The struggle is real in “Leave No Trace.” It’s another indie film from a child’s perspective, facing uncertainty from parental and societal nurturing. “Leave No Trace” doesn’t exude that kind of crowd pleasing energy that it’s wilderness cousin “Captain Fantastic” captured and captivated audiences with. “Leave No Trace,” Debra Granik’s subtle drama doesn’t cover any new ground […]
What starts off as an entertaining allegory on modern life in California, quickly escalates into a macabre futuristic tale. Rapper turned filmmaker Boots Riley makes his directorial debut with “Sorry to Bother You” that is equal parts absorbing and repellent. This feels like an attempt to piggy-back off the success, message, and popularity of “Get
For a little background information, Dracula (Sandler) is a widower with a grown-up daughter called Mavis (Gomez) who has decided they both need some R&R and more family time. So for a surprise, she has arranged for all of them to go on a trip, without telling them it will be a cruise—which Drac would never
“This is stupid”, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says before jumping out the window of the world’s tallest building. He isn’t kidding, the highest paid actors’ latest action flick is brainless, predictable and worse than it looks. Universal has embraced the comparisons between “Skyscraper” and “Die Hard” or classic disaster film “Towering Inferno”. Writer/director Rawson Marshall
2015’s “Ant-Man” was an insignificant part Marvel universe, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. The character was better incorporated into the franchise, in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016) which is where this film picks up. So, if you haven’t seen that one, you’re already lost. Ant-Man has been absent from The Avengers films, including “Infinity War,” but
If Vera Farmiga hadn’t already made a handful of films just like “Boundaries,” I might have liked it better. Shana Feste isn’t the most subtle or accomplished film maker either. Her previous films “Country Strong” or “Endless Lover” certainly put females at the center of their own stories, which I like, but her writing and
I’m tempted to copy and paste everything I wrote about the last Purge film onto this review, as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between them. Despite its status as a prequel, “The First Purge” offers very little we haven’t seen before. The controversial franchise is basically a cinematic encouragement of violence as it pits
Trying to duplicate something that worked so well because it defied genre borders is exactly why the “Sicario” sequel sets itself up to fail. “Day of the Soldado” isn’t a bad movie, it certainly has its moments of suspense, but lacks the artistic vision of auteur Denis Villeneuve (“Arrival”) and the cinematic touch of Roger
It was the TIFF film that held the most interest for me, because the subject matter was unlike anything else I read about. Even director Susana White (Our Kind of Traitor) admitted that the timing of this project, written by Steven Knight (Locke, Eastern Promises) 14 years earlier, was immensely surprising given the recent pipeline
After focusing on people in their twilight years in films like “I’ll See You in My Dreams” and “The Hero,” promising new writer/director Brett Haley has shifted his focus. “Hearts Beat Loud” is first and foremost a father/daughter “dramedy.” It is also a film about music and a story about difficult choices. Haley and screenwriting