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 […]
The complexity of the plot in Serenity (which is far from serene) hypes up the excitement and intrigue, and keeps you guessing throughout. The theme of “What is real?” gives it an added boost in depth as the viewer is forced to ask the question over and over in terms of the plot, but also in terms of
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
The long-awaited Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower is a disaster on nearly every level. The most confounding part of it is how any movie with Elba and McConaughey could be this bland. The “McConaissance” has officially ended. Looking at the selection of King novels adapted to the big screen, there are more duds than
Another moderately predictable formula this awards season; transformative performance showcased in a by the numbers genre film. What genre you might ask, the white man wanting to make it big genre. Gold, inspired by a true story (but then aren’t they all these days) has similarities to The Wolf of Wall Street and a bit
The show must go on. Clever animation and a wealth of songs tell the story of Showman Buster Moon (McConaughey), a koala who has inherited a famous theater from his father, and he is desperately trying to keep it going. But he has had a number of failed projects and is about to lose it
What a perfect blend of visual beauty, creativity, magical stories, and delightful lessons for life! The American stop-motion animation studio Laika is well known for its quality work (Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls), and Kubo and the two Strings represents their best in my opinion. The visual beauty lies mostly in the sheets of paper that
It’s the first real film tragedy of the year. Director Gary Ross hasn’t made a film since he kicked off the first (and best) “Hunger Games”. Ross, also the director of such modern classics “Seabiscuit” and “Pleasantville”, hits the first stumbling block of his career. It’s almost, very good. “Free State of Jones” has numerous
It’s no surprise that Jeff Nichols‘ latest (his third) film, Mud, was the best thing to show at this year’s SXSW film festival. Two years ago, Nichols burst onto the scene with the critically acclaimed and unforgettable Take Shelter. He now returns with a script he wrote during the same summer as Take Shelter, and