Unfiltered regrets, debated wisdom, and long-held dreams replace the microphone soundbites and the picket signs. Those scenes carry genuinely serene and affecting moments of reflection. They may be shot to look whimsical, but they reach to gild exposed and admitted personal flaws within the central figure. Call this respectful hero worship and the most traditional or packaged film Taymor’s ever made if you must. However, what’s left (political pun intended) is well-earned pride.
Read Moreby Adrian Johansen
As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.
Read MoreNot if, but when, you watch The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix, know that, like all movies based on historical events, what you’re watching is a cherry-picked and tidy two-hour dramatization of legal proceedings that lasted just short of 150 days. Normally when that happens, the dramatic license to make an entertaining product has added any number of embellishments for showmanship’s sake. Folks love the challenge, especially in a courtroom movie, of sniffing out the sugarcoating to wonder “did that really happen?” up and down every narrative peak and valley. The crazy thing is the exact opposite is happening here from Aaron Sorkin.
Read Moreby Lafronda Stumn
As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.
Read MoreOn so many levels, Antebellum and its premise were not anywhere close to good ideas. With every pendulum swinging between power and abuse and between dominance and defiance, this wannabe mindf--k movie does not achieve enough of that aforementioned justification. Even with a determined performance from Janelle Monáe, this is a distressing and unnecessary inquisition with no solid answers.
Read MoreWhen it comes to Cuties, if you don’t like what you see of these errant kids left to their own wiles and devices, your gut is accurate and working. If its imagery bothers you, it’s supposed to. Check your gaze and your privilege. Now, look past the fictional take and target the very valid and present potential problem in our own settings and lives off the Netflix couch. If you don’t want that, prevent it with education. If you don’t want those sexualized elements to be goals, don’t make them so appealing and desirable to the uninformed. Adjust those expectations or create better ones. Shake your head, change your stance to empathy and honesty, and act accordingly to our daughters and children. Get there and you have made it precisely to the point that is being hammered home.
Read MoreQuite quickly into Roger Michell’s Blackbird, Susan Sarandon stamps exactly what kind of terminally ill character this film intends to portray. You may see the Academy Award winner’s aged luminosity but, let me tell you, this is far from a retread of her beloved 1998 film Stepmom. Her Lily is tired of the pretend pleasantries as she summons her extended family to her and husband’s beachfront homestead. She is done with the constant “who are you” questions, “are you OK” observation checks, and her own cordiality to retort with “glad you’re here.”
Read Moreby Lafronda Stumn
As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.
Read Moreby Lafronda Stumn
As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.
Read MoreIt all goes back to encapsulating deeper virtues over surface-thin traits. Women are beyond capable of such independence and profundity, if not more so, than their male counterparts. The women, young and old, who stand to be inspired by Mulan are the true “girls worth fighting for.” No song is required. Noble commitment accomplishes far more.
Read MoreEnjoying an easy little movie like Disney’s The One and Only Ivan shouldn’t take qualifiers, but it does. Two in fact. The first is more black-and-white and depends on your trigger pressure about animals in captivity in this mindful post-Harambe and post-Blackfish world. If your personal pull weight is high enough to condone (over tolerate) and enjoy a circus or a zoo operation, you pass round one. If you consider those settings no better than inhumane minstrel shows, that will lose you here. The second qualifier gets more existential.
Read MoreFor wishful reasons beyond the exploitative ones, people want to believe in ghosts. They would be alright with even the creepiest voyeur version or novelty of that to be real. Why? Because the existence of ghosts would mean there’s something else out there after our inevitable deaths. A tangible afterlife creates massive spiritual implications that stir so many. Molding their fictional clay, movies love plucking that particular heartstring, and the new streaming film Endless follows that convention.
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