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Reviews
Film Review: "All is Lost"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 18 October 2013 00:15
- Written by Matt Oakes
"All is Lost"
Directed by J.C. Chandor
Starring Robert Redford
Action, Drama
108 Mins
PG-13
2013 is the year of the survivor-thriller living on top. In Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón explored themes of isolation amidst the inhospitable vacuum of space, using dazzling special effects to elevate a simple story to a visual masterpiece. Paul Greengrass dove into the true account of Richard Phillips and his struggle to maintain his humanity in a Somali pirate hostage situation in Captain Phillips, an excellent biopic fueled by a knockout performance from Tom Hanks. In All is Lost, J.C. Chandor pits man against entropy, testing the endurance of the human spirit against an onslaught of ill-tempered serendipity at sea. It must be time for a genre victory lap, because once more, survivor-thrillers have just crowned themselves king.
Film Review: "Kill Your Darlings"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 18 October 2013 00:15
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Kill Your Darlings"
Directed by John Krokidas
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall, Elizabeth Olsen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Huston, Ben Foster, David Cross
Biography, Drama, Romance
104 Mins
R
Kill Your Darlings provides an origin story for some of the most prolific authors writing this side of the American Renaissance with a bit of a hot-blooded, cold-fingered approach. A burning sense of urgency ignites the passion of the characters onscreen - coiled up and bouncing off the walls, lunatics as they are - but that same urgency is largely absent from the film itself.
Like a budding author who hasn't quite found his style, John Krokidas' film gets too caught up with being a part of the excitement to really invite others to join the fun. There's palpable joy bubbling from the screenwriters' research and the performer's larger-than-life embodiments, but like newcomers to a party in full swing, we're observers, hopelessly trapped outside the true jubilance and forced to watch through a pane of glass.
Film Review: "The Fifth Estate"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 18 October 2013 00:15
- Written by Matt Oakes
"The Fifth Estate"
Directed by Bill Condon
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Jamie Blackley, Anthony Mackie, Laura Linney, Stanley Tucci
Biography, Drama
128 Mins
R
The best part about The Fifth Estate was the cheeseburger I ate before the movie. The bun was nicely toasted, hugging two juicy patties each pressed with a layer of cheese, topped with caramelized onions and the gentle spice of jalapeños. It was superb. The movie though was the antithesis of that burger. It was crap. Utter, unadulterated, "pee-a-little-in-your-pants because you're laughing so hard in its face" crap.
Film Review: "Carrie"
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Reviews
- Published on Friday, 18 October 2013 00:15
- Written by Matt Oakes
"Carrie"
Directed by Kimberly Peirce
Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday, Alex Russell, Zoë Belkin, Ansel Elgort, Judy Greer
Drama, Horror
99 Mins
R
We all know the delightful bedtime story of Carrie and the Pig's Blood Prom: strange, loner girl experiences first bloodbath period (literally and figuratively) at school and becomes the target of tampon-slinging ridicule from her merciless peers. Charitable popularite Sue repents and urges hot-stuff boyfriend, Tommy, to bring Carrie to the prom, where she receives an unexpected swine viscus shower and promptly employs telekinesis to exact a wrecking ball of bloody revenge. It's squarely within the horror genre, but it's never really been a scary movie. The subject is far more unsettling and grotesque, a step back from jumpy frights and into demented psychology. Kimberly Peirce attempts to navigate the open can of worms within that tender, twisted psyche but stops short, pursuing the studio-brandished sheen of an American Hollywood horror remake.
