A generic poster, a rudimentary trailer, and a bland title suggest this latest crime thriller is a new version of something we have seen before. If you caught director Damián Szifron’s explosive film “Wild Tales,” you have an idea of his creative eccentricities. He applies those instincts here, turning left […]
“The Batman” lurks around the corner for next week, and awards season is in full swing this weekend as The Screen Actors Guild Awards begin the road to the Oscars — meaning it’s mostly crickets at the box office. New for the Houston area is the botched release of “Cyrano,” garnering one measly nomination in
This romanticized fabrication of the cancer experience is likely to dismay those who have actually gone through it—especially when the patient is a child. As someone who worked in a cancer center in Pediatrics as a psychologist for almost 25 years, I found little in the film that resembles any of the hundreds of families I
Filmmaker David Michôd (“Animal Kingdom,” “The Rover”) and fellow Australian Justin Kurzel (“Macbeth,” “True History of the Kelly Gang“) have more in common than hailing from the same country. Both are visionary filmmakers, not directors who can see the future of cinema necessarily, but artists who create an entire film around an initial or singular
It’s the first time Marvel Studios (aka Disney) has been behind the superhero curve. Eager to release their first solo female superhero, they managed to tie “Captain Marvel” (changed from an original male character to female) into the ongoing Avengers saga rather quickly. Oscar winner Brie Larson (“Room”) is an ideal champion for this sarcastic,
“It’s a film for the fans,” a familiar phrase uttered almost weekly when discussing superhero movies, sequels or franchise fare. “Ready Player One” is the latest addition, another ambitious Steven Spielberg adaptation, this time based on Ernest Cline’s pop culture novel of the same name. Spielberg himself making a tremendous impact on cinematic culture, is
There was a huge wave of buzz after Darkest Hour debuted at Telluride. Not only just for the obvious best actor race, but even some mention of best picture. Mainstream American audiences will likely write this film off a stuffy historical drama where history plays out in a bunch of different rooms. It’s true that
Finally! Disney has finally grown a pair and embraced the notion of death and consequences in a franchise film. Ever so scared of disturbing a money making formula, the recently acquired Disney franchise, goes far beyond killing a minor character in The Avengers series or discarding an actor because of his age in the “Star
There are countless films that address the subject of gambling, whether it be the obsession, addiction or demise, in 2015 we have seen virtually every angle to the gambling flick. Mississippi Grind stars Ryan Reynolds (yes he shows some skin as usual, for those who only like him for the physique) so inevitably, lower
Lack of western’s got you down? Look no further than the directorial debut of John Maclean’s Slow West. Bouncing around film festivals for six months, Slow West is an odyssey of poetic characters, providing sarcasm, nostalgia and love in every persona. Slow West would likely be the result if Tarantino and Scorsese teamed up in