Two-time Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi (“The Salesman, “A Separation”) returns with big stars in his first Spanish-language film “Everybody Knows.” It received a lukewarm reception at Cannes and I can see why. The suspense thriller starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem feels less socially important than Farhadi’s previous work. That said, “Everybody Knows” is his […]
What is this mysterious foreign film nominated for the best cinematography Oscar? This German entry has landed many of the early foreign film awards alongside the more popular entries “Roma” and “Cold War.” “Never Look Away” is directed by Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who took home the foreign film prize back in 2006
Can a film be both really good and yet stereotypical in every way? “Arctic” is the best film of 2019, so far. The survival thriller received a ten-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, but there isn’t much to celebrate in this compact 90-minute thriller that you can’t find elsewhere. With so little dialogue,
“Isn’t It Romantic” might be the first film to successfully please both those who despise romantic comedies and those who love them. Director Todd Strauss-Schulson describes his new film as “a romantic comedy about falling in love with yourself.” The script simultaneously makes fun of every popular romantic comedy of the past 20 years while pointing
This one might wow you with its special effects, but James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez are two filmmakers who always focus on the senses more than the intellectual or the emotional. “Alita” joins the list of other futuristic flicks released in recent months: “Mortal Engines,” “Ready Player One,” “Valerian,” and others seeking to be the
Jamie Bell (“Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”) has two films at TIFF this year, apparently, I saw the wrong one. “Donnybrook” is a cross between a drama about poverty issues (“Winters Bone”) and a high stakes street-fighting action flick (“Warrior”). We see drug dealing/drug selling elements similar to “Winters Bone,” which take up the
Following upon The Lego Movie (2014), this sequel continues the adventures of the “Master Builders” who started out as resistance fighters against Lord Business and his army of Micro Managers. Emmet (Pratt) and Wyldstyle (Banks) were heroic in the previous story and ended up as best friends in a happy town, Bricksburg, where everyone is special. It should be
It’s been nearly two decades since Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt starred in the original “What Women Want”. That PG-13 romantic comedy didn’t have much to say beyond basic romantic clichés and playing off Gibson’s popularity at the time. “What Men Want” is a different film altogether. It’s rated-R, giving Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson
Steven Soderbergh and his iPhone take us somewhere few have been before, behind the scenes of an NBA lockout. “High Flying Bird” which was picked up by Netflix at Sundance isn’t what you expect from the guy behind “Erin Brockovich” or “Ocean’s Eleven.” It’s not even in the same wheelhouse as “Unsane,” Soderbergh’s suspense thriller also filmed on
There is little that works about “Cocote,” the Dominican Republic’s submission to the 91st Academy Awards. The most obvious shortfall is how the film is technically assembled. It begins in letterbox (full screen) format, which in itself is not that uncommon, Jonah Hill’s “Mid 90’s” and Poland’s foreign entry “Cold War” both utilize the format. However,