Archive | May 2016
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Mustang
It’s beautifully done, and perfectly executed. I found myself completely wrapped up and absorbed, in the plight of this quintet of orphaned sisters. The movie opens with some innocent boisterousness being quickly misinterpreted, with escalating results and punishment. “Mustang” is an internationally co-produced, Turkish-French drama. It was an official France entry, when it was nominated […]
The Witch
Bottom line: it’s damn scary. It’s “I had a nightmare that evening” scary. That should read like an endorsement. Issues? Yeah, I have a few. Including things getting a touch too literal as the film barreled towards its conclusion. The obvious question to ponder would be, “did it really?”. Now I have a level of […]
Son of Saul
It is my intention to bring you all five Best Foreign Language Film nominees, from this past 88th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, over the next five weeks. And what better way to begin, then with the winner from Hungary, the bleak, disturbing, harrowing “Son of Saul”. There’s much to admire here. For example the oblique […]
“Captain America 3″…Billion First
“Captain America: Civil War”, to the surprise of almost no one, became the first film of 2016 to crest a billion dollars in international box office this weekend. A couple of months back, it certainly seemed that “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” would reach the number before anything else. But after a steep 2nd […]
Youth
Last time around, Paolo Sorrentino treated us to “The Great Beauty”, the winner of Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Annual Academy Awards. Now, we have “Youth”, which managed to muster a sole nomination for Best Original Song at the 88th Annual Academy Awards (“Simple Song #3” by David Lang, which fell to the […]
The Jungle Book
It’s something that I didn’t find myself saying after “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, or even the more recent “Captain America: Civil War”. But I’ll proclaim it here: I was stunned by the visual effects for Disney’s wonderfully entertaining family film, “The Jungle Book”. Quite simply–with apologies to the marketing campaign for 1978’s “Superman”–you’ll believe […]
The Peanuts Movie
Listen, I’ve read the complaints from some of the fussier critics, and I’ve listened to the plaudits from the believers too. But I would be bewildered by anyone that confessed to me that they weren’t the slightest bit charmed by it. In a film year that featured an awful lot of nostalgia porn, “The Peanuts […]
Coming Home
He’s been much less prolific in the last decade, but I’ve been a big supporter of the work of Chinese director Zhang Yimou for a quarter of a century. It’s easy to label a good half dozen of his films from that period out-and-out great (namely “Ju Dou”, “Raise the Red Lantern”, “The Story of […]
Captain America: Civil War IMAX 3D
“Batman v Superman” move over, because “Captain America: Civil War” is set to become the first superhero mashup of the year, to achieve a billion dollar global take. Hey, it’s the better movie, plus it’s a lot more fun…also it has the more established pedigree. And, like “Dawn of Justice” before it, with the smashing […]
Macbeth
At this stage of my life, I’ve experienced a solid number of versions of this Shakespeare tragedy. I’ve seen it performed in minimalist form, where it’s all about the language. I’ve wandered through an elaborate, six-floor, 100-room immersive version, with almost no dialogue at all. Of course, perhaps my all-time favorite interpretation is in Japanese. […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 