Noah Baumbach took a bold step in writing and directing WHILE WE’RE YOUNG. He decided not to take sides when telling this tale of youthful impatience and adult complacence meeting head-on, instead opting for the far more interesting neutral perspective that allows the audience to relish the quirks of both generations while never stooping to… Read More »
5 TO 7 with Victor Levin
When I spoke with Victor Levin by phone on April 3, 2015, I was surprised to learn that one of the thing that I appreciated most about his feature film directorial debut, the practicality of the women of the piece about extra-marital affairs in contrast to the shock evidenced by the men, was not something… Read More »
IT FOLLOWS and It’s Relentless
IT FOLLOWS slyly juxtaposes the familiar with the alien as it tells its exceptionally effective tale of terror. The clichéd tropes of low-budget horror — the remote lake house, the eager and nubile kids having sex in the back seat of a car, a terrified girl in high heels and lingerie running in terror down… Read More »
RUN ALL NIGHT with Liam Neeson
There is a reason that there is a rigid formula for Liam Neeson action films: it has a tendency to hit more than it misses. In RUN ALL NIGHT, the tropes are all present and accounted for with the variations that are permitted within the formula’s rules. Neeson is the everyman with, you will pardon… Read More »
INSURGENT Keeps the DIVERGENT Franchise Puffing Along
The advantage of seeing outstanding actors in a middling film is that you can appreciate just how good they are on a whole new level. And INSURGENT is certainly a middling film, though that is an improvement on the last installment in this franchise, DIVERGENT. With a new director, Robert Schwentke, bringing Veronica Roth’s YA… Read More »
Brian Sloan has A WTC VIEW
WTC VIEW was the first play from The New York International Fringe Festival to make the leap to the big screen in 2005, but playwright Brian Sloan resisted the temptation to fundamentally change the nature of his play by opening it up beyond the one apartment in which it takes place. The metaphor of a… Read More »
FOCUS Needs Some Adjustment
Glenn Ficarra and John Renqua have made some films that are close to my heart. BAD SANTA, I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS, CRAZY STUPID LOVE are movies that are funny and smart without resorting to schmaltz. Instead, they are subversive satires about human nature, and what happens when wide-eyed innocence meets conniving manipulator. The same… Read More »
SONG OF THE SEA is Beautiful Harmony
SONG OF THE SEA reminds us of the power of simplicity in storytelling and in animation. Hand-drawn and steeped in Irish folklore, it is a profoundly moving experience rife with charm, wisdom, and beauty. Told from a child’s perspective, the magical and the mundane coalesce in perfect harmony, revealing the one in the other in… Read More »
Avoid THE LOFT
The true test of a mystery is if, after the mechanics of the misdirection are revealed, those mechanics are as impressive as the misdirection itself. In THE LOFT, this is indubitably the case. Fiendishly clever, it keeps us off-balance with such finesse what we are unaware that our balance has been impaired, and, when we… Read More »
Paul Feig Can Take THE HEAT
My favorite part of talking with Paul Feig about THE HEAT on June 6, 2013 happened right before we started the interview. Having sworn off coffee, he was sipping tea (see photo) and telling me how much he missed a cup o’ java. When I offered to move my coffee where he couldn’t see it,… Read More »
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