They say age is just a number. We like to believe that’s so. Greatness can steam from anyone at any time, no matter how young or old. However, we can’t help but admire the confidence, boldness, and sheer exuberance of…
Movie Review: Phantom Thread
Nestled within his Fitzrovia manor, Reynolds Woodcock holds court with nobles and heiresses as a reigning luminary of fashion. His every movement and gesture sighs with couched dignity–when he lifts his knuckles to his face in silent contemplation of a…
Movie Review: Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Hollywood may have lost the moniker of “The Dream Factory,” but those dreams remain alive in the stories told about the Golden Era’s heyday. The latest in this genre of celebrity biopics is Paul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die in…
Movie Review: Downsizing
Downsizing has a major tonal problem . The film we’re watching in the first act is drastically different than the one we watch in the second, which is drastically different than that of the third. At the very least, we can…
Movie Review: The Breadwinner is genuinely courageous filmmaking
The full scope of what The Breadwinner is doing doesn’t become clear until well into its second act. Its scope isn’t clear when our eleven-year-old hero, Parvana, is threatened by members of the Taliban for not covering up appropriately in…
AFI Review: Film Stars Reception, Thelma and More
For the journalist, AFI Fest is a manic dash from film to reception and back. The remaining days of our time at the fest was similar. Reception for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool One of several high-profile features in their…
Movie Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) possess two crucial understandings of what creates excellence in character building. The first, is the belief in the duality of human nature and that the version we are today isn’t always the version of…