Sicario, Hell or High Water, Wind River, all films written by American screenwriter and director Taylor Sheridan. Those Who Wish Me Dead marks the second of his “law enforcement” thrillers he has directed. You could argue this is his weakest yet, Sheridan’s worst film is better than most at their best. His ability to write […]
A fascinating part of history, hypothetically a good movie, cast all wrong and handed to the wrong filmmakers. Jake Gyllenhaal was originally cast as George Westinghouse, which would have balanced the star power of Cumberbatch. Going out on a limb here and suggesting why the film feels so lopsided and told from all the wrong
“Dark Phoenix” director Simon Kinberg has been involved with the X-Men movie franchise since “X3: The Last Stand” (2006). Ironically his introduction into the mutant world was the exact story he’s re-telling here. Kinberg says they didn’t get it right with Jean Grey’s Phoenix story the first time, and while there is a concerted effort to
For “The Lord of the Rings” fans, Dome Karukoski’s “Tolkien” might work as a way of celebrating the brilliant author and fantasy creator in which popular franchises “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” have both been inspired from. The script assumes the audience’s familiarity with ‘Rings,’ expecting you to pick up on which people and
Despite internationally acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos not penning the script this time, “The Favourite” is still very much one of his films. The severe divisiveness among critics caused by “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” is lessened in “The Favourite,” which started garnering Oscar buzz the moment it debuted at the Venice Film Festival. It’s
In some of the early scenes of the film, we get a graphic picture of J. D. Salinger’s personality as a highly self-confident, even cocky, social climber in his flirtations with Oona O’neil (Eugene’s daughter, charmingly played by Zoey Deutch). He does capture her attention just by the way he introduces himself, and although she
I’m a sucker for a director who can take a small product and make the viewer feel like it’s a big production. Director Drake Doremus (Like Crazy) achieves this with his latest film Equals, borrowing style and concepts for his story from Gattaca, Her and even A24’s 2015 hit Ex Machina. The first half of
I went into this superhero movie, sequel, franchise with arms crossed. Annoyed that my summers are now filled with just one comic book adaptation after another. While X-Men Apocalypse (the 6th film in the series) hits theaters three weeks after Marvel’s other franchise Captain America debuted, they screened them for critics back to back. My
The second novel to be adapted from Oscar nominated writer Gillian Flynn, Dark Places initially had a lot going for it after the success of Gone Girl. Flynn however did not pen the screenplay for this one, instead writer/director Gilles Paquet-Brenner (Sarah’s Key) took up that responsibility. Even with a terrific cast, Dark Places lacks
“Fury Road” is one of the most explosive, rewarding and action-packed films of the summer and yet it isn’t because it manages to pull off the type of suspenseful car chase “Fast & Furious” will never understand. Nor is it simply because writer/director George Miller (1979’s “Mad Max”) understands that a reinvention is better than