Paddington is a delightful family film. I should know, as I’ve seen it roughly 150 times in the last two months, as our son Owen has become a wee-bit obsessed with the cuddly little bloke. This movie really does have it all for the entire family, as children will adore the titular character, and adults…
This is a very upsetting film, with a lot of troubling issues explored in just under two hours, and while it won’t be an easy-sit for many viewers, Thank You For Your Service is both timely and timeless, a portrait of those who need help but can’t easily attain it for any number of reasons,…
Sidney Lumet’s totally cracking 1986 political drama Power. I feel like my cinema-viewing life has been leading up to this moment. How had I not seen this terrific movie sooner? I’ll resist my temptation to get super obnoxious with this mini-review, but holy sh*t this movie rocks it – hard. You’ve got sleazy mustache Dick…
I Am Heath Ledger is a new documentary about the late and great Australian actor. A raw and emotional piece that consists of originally filmed interviews mixed with archival footage, photographs, home movies and snapshots. A film that glosses over the actor’s life, passions and artist contributions as well as beautifully exploring the man himself…
Wings of Eagles is a Chariots of Fire sequel of sorts that paints the story of 1924 Olympic Gold-medalist Eric Liddell. A Scottish man who felt he must do the lords work and be a missionary to teach children in war-torn China. Despite the cruelty of the Japanese soldiers, Wings of Eagles paints a raw and…
What Doesn’t Kill You is a nifty, gritty little crime gem that slipped past a good chunk of people back in 2008, and you really have to hand it to veteran character actor and first-time filmmaker Brian Goodman – he took traditional genre material and made it absolutely pop. This is an excellent but brutal…
I can remember the first time I saw Being John Malkovich. It was 1999, and I was a sophomore in college. Gas was ninety-seven cents a gallon and I didn’t have a cell-phone. I walked up to the local one-screen theater for a late afternoon showing, and watched something that I could never have fully…
The Deer Hunter is a film of overwhelming magnitude and staggering directorial force. The first hour is magisterial, giving way to Hell, and then into rocky redemption. Director Michael Cimino was on another level here, while the screenplay (which was written by Deric Washburn from a story by Washburn, Cimino, Louis Garfinkle, and Quinn Redeker)…
Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin are sublime in this film, and when they are on screen together, there’s a nervous energy that gives way to unexpected warmth with jolts of action and physical humor that’s a joy to behold. Directed by the sly Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop, Going In Style, Scent of a…
I’m a big fan of the cinematic works of William Friedkin, and one of his lesser-discussed pictures is Rules of Engagement, which was released in 2000 during that time when Paramount was cranking out mid-budgeted military/cop-procedural/court-room programmers with lots of production polish and big-stars. Written by Stephen Gaghan (Traffic, Syriana) from an original story by…
Coco is Pixar’s finest work in years and easily one of my favorite animations of all time. The story revolves around Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) a 12-year-old boy in Mexico who dreams of being a musician like his idol, the now-deceased musical legend Ernesto de la Cruz. Since Miguel’s great-great grandfather abandoned his grandmother the…
This is a real steak and potatoes action film, hold the romantic subplots, with a few side orders of testosterone and piss and vinegar on the side. Blunt, absurd, and frequently entertaining, Uncommon Valor is the sort of 80’s action film that I just love getting a chance to revisit, and as it was airing…
There isn’t one false moment in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. This is a nearly perfect film so far as I can tell, with no wasted opportunities, made with zero sense of pretension. The Wrestler is Aronofsky’s simplest, most straightforward film, but it’s no less accomplished than his other, more narratively ambitious efforts, which include Black…
What Maisie Knew is one of the most perceptive, honest, and devastating films that I’ve ever seen to involve a young child as its lead protagonist. Onata Aprile’s performance is unexpectedly extraordinary, projecting a sense of maturity well beyond her years (she was six years old at the time of filming), and is nothing less…
Guised in Paul Thomas Anderson’s sweeping period piece of dress making and desire and the tragically beautiful score by Johnny Greenwood is the simmering rage of Daniel Day-Lewis’ final film performance as Reynolds Woodcock, an obsessive and emotionally lethal fashion revolutionary in the best film of 2017, the Phantom Thread. There is so much to…
Darren Aronofsky returns to form with his latest darkly cerebral mother! The film pulls a bit of a bait and switch, leading the viewer to believe from the trailers that this is a reinterpretation of Roman Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY. It’s not. Those who have followed Aronofsky’s career will somewhat know what to expect from this…
