Stupidity abounds in Danny Boyle’s latest film “Yesterday” which comes to us from a Richard Curtis (“About Time”, “Love Actually”) script. The origins of the story are the main selling points of the trailer and also the films most charming moments. After the blackout that causes The Beatles, Coca-Cola, and cigarettes to disappear, the entire film […]
Photograph is very similar to writer/director Ritesh Batra’s previous film, The Lunchbox in its quiet love story where the protagonists are unassuming people who manage to fall into each other’s world quite by accident. In this production, Mumbai street photographer Rafi (Siddiqui) takes a picture of Miloni (Malhotra), but after she has paid for it, she gets distracted and
For “The Lord of the Rings” fans, Dome Karukoski’s “Tolkien” might work as a way of celebrating the brilliant author and fantasy creator in which popular franchises “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” have both been inspired from. The script assumes the audience’s familiarity with ‘Rings,’ expecting you to pick up on which people and
Whether you realize it or not, “Long Shot” is “Notting Hill” re-imagined. Of course, “Notting Hill” was just a modern day, gender-flipped “Cinderella.” The screenplay isn’t written by Rogen, yet it’s the typical Rogen weird-guy-lands-the-hot-girl story, with plenty of vulgar masturbation jokes and illegal drug use. The timing for a film about running for president
This period drama set in Hungary just before World War I contains no discernable plot, although it continuously gives the viewer the sense that something really big is going on or about to happen. The protagonist Irisz (Jakab) has returned to Budapest to her parents’ old hat shop (actually, a high-end millinery), but she is not
The real aftermath here is the bad aftertaste James Kent’s new adaptation leaves with the viewer. He delivers an ending that I found personally offensive, highly debatable, and utterly misogynistic. The Aftermath, based on the novel by Rhidian Brook, seems to suggest that both of the film’s male decision makers have a narrow view of women’s
“Isn’t It Romantic” might be the first film to successfully please both those who despise romantic comedies and those who love them. Director Todd Strauss-Schulson describes his new film as “a romantic comedy about falling in love with yourself.” The script simultaneously makes fun of every popular romantic comedy of the past 20 years while pointing
It’s been nearly two decades since Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt starred in the original “What Women Want”. That PG-13 romantic comedy didn’t have much to say beyond basic romantic clichés and playing off Gibson’s popularity at the time. “What Men Want” is a different film altogether. It’s rated-R, giving Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson
The foreign film category has more buzz this year than usual. With Netflix pushing Roma all the way into the main categories including best picture, and becoming the presumed foreign language winner, there is a heightened awareness in non-English language movies. Cold War made a big splash at Cannes, resulting in it’s purchase by Amazon
No, this isn’t a sequel to “Maid in Manhattan,” you know, the other Jennifer Lopez movie where she is a poor working class New Yorker who finds herself in a lie that allows her to live among the wealthy elite until the truth comes out. No, “Second Act” is very different. It’s a movie about