Ant-Man Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In Marvel’s Ant-Man, the wise father figure character informs our hero that the world of the quantum is totally unknown by man. Its real-life equivalent, then, might be Ant-Man‘s pre-production story. The great Edgar Wright wrote a screenplay for Marvel’s smallest superhero alongside Attack the Block‘s Joe Cornish. Wright was also attached […]
Behind the Candelabra Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) For his feature film swan song, director Steven Soderbergh has elected to tell a sordid tale about sex, drugs, plastic surgery, possible incest, and shattered dreams. Behind the Candelabra also happens to be a biopic chronicling the latter years of music legend Liberace. Dubbed (by himself and those around him) “Mr. Showmanship,” […]
10 Things We Learned from Cannes 2013
10.) The Coens can do no wrong. Of course you knew that already, right? Wait, you didn’t?!? Well Inside Llewyn Davis was one of the best received films of the festival, and it took home the Competition’s Grand Prix award. So let me reiterate: The Coens can do no wrong. They are the best filmmakers […]
2013 Cannes Awards Predictions
Now that every Competition film has screened, we have but 24 hours to wait for the Palme d’Or and Cannes’ other big awards to be handed out. Here’s where I’m thinking the Spielberg jury might land: Palme d’Or (Best Film): The Past This is arguably the most wide-open Palme race in a number of years. […]
Haywire Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) If the ultimate point of Haywire, the latest film from famously eclectic director Steven Soderbergh, is to show off the ass-kicking skills of the film’s star (MMA fighter Gina Carano), it’s a rousing success. Carano’s fight scenes are surprising, innovative, and spectacular, but the film in which they live is a limp […]
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Review
RATING: (2 STARS) To be perfectly blunt, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is a mess. The frustrating thing is that there’s a good film in there somewhere, but it’s bogged down by a slew of dull subplots, jarring shifts in tone and pace, and an ending that’s a total cheat. I didn’t care for Oliver […]
The Game Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) The Game is the kind of film that unfortunately doesn’t follow the old adage “The ends justify the means.†We the viewers are dragged along on this roller coaster ride of suspense that’s so relentless it almost makes you crazy. A really juicy ending could have made the chaotic journey worthwhile. But […]
Solitary Man Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Solitary Man reminded me a lot of an earlier 2010 entry, Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give. Both are message films that use their flawed characters to motivate the viewers to doing something. Holofcener’s film wants you to be kinder; Brian Koppelman and David Levien’s film cautions you against taking family and friends for […]
Wall Street Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Could there have been a worse time for me to watch Wall Street for the first time? After the job losses, corrupt CEOs, bailouts, and bonuses, how could I enjoy watching a film that celebrates that sort of culture? Because whatever sort of redemption the main character gets, whatever lesson we learn, […]
