For the first time in his impressive career, the Shane Black formula never clicks. The Nice Guys, a somewhat enjoyable mystery-comedy, feels more like a filmmaker doing an impression of the writer-director than the work of the man himself. First, an assessment of what makes Black’s work stand out. More than any other modern filmmaker, […]
If you’ve so much as surfed past CNBC on your way to something actually worth watching, you’re no doubt familiar with the smugness of what might be called the financial entertainment industry. The most visible of this ilk is Jim Cramer of “Mad Money,” the apoplectic insider with his sleeves rolled up, surrounded by props […]
The world is a different place than it was eight years ago, when Iron Man launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s unprecedented ascendance to critical and commercial acclaim. Superhero movies, once seen as a pariah on the medium, have become the main cash cow for major studios. And we’re way past the point of making movies […]
It’s not just cultures that clash in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, when a series of unfortunate events finds left-wing punk band The Ain’t Rights playing at a remote club for neo-Nazi skinheads. After bassist Amber (Alia Shawkat) accidentally witnesses the scene of a murder in the club’s green room—the place acts go before and after […]
If there’s one thing Richard Linklater knows, it’s spiritual sequels. His last film, the award-winning Boyhood, evoked much of the same feelings as his before series (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) in its exploration of the inherent drama of something as simple as the passage of time. His rotoscoped mind trip Waking Life was […]
No matter how cynical you may be about the Disney brand, no matter how aware you are of the manipulation of your sentimentality, five minutes in, The Jungle Book will make you forget or not care as you find yourself becoming a believer. The recent spate—and forthcoming slate—of Disney live-action remakes of its own catalogue […]
You may have noticed that when many reviews compare a given movie to a video game, it’s rarely in a positive light. You may have also noticed that when this comparison is made, the reviewer has little, if any, experience with games, instead using the reference as a shorthand way of saying it’s all flash […]
As crippling as the fear of missing out may be on our ability to lead a normal, healthy life, perhaps the only thing worse is the regret of allowing yourself to become stuck in a rut of your own creation. This regret is given a playful yet poignant spin in Michael Showalter’s Hello, My Name […]
We’ve reached, it seems, a place in our relationship with comic book movies that the particulars of an individual plot matter less than the promise of future installments. The parts of Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that work are those that are almost completely devoid of meaning to the movie around them, […]
As maligned and oversaturated in the market as they are, there’s a real value to the dystopian young adult sci-fi/fantasy tropes that target the tween demographic and are, ideally, familiar to adults who have not forgotten their own journey to emotional maturity. When the genre works, these novels and films can be useful primers on […]