Cory Finley gets a gentleman’s C for his new film “Bad Education”. It debuted at The Toronto International Film Festival back in September to a mediocre reception, including my own. The film wasn’t picked up by any Hollywood studio, but then made a deal with HBO to be released as a movie on their channel. […]
Diversity reigns in Amazon Prime’s latest original feature. Produced and starring Academy Award winner Viola Davis (Widows), re-teaming with her Oscar winning pal Allison Janney (I, Tonya) for a troop-scout, coming of age story, like few others. The screenplay comes from Lucy Alibar, the Academy Award nominated writer of Beasts of the Southern Wild. As
First it was The Big Short, I Tonya, Vice and now Bombshell. Movies about the convergence of media and politics told in a way that breaks the fourth wall have found their place in the annual award season race. These films, adapted from one article or source, are edited in a way that’s snappy and
Filmmaker Tate Taylor reunites with his award winning actresses Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”) and Allison Janney (“I Tonya”) following their blockbuster collaboration on “The Help” back in 2011. “Ma” is something entirely different for everyone involved, especially Spencer nay-sayers who thought the Oscar winner wouldn’t have a career following Minny Jackson. The three
The Tonya Harding biopic / mockumentary came into the Toronto Film Festival as an “also showing” flick. Yet after the first screening, it became one of the most buzzed about films and now was just nominated for five Critics Choice Awards. It was also one of the highest profile acquisitions during TIFF, and will be
Tate Taylor’s third feature since becoming a mainstream Hollywood director with The Help, feels like the neglected cousin to Gone Girl. Adapted from the bestselling book of the same name, The Girl on the Train boasts a well assembled cast of Hollywood’s former breakouts, most of them in new character acting territory. Taylor’s film,
Although it’s an obvious attempt to fill a void left by Harry Potter in the young adult fantasy genre, Tim Burton’s latest Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children doesn’t have the originality many start-up franchises do. Burton’s decision to use more practical tricks than visual effects certainly make the segments in and around the iconic
The Minions are some of the most lovable creatures in children’s movies. Illumination Entertainment, directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin, writer Brian Lynch, and musician Heitor Pereira deserve high praise for making a film that is truly entertaining, uplifting, and insightful about human beings, with all accompanied by delightful music from the sixties.
Director Paul Feig (The Heat, Bridesmaids) said he would never be allowed to directed a James Bond film (thank goodness!), so this was as closest he would ever get. Action comedies have never been able to blend both genres successfully (and I am talking about art, not getting some tub of popcorn to laugh at
The way adults remember high school is very curious. The Duff is just another example in a long line of films where the cast is significantly older than the characters they are portraying. Both leads Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell (the Tom Cruise look alike) are 27 year olds playing 17 year old seniors; while