The ancient Greeks preached moderation in all things, and while GODS OF EGYPT is set in that ancient land, not the Peloponnese, I was put in mind of that advice. This is a film of craven excess in all things except what would have helped most: a good script. For two hours or so, we… Read More »
HAIL, CAESAR!
If Douglas Sirk had directed a film noir written by Billy Wilder, it might have looked something like HAIL, CAESAR!, the latest thoughtful tangle of philosophy and whimsy from the Coen Brothers. Taking place in a 1951 Hollywood not entirely unlike the one that actually existed, it mixes Cold War paranoia, carefully managed studio PR… Read More »
THE CHOICE
After a press screening, the film’s local publicist will ask for a reaction. After seeing THE CHOICE, and not wanting to dwell on the film’s myriad faults, I chose to respond by saying that I liked the pelicans. Majestic, improbable creatures that look like something from the Upper Triassic, in one of the film’s many… Read More »
LAZER TEAM
LAZER TEAM is a cheerfully cheesy homage to great and not-so-great sci-fi movies of days gone by. With a goofy sense of humor, a droll use of irony, and whipsmart comedic instincts, it tells the time-honored tale of misfits finding the greatness within themselves, while also saving the earth from evil alien invaders. It takes as… Read More »
THE LADY IN THE VAN
Alan Bennett may be the Michel de Montaigne of our present age. Starting from the very personal, he composes perfect gems of reflection on the human condition as a whole. Where Montaigne was limited to the personal essay, Bennett essays several creative outlets, including memoir, theater and film, which brings us to THE LADY IN… Read More »
CONCUSSION
By comparing the National Football League’s reaction to medical evidence linking repeated head trauma by its players to long-term brain damage and that of the tobacco industry’s reaction to medical evidence linking cancer and cigarette smoking, CONCUSSION cleverly makes its case. If it were just a case for corporate greed, that would be disturbing enough,… Read More »
DADDY’S HOME
After the magic of THE OTHER GUYS, a film that makes me laugh even at its most ridiculous, seeing co-stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in DADDY’S HOME is particularly dispiriting. Once again, the former is a straight-laced, slightly priggish good guy, and the latter is the hot-headed epitome of cool thrown together due to… Read More »
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
What you really want to know is whether or not J. J. Abrams has worked his magic and saved the Star Wars franchise. The answer is not just yes. But, rather, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is perfection. That is all you really need to know and, while I will not do this film the disservice of lessening… Read More »
IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
No one knows why a whale of unusual coloration destroyed the whaling ship Essex in 1820. Certainly, nothing of the sort had been reported before, though whaling ships had been aggressively hunting the largest animal to ever live on earth ever since the discovery that whale oil could be used to light lamps and heat… Read More »
KRAMPUS
KRAMPUS begins in such a promising fashion. Taking the worst that the holiday has to offer in this, the real world of boorish relatives, rampaging hordes of shoppers, and Christmas pageants gone horribly awry, it hopes to build on that to tell an even more horrifying tale of the supernatural comeuppance for losing the holiday… Read More »
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