Rob Reiner directs LBJ, a biopic on the emergence of Lyndon Baines Johnson (played by Woody Harrelson) following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The story pivots around the then-contentious bill for the Civil Rights Act. It deals with Johnson’s struggles to have the bill passed in the face of opposition from powerful Senator Richard…
Can a movie be too smart? Apparently, it can; if it’s Alex Garland’s thoughtful sci-fi adventure, Annihilation. Paramount famously denied the film a cinema release* earlier this year, allegedly on the basis it was “too intelligent” for the average filmgoer. (How you feeling now, fellow Australians? Seems we’re too stupid.) So instead of heading into…
The low budget indie crime drama Good Time is the latest film from the Safdie brothers (Benny and Joshua). Their films, like Daddy Longlegs, often explore the struggles of losers who live on the edges of society. This is a gritty and downbeat black comedy and heist drama with plenty of energy. Connie Nikas (played…
A ponderous first half gives way to a bloody whodunit in the second as Quentin Tarantino continues his love affair with violence in The Hateful Eight. Soon after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his captive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh),…
