The reason that THE ROSES succeeds so well as a romcom, one that dares to be more sentimental than the original, is that it heightens two things. The sense of emotional as well as physical danger that the eponymous couple suffer during their marital breakdown, and the emotional depth that Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman… Read More »
TOGETHER
TOGETHER is an impudent entry into the body horror genre in which the fusing together of two people becomes a, ahem, visceral metaphor for intimacy before venturing gamely into a novel definition of a happy ending. Working on two levels at once, the result is a film that provokes and repels all while considering the… Read More »
DANGEROUS ANIMALS
There’s something refreshing about the sharks featured in DANGEROUS ANIMALS >not< being the villains of the piece. Instead, they are presented on their own terms as majestic creatures of the deep who would really, really rather not deal with humans in any way shape or form, and that includes lunch. Instead, we have a human… Read More »
THE SURFER
THE SURFER is a sundrenched, blood-soaked examination of toxic masculinity and generational trauma that hearkens back to the symbolist dramas of the 60s and 70s with its surreal overtones and pointed commentary. It is also the kind of film for which Nicolas Cage was gifted to us by the universe. If for no other reason,… Read More »
DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE
It is a fine line to walk, loving a pop culture phenomenon with all your being, yet being able to make mad sport of it at the same time. Thus is DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, the ultimate fanboy and fangirl experience of the Marvel Universe that manages to be both wickedly funny and curiously reverent. Deadpool… Read More »
THE FALL GUY
THE FALL GUY is big fun made better by crackerjack cast and its whimsical penchant for self-reference. Based on the vintage television series of the same name, it reboots Colt Seaver (Ryan Gosling) as a stuntman for the hottest star in Hollywood, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and madly in love with Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt),… Read More »
LIMBO
LIMBO begins with an Aboriginal painting that gradually fades into the cobbled landscape of the sere and foreboding landscape of the Australian outback. That is where Travis Hurley (Simon Baker) has been sent to look into re-opening the cold case of a missing Aboriginal girl who vanished from the eponymous town of Limbo twenty years… Read More »
AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM
AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM is a tired pastiche of the super-hero/sci-fi genre most notable for being a perfect distillation of the phenomenon known as “super-hero fatigue”. Smothered by its been-there, seen-that vibe, it presents little to recommend it beyond Randall Park as both the embodiment of egregious exposition and the voice of reason. He… Read More »
TALK TO ME
TALK TO ME is a supremely terrifying film mixing the horrors of the restless undead with the greater horror of emotionally absent parents. The directing debut of brothers Danny and Michael Philippou is a story of quiet despair that grows geometrically as it progresses for its teenage protagonists who learn too late that the spirit… Read More »
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
It’s not that THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER is unwatchable. Quite the contrary. The special effects are stupendously unrestrained. The story is adorable, leaning towards a good-natured spoof of superhero movies as practiced in the 2020s. The performances can’t be faulted, even if Christian Bale as the god-hating ex-acolyte out for revenge is far darker, and… Read More »