High-Def Digest: The Bonus ViewCatherine Keener Archives - High-Def Digest: The Bonus View

Kidding Pilot Recap: “Mister Pickles Is Fine”

Josh Zyber — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 17:00:02 +0000

The new Showtime series Kidding has an almost irresistible sales pitch for film nerds. The show reunites Jim Carrey with his Eternal Sunshine director Michel Gondry for the surreal tale of a children’s TV host suffering a nervous breakdown. It seems almost inconceivable that such a premise could wind up so drearily dull in execution....

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‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ Review: Una Continuación Satisfactoria

Jason Gorber — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 19:00:16 +0000

It was inevitable that ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ would pale in comparison to the masterpiece it’s a sequel to. Under the direction of Stefano Sollima (best known for helping translate ‘Gomorrah’ to a TV series), the follow-up focuses on a new kind of war of terror, taking the hitman storyline into new and even...

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‘Incredibles 2’ Review: More Like Just “The Pretty Goods” This Time

Jason Gorber — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 12:00:46 +0000

A whiz-bang romp with a 1960s aesthetic and clever dialogue, Pixar’s 2004 blockbuster ‘The Incredibles’ was as fun as it was thrilling, a beautifully elegant family comedy wrapped in spandex superhero suits. After taking a trip to live action with a bombastic ‘Mission: Impossible’ sequel and the well-meaning if aimless ‘Tomorrowland’, writer/director Brad Bird returns...

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‘Nostalgia’ Review: Wistfully Disappointing

Philip Brown — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 18:00:47 +0000

The trickiest movies to review are the ones that just miss the mark. Raving about something brilliant or heavily poo-pooing a piece of garbage are easy enough. Finding the words to describe that awkward place between effective and failure? That’s where I’m at with ‘Nostalgia’. The cast is extraordinary, the ideas are strong, the craft...

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‘Get Out’ Review: Superb Satire That Happens to Be Horror

Philip Brown — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 20:00:10 +0000

It may initially seem surprising that Jordan Peele (as in ‘Key &…’) has made a horror movie, but actually watching it clears up the confusion. The film is a satire that mixes touchy race relation themes with the type of queasy laughs that good horror tends to serve up anyway. ‘Get Out’ has some problems,...

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‘Unless’ Review: Sincerely Disappointing

Philip Brown — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 19:00:03 +0000

Based on a popular novel (that I unfortunately haven’t read) by Carol Shields, ‘Unless’ makes broad attempts at the profound rooted in the everyday, but sadly ends up feeling merely mundane and disappointing. The movie was made by folks with talent and ambition, but what worked on the page feels flat and disappointing on screen,...

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‘Elephant Song’ Review: Out of Tune

Philip Brown — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 16:00:46 +0000

Translating a play to film certainly sounds like an easy task. After all, if the stage-bound material works you should just be able to point some cameras at it and call it a movie, right? Well, it’s not that simple. The mediums are quite different and the immediacy of a live performance tends to create...

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‘Begin Again’ Review: Charming Movie, Bad Music

Philip Brown — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 19:00:50 +0000

Writer/director John Carney found unexpected magic in his film ‘Once‘ about two lost souls connecting fleetingly through music. In ‘Begin Again’, he attempts to repeat the trick with bigger actors, a more ambitious screenplay and a New York setting. The trouble is that he doesn’t have magical music this time and that almost kills everything...

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