What you see is what you get with “Brian Banks.” The title is as unimaginative as the film itself. Based on the true story of a man wrongfully convicted in his teens attempting to reclaim his innocence. Director Tom Shadyac marks a return to feature films with the sort of feel-good story that made his career in […]
Nicole Kidman hasn’t transformed herself on screen this drastically since playing Virginia Woolf in “The Hours”, which won her an Academy Award. Kidman is the only reason to see “Destroyer”, in which she plays an irritable detective chasing suspects, carrying heavy firearms, and beating bad guys with an ashtray. Director Karyn Kusama does not have
I can appreciate what Paramount did here, going back to the drawing board to fix what wasn’t working with the Transformers franchise. The original “Transformers,” directed by Michael Bay starring Shia LeBeouf worked because it was new, fresh, full of room to offer something different to the silver screen. That quickly wore off after mindless
If the goal of French filmmaker Jacques Audiard and producer John C. Reilly was to design a western that feels vintage they succeeded. “The Sisters Brothers” is the best and the worst of the modern-day western. Despite Reilly’s enthusiasm for hiring this European for a very Western story, Audiard, known for his slow-moving dramas like Rust & Bone, might not have
Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang was one of the more impressive foreign film nominees last Oscar season. But Mustang wasn’t the film she really wanted to make. It was her 2011 screenplay that evolved into Kings, a story that focuses on one non-traditional family’s struggle during the 1991 LA riots. Landing two big stars (both former
Not to diminish Sam Elliott’s performance in his new film The Hero, but writer/director Brett Haley creates a vehicle for the iconic actor that’s strikingly comparable with Crazy Heart. Haley cast Elliott in 2015’s I’ll See You in My Dreams, playing against type. That film, Haley’s best accomplishment to date, created a bond between the
I’m surprised it’s taken three years for a film to embody the ideas presented in mega summer teen hit The Fault in Our Stars. Both films are based on best-selling novels, tugging at audiences and reader’s heartstrings, as young lovers deal with devastating medical issues. The similarities end there, as Everything, Everything is a gimmick
James Franco might be the hardest working filmmaker in Hollywood. He jumps from one project to another, writing, directing, acting, producing. His filmography has become so expansive and congested it’s hard to understand his accomplishments. In Dubious Battle is another fleeting “cause film” for Franco, again producer, director and leading actor. He has assembled quite
In her latest effort to finally win that coveted Oscar, Annette Bening, four-time Academy Award nominee, gives both a familiar performance, but one of her most subdued. From the life and experience of writer/director Mike Mills, 20th Century Women explores eccentricities within family as he did with his Oscar winning film Beginners (2010). This script
Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash follow-up, a musical set to the tune of modern day life in Los Angeles, didn’t put me under whatever spell early festival goers experienced. The rarity of a big budget musical is always something to celebrate. Chazelle once again delivers an original screenplay and carries over the jazz theme. There are beautiful