When the original Mean Girls made its debut in April 2004, it found an audience eager for its classroom drama and its comedy which showed us at our backbiting worst. Twenty years on, its legacy can be found in the numerous “Get in, loser, we’re going _____” memes that pervade social media and the evergreen […]
Read MoreThe reason Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot series succeeds is through his portrayal of a man obsessed with the corporeal and his belief in human nature and its folly; no room can be made in his world for the supernatural or the impossible. He is the essence of what writer Christopher McQuarrie describes in his […]
Read MoreThere’s a realness to Disney/Pixar’s Soul that rises above its animation, music, and script. It has a life, vibrancy, and urgency which recalls shades of Inside Out, a similar story where two beings must work together to find home, but Soul takes a different path. Here, writer Mike Jones and co-directors/writers Pete Docter and Kemp […]
Read MoreThe revolution will not be televised, will not be televised Will not be televised, will not be televised The revolution will be no re-run brothers The revolution will be live — Gil Scott-Heron, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” With those words ringing out amidst a blast of bongos, Bao Nguyen takes us on a […]
Read MoreBecause Shawn Levy’s career has revolved mostly around producing and directing family friendly movies (“Cheaper by the Dozen”, the “Night at the Museum” films and last year’s “The Internship”), I was particularly interested in seeing what he’d do with something that on paper looks a lot like “August: Osage County” with more penis jokes. It’s disappointing that […]
Read More(This review originally appeared at Reel Film News on March 22, 2013.) What do you do when you’re watching a movie that doesn’t really challenge you, offend you, or do anything to provoke any kind of visceral response, yet manages to be sweet? This is the debate I’m having as I recount my thoughts about […]
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