When a film wears its heart on its sleeve the way BLUE BEETLE does, it’s hard to dislike it. Not impossible, but very, very hard. Still, there’s a screenplay that can’t quite decide what tack to take as it moves awkwardly through plot beats that feel less like a story and more like the generic… Read More »
FANTASTIC FOUR, Alas Not So Much
So the story goes, when the first atomic bomb was being tested out there in the New Mexico desert, no one was sure that that chain reaction that started with detonation would end with the explosion. There was, in other words, a chance that the reaction would continue until our planet was a burned out… Read More »
JURASSIC WORLD Bigger Dinosaurs, Less Fun
There’s a problem when the most complex character in a film is the dinosaur. Then again, JURASSIC WORLD is a film, that like the eponymous amusement park depicted within its two-hour or so running time, has only those extinct animals to offer by way of novelty. Not that this quasi-sequel to JURASSIC PARK is bad,… Read More »
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
In a lesser film about Edward R. Murrow and the way he used television to bring down Joseph McCarthy, there would have been the obligatory unburdening scene with his wife. He would articulate the risks involved in what he was undertaking personally, professionally, and financially, have an emotional breakdown of some sort, and Mrs. Murrow… Read More »
David Strathairn Wishes Us GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
The press tour that David Strathairn did for GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK was the first of his career. Considering how many first-rate performances Strathairn has given over the years, this came as something of a surprise to me. From starring roles in such John Sayles’ classics as LIMBO and PASSION FISH to solid supporting work… Read More »