Director Barry Jenkins proves Moonlight was no fluke with another outstanding piece of filmmaking in If Beale Street Could Talk. This gorgeous, multi-facted film takes a seemingly simple story and builds it into something much more. Jenkins fits together basically three aspects of the black experience in America. First he examines the importance of family….
James Cameron’s fingerprints are evident on the cyborg action romance Alita: Battle Angel; although Robert Rodriguez (Machete) directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island). The film is based on a manga series by Japanese comic book artist Yukito Kishiro. Originally announced in 2003, production on and release of the film were repeatedly…
Last year we saw the excellent documentary RBG, a comprehensive and insightful look at the life and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the diminutive lawyer and champion of human rights and gender equality who became the second woman ever appointed to the bench of the US Supreme Court. Ginsburg, who graduated at the top of…
Like the recent Beautiful Boy, Ben is Back is a drama about a family trying to cope with their teenage son’s drug addiction and the emotional toll it takes. With its story of a drug addicted teenager returning home for a visit with his family, Ben is Back makes a fine companion piece to that…
Cold Pursuit sees Liam Neeson (Taken) again taking violent revenge against a gang of criminals who have attacked his family. However, in a slight twist to the usual formula that drove his previous film, Cold Pursuit is actually a remake. It’s based on a 2014 Norwegian thriller In Order of Disappearance, which featured Stellan Skarsgard…
It’s a story as old as time – a rising star burns bright but is cut down before achieving greatness. But Gary Hart’s fall – at least as depicted in Jason Reitman’s compelling The Front Runner – is more spectacular than most. Reitman has always been an astute observer of human nature. From his exploration…
In The Hate U Give, 16 year-old Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) is caught between two worlds. She lives with her African-American family in the ironically named Garden Heights, an impoverished black neighbourhood in Georgia; but she attends Wilmington Prep, a prestigious primarily white school in a more affluent neighbourhood. At school, Starr carefully protects her…
Not to be confused with the 2014 Australian comedy of the same name, The Mule is the latest from prolific filmmaker Clint Eastwood. The Mule tells the semi-fictional account of a 90-year old man who ran drugs for a powerful Mexican cartel. The film was inspired by the New York Times article “The Sinaloa Cartel’s…
A filmography featuring Dumb and Dumber To and Shallow Hal doesn’t exactly scream Oscar. Yet director Peter Farrelly finds himself as an Oscar frontrunner for his crowd-pleasing film Green Book. This conventional take on race relations in the American South of the 1960s seems to be carefully designed to push the right buttons. Of all…
In Free Solo, American Alex Honnold attempts to climb a 3,200 foot sheer rock face without any safety gear – no ropes, no harnesses, no protective equipment. It’s never been achieved before at Yosemite’s El Capitan Wall. One wrong move and there is every chance that this free solo climber will plunge to his death….
