Connoisseurs of bad movie viewing know the best ones think they’re good movies. That’s why you can keep your Sharknado and basically any self-knowing impostor. Those films know they’re bad and can only hope the viewer plays along. 2003’s The Room, now a cult sensation that still enjoys midnight screenings… Continue reading
It’s been an amazing run of excellence for writer/director Christopher Nolan. Undoubtedly one of the twenty-first century’s most accomplished and groundbreaking auteurs, few can compete with his ability to deliver stunning visuals and thought-provoking, challenging narratives. Unfortunately, Dunkirk only delivers on the visuals, and that’s simply not enough if you’re… Continue reading
Free State of Jones features a handful of moderately powerful moments that don’t add up to a powerful overall experience. Writer/director Gary Ross’s screenplay bites off more than it can chew, resulting in a frustrating narrative structure that softens the most potent material and injects confusion at inopportune times. Newton Knight’s… Continue reading
Joy presents Jennifer Lawrence with her meatiest role since Ree in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, which fast-tracked her rise to one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses. With some of the lighter roles she’s taken on in recent years it’s easy to forget how effortlessly she can carry a film. Her presence alone… Continue reading
Spotlight is one of the great investigative journalism films; compelling, flawlessly acted, and successful in its invitation to join in the hunt for the truth. It’s enough to make you think twice about the easy, convenient dismissal of the importance of newspapers in our digital times. Even with an ending… Continue reading
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is a fast-paced, often hilarious look at the magazine the defined lewd, counter-culture humor. Most contemporary audiences likely know the name and its association with such timeless cinematic comedies as Animal House, Caddyshack, and Vacation. But in its heyday the… Continue reading
Selma is one of the great emotional experiences of recent years; a fiercely powerful look at one of the Civil Rights Movement’s most triumphant victories. Perhaps even more interestingly, it peels back the layers of an icon and portrays Martin Luther King Jr. in a very human and, at times, fragile… Continue reading
Ivory Tower is a competent, slickly-produced documentary that takes a hard look at the cost and perceived benefits of higher education in the United States. That the price of college has been on a steady rise for decades hardly qualifies as new news, but the toll it is taking on… Continue reading
Pompeii may have razor-thin characters and the least-convincing romance of the past few years, but one thing it is not is boring. As sort of a cross between Dante’s Peak, Gladiator, and Titanic, it blows up people and ancient architecture as efficiently as any disaster movie could. There are plenty of… Continue reading
Spoiler alert: Mary Poppins gets made. But it’s the long and frustrating journey to reach the final product that is the subject of Saving Mr. Banks, a refreshingly insightful look into the mind of the troubled author who wrote the book. This could have easily been two hours of Disney… Continue reading