The moral ambiguity of “Corpus Christi” is one of it’s most compelling elements. A film I regret missing at TIFF 2019, despite it’s well promoted debut, is among the most provocative of this years International Films submitted for Academy Award consideration. From Poland, Jan Komasa directs the script by 27-year-old first-time feature film screenwriter Mateusz […]
Typically with Russian submissions to the Academy for International Film, you see dark, brutal, dramatic epics often focused on violence. Loveless and Leviathan come to mind. The Russian selection committee look to the future with promising 26-year-old director Kantemir Balagov, only on his third feature but already capturing three major awards at Cannes, two this
Director Hans Petter Moland has adapted Per Petterson’s dense novel of the same name into a film that’s cinematically ornamental. Internationally, the film is being sold as a Stellan Skarsgård vehicle, despite the fact he’s a minor character in the story. Narratively framed similar to The Reader, Out Stealing Horses exists almost entirely in flashback.
Filmmaker Guy Ritchie cleanses his palate after serving up flying carpets and magic lamps returning to familiarity in “The Gentlemen.” The colorful wordsmith pours generous helpings of ironic expletives, some even stirred with racial slurs that are defended on screen. Ritchie is quite good at creating splashy characters that feel like video game personalities with
“Can I get you anything” is an odd question to ask someone moments away from an execution. “Clemency,” the new film starting Alfre Woodard attempts to put the viewer in a place they haven’t been before, inside the mind of a death row warden. From the shocking opening moments of a nearly botched lethal injection
Diversity reigns in Amazon Prime’s latest original feature. Produced and starring Academy Award winner Viola Davis (Widows), re-teaming with her Oscar winning pal Allison Janney (I, Tonya) for a troop-scout, coming of age story, like few others. The screenplay comes from Lucy Alibar, the Academy Award nominated writer of Beasts of the Southern Wild. As
In Tyler Perry’s latest film A Fall From Grace, there is murder, sex, and family drama, all wrapped up in a crime mystery. Perry tosses aside his iconic Madea costume to deliver his first original film on Netflix. More interesting than the plot is the fact the Atlanta filmmaker shot the film in five days.
Talking to the animals and having them respond back. This movie is surprisingly convincing in making you think it is possible. Dr. Dolittle (Downey) has been holed up in his house, not doing much of anything but talking to his animals after he lost his love Lili on her adventure at sea. He lives with these creatures, and
How many times in the past 17 years since ‘Bad Boys II” have you heard, “they really need to make a Bad Boys III?” You can’t help but wonder after the string of disappointments bearing Will Smith’s name (“Gemini Man,” “Bright,” “Collateral Beauty,” “Concussion,” “Focus”) if he’s simply reviving old franchises to stay active. The original
France had to decide between two films that won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. Les Misérables was chosen over Portrait of a Lady on Fire most simply because of its widespread appeal. Not a remake, this 2019 Les Misérables is set in the community where Victor Hugo first penned his masterpiece; the themes of