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Whereas most biopics suffer from cramming either too much or too little of its subject’s life into a standard running time, Tate Taylor’s warts-and-all examination of James Brown hits that sweet spot that eludes most of its ilk. Get On Up digs deep into what made the Godfather of Soul tick, what drove him towards fame … Continue reading
Writer-director and indie darling Richard Linklater has never been one to shy away from unconventional projects; the philosophy primer Waking Life, the ambitious animated science fiction drama A Scanner Darkly, the Before trilogy, and the pseudo-true crime dramedy Bernie all bear the mark of a filmmaker playing with form. Which is why Linklater’s ambitious drama Boyhood is … Continue reading
Adapted from Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette’s obscure 1982 graphic novel Le Transperceneige by South Korean writer-director Joon-ho Bong, the politically charged Snowpiercer is a heady mix of art house and megaplex mainstream, beauty and brutality, that rates as one of the best dystopian allegories since George Orwell’s 1984. Or, to put it in less pretentious terms, it’s like Metropolis on a train, … Continue reading
The break-out success of the jukebox musical Jersey Boys pretty much guaranteed the inevitable film adaptation; however, said spin-off not only fails to adequately compensate for the schmaltz, it exacerbates it with some truly bland, derivative film-making. It’s as if director Clint Eastwood set out to dramatize the most boring episode of VH1’s Behind the Music … Continue reading
One of the most original, suspenseful, and surprising indies in the past few years, writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin is a mesmerizing exercise in style and character study. Granted, that last bit is enough to make many a movie-goers’ sphincters clinch with dread of ponderous, talky self-indulgence, oblique references to obscure film movements, and/or overblown visual flourishes; … Continue reading
He’s his own worst enemy and the kind of guy you love and hate in equal measure, a man you want to smack some bloody sense into but don’t because it’s likely a body part or two will get ripped off by him; and in Jude Law’s capable hands, Dom Hemingway is a lunatic bastard with the … Continue reading
Transcendence could have been a good movie — it certainly tries — but it’s chock full of ideas that are beyond first-time screenwriter Jack Paglen’s ability to explore and develop, and cinematographer-turned-director Wally Pfister doesn’t yet have the chops to compensate for such shortcomings. In the end, it comes across as a half-baked TED talk, and … Continue reading
The Texas Theatre presents a screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s breakthrough feature Boogie Nights (1997), various showtimes, March 9, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse presents a Harold Ramis Memorial Screening of the comedy Stripes (1981), 7:30pm, March 10, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse presents a screening of Christopher Nolan’s breakthrough neo-noir thriller Memento (2000), 7:15pm, March 11, at the theater. Details The Magnolia’s Big … Continue reading
The Magnolia’s Big Movie film series continues with Mike Nichols’ iconic comedy The Graduate (1967), 7:30pm and 10pm, March 4, at the theater. Details The Texas Theatre’s Tuesday Night Trash series returns with a screening of Mardi Gras Massacre (1978), 9:15pm, March 4, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse’s Wes Anderson Week runs through March 6 with screenings of movies from the … Continue reading
The Alamo Drafthouse’s Big Screen Classics series continues with a screening of Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942), 12:30pm, February 23, at the theater. Details The Alamo Drafthouse’s Tough-Guy Cinema series presents a screening of Walter Hill’s cult classic Streets of Fire (1984), 9pm, February 24, at the theater. Details The Magnolia’s Big Movie film series continues with Philip Kaufman’s historical drama The Right Stuff (1983), 7:30, … Continue reading
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