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 »
A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE
A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE returns us to the day murderous aliens with the supersonic sense of hearing first invaded our planet, but with a different location, New York City, and a new cast of characters. It is a worthy addition to the universe created by John Krasinski, though this time Mr. Kraskinski’s contribution was… Read More »
THE BIKERIDERS
It was a bold choice to make a woman the primary narrator of THE BIKERIDERS. Based on the photo book of the same name, and the interviews within it by Danny Lyon, it details the rise of the Vandals biker club in 1950s Chicago and takes us through its golden era that lasted until the… Read More »
BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE
The bad boys are back and, despite pre-emptive acknowledgements about how time is catching up with Miami’s most bombastic comedy duo of cop partners, the action is as fresh and fun as ever in BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE. If the schtick between “sensible” Mike and buffoonish Marcus isn’t quite as fresh or fun, transmogrifying… Read More »
IF
Click here for the flashback interview with John Krasinski for THE HOLLARS. John Krasinski’s great strength as a filmmaker is that he can capture the full spectrum of emotions, the fleeting bit of comfort in remembering a loved one who has died while the grief is still raw, or the poignant joy of remembering… Read More »
BACK TO BLACK
Any success enjoyed by the Amy Winehouse biopic, BACK TO BLACK, rests squarely on the frail shoulders of the actress playing the singer, Marisa Abela. With an outsized presence like Winehouse herself, Abela channels Winehouse’s violence and vulnerability, making her at once a lost little girl and a musical powerhouse who refused to be pigeonholed… Read More »
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Let us frankly marvel at what technology can do. It can allow the gloss of an ape avatar to convey the most subtle and the most powerful of performances, complete with echoes of that human actor’s appearance, with flawless nuance. And so it is in THE KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. That same… Read More »
THE FALL GUY
THE FALL GUY is big fun made better by crackerjack cast and its whimsical penchant for self-reference. Based on the vintage television series of the same name, it reboots Colt Seaver (Ryan Gosling) as a stuntman for the hottest star in Hollywood, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and madly in love with Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt),… Read More »
LIMBO
LIMBO begins with an Aboriginal painting that gradually fades into the cobbled landscape of the sere and foreboding landscape of the Australian outback. That is where Travis Hurley (Simon Baker) has been sent to look into re-opening the cold case of a missing Aboriginal girl who vanished from the eponymous town of Limbo twenty years… Read More »
MUSICA
Rudy Mancuso (played by . . . Rudy Mancuso) lives in a slightly different universe than the rest of us. Where we hear the rumble of city life, Rudy hears rhythm and music. Where we see people going about their daily lives, Rudy sees syncopated choreography. And that’s the universe that Mancuso, as director and… Read More »