In a different year, “Birds of Passage,” along with a myriad of other mildly interesting foreign film submissions would have been sure bets for the Oscar lineup. However, the bar for foreign films has been raised extraordinary high now thanks to Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma.” Colombia’s submission to the 91st Academy Awards didn’t make the nominee roster, […]
It’s usually a bad sign when half of Hollywood’s A-list actors circle a project and then drop out. Everyone from Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Casey Affleck, and Mahershala Ali were at once attached to “Triple Frontier.” Writer/director J.C. Chandor has made 4 movies, 3 of them have been about the corruption caused by greed. This
Writer-director Luis Ortega has created a novel biopic of famed “Death Angel” thief and murderer Carlos Robledo-Puch. The events of the crime and the psychology of this 17-year-old are shocking and gruesome. Ortega creates a parallel between the baby-faced teenager and the films stunning production value and cinematography juxtaposed with such vile circumstances. Ortega balances
The title of Melissa McCarthy’s new film could also be a question to critics and audiences who have watched her career dive bomb in the last couple of years. She’s gone downhill since blasting onto the film scene with “Bridesmaids,” the introduction to her one-note comedy routine that earned her an Oscar nomination. “Can You
It’s puzzling to understand what interest French actress turned director Mélanie Laurent (“Operation Finale”) had in adapting Nic Pizzolatto’s (“True Crime”) first novel to film. She wasn’t the first choice for director, and Ben Foster replaced European Matthias Schoenaerts, the first choice for the lead role. The biggest gaffe here, not only is a film
Fox Searchlight is promoting David Lowery’s latest film as the final film of Robert Redford’s long, distinguished career. Yet, the 82-year-old Redford said at the Telluride Film Festival, “never say never.” Redford who has two Oscars, one for directing and one honorary Oscar, has never won for acting. Unfortunately, this light as air dramatic comedy won’t
Despite its title, this film is not essentially about Pablo Escobar; based on the TV anchorwoman Virginia Vallejo’s memoir about her love affair with him, it covers her gradual realization of who he actually was and the ways in which their relationship affected her life. In the beginning, she is so charmed by him and impressed
The opening scenes of White Boy Rick, show a father and son hustling a gun dealer. French director Yann Demange (71) opens and closes with the film’s most important theme, although he strays in the middle where it loses focus. Newcomer Richie Merritt has a few scenes where you understand his plight and emotion, others
Comedian Jim Carrey returns to drama, going dark and nearly silent for the sexual crime thriller Dark Crimes. Based on the fictional investigative article from David Grann (The Lost City of Z), it is a Polish film with Greek director Alexandros Avranas at the helm. The film opens with a nude scene, the type teenage
The Tonya Harding biopic / mockumentary came into the Toronto Film Festival as an “also showing” flick. Yet after the first screening, it became one of the most buzzed about films and now was just nominated for five Critics Choice Awards. It was also one of the highest profile acquisitions during TIFF, and will be