[7] As their mother recuperates from plastic surgery, twin boys suspect she is not the same woman they knew — and begin to plot against her. Goodnight Mommy is a beautifully made Austrian film that pits two children and their mother against one another in a horrifying downward spiral. Writer/directors Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz are good at building storytelling momentum in a claustrophobic environment. …
[7] Two high school relay racers (Gijs Blom and Ko Zandvliet) develop a same-sex attraction, but one of the boys is afraid to make their relationship public. This Dutch drama/romance features a likable, competent cast and is shot in several beautiful locations around the Netherlands. As a ‘coming out’ story, it doesn’t break the mold in the slightest, but director Mischa Kamp does a fine …
[8] Steve Carell stars as millionaire John du Pont in the disturbing true story of du Pont’s attempt to recruit and train wrestlers for Olympic glory. Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo star as wrestling brothers Mark and Dave Schultz. Mark falls under du Pont’s spell pretty easily, allowing du Pont to fill the role of father figure that older brother Dave once filled. But when …
[7] Tim Burton reunites with Ed Wood scribes Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski for arguably his best film since 1999’s Sleepy Hollow. Amy Adams stars in the true story of Margaret Keane, the kitschy but iconic painter of the so-called “big eyes” painting series that became popular in the 1950s and 60s. Margaret was convinced to let her husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) take the credit for her paintings, …
[4] Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson star in this tepid horror-comedy about a group of teachers terrorized by children gone savage after infected chicken nuggets are served in the school cafeteria. I was bored with this one. It’s neither funny nor scary. If the characters were more engaging, I might not have minded spending about half the movie locked in a room with them. Gore hounds …
[7] Director Morten Tyldum makes this true story of Alan Turing and his team of mathematicians fighting the second world war from their college studies as thrilling and interesting as possible. Benedict Cumberbatch headlines as the socially awkward leader of the group, a closeted homosexual who has a ‘beard’ relationship with a fellow smarty-pants played by Keira Knightley. The drama comes mostly from within the group, …
[6] Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum go undercover at college to bust another drug lord in a sequel that is admittedly and unabashedly more of the same. But the sequel is even more bromantic than the first, playing the relationship so serious at times, it’s not even comedy anymore. I gotta give these 21 Jump Street movies credit for helping remove the stick from straight …
[7] This documentary tells the story of how two very successful Israeli filmmakers came to Hollywood and shook things up for a while in the ’80s. While neither Menahem Golan nor Yoram Globus are interviewed, their personalities come across in archival footage and an exhaustive array of interviews with people who worked on the films they produced. For the uninitiated, Golan and Globus pretty much …
[6] James Franco and Seth Rogen star as famous tabloid news producers who snag the interview of the century with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Before they leave to snag the highest ratings of their careers, though, the CIA shows up with a favor — assassinate Kim Jong-un! The Interview is mild in comparison to other Franco/Rogen comedy pairings. It’s executed (by writer/directors Rogen and …
[7] In the tradition of Lost in La Mancha and Jodorowsky’s Dune comes this documentary chronicling the conception and nightmarish execution of the infamous 1997 mega-flop The Island of Dr. Moreau. Director Richard Stanley (Hardware) is the focus of the first half of the film as we hear him talk about his vision for the piece and his increasingly difficult interactions with the Hollywood brass. …
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