[8] Hollywood often waters down characters and storylines to make them universally appealing. Filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson with Licorice Pizza, or David O. Russell with Joy and The Fighter, are challenging that notion with stories of tremendous specificity — specificity of character, location, obstacle, and endeavor — that find universal appeal without dilution. In pursuit of that specificity, Anderson casts two unknown actors as …
[8] Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star in this tale of two clinically depressed people (he’s diagnosed bipolar) who strike up an unusual relationship. She teaches him to dance with her for an upcoming competition in exchange for delivering letters to his ex-wife, who has a restraining order against him. While he obsesses over the ex, Lawrence begins to pine for Cooper. Everything comes to …
[7] Camp counselors engage in all kinds of shenanigans on the last day of summer camp in August, 1981. Wet Hot American Summer is a throwback to raunchy, sexy comedies of the early ’80s, elevated by a charismatic ensemble cast who all appear to be having a great time. There’s Janeane Garofalo as the camp director, a nerdy gal trying to work her wiles on …
[7] Clint Eastwood directs and stars in The Mule, the story of a 90-year-old man who becomes a drug runner for a dangerous Mexican cartel. The money keeps Eastwood’s character motivated. Meanwhile, his ex-wife and daughter express disappointment with his continuing absence in their lives and the feds start closing in on his illegal activity. Eastwood is playing a character more naive and corny than …
[8] Director/co-star Bradley Cooper decided it was time for a fourth version of A Star is Born (previous versions were released in 1937, 1954, and 1976). I haven’t yet seen any of those versions, so I’m coming into this one without the burden of comparison. I was expecting a romance movie with a lot of singing. So I was expecting to hate the movie, honestly. …
[8] I’ve been hard on Marvel movies for being cookie-cutter and devoid of surprises, but Avengers: Infinity War stops that trend dead in its tracks. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War) are downright masterful at keeping Infinity War going strong from beginning to end, with never a dull moment, all the action you’d expect, far more laughs than …
[3] Sandra Bullock gives her most offputting and peculiar performance in All About Steve, a film that sets the feminist movement back about fifty years. Bullock plays Mary, a woman in her forties who lives with her parents, tries to make a meager living creating crossword puzzles for her local paper, and who inexplicably falls head-over-heals obssessively in love with a blind date (adorable Bradley …
[7] Everyone in front of and behind the camera is back for another go-round in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a fun time at the movies, even if it falls a tad short of the first film‘s humor and character engagement. This installment focuses around the sudden appearance and identification of Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) father, played by the always-welcome Kurt Russell. Dad reveals …
[7] The Place Beyond the Pines, from writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), is a family epic of sorts. The first third of the film follows a low-life motorcycle showman, played by Ryan Gosling, who turns to crime to try and provide for his baby mama and infant son. I dare say this is the best Ryan Gosling performance yet — you really feel for his …
[8] James Gunn (Slither) co-writes and directs one of the best Marvel movies ever. The plot is simple, nothing new or groundbreaking. Good guys gotta stop bad guys from literally destroying the world. Been there, done that, right? And like most Marvel movies, the bad guys are pretty generic and forgettable. And there are, like, what? Three or four bad guys here? Anyway, it doesn’t …
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