The more films I watch, the harder it is to find something truly unique, moving and original. Out of the 200+ films I saw and wrote about in 2016, twelve received an A/A-, standing out enough to make my ‘best of list’. I have narrowed it down to the most important ten. My list doesn’t […]
Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash follow-up, a musical set to the tune of modern day life in Los Angeles, didn’t put me under whatever spell early festival goers experienced. The rarity of a big budget musical is always something to celebrate. Chazelle once again delivers an original screenplay and carries over the jazz theme. There are beautiful
Some films have the disadvantage of being hailed an awards contender as early as January when they debut at The Sundance Film Festival. Meaning, they must carry that stigma, which turns into hype, raising expectations to an unattainable level. Manchester By the Sea is the third film from writer/director Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on
Oscar nominated director John Madden’s career has taken interesting twists and turns since Shakespeare in Love won best picture in 1999. He is unpredictable in the projects he chooses like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and his first time working with a relatively new Jessica Chastain in The Debt. Miss Sloane is a rare and
From the directors of Blades of Glory comes one of 2016’s worst films. As if the holiday noise wasn’t bad enough, Office Christmas Party, manages to out curse and travel beyond the boiling point of stupidity compared with competing holiday flicks Why Him and Bad Santa 2. If you have seen one Bateman/Aniston collaboration, you
Dito Montiel has certainly worked his casting magic again with latest film Man Down (no it’s not a sequel to the goofy comedy Man Up). Always just outside the realm of mainstream, the New York filmmaker was behind two Channing Tatum films A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Fighting. LaBouf also starred in ‘Saints’,
We haven’t seen Dominic Monaghan in a lot of projects since his rise to fame during The Lord of the Rings fame or following his stint on Lost. His involvement with a little film called Pet has been a long journey that he has followed outside a studio project to the edgy “midnighter” it has
I’ve started calling horror movies that are under 90 minutes and have only the basic of concepts, pocket films. The best thing about The Eyes of My Mother, and others like it, is they don’t waste too much of your time. Nicolas Pesce is your typical first-time filmmaker, cutting his teeth on the go-to genre.
France choose “the other” Isabelle Huppert film Elle, as their countries official foreign language submission to the Academy Awards. I can see why now, not that I think either film was the countries strongest choice (The Innocents by Anne Fontaine was much stronger). Between the two films, one a thriller, this one a procedural drama,
The South American perspective of Jackie Kennedy is apparently similar to a horror movie seen through the eyes of director Pablo Larraín. In his first English language film, the 40-year-old surprisingly molds Jackie in the same structure of fellow Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others (2001). The vicious editing choices paired with the savage musical