A work of art is no more separate from the artist who created it than a historical event is from the individuals who shaped its outcome. To tell the story of the slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831, you cannot ignore Turner’s upbringing, religious beliefs and the political and economic reality that put him […]
The ensuing oil spill following the explosion and sinking of semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon in 2011 devastated states along the Gulf Coast for years to come. It was the worst natural disaster—and largest corporate settlement—in United States history. But before the constant media coverage, before the horrendously painful hearings in which BP […]
On the surface, Disney’s Queen of Katwe is a feel-good, fact-based movie whose familiarity is part of its charm. Based on the life of Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi, the film, directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala), confidently navigates the Disney underdog formula, yet finds personal and occasionally political depth in its subject’s […]
Found footage movies, though often disparaged as too heavily reliant on gimmicks, jump scares and bad writing, have arguably grown up in the last few years. Creep, currently viewable on Netflix, was a production involving only two people on the screen, yet was far more terrifying than most big-budget horror films of the last decade. […]
On January 15, 2009, experienced pilot and aviation safety expert Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger saved the lives of all 155 people aboard US Airways Flight 1549, including his own, with only 208 seconds to turn what could have been a major disaster into the miracle the world saw. A collision with geese had disabled both engines, […]
Director Anne Fontaine’s The Innocents takes place in Warsaw in December 1945, when much of the world was ecstatic at the conclusion of World War II, yet those most affected were too deeply traumatized to feel anything close to relief. And for many in the occupied territory of Poland, the horrors continued long after hostilities […]
No film is completely perfect, but it takes a special kind of wrongheadedness to make a decision that completely divorces an audience from enjoyment by being both morally repugnant and betraying its own narrative. This is the experience of watching Don’t Breathe, technical wunderkind Fede Alvarez’s follow-up to his promising remake of Evil Dead, which […]
There is a common refrain in some cinephile circles that the main problem with 2016’s reliance on muddy, lifeless reboots and sequels is a lack of original ideas in Hollywood. While there may be some truth to that, it does not explain the failure of the individual films themselves. Suicide Squad didn’t have to be […]
From amid the anger over uninspired sequels and reboots this summer emerges Pete’s Dragon, a delightful family movie that’s firm on its own foundation and follows its own creative vision while using its source material as a platform to reach new heights. Ostensibly remaking Disney’s 1977 live-action-with-animation fantasy that is goofy and endearing, but—let’s be […]
David Ayer’s Suicide Squad is DC’s first attempt at unshackling its Extended Universe from Zack Snyder’s hollow style and unrelenting gloom, with an eye to demonstrating that building a franchise around the Justice League is a worthwhile endeavor on its own and it’s not just piggybacking on Marvel’s formula for The Avengers. On both counts, […]