FIREBRAND (R) Dir. Karim Aïnouz A film that is divorced of history and beheaded of meaning but manages to just about survive, but without much fanfare… C+ Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand is a frustratingly peculiar film as dramas go; with a composition of luscious lighting and camera work paired with club-footed dialogue and an anemic script, […]
Director David Yates and screenwriter J.K. Rowling can’t conjure enough secrets to keep their fledgling Harry Potter spinoff interesting. A continuation from the previous two films, with even more Hogwarts and Dumbledore this time around, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” is a long-winded slog. Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander, the charming focal point of the first film,
Woody Allen’s 48th feature-length film is another forgettable trite romantic comedy; ironic since “A Rainy Day in New York” has become one of his most controversial. Set to debut in 2018 amidst the “Me Too” movement, allegations, old and new, against the Oscar-winning filmmaker resulted in many of the cast including Chalamet, donating their salary
This movie is odd, with the title being the strangest part. Associations to a nest are normally that of a stable, comfy, nurturing place with a family altogether. The story starts out like this, although with a few signs that there might be fundamental problems—a mother consistently late in getting the kids to school, a father needing
A new year means a new, (bad) Blake Lively film. The former “Gossip Girl” has been churning out at least one rotten flick a year since marrying Ryan Reynolds in 2012. Lively is a leading actress poster child for discardable first-quarter studio movies. The Rhythm Section finds Lively (“A Simple Favor”, “All I See is
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,
“Vox Lux” is a perplexing experience from Actor turned director Brady Corbett (“Escobar: Paradise Lost”). A horrific school shooting sets the tone for what we are about to see, though that tone shifts in succeeding chapters. Even though the shooting is supposed to be a major theme, Corbett’s script tries to showcase its effect on one individual,
The Fantastic Beasts sequel is not as good as the first one (imagine that) and this prequel, which occurs 70 or so years before Harry Potter, is just not as captivating overall. Director David Yates returns to the wizarding world yet again with Rowling on screenwriting. The Crimes of Grindelwald suffers from a variety of
The opening credits to Guy Ritchie’s expensive “King Arthur” revision, features cheap looking fonts and perplexing imagery. A large tower with fire coming out the top and no accompanying sound. A second opening sequence is a prologue to the tale we are about to watch and then finally, twenty minutes in, “Warner Bros presents” is
The moment you hear Jude Law’s Western North Carolina accent, thoughts of Cold Mountain (2003) begin to flood back. Then Nicole Kidman appears as his wife, and you realize in some twisted universe, Genius is more like a “what if” Inman had survived and he and Ada Monroe had left North Carolina, moved to New