A key element of the Bourne franchise’s endurance is the thrill of watching amnesiac super-spy Jason Bourne run headfirst into his past with nothing more than his skills and a belief there is an answer somewhere in the darkness. The Bourne Ultimatum—the third film in what we can now safely say should have remained a trilogy—ended […]
Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan comes stateside after claiming the 2015 Palme d’Or, a prize well-earned for this masterful, seemingly effortless balancing act of ripped-from-the-headlines narrative with slow-burn psychodrama. Though stylistically similar to politically minded social realists, Audiard never betrays individuality in the name of scoring ideological points. The film neither ignores nor tempers the politics inherent […]
Greek comedy Chevalier, from Athina Rachel Tsangari, has the potential to be the quietest artistic revolution in recent cinematic history. Dry as a bone yet laugh-out-loud hilarious, steady in pace yet always keeping the threat of a bloody, outrageous conclusion within reach, Tsangari masterfully elevates a story that would feel right at home in a […]
Fly-on-the-wall political documentary Weiner begins with a loaded, world-weary sigh from its subject, former congressman Anthony Weiner. “Shit. This is the worst, doing a documentary on my scandal.” Directors Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg then launch into a montage of extremes: the many puns and potshots that ensued, as well as scenes from the House […]
Though his name is practically synonymous with groundbreaking artistic vision, Steven Spielberg’s second wind may just be his greatest, most unprecedented achievement yet. After Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull—the perfunctory sequel in which it was clear that all returning parties were running on autopilot with little personal investment in the result—Spielberg […]
Free State of Jones has heart, it certainly has brains, yet any semblance of a body for either to do its job properly is nowhere to be found. Supposedly the story of Newton Knight, the controversial leader of a rebellion against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, Jones is little more than a sequence of […]
On the one hand, the mere fact that Finding Dory is not the best or worst sequel Pixar has made is quite an accomplishment, and illustrates another area in which the animation studio has managed to defy expectations. Between this and the fact that it is a light-hearted and well-meaning children’s movie about silly fish […]
As a technically gifted and revolutionary presence in a once-stale genre that inspired both the best and the worst trends of the subsequent decade, it may be fair to say that James Wan is the Rage Against the Machine of modern horror films. As the creator of the Saw franchise (the first of which is […]
It’s little surprise that The Lobster, the English-language directorial debut of award-winning Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth), has left quite the impression on audiences and critics alike. In its limited release it has garnered rave reviews and generated word-of-mouth notoriety that reaches far beyond its modest marketing campaign. What is surprising is just how comfortable […]
When Marvel first sold the film rights to its biggest properties —Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four—it was not yet aware of the gold mine that awaited it with The Avengers series. And at first, Sony and Fox were doing interesting things with their acquisitions; the first two Spider-Man movies by Sam Raimi are industry-defining milestones for […]