“20th Century Women” is a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama directed by Mike Mills about a single mother, Dorothea (Annette Bening), struggling to raise her teenage son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) during the summer of 1979. With assistance from two young women — Jamie’s childhood friend Julie (Elle Fanning) and boarder Abbie (Greta Gerwig) — Dorothea seeks to shape her son into...
In 1977, George Lucas revolutionized pop culture with the release of “Star Wars,” a sci-fi epic unlike anything before it. It had charismatic characters and a simple enough plot that left plenty of room for both interpretation and expansion. Within 40 years, “Star Wars” has evolved into a multimedia franchise spanning countless films, novels, video games and miscellaneous products...
Hollywood musicals fell out of favor a long time ago — gone are the days of Fred Astaire, or Ginger Roots. From the ‘80s to now, musicals as a genre leaned toward a kitschy aesthetic, not taken seriously by critics. “La La Land” completely changes that. Damien Chazelle’s masterful follow up to Academy Award-nominated “Whiplash” is a sly, beguiling...
Millennials and admirers of both visually stunning cinematography and physically alluring actors were lovestruck by the enchanting trailer for “The Edge of Seventeen” that aired throughout social media outlets as well as movie theatres. The brief preview featured teenage romance unfolding through text messaging, familial drama entwined with a lusty affair and the overarching angst of a high school...
Tom Ford made a toughie. The fashion designer-turned-filmmaker’s second cinematic feature, “Nocturnal Animals” starts just about as confusingly as it ends, and we can talk about interpretations all day but there remains a layer of mystique surrounding this film’s themes that still has its grip on me. I enjoyed it (very, very much) but I am also angry at...
“What’s a faggot? Am I a faggot? How do I know?” Berry Jenkin’s “Moonlight,” based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,” is a beautiful contemplation on the excruciating and universal plight of identity formation. It is a coming-of-age drama about Chiron — an African-American man from Miami struggling with his sexuality — told in...
It’s been five years since the last “Harry Potter” movie was released, and now it’s finally time to revisit J.K. Rowling’s expansive wizarding world. In “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” director David Yates, who directed the last four films in the “Harry Potter” franchise, transports the audience into the wizarding world located in America. The film manages...
Director Mel Gibson could have created a banal war-hero movie with this World War Two biopic “Hacksaw Ridge.” While the plot somewhat utilizes the overused Florence Nightingale effect (a trope where a war soldier falls in love with their caretaker) and solely focuses its narrative on a single American war hero, Gibson still manages to craft a compelling film...
“Weiner” is a 2016 documentary directed by Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg about Anthony Weiner’s turbulent run for New York City mayor in 2013. For those unfamiliar with Weiner (as I was prior to watching the film’s trailer), rest assured that “Weiner” provides plenty of information on its subject. That said, there was never a point in the film...
Some say the third time’s a charm, but in this case, Ron Howard’s third attempt in readapting a Dan Brown novel bursts into flames once again. “Inferno” delivers an unmemorable and inexplicable storyline with nauseating camerawork and incoherent scenes, making the film appear scattered and difficult to immerse in. This story was meant to be a race against time...