Denial Review
RATING: (3 STARS) If 2016 proved anything to me, it’s that facts are as fragile as fine china. The idea that something is irrefutable doesn’t matter to people with the right mixture of ignorance, prejudice, and/or intention, and so admirers of historical and scientific truth are forced to debate where one shouldn’t be necessary. And […]
2017 Oscar Predictions: It’s That Time
With the Toronto, Telluride, and Venice film festivals behind us, it’s fair to say the Oscar season has begun in earnest. As studios begin positioning their respective titles for maximum exposure and disingenuous feel-goodedness, prognosticators both professional and amateur will start guessing as to the impact of said positioning (and, I guess, said feel-goodedness). I’ve […]
Sully Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) In 208 seconds, I could make a sandwich, though it might not be my best effort and there’s a decent chance I spend most of that time agonizing over spicy or dijon mustard. In January 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenburger and First Officer Jeff Skiles had 208 seconds to decide the best […]
It’s the Pictures Podcast: Episode 13
In our latest episode of the podcast, Max and I share some of our most-anticipated fall movies and preview the lineups of Venice, TIFF, and NYFF, respectively. We also discuss Kubo, Florence Foster Jenkins, the new Arrival trailer, the November Criterion lineup, and … hot iced coffee? Listen to the episode over at our libsyn […]
I Know Where I’m Going!
Our film of the week at The Cinessential is Bill Forsythe’s Local Hero. It’s not a film I’m familiar with (though many of my colleagues’ glowing essays have piqued by interest in it), so I instead tackled our related review and wrote about the Archers’ 1945 film I Know Where I’m Going! Click here to […]
Florence Foster Jenkins Review
RATING: (3 STARS) The only name that matters when it comes to getting butts in front of Florence Foster Jenkins isn’t Florence Foster Jenkins, but rather Meryl Streep. Improbably, Streep has done what seemingly a dozen Hemsworths couldn’t — become a reliable box office draw based exclusively on star power. She can play a magazine […]
Bad Moms Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) A recent trend in comedy writing and filmmaking is to turn the mundane into something debaucherous. It probably started with The Hangover, which took a typically debaucherous activity — the bachelor party — and elevated it to a level previously unthinkable. Slowly, this type of story took over movies about “regular life.†[…]
It’s the Pictures Podcast: Episode 12
John and Max are donning their black hats this week for a discussion about Suicide Squad and our favorite movie villains. We’re also covering the new teaser for Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk and news about an upcoming remake of Splash! starring Channing Tatum. We close with reviews of Terrence Malick’s The New World and […]
Tallulah Review
RATING: (3 STARS) As I was watching Sian Heder’s Tallulah, I couldn’t shake the implausibility of the premise. A young nomadic woman steals the baby of a rich, careless mother? The film offers a title character who is easy to accept as impulsive and destructive, but a kidnapper? Please. Then something funny happened. I started […]
Star Trek Beyond Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) The term “episodic†gets thrown around a lot when it comes to major studio moviemaking. Between bifurcation of individual stories and the intense desire to turn everything into a “saga†or “cinematic universe,†the big-budget action film that mostly stands on its own is becoming an endangered species. Star Trek Beyond, then, […]
Why Harlan County U.S.A. Is Essential
I had a chance to choose a film for a week of coverage at The Cinessential and went with one of my favorite documentaries of all time, Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County U.S.A. In my latest piece, our opening statement for the week, I outline why it’s important to include documentaries in the “canon” and what […]
Zootopia Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) Zootopia is a perfect 2016 movie. Sure, it depicts a bunny cop and a fox solving a mystery — which is utterly timeless, obviously — but what it does here and how is speak with surprising grace about stereotyping that’s pervaded both the American presidential election and interactions cops and civilians. I […]
It’s the Pictures Podcast: Episode 11
It’s the Pictures is all about the Criterion Collection this week. John and Max look at the films released thus far in 2016 in the Collection and talk about their must-own titles, just in time for the bi-annual B&N sale. They also discuss the possibility of Quentin Tarantino retiring and the trailers for Jeff Nichols’s […]
The Futurist and the Future
I’m writing and editing for a new film website called The Cinessential, which launched this week under the guidance of fellow writer and OFCS members Aaron Pinkston. The site will highlight one noteworthy title each week with a variety of thematic essays. For our kickoff, we chose two titles — Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment […]
It’s the Pictures Podcast: Episode 10
It’s the tenth episode of It’s the Pictures! John and Max look into the films of Steven Spielberg this week, including his new feature The BFG. They talk about the films Spielberg has made since the year 2000 and what films will stand the test of time. They also discuss the passing of directors Abbas […]
Independence Day: Resurgence Review
RATING: (1 STAR) “We had 20 years to prepare,†reads the tag line for Independence Day: Resurgence. I’m not sure that’s something they should be promoting because 20 years to make a movie as startlingly terrible as this one is inexcusable. There’s nothing redeeming about Roland Emmerich’s two-decades-in-the-making sequel to his silly but entertaining mega-blockbuster […]
