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Let’s get the inevitable comparison out of the way first: Captain America: Civil War and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice both feature superheroes battling one another in stories posited as the inevitable fallout of the mass destruction they sometimes leave in their wake. However, Civil War does a far better job of it, and unlike its competitor it’s … Continue reading
It’s tempting to call Green Room the punk successor to Deliverance, but that glosses over the brilliance writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s smart, ferocious, blood-soaked thriller. His previous film, Blue Ruin, was an art house family drama disguised as a B-grade revenge flick; Green Room is a B-grade exploitation thriller with art house sensibilities. It’s schlock so smartly written … Continue reading
An impressive but slight portrait of one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, period, Don Cheadle’s passion project Miles Ahead presents a provocative portrait of the jazz giant, but doesn’t quite go deep enough into what made the man tick.That’s not meant to damn it with faint praise — hell, at times it’s even breathtaking; it … Continue reading
Big, loud, and painted in broad strokes, Batman v. Superman is comic book opera opera in every sense — and not in a good way. In fact, it’s a soulless, dreary mess. It’s an exemplar of the worst excesses of screenwriter David S. Goyer (with some needed doctoring from Chris Terrio) and director by Zack Snyder … Continue reading
Muddled, aimless, indecipherable, and shallow, Terence Malick’s Knight of Cups is one of the most insufferable slogs in recent cinema, a soul-crushing waste of a fine cast and some genuinely stunning photography by recent Academy Award winner Emmanuel Luzbecki (The Revenant). There was a time when Malick’s opaque style was a breath of fresh air in … Continue reading
Let’s clarifying something up front: 10 Cloverfield Lane isn’t a sequel to J.J. Abrams’ 2008 giant monster-takes-Manhattan flick Cloverfield — at least not a direct one. It is, at most, a companion piece, one whose connection to the other isn’t specified until the final act, and even then in a way that raises questions but answers … Continue reading
There’s a lot of appeal in the idea of Triple 9: It’s a gritty crime drama about a couple of good cops caught in the machinations between a bunch of dirty cops and Russian-Israeli mobsters boasting an all-star cast, a no-holds-barred director, and an Oscar-winning composer. Sadly, the final product is a murky, inert movie. The needlessly … Continue reading
Deadpool may be the comic book movie spoof to end all comic book movie spoofs. It playfully and cleverly deflates the conventions and cliches of superhero flicks — as well as its own damn self — with the snarky, sadistic glee of a stoned fanboy who’s binge-watched too many Chuck Jones-era Looney Tunes. No cow is too sacred here, and … Continue reading
Joel and Ethan Coen make a welcome and long-awaited return to comedy with Hail, Caesar!, a slap-happy valentine to the Technicolor heyday of Hollywood that lands somewhere between the trippy brilliance of The Big Lebowski and the goofball parable of O Brother, Where Art Thou?. It is a lighthearted yarn that goes down easy like the old-fashioned popcorn pictures it so lovingly spoofs. … Continue reading
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s (Birdman) fact-based frontier revenge saga The Revenant has an unnerving way of lodging itself in the back of one’s mind for days. Equal parts beautiful and brutal, it’s easily one of the most unsettling films of the past few years. It’s also one of the best. Its setting is a particularly harsh time … Continue reading
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