By: Sarah Rappaport
It happened, and wow, was it a long time coming. Spike Lee-- director, producer, actor, and writer extraordinaire-- finally took home his first Oscar at this past weekend’s 91st Academy Awards. Lee, who has been in the film business since the early ’80s, rightfully won the Best Adapted Screenplay award for BlacKkKlansman.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Greta could fit in a range of thriller subcategories. It includes elements of stranger danger, stalking, kidnapping, but at heart it’s a “big city peril” movie. Those don’t get made too often any more as technology (apps, social media, etc.) renders even the biggest cities inherently fungible. What it doesn’t include is a flashy sense of style or the more fantastical elements that command quicker attention and box office potential. This feels like a modest and unambitious film, its most ambitious idea might be that we should still think big cities are scary and alienating, but this might merely be out of touch. Either way, this is a solid thriller that explores a deeply unpleasant situation with class and restraint. This is kind of a polite film. That might seem strange to say, but it’s a word that totally fits.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
I’m taking a break from my weekly film reviews as a) it’s a slow release week which is probably because b) the Oscars happened.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Happy Death Day 2U is a surprising movie. Not just because it’s good, but because it isn’t even the same genre as the first one. Happy Death Day was a fresh take on familiar tropes, namely time loops and slasher horror, and managed to be both irreverent and charming. This one keeps those elements but dodges the more obvious, and probably expected, move of anteing up on the scares. Instead, it zooms in on the implications of time loops and somehow winds up becoming a respectable science fiction movie in the process.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
The current state of horror cinema is that a cheap movie can make several times its budget without having to actually be any good. As long as it has a few good scares and pays lip service to some familiar tropes, it seems that financial success is easy to attain.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
No one was expecting Velvet Buzzsaw to be A Nightmare on Elm Street set in the high-powered L.A. art scene, but that’s exactly what it is. It’s a pulpy, cheeky, and occasionally inventive excuse to take some shots at the art world in the same way that many horror movies often use death curses to punish teenagers for being young and dumb.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
The Kid Who Would Be King will immediately remind viewers of other kids’ fantasy movies. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing will depend a lot on individual mileage with those movies. If you like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter, chances are good that you’ll appreciate the approach that this movie takes in providing a fun, family-friendly adventure that blends camp, action, and character development in a fairly well-balanced package that is sure to please the kids who make up its intended audience.
By: Matthew McKenna
Welcome to Marwen is a strange cinematic experience. It is a type of strange that comes across to the viewer almost as discomforting as an unwelcome personal confession might.
By: Sterling Woods
After years in directorial jail M. Night Shyamalan proved he could still surprise audiences with Split, and now with his cap to the trilogy about grounded heroes. Glass reminds us why we loved him in the first place.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Io is a particular type of low key science fiction film that puts the human element front and center. It’s not a movie for those seeking spectacle or profundity, but rather those who are drawn into its understated drama about what are perhaps the last two people on Earth.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
As a filmmaker, Alfonso Cuarón has moved freely within different genres and styles, building up a body of work that is as impressive as it is varied.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Setting a thriller around escape rooms is a so-trendy-it-hurts premise. The bluntly titled Escape Room pulls off being a better than average movie anyway.
Hollywood’s veteran elite have returned to take advantage of the generous climate. Here’s what some of them are up to in 2019:
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Vice could easily have been a dry docudrama with trailers that indicated something more formal, closer to the typical biopic. Leave it to Adam McKay to infuse it with even more of the inventive, mercurial stylization that characterized 2015’s The Big Short.
BY: Evan Todd-McCoy
Bumblebee is not bad, especially for a Transformers movie, but being the best of that bunch is a very low bar to clear.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Mortal Engines is a movie about giant cities on wheels that eat each other. It doesn’t get much higher concept than that. As bonkers as the premise is, the story that takes place in it is still familiar and derivative. The movie is at its best when it plows through plot points and immerses itself and its audience in the environment and imaginative visuals. When it slows down, usually for exposition or a flashback, Mortal Engines fails to justify itself
Hart’s response to the controversy was a controversy in and of itself. The comedian took immediate flak from social media communities for an apparent refusal to apologize, an irrevocably damning move in the #MeToo era.
A Prayer Before Dawn is the true story of British boxer Billy Moore’s time in a Thai prison. It could have been “just” a boxing movie or redemption story, instead director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire is more interested in using cinema for its unique storytelling capabilities than he is in telling a conventional story.
…it seems like anyone who has their reservations should rest assured that in Mary Poppins Returns, “everything is possible, even the impossible.”
The script is an expansion as much as a remake, adding a full hour to the 1977 version’s runtime. Every minute of that is well worth it, as Suspiria 2018 is the rare remake that, if you dig into it, more than earns its right to exist.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Though Creed writer-director Ryan Coogler has moved on, he left Creed 2 in capable hands. This time, relative newcomer Steven Caple Jr. directs a script written by franchise and role originator Sylvester Stallone with the help of Juel Taylor. Together, they create a worthy follow-up.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
This film is another in a long line of iterative experiments that the Coen Brothers have made to explore the intersections of comedy and misanthropy. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs dances effortlessly into and out of the comedy mode, but maintains as mean an edge as any of their other work. Viewers caught unawares, expecting another True Grit, may be alienated by the tone or by how dark the Coens are willing to go.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Widows transcends the conventional caper movie and feels more like a full season of The Wire condensed into one expertly-made film. Though you could compare it to something like Heat, it goes beyond that with its firm attention on intersections of American life. Through the eyes of its female leads, we see the consequences women face when they become disposable pawns in power games played by weak, corrupt men.
By: Mike Bedard
“It’s Christmas Eve. A time of mystery, expectations, who knows what might happen?” Five minutes into watching The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, you know exactly what will happen. With all the money at Disney’s disposal to create a heartwarming family film for the Christmas season, it’s astounding how little effort went into the story, forcing The Nutcracker to become yet another film that pursues spectacle over story.
By: Roland Davila
‘It Follows’ is a quintessential example of what dating in the 21st century can and sometimes does feel like. This horror movie takes the concept of sexually transmitted disease and then attaches an evil, slow moving, vengeful entity to it; who’s only goal is to kill you.
To say the hype in regards to the release of Bohemian Rhapsody was high following the debut of it’s teaser trailer would be an understatement. Queen is one of the most popular bands to ever grace the Earth, with their music still being considered by most as timeless. At their peak the band were revolutionary, and at their lowest they were still Queen.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Director David Mackenzie brings the same dynamic camera work, attention to detail, and muscular approach to character, plot, and theme as in his most recent (but far more intimate) film, Hell or High Water. Being Scottish himself, there's a strong sense his raw love for his homeland in the sweeping shots of the sublime landscapes of Scotland.
By: Evan Todd-McCoy
Spike Lee returns with the infamous case of the black Colorado Springs police officer who infiltrated and humiliated the Ku Klux Klan with little more than a telephone and the “right” white man. Lee filters history through his usual blend of style and frank social commentary, allowing the movie to be both comedic and dramatic as the scene requires.
By: Georgia Lee
Pet Sematary (2019) is a fairly fresh retelling of the campy 1989 horror cult classic. As the latest film adaptation of Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same name, you don't need to see the original to enjoy the remake. In fact, if you liked the original you may be let down by this version. The changes make sense to create a story that for all of it's fantastical and paranormal features still retains some believability.