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Darkest Hour is one of those rare biopics that, for the most part, breaks free of formula to deliver an intriguing portrait of a complex and controversial figure. Similar to Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, it pins its hopes on its central performance (by Gary Oldman at his chameleonic best). Whereas that film tried to … Continue reading
Superheroes tend to keep a secret identity in order to protect themselves and those around them, but the creators of the four-color heroes we know and love are usually free from such burdens. This was not the case with Dr. William Moulton Marston, the co-inventor of the polygraph machine and co-creator of Wonder Woman, the … Continue reading
Mel Gibson has returned to the director’s chair after a ten-year absence, and his war film Hacksaw Ridge proves to be a worthy effort. It’s a blunt-force but highly effective treatise on the horrors of war as well as those who rise above the brutality to maintain as much humanity as one can on a battlefield. … 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
Biopics are often tributes to eccentrics with grandiose — and often unusual — obsessions. In the case of The Walk, veteran filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future and Forrest Gump) has found a subject with a curious fixation indeed, and while the movie stumbles a bit early on, it (ahem) never falls. The subject here is Phillipe … Continue reading
James “Whitey” Bulger was a real-life bogeyman in Boston during the 1970s and ’80s. A vicious, possible psychotic, and seemingly untouchable criminal kingpin, his name commanded varying degrees of fear and grudging respect among cops and crooks alike. It is ostensibly an ensemble flick, though so much has been made of Johnny Depp’s performance and appearance … Continue reading
Spectacle film-making with a purpose, Everest is a welcome throwback to the testorone-heavy adventure flicks of past decades. Based on the true story of the tragic May 10-11, 1996 excursion to the summit of the world’s highest peak that resulted in the deaths of eight mountaineers, it’s an epic man-versus-nature story that reminds us of what happens when … Continue reading
Rupert Goold’s adaptation of Mike Finkel’s true crime novel/memoir, True Story is tepid that serves as a sobering reminder that while truth can be stranger than fiction, that’s not enough to make it interesting. At its core it is a genuinely bromance, but that conceit is soft-pedaled and ignored in favor of anemic characterization. Jonah Hill … Continue reading
It’s been a while since Tim Burton has offered up a movie that wasn’t A.) drenched in weirdness-as-affectation, B.) smothered in heavy-handed effects, C.) beaten into delirium with gratuitous Johnny Depp, or D.) all of the above. With Big Eyes, however, he seems ready to throw aside his stylistic crutches and tell a simple story. However, even with much of … Continue reading
Visually sumptuous but otherwise hollow, Ridley Scott’s take on the Biblical tale of Moses could use a little more wrath of God to perk it up a bit. It’s not a bad movie per se, it’s just that it fails to pull us in the way it should. You don’t watch Exodus: Gods and Kings, … Continue reading
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