starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, John Corbett, Kristin Chenoweth, Ian Nelson written by: Barbara Curry directed by: Rob Cohen MPAA: Rated R for violence, sexual content/nudity and language For a movie that opens with Kristin Chenoweth calling Jennifer Lopez a pussy—only… Continue Reading
When I was at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September, getting a head start on this year’s Oscar contenders both expected (The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Wild) and unforeseen (Still Alice), there was a sinking realization… Continue Reading
From September 3-14, 2014, I had the incredible privilege of attending the 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival—an event that, particularly within the last decade, has emerged as the unofficial kickoff of the all-important movie awards season. In recent years, eventual Oscar winners like… Continue Reading
In the years that have followed her breakout role as a drug-addicted German ex-model in Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art (1998) and her star-making, Oscar-nominated turn as a cancer-afflicted mother in Pieces of April (2003), Patricia Clarkson—now 54—has gradually become a genre unto herself.… Continue Reading
starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked, Analeigh Tipton written and directed by: Luc Besson MPAA: Rated R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality Let me set the scene for you. It was Monday night earlier this week,… Continue Reading
An unforgettable indie thriller by the title of Coherence has emerged fairly out of the blue as one of the summer movie season’s word-of-mouth hits. The feature-length filmmaking debut of James Ward Byrkit, Coherence‘s buzzy success is due in part to it being the kind… Continue Reading
To know Jenny Slate is to love Jenny Slate. Maybe you first encountered her during her brief stint on Saturday Night Live, on which she realized the first-day-on-the-job nightmare of accidentally saying “fuck” on live TV during her premiere episode while Megan… Continue Reading
starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville screenplay by: Linda Woolverton directed by: Robert Stromberg MPAA: Rated PG for sequences of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images With Maleficent, Disney would… Continue Reading
starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn written by: Max Borenstein directed by: Gareth Edwards MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of destruction, mayhem and creature violence In keeping with the ongoing Nolan-ization… Continue Reading
Ever since his cultural reemergence as Michael Bluth, the comparatively sane middle sibling in Arrested Development‘s otherwise delusional, batshit-crazy Bluth clan, Jason Bateman has been cast in a number of roles that are rather similar to Michael—the put-upon straight man fighting… Continue Reading
