Born to Be Blue suffers from the fact that Don Cheadle’s Miles Ahead is also playing at the SXSW film festival. The poorly timed films focus on the same plot lines that showcase drug addicted musicians grappling with their careers slipping through their fingers. This isn’t director Robert Budreau’s first feature on the famous heroin […]
I’m often asked what types of films I like. I usually explain that there isn’t a type, but a quest for something original, unique, different, that’s what impresses me. However, here is an example where a far reaching first time filmmaker, Ilya Naishuller (called the next Tarantino) debuts an entirely innovative and unconventional presentation, and
“Tammy”, “Spy”, “The Heat”, “Identity Theft”, if you have seen one Melissa McCarthy film you have seen them all. McCarthy is following the same path of her male comedian counterparts, jumping into scripts that sell her one note comedy routine. “The Boss” is the second collaboration between McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone who co-wrote
It’s been a bad year for Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect). She’s already scored one of the worst films of the year, alongside Miles Teller in Get a Job, now Mr. Right is equally terrible. Back in 2007, Kevin Costner starred in a film called Mr. Brooks, that more successfully
After watching City of Gold, you will want to rush right out to Los Angeles and visit all the eating places talked about in this documentary about Jonathan Gold, who writes about food and restaurants in L.A. Numerous people appearing in the film (including people like Ruth Reichl, Calvin Trillin. and David Chang) remark about
In just a few short years of bursting on the American film circuit, French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee has delivered award worthy pictures with Wild and Dallas Buyers Club. There is something raw about his films that attract actors looking to step out of their comfort zone. Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Southpaw) is an actor who chases roles
In his first film since nearly nabbing best picture for Boyhood. Austin, Texas landmark Richard Linklater returns with unofficial sequel to Dazed & Confused. If Dazed & Confused was Linklater’s representation of guys trying to get laid in the 1970’s, Everybody Wants Some is that notion for the 80’s. Boyhood raised the bar a bit
Midnight Special answers the question of what a “Jeff Nichols film” might look like on a larger budget. “It’s still a Jeff Nichols film,” he said at the packed North American premiere at SXSW. He wasn’t kidding, there are major notes from his two previous films Mud and one of my all-time favorites Take
I was a bit worried about Gavin Hood’s “Eye in the Sky”. It looked nearly identical to Andrew Niccol’s drone thriller “Good Kill”, starring Ethan Hawke last year. While both films explore the new technological world of modern day warfare, “Eye in the Sky” takes the viewer deeper into the politics of using drones as
What happens when two of the Marvel Avengers get together for a ride through County Music Hall of Fame…. Not much. I Saw the Light is a passion project for Hiddleston who is best known as Thor’s villainous brother Loki. The 34-year-old British actor debuts an impressive voice as the 1950’s country music bad boy.