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Weekend Roundtable: Going Solo

Josh Zyber — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 18:00:22 +0000

This week, Justice League superhero Aquaman and Transformer Bumblebee each break out with solo movies. For our Roundtable, we consider other fictional characters famous for being part of teams that might get their own standalone spinoff adventures next. Shannon Nutt I love the Mission: Impossible movies, but Tom Cruise can’t keep doing these things forever....

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White Boy Rick Review: Little Man, Big F-Ups

Philip Brown — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 12:00:16 +0000

White Boy Rick is a big, zany true crime story that plays like gangbusters moment to moment without ever quite settling into a consistent tone or message. It’s easy to see why the movie was made and it’s easy to sell when reduced down to a sensationalistic trailer. However, string the story along to feature...

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‘Annihilation’ Review: Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Shocks

Philip Brown — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 17:00:24 +0000

Following up his acclaimed directorial debut ‘Ex Machina’, Alex Garland (who’d previously written ’28 Days Later’, ‘Sunshine’, ‘Dredd’ and others) got a chance to make a rare big-budget sci-fi film built as much on unsettling ideas as on CGI monsters. Sadly, the realities of contemporary filmmaking being what they are, Paramount got wet feat about...

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‘LBJ’ Review: Mildly Better than the Makeup

Philip Brown — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 17:00:03 +0000

The first thing that has to be stated about’ LBJ’ is that the makeup Woody Harrelson has been shoved into to play the titular President is absolutely horrible. It looks like a Halloween mask with moving lips. Big rubbery earlobes distractingly jiggle whenever the actor gets animated, pulling viewers out of the experience. It’s some...

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‘Twin Peaks’ 3.16 Recap: “All Things Considered, He Looks Good”

Josh Zyber — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 12:00:07 +0000

Being a fan of ‘Twin Peaks’ is an endurance test of delayed gratification. After waiting 26 years between the show’s second season and its third, it took 16 episodes before the one thing that most unmistakably defines ‘Twin Peaks’ finally appeared. Dougie is dead! Dale Cooper has returned! Hallelujah! (Before we get into it, yes,...

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‘Twin Peaks’ 3.15 Recap: “Goodnight, Margaret”

Josh Zyber — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 12:00:32 +0000

Throughout this new season of ‘Twin Peaks’, it has often felt to me like David Lynch has willfully set out to frustrate and alienate even longtime fans. As if to balance things out a little before the end, this week offers several significant pieces of fan-service. The episode opens with Nadine Hurley, carrying one of...

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‘Good Time’ Review: Another Bad Night

Philip Brown — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 16:00:07 +0000

Martin Scorsese’s ‘After Hours’ is arguably the pinnacle of a certain subgenre of “bad night” thrillers that have the ability to create anxious tension like few others. The Safdie brothers’ ‘Good Time’ delivers its nerve-rattling absurdity with enough style, humor and grit to be worthy of the comparison. The film can feel a bit scattershot,...

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‘Twin Peaks’ 3.12 Recap: “Next Stop Wendy’s”

Josh Zyber — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 12:00:49 +0000

This week’s entry may be the most frustrating episode of ‘Twin Peaks’ yet… and I’m including James’ road trip story arc in Season 2 when I say that. Among other sins, the show finally brings back a beloved character, only to utterly botch the job. As I’ve complained about a couple times previously, this hour...

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‘Twin Peaks’ 3.09 Recap: “Fruitcake, Anyone?”

Josh Zyber — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 12:00:13 +0000

After a week’s absence to let viewers mull over that mind-bending freakout David Lynch dropped on their heads, ‘Twin Peaks’ returns with a much more plot-oriented episode. Either by design or purely by incompetence (I can’t decide which), this one features one of the worst acting performances you’ll see on TV all year. On the...

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‘Twin Peaks: The Return’ Premiere (3.01 & 3.02) Recap: “Is It Future or Is It Past?”

Josh Zyber — Mon, 22 May 2017 21:00:53 +0000

Twenty-six years after the last episode aired on ABC, David Lynch has resurrected his famed cult TV series ‘Twin Peaks’ for a third season, now with the artistic freedom of premium cable at his disposal. I approached this revival with equal measures of anticipation and dread ever since it was first announced. I’m not sure...

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‘Morgan’ Review: Ex MachiNOT

Philip Brown — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 15:00:14 +0000

The biggest problem with ‘Morgan’ is that it’s not ‘Ex Machina’, yet comes out so soon after Alex Garland’s brilliant robo-Frankenstein tale that it’s almost impossible not to draw comparisons. It’s still quite well made for a debut feature by a new director. (Granted, it helps when your dad is Ridley Scott and can get...

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‘Anomalisa’ Review: Depressingly Moving, Deceptively Hilarious

Philip Brown — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 17:00:40 +0000

After the self-consciously sprawling and all-encompassing ambition of his directorial debut ‘Synecdoche, New York, it probably wasn’t too surprising that Charlie Kaufman disappeared for a while. After all, when you’ve made a movie that seems to be about everything, it can’t be easy to narrow in on subject matter for your follow-up. It’s also probably...

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