At a Q&A following a revival of Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995) earlier this year in New York City, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi explained that he saw Scorsese’s upcoming film The Irishman as the last in a quartet of gangster films starring…
TIFF 2019 Movie Review: Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is the Anti-Hero We Never Needed
After Joker, is there any way Joaquin Phoenix could shock more with a performance? Probably only by playing a healthy, well-adjusted person. To say he has made a career out of playing darker, complicated characters is like saying tornadoes have…
TV Movie Review: ‘The Wizard of Lies’
HBO’s latest movie, based off of the book written by Diana B. Henriques, brings us up close and personal with the infamous stockbroker, Bernie Madoff, who was responsible for defrauding his clients of almost $65 billion. Although no film adaptation…
Movie Review: The Comedian
Robert De Niro’s relationship with comedy is… well, pretty turbulent. In the right hands, he’s absolutely brilliant. In the wrong hands, the two-time Oscar winner finds his name in front of Showtime, Analyze That, Shark Tale and Little Fockers. And that’s…
Movie Review: Hands of Stone
A performance does not make a movie. We’ve seen it time and time again, incredible performances mired by mediocre filmmaking. This seems to be on trend with biopics, which allow performers to take on complex characters but sticks them in…
Movie Review: ‘Dirty Grandpa’
In a word, Dirty Grandpa is tasteless. Crass, belligerent and egregious would also suffice. Unnecessary, even. Robert De Niro – yes, that revered, award-winning Robert De Niro – stars in Dan Mazer’s “comedy” as former Green Beret and recent widower…
Movie Review: ‘Heist’
Heist can’t really be reviewed. Or maybe it just shouldn’t be. The film sets out to do nothing, and I think it does ‘nothing’ very well (either way you read this is fine). It’s not a family drama or a…