Archive | July 2016
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All the Way on HBO
Well, this is becoming a comfortable little niche for director Jay Roach. Years past his “Austin Powers” trilogy heyday, Mr. Roach has directed a solid trilogy now, of political stories for HBO. And they were all first broadcast during Presidential Election years. 2008 saw “Recount”, based on the tumultuous Bush vs. Gore 2000 race for […]
Midnight Special
You know one way to spot a talented writer/director? Watch him (or her) make something from parts that are instantly familiar, and then mold it into something that is completely unique. That’s what the young, gifted Jeff Nichols has accomplished with his latest feature “Midnight Special”. It’s a mysterious, haunting, frightening film, but you’ll recognize […]
The Shallows
It’s being dubbed the worst summer blockbuster season of all-time, by some–and I can’t mount much of an argument. Honestly, unless you like cartoon fish and animated mammals, what has solstice ’16 provided since “Cap 3”? And that opened in early May! Will the latest “Star Trek” save it? Too soon to tell. “Suicide Squad”? […]
Green Room
Unless there is an absolutely astonishing 2nd half of 2016, I’m relatively certain that I’ve seen three of my Top Ten Films of the year, in the last month alone. “The Neon Demon” is one, Whit Stillman’s “Love & Friendship” is another, and now I dare you to bear anything more intense than the flat-out […]
Ghostbusted?
I was pulling for the ladies, I really was. It was appalling to me, to constantly hear about the testosterone fueled, viral campaign to shut down the talented team. It’s a super quartet. And, quite frankly, all of the performers pictured above have proven to me that they are an exceptionally gifted bunch. Regardless, “Ghostbusters” the reboot came […]
Flashback: on 1989’s Always
Steven Spielberg has directed 30 feature films in his career, and as of June, I had seen all of them (catching up with “The BFG” soon, which officially hit U.S. screens in July)…except for one. Somehow, I just kept missing “Always”. I know I watched a full hour of it once…but I believe I fell […]
The Mermaid
It’s a 2016 worldwide box office smash, that has garnered over 550 million dollars. Currently, it stands in 7th place in total international gross, just ahead of “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Kung Fu Panda 3”. Stephen Chow’s “The Mermaid” (“Mei ren yu”) is that film, and if you haven’t heard of it…well, I’ll be good. Of […]
Sydney Schanberg joins Dith Pran
Sydney Schanberg passed away over the weekend, and I felt a strong desire to say something about it. Why? I wasn’t a regular reader of his work (New York Times columnist & Pulitzer Prize winner for international reporting), and I probably haven’t thought about him for years. But as a film critic/fanatic, part of Mr. […]
Knight of Cups
It’s been a long time coming. I am such an avowed fan, of the work of Terrence Malick. His canon is something I’ve always revered and consistently defended. Until now. The bloom is off the rose with “Knight of Cups”. It’s something I hate to say, too. 1973’s “Badlands” stayed my favorite Malick project until the […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 