueless hubris, and the eccentricities that long winters provoke in the population. Writer Kim Fupz Aakeson and director Hans Petter Moland serve up this arch film about fathers and sons… Read More »
THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX
THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX uses the perspective of a child to tell a very mature, very troubling story. It’s a device that could be precious if handled with less sensitivity, less intelligence than is found in Max Minghella’s wondrous adaptation, directed by Alexandre Aja, of Liz Johnson’s novel of the same name. It… Read More »
MORGAN
MORGAN is a high-minded film that wants us all to ponder what it means to be human. Alas, the most ponder-worthy thing in this film, which once again shows the result of humankind playing God, is wondering how Kate Mara managed to do all that running through the piney woods in those very high heels. … Read More »
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