United States
Disney’s latest film, Moana is sure to please crowds, but it plays it safe by recycling a story that has been told to exhaustion.
With Allied, yet another volume has been added to the overflowing pile of wartime films. Though with the talented Robert Zemeckis at the helm, it seldom showcases his trademark focused and proficient direction, which is therefore not enough to raise the film above its many aching flaws.
In Our “Nominated Film You May Have Missed”, we reflect on films that received Oscar nominations in the past, but have been forgotten, or little seen. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a classic, delving into themes of patriotism, government corruption, and the power of democracy.
Though Moonlight employs a stylistic, arthouse approach as opposed to a traditional narrative, it is nonetheless an important one to watch for people of all walks of life.
Army of One could have been a lot of different things, with plenty of room to shock and titillate fans of Larry Charles’ usual propensity for visceral subversions of cultural norms. Instead, the movie falls flat as a conservative piece of biographical fiction.
Ti West may be best known in the indie horror circuit, yet with In a Valley of Violence he has proven that he has additional genres up his sleeve.
If you are looking for a pleasurable and visual exciting crime thriller from a cinematic legend, you should definitely give Dog Eat Dog a try.
Trolls is aimed as squarely at parents as it is the kids, who likely won’t be as familiar with the terrifically tressed toy trolls as they were say, Angry Birds. Probably not a problem. A comeback seems likely.
What helps to distinguish Hacksaw Ridge is that, at its core, it is a film that attempts to combine the seemingly contradictory qualities of pacifism and the violence associated with patriotism.
The very idea of “The Batch” being in a Marvel film with Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams was an incredibly inviting prospect.
Oscar winners Tom Hanks and Ron Howard reunite in their third collaboration on a Dan Brown adaptation, Inferno. Small wonder. The Da Vinci Code grossed better than $750 million worldwide, and its sequel, Angels & Demons, based on a lesser known novel that marked the first appearance of globe-trotting symbologist Robert Langdon, pulled in close to $500 million.
Sure, we’ve all heard the rumours: topping the critics’ pick of the flicks for this century, hell, this millennium so far, is David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. But what exactly happened up in the darkness of those famous hills, on those enticing yet savage switchbacks?
Magnolia Pictures brought important documentaries like Blackfish and Food, Inc to the public at large, and now they’re bringing us Danny Says. While Danny Says might not be an activist film meant to make an impact on our present day lives and the world we live in, Danny Fields made a huge impact on the world of music from behind the scenes – and this is his story, directed by Brendan Toller. Experimenting With Rock n Roll As a fan of documentaries, biographies and music, this film was right up my alley.
Is this any way to sell a board game? Hasbro’s perennial moneymaker “Ouija” is the basis of Universal’s micro-budget horror franchise in the making, and it’s hard to imagine a game manufacturer working any harder to discourage people from buying its product. The 2014 release Ouija opened at number one, and a followup was inevitable.
The spy-next-door genre seems to be showing its age. The idea of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances fueled dozens of effective Hitchc*ck movies, several of them classics. There’s no reason, really, why it shouldn’t work as well now.