Netflix has its first fall movie season blunder on its hands. The controversial and fictionalized account of bombshell Marilyn Monroe is worlds apart from the 2011 “My Week with Marilyn,” which earned Michelle Williams an Oscar nomination. Director Andrew Dominik has a particular style of making films that worked well on his eerie western “The […]
You can appreciate Martin Scorsese’s accomplishments and his lasting legacy in cinema without really loving his films. His latest “The Irishman” is a Netflix-funded mob flick that harkens back to his “Casino” or “Goodfellas” days, with a spattering of familiar cast. Given free rein by Netflix, the only studio who would (or could) give him
In Edward Norton’s sophomore feature as director (his first official writing credit), he takes the audience back to the early 1990s where lite mobster movies were a dime a dozen. The saxophone led original score by Daniel Pemberton (Steve Jobs) transports the viewer back to a different era of filmmaking. The cinematography, editing, and leisurely
2015’s “Ant-Man” was an insignificant part Marvel universe, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. The character was better incorporated into the franchise, in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016) which is where this film picks up. So, if you haven’t seen that one, you’re already lost. Ant-Man has been absent from The Avengers films, including “Infinity War,” but
If Vera Farmiga hadn’t already made a handful of films just like “Boundaries,” I might have liked it better. Shana Feste isn’t the most subtle or accomplished film maker either. Her previous films “Country Strong” or “Endless Lover” certainly put females at the center of their own stories, which I like, but her writing and
How do you tell a story about a pacifist bull? Well, Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Director Carlos Saldanha do just that, based on a book by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson. We don’t know why Ferdinand (Cena) doesn’t want to fight; his father is a champion bull, but Ferdinand likes to smell the flowers—literally!
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
Just when I thought Al Pacino was down for the count, he reunites with Christopher Plummer, The Insider co-star, coincidentally his last great film role. Danny Collins and the indie film Manglehorn have proved to be somewhat of a revival for the 74-year old actor. His performance here as a washed up one hit wonder
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
