Click here to listen to the interview. Led by a stunning performance by Anna Diop in the title role of Aisha, an undocumented immigrant working to bring her young son over from Senegal, NANNY is a powerful yet subtle film that uses horror as a way of addressing so much more, in this case, the… Read More »
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Huzzah for FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM! This look at another part of the magical universe of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, penned by J.K. Rowling specifically for the screen, expands the mythos with the sort of wildly whimsical originality that we have come to expect from her. Added bonus, with no book as… Read More »
DOCTOR STRANGE
DOCTOR STRANGE you ask? Let me sum up the latest cinematic offering from Marvel Comics in one word: spectacular. From a whiz-bang opening sequence where space folds in on itself as combatants hurl magical fire at on another, to the charismatic, ahem, marvel that is Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, this action film is… Read More »
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS continues Laika’s string of arresting, unconventional stop-motion animated films that are both sophisticated and enchanting. Like PARANORMAN and CORALINE, KUBO is audacious enough to tackle serious subjects and to do so with no pretense about the finality of death, or the reality of evil. Taking its cue from Joseph Campbell’s… Read More »
SUICIDE SQUAD
One is put in mind of Shakespeare. Sort of. Watching SUICIDE SQUAD, that is, and thinking that here we have a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying much worse than nothing, signifying a major financial loss for its studio. Not to mention the time lost by the viewer. This irredeemable… Read More »
NOW YOU SEE ME 2
The best caper films keep us guessing even while we’re watching the caper in progress. In that way, NOW YOU SEE ME 2 succeeds admirably. The return of the The Horsemen, a band of underground magicians dedicated to truth, justice, and outsmarting everyone around them, including each other, provides several set pieces that are fine… Read More »
Alice Englert & Alden Ehrenreich are BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
Co-stars Alice Englert and Alden Ehernreich talk the pitfalls of fanaticism, the subtleties of accent, and subverting the cliché. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, based on the novel of the same name, is a tale of star-crossed love between, entwined fates, and not accepting destiny at face value. They play supernatural caster Lena Duchannes, and anything but mere… Read More »
THE LAST WITCH HUNTER
THE LAST WITCH HUNTER is a long slog. There are few genuine scares. There are few remarkable special effects. There is, instead, a pervasive and persistent lassitude to this tale of an immortal witch hunter, Kaulder (Vin Diesel), and the complicated relationship he has tracking down the eponymous practitioners of magic. Kaulder is very good… Read More »
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1
It might be hard for someone unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe to catch the nuances of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1. Fortunately, the larger themes are intact, despite some liberties taken with the chronology of the books and the usual necessity of streamlining a richly plotted novel into a workable screenplay.… Read More »
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2 begins with a bang and doesn’t stop. Starting right where the last film ended, it barely has time to catch its breath, or go into florid exposition, before diving right into the final face-off between the boy, now man, wizard (Daniel Radcliffe), embodiment of all that is… Read More »