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‘A Ghost Story’ Review: Poetry in Bed Sheets

Philip Brown — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 15:00:37 +0000

Writer/director David Lowery’s ‘A Ghost Story’ shouldn’t work. It’s an existential exploration of life, death, love, loss, memory and time, in which the main character is a ghost covered by a bed sheet. That should be silly and distancing, and at times certainly feels that way. However, there’s a method to Lowery’s madness, a goofiness...

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‘Song to Song’ Review: More Mediocre Malick

Philip Brown — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 17:00:35 +0000

Terrence Malick used to disappear for decades between movies and then return with something magical that was worth the wait. Sadly, he no longer seems interested in taking his time planning a film or even having much of an idea of what he’ll produce until he’s halfway through it. That’s painfully evident in his latest,...

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Sundance Journal: ‘The Discovery’

Luke Hickman — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 18:00:51 +0000

It seems like Sundance co-creator Robert Redford (and/or one of his kids) finds a way into a festival movie each year. More often than not, it feels like these films only make it into the festival because of the Redford name. Such is the case with his latest, ‘The Discovery’. The concept behind ‘The Discovery’...

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‘Lion’ Review: King of the Weepies

Philip Brown — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 17:00:29 +0000

The end of the year is a time for “based on a true story” weepies designed to keep the Kleenex industry in business and gobble up easy award nominations. Most of them stink and work only on the easily manipulated and/or Oscar voters. However, a few transcend all the aggressive heartstring tugging because they’re special...

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‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ Review: Psychedelic Family Entertainment

Philip Brown — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 19:00:15 +0000

Ever since launching with the masterful ‘Coraline’, Laika has been one of the most consistent animation factories on the planet. Though essentially trafficking in kiddie entertainment, the stop-motion studio always executes its visions with remarkable artistry and offers stories just outside of the mainstream to please youngsters who aren’t easily seduced by simple Disney magic....

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‘Carol’ Review: Traditionally Non-Traditional

Philip Brown — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 14:00:17 +0000

A hit out of Cannes where Todd Haynes’ delicately crafted period romance went down like gangbusters, ‘Carol’ is the quiet art house flick of the year for folks who enjoy such things. It’s a film with no spectacle and only subdued drama. However, Haynes cooks his cinematic meal on simmer with such craft and skill...

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‘Pan’ Review: Not Your Daddy’s Peter

Philip Brown — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 19:00:39 +0000

Apparently it’s necessary to resurrect and remake ‘Peter Pan’ every five years. The cycle has come around again and this time fell into the unlikely hands of ‘Atonement’ and ‘Hanna’ director Joe Wright. Not content to merely go through the Neverland motions again, Wright has reinvented ‘Pan’ as a strange fantasy action origin story filled...

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Weekend Roundtables: Career Turnarounds

Josh Zyber — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 19:00:56 +0000

Sometimes, an actor just needs to find the right role to suit his or her talents. In this week’s Roundtable, we discuss the actors that we used to dislike, even hate, until one project finally turned their fortunes around. There are two possible ways to look at this topic: You generally don’t like the actor,...

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Now Playing: So Into ‘Her’

Philip Brown — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:00:40 +0000

They say all good science fiction is actually about today. In Spike Jonze’s latest wonderful feature, ‘Her’, that feels particularly true. The story feels not merely set 15 minutes in the future, but just one Apple press conference away from reality. The world is one in which the entire population of a rustling city wanders...

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‘Side Effects’ Contest Results

Josh Zyber — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:00:32 +0000

One of the side effects of entering our contests here is that you may take home a free Blu-ray. Score! Let’s find out which of our readers has won a copy of Steven Soderbergh’s medical thriller ‘Side Effects’. As explained in the original post, we challenged you to provide funny or clever captions for the...

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You May Experience Headaches, Nausea or Uncontrollable Homicidal Rage – Win ‘Side Effects’ on Blu-ray!

Josh Zyber — Tue, 28 May 2013 19:00:38 +0000

Just because it’s a short week, don’t think that we’ve forgotten to give away another free movie. Enter our contest today for your chance to win Steven Soderbergh’s medical thriller ‘Side Effects’ on Blu-ray! Starring Channing Tatum, Rooney Mara and Jude Law, ‘Side Effects‘ is said to be director Steven Soderbergh’s final theatrical film. The...

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Weekend Movies: ‘Effects’ May Vary

Luke Hickman — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:00:58 +0000

This weekend’s two big releases appear to have some box office potential, but could just as potentially go nowhere. One is an R-rated comedy with a very familiar plot, the other a Steven Soderbergh thriller that has barely been advertised. Opening on more than 3,100 screens is ‘Identity Thief‘, the new foul-mouthed comedy from ‘Horrible...

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