For all its globe-trotting spectacle, the true story in ‘Dune’ from director Denis Villeneuve never really gets off the ground. And that’s clearly the point.
Sicario: Day of Soldado Movie Review: More action, less nuance
As a sequel, Sicario: Day of Soldado stands on its own from predecessor Sicario, but it lacks the nuance of the other film. While there’s certainly more action in this new installment, the story feels light where it requires depth. There…
Deadpool 2 Movie Review: Extra brutal, extra bawdy, but still twice as nice
This review contains slight spoilers for Deadpool 2. Sequels are scary. Writers, directors, and actors know it. The seasoned critics, rosy-cheeked fanatics, and everyday theatre-goers who witness the fruits — squidgy sun-wrinkled or sparkling superb — of their labor know it.…
Is Hail, Caesar! Pro or Anti-Hollywood?
One of the defining features of Joel and Ethan Coen’s Hail, Caesar! are its blatant parodic references to Hollywood or, specifically, to Hollywood in the 1950s. Its glamorous, classic Hollwood aesthetic and throwbacks to 1950s cornball cinema begs a certain…
Movie Review: ‘Hail, Caesar!’
Every year that the Coen Brothers release a new movie, I treat it like an event. The duo’s glorious, genre-busting brand of filmmaking has made them one of the best auteurs working today, and they surprise me time and time again for…
Movie Review: ‘Sicario’
Although not mutually exclusive by any means, I think Denis Villeneuve would prefer to consider Sicario more of a political statement than a run-of-the-mill thriller. Without a doubt, exploitative genre movies can be political, but Villeneuve’s films are distinct because of…