For “The Lord of the Rings” fans, Dome Karukoski’s “Tolkien” might work as a way of celebrating the brilliant author and fantasy creator in which popular franchises “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” have both been inspired from. The script assumes the audience’s familiarity with ‘Rings,’ expecting you to pick up on which people and […]
Already gaining a reputation as one of the most sobering and depressing movies of the year, “Diane” takes viewers on a journey of goodbyes. Written specifically for actress Mary Kay Place, she is the latest actor to get a juicy leading role for her swan song. Like Sam Elliott in “The Hero,” Harry Dean Stanton
In the past, epic interpretations of the Bible like “The Passion of the Christ” or “Noah” have sought box office success on the weekend of Palm Sunday. These films are costly and often met with a divisive eye, both within Christianity and outside depending on the audience they want to reach. “Mary Magdalene” is both
What could be more unusual than a horror film written and directed by women? Even more unusual is that it’s a western and, as horror films go, it’s actually good. It’s a shame to have to still acknowledge that both genres are typically dominated by male filmmakers. “The Wind” is a small film that packs
Part of the 2017 Toronto Film Festival “New Wave” series, Oscar winning actress Brie Larson made her directorial debut with “Unicorn Store”. A welcome surprise and a more impressive actor-turned-director film than Andy Serkis’ “Breathe” which also debuted at the festival that year. Yet no distributor would buy the film, even with an Oscar winner
From the looks of “The Highwaymen,” you might think it a dated “Dad’s movie” as it’s been dubbed, or just another cops and robbers movie. John Lee Hancock has found success with movies set in Texas like “The Rookie,” and “The Blind Side” (which was actually shot in Georgia, because Texas does not offer the
Following up on the kind of success Jordan Peele had with directorial debut “Get Out” was always going to be an anticipated event, hard to satisfy. “Us” will please the fans who discovered “Get Out” before it became a phenomenon and Oscar winner. What it won’t do, is make the leap to awards contender or bring in audiences who typically stay far away from the horror movies. That doesn’t
Irish director Neil Jordan is a bit unpredictable when you sit down for his films. “The End of the Affair” was unpredictably sexual, “The Brave One” outrageously violent and suspenseful, even his vampire flick “Byzantium” gave the genre a completely different perspective. His latest thriller “Greta” makes very good use of Isabelle Huppert, recently Oscar
Can a film be both really good and yet stereotypical in every way? “Arctic” is the best film of 2019, so far. The survival thriller received a ten-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, but there isn’t much to celebrate in this compact 90-minute thriller that you can’t find elsewhere. With so little dialogue,
“Isn’t It Romantic” might be the first film to successfully please both those who despise romantic comedies and those who love them. Director Todd Strauss-Schulson describes his new film as “a romantic comedy about falling in love with yourself.” The script simultaneously makes fun of every popular romantic comedy of the past 20 years while pointing