Sex sold then and it still does now. Go ahead and say it. D.H. Lawrence rolled in the hay so the likes of E.L. James could bang on posh furniture. Even so, both authors love that touchy-feely F-word. Watching an enlivened adaptation of Lawrence’s firebrand prose today– debuting on Netflix December 2nd and directed by The Mustang’s Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre– reminds us that sexual awakenings are still valuable, and, best of all, desirable.
Read MoreLuckily, as aforementioned, the sleuth takes it from there and he’s a hoot. With every “fiddlesticks” and “hell’s bells” exasperation, Daniel Craig and his slim cravats flip everything about Glass Onion for a loop every chance he gets. As if playing James Bond for a generation wasn’t iconic enough, the 54-year-old Brit has carved out another signature role we cannot get enough of that will define his career. Savoring this charm with the right cases and opposing actors to work against, he and Rian Johnson can rotate this party for decades without wearing out either of their welcomes.
Read MoreWithout question, Devotion is still a movie that paints its own brushstrokes of history and fills in cracks for engagement. The real story, especially in a case like this, will always be larger than the movie. Look no further than the official citation that accompanied Jesse Brown’s awarding of the Distinguished Flying Cross. In different hands, Devotion would be a Michael Bay fireworks show of grandiose noise. Director J.D. Dillard proves a story of proper hero worship can reach rousing and patriotic heights without screaming to high heaven. Once again, look no further than that perfect title and what it stands for in all its places.
Read MoreExtending its fervent love of filmmaking, The Fabelmans begs the question of how magicians find their magic. It assuredly posits that the answer will be a humble origin born from the nuclear home, especially for the most commercially successful movie director of all-time. Through this very personal film, director Steven Spielberg puts his pants on one leg at a time like everyone else to show how one legendary magician remembers and treasures their own story. Since it is Spielberg after all, permission was granted to go ahead and tell that tale with a little magic of its own.
Read MoreViewers and fans will contemplate whether Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was the best Ryan Coogler and company could have done with their tragic circumstances. They will wonder if this pivot and royal escalation was the right approach. At some point, all of those questions (and others) have dual contexts between what they mean on-screen and off. Those questions also do not have a universal best, right, or perfect answer. For better or worse, we are now past “must” and the show emphatically goes on.
Read MoreFor better or worse, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin is an unrelenting emotional tussle of stubbornness among men. Your tolerance level for such behavior will undoubtedly mix feelings and inform your experience. Some will relish in its afflicted dark humor while others will be ready to throw their hands up and beg for the clashing characters to get over themselves. No matter if you are engaged in the tailspin or irked by the whole ordeal, you will find plenty to be impressed with in this pitch black comedy and surefire awards darling.
Read MoreTill is a heartbreaking and meaningful film presented almost entirely through a mother’s point of view. Any mother of any background will tell you that one of, if not, the most ever-present emotions is worry. Debilitating considerations and worst case scenarios often percolate and betray otherwise happy thoughts and sweet moments. All too often, it’s a mental gear that cannot be easily turned off. One of those flustering pauses begins the film and an agonizing tone for Till is set right away.
Read MoreNow, the varnish swirls with the dreamy deja vu vibes that are all over that old standard. In many ways, those two main verses of “Where or When” tell you all you need to know about the encroaching mystery to come. By the time Don’t Worry Darling calls back to “Where or When” again during its kaleidoscopic end credits, a smoky aftermath is exhaled from the intoxicating effects of the song and the film.
Read MoreOf all the subjective or objective metrics that get bandied about when rating a film, one of the more powerful traits that can make up for shortcomings is a movie’s inspirational effect. An impassioned audience with stirred emotions is very forgiving. Many large and small aspects about Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King could be debated or exposed as flaws. In the end, they will not matter. The story being told and the dedication collected to tell it carry weight greater than the art or craft.
Read MoreSo much of Confess, Fletch feels like a wiser-than the norm throwback against the hefty audience quadrant that will always prefer the louder, action-ified punch of the James Bonds and Jason Bournes of the world over a journalist gumshoe. If that crowd can slow down for a smaller and smoother ride, they will find mental thrills equally clever to the pop of blockbuster stunts that fade as quickly as they explode.
Read MoreThrough impressive performances from Support the Girls star Regina Hall and This is Us Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul has caricatures so believable that they transcend the winking-at-the-camera trope with vivid potency. There’s another level of “commitment to the bit.” We, the audience are not normally supposed to believe what we see from the characters but, with these two, we buy it.
Read MoreIt would be really easy for a movie like Breaking, tip-toeing in the Dog Day Afternoon direction, to turn up the brightness of the pariah spotlights and crank up the volume on the injustice pulpit loudspeakers. That’s not so here. Director Abi Damaris Corbin resists the temptations to pound messages and shout showy monologues. He and his screenwriting partner Kwame Kwei-Armah uphold the simple and poignant principles that were at hand with this true story and on the central figure’s mind during a fateful July day in 2017.
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