Reviews WIND RIVER. Taylor Sheridan would be most recognizable to many for his arc as Deputy Chief David Hale on the first couple of seasons of the TV series Sons of Anarchy. While he’s been plying his trade as a working actor for over two decades, he’s also been at the desk, grinding it out […]
Minor Theatre
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The Boys are Back
Reviews THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD. For those who would have assumed — not unreasonably — that the buddy action comedy had become a relic, a memory of two and half decades past, here is this. It’s doubtful it will spur a resurgence of that erstwhile genre, enjoyable and disposable as it may have been. But The […]
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Welcome to the Dollhouse
Reviews ANNABELLE: CREATION. Promotional materials reference this as “The next chapter in The Conjuring universe,” which comes across as aspirational and grandiose. That known universe now includes: The Conjuring (2013), wherein the new film’s malevolent, titular doll was introduced; The Conjuring 2 (2016); Annabelle (2014). And of course our current subject, which presents said doll’s […]
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Fight and Flight
Reviews THE DARK TOWER. It’s never surprising when a Stephen King novel series is adapted for film, but an eight-book series? In 95 minutes? The Dark Tower turns out to be a later chunk of that series, with a prequel TV show on the horizon. One hopes that project fares better and makes the most […]
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Trailer vs. Movie
Reviews ATOMIC BLONDE. So we return to the conundrum of The Good Trailer. On one hand, good trailers can surprise us like beautiful gifts. Because so many movies register as just above unwatchable these days, a lively little glimpse of something promising can be just the thing to get us through the long, dark night […]
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All at Sea
Reviews DUNKIRK. Christopher Nolan is something of a professional dinosaur. He broke out with Memento (2000), a challenging, compelling and unlikely low-budget surprise, just as the era of the Big Independents seemed to be hobbling to its dusty, desperate end. As the climate of moviemaking and distribution grew ever less hospitable, Nolan flourished. He remained […]
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Hero Immerses, Big Sick Shines
The Hero It seems I’ve written fairly frequently of late — probably too frequently — about the bright possibility of hope dispelling the corrosive recent mists of cinematic mediocrity and failure. Even as we are bombarded with rival comic book adaptations and YA sob-fests and whatever else the ones behind the big desks decide can […]
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Spidey Sense Tingling
Spider-Man: Homecoming A chorus, sweetened by the voices of multitudes, echoes brightly through the halls of mediadom; even the nerds have lent their breath. And they are not wrong: new Spider-Man‘s pretty good, guys. Having weathered now three — relatively — recent iterations of Spidey as cinematic tent-pole, and admittedly having enjoyed them all to […]
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Turning Wheels
Reviews BABY DRIVER. Writer/director Edgar Wright — like Tarantino before him and Scorsese before him — has managed to make a successful career of being a tremendous movie nerd. Unashamed of his influences and unafraid to reveal them (Hot Fuzz, 2007 being a particularly pointed example), Wright synthesizes those myriad influences into colorful, comic creations […]
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Boom
Reviews What makes a movie “American”? Is it patriotic or critical? Is it about identity, individualism, team spirit or oppression? Is it set in the Wild West or a modern metropolis? Does it even have to be made by an American? This is a big question and maybe even more subjective than whether a movie […]
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Girl Trouble
Reviews 47 METERS DOWN. I may have let out an audible groan when the title screen appeared: Johannes Roberts’ 47 Meters Down. If you’ve heard of Johannes Roberts, then you probably have a subscription to Fangoria, and I’m the asshole. While the director has more than a dozen credits to his name, there wasn’t a […]
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House of Horrors
Reviews IT COMES AT NIGHT. As the recent tidal wave of smaller, independent horror movies seems to have receded a bit, we have the opportunity to consider their merits and shortcomings. As I’ve remarked (probably too many times) before, there were within that group a few very pleasant surprises. As with anything of value, though, […]