REVIEWS
Kelly Reichardt Crafts Another Character Study With “First Cow”
Over the years, filmmaker Kelly Reichardt has proven to be a rather steady and unique voice in the world of independent cinema. Largely starting with Old Joy (her breakthrough early feature), Reichardt has crafted a host of quality indies, including Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff, Night Moves, and Certain Women.[...]
Pixar Again Earns Your Tears With “Onward”
If there’s one thing you can bank on when it comes to Pixar, it’s emotion. No matter the story that they’re telling, the animation experts will seek to bring you to tears. It’s one of the reasons why they’ve become the industry leader in making films that, while aimed at[...]
“All The Bright Places” Is Another Incredibly Touching Effort From Brett Haley
What a wonderful surprise this film is! Rather under the radar, Netflix has released one of the better movies of 2020 so far with All the Bright Places, a tremendously effective and mature adaptation of the Young Adult novel of the same name. YA titles can often pull their punches[...]
The Well Intentioned “Burden” Can’t Find The Proper Path
More than two years after its debut at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Burden has finally come to theaters. After a surprisingly long wait, especially considering how the movie took home an award at Sundance, has it been worth the wait? Well, that’s a complicated questions. At times, the film[...]
“Disappearance At Clifton Hill” Is A Noir Drenched In A Menacing Mood
A sense of dread permeates every frame of Disappearance at Clifton Hill, a noir type tale that evokes an hypnotic mood from start to finish. Now, this isn’t your traditional film noir, trafficking in cliches and men gritting their teeth. No, this has a female centric true north, making the[...]
“Guns Akimbo” Fetishizes Violence To A Disturbing Degree
Violent movies are nothing new to cinema. In fact, when done well, there’s an undeniably visceral thrill to seeing unspeakable acts in real life perpetrated in film. Video games have made a literal fortune with this sort of content, be it any number of shooting games, the Grand Theft Auto[...]
“The Invisible Man” Is As Smart As Is It Scary
Finding the next great horror movie within a classic Universal monster? Especially after the quick collapse of the Dark Universe, that wouldn’t have seemed incredibly likely, even just a year or so ago. However, in Blumhouse we trust. In the hands of filmmaker Leigh Whannell and producer Jason Blum, The[...]
“Wendy” Sees Benh Zeitlin Finally Put Forth A Sophomore Effort
Back in 2012, a young filmmaker by the name of Benh Zeitlin burst on to the scene with Beasts of the Southern Wild. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie blew away audiences, going on to be a darling of the awards season, even scoring four Academy Award nominations.[...]
Berlin International Film Festival: “Death Of Nintendo” Is A Colorful Coming Of Age Story
A little bit of the Berlinale is here at Hollywood News today, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, I’ve got a Berlin International Film Festival review to file. It’s for Death of Nintendo, a coming of age period piece, even if the period being discussed is the recent past, specifically the 90’s.[...]
“The Last Thing He Wanted” Inexplicably Goes Far Off The Rails
There has to be an explanation for what went wrong here. How does a project, co-written and directed by Dee Rees, her follow up to the Academy Award nominated Mudbound, fall so far off the rails? Rees not only once again had the supporting of Netflix, but was adapting the[...]
