The time for questioning the motives of Liam Neeson’s choice in action movie scripts is over and now we must question his sanity. In his forth collaboration with director Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Run All Night), Neeson once again takes part in a formulaic action movie that’s predictable and unrealistic. The Commuter commits unforgivable cinematic sin […]
Justin Timberlake’s character describes himself as “poetic by nature”. He is of course taking on the Woody Allen persona in the filmmaker’s new flick. The poetry fades quickly in Wonder Wheel as it opens on the most beautiful images of 1950’s Coney Island. A smorgasbord of color for the eyeballs, you don’t know where to
Noah Baumbach’s films are often weightless, filled with quirks and eccentricities of characters similar to himself. From The Squid and the Whale to Mistress America, his scripts are as intriguing in the moment as they are forgettable after the fact. Baumbach might be Netflix’s golden charm as he persistently delivers middle ground comedic drama’s that
In only his sophomore effort, writer/director Matt Ruskin jumps into the relevancy of the black lives matter movement with a true story that exposes the injustice of our justice system. Stanfield continues a stellar 2017, book-ending his box office hit Get Out with this powerful drama. Crown Heights won the Sundance audience award, propelling it
The long-awaited Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower is a disaster on nearly every level. The most confounding part of it is how any movie with Elba and McConaughey could be this bland. The “McConaissance” has officially ended. Looking at the selection of King novels adapted to the big screen, there are more duds than
Writer/director Gillian Robespierre re-teams with comedian Jenny Slate (Gifted) following their 2014 pregnancy film Obvious Child. Landline is a family dramedy that wallows in the era of 1995 so much that many scenes are devoted to nostalgic images over advancing the plot. Landline is also another film that promotes the worst aspect of New York
The best news about the third Spider-Man reboot (now in the hands of Marvel, still a product of Sony like the previous five installments), is they forgo the origin story. No spider bite, no dead uncle, we’ve been origin story’d to death with these reboots. Director Jon Watts (“Natural Selection”, “Cop Car”) takes a cue
The true story of a Marine who bonds with her German Shephard on a mission to Iraq could have been another cinematic animal failure like “A Dog’s Purpose” or “Max”. Documentarian turned film director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, keeps this war thriller and emotional drama away from melodramatics. “Megan Leavey” has similar beats to “Million Dollar Baby”,
Richard Gere is on double duty this week, with two new releases. Norman is the better of the two, giving the salt and pepper haired actor his first multilayered role in years. Norman functions like a 90’s Woody Allen, complete with the a frantic, inappropriate and nervous leading character. Gere wouldn’t have been my first
Courageous Jane, taking on the influential leaders of New York City in the l950’s, made landmark strides in challenging them to take a different perspective on city planning. The importance of the topic is noted by the observation that the scale and speed of urbanization from the 1950’s to now is the greatest in the