Ryan Coogler gives everything an important story, and, in the end, that concentration matters most. Steeped in all of these mythos and even more unmentioned sublayers of symbolism and imagery curated by a fleet of hired cultural consultants and their seals of approval, Sinners becomes grander and more profound than simply a sandbox genre experiment answering silly Hollywood pitches like “Black people versus vampires.” This filmmaker is above that nonsense
Read More
Remember, there are no class or social delineations in public libraries. Libraries are shared spaces for a myriad of quirky topics and people. They’ll welcome everyone from a refined consumer of academic privilege to a homeless denizen trying to buy time out of the elements with an available bathroom for unmet basic needs. Manning their posts and maintaining the materials and facilities, imagine the odd stuff librarians see, encounter, circumvent, reconcile, and clean.
Read More
On the surface with this plight of male buddies, Sacramento may look like a poor man’s A Real Pain which just earned Kieran Culkin the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Happily, by staying stateside and smaller in its aims, Angarano’s film has an entirely zestier vibe. These are two men who, simply put, need to chill, and the stakes and environment reflect that.
Read More
When a movie like Warfare enters a concluded historical period, such as the Iraqi front of the War on Terror from nearly 20 years ago, some viewers will curiously require the film to have a “stance” on said war. Those captious people—looking down their noses with 20/20 hindsight to relitigate the past—are going to be disappointed with Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, and falsely so.
Read More
A Minecraft Movie is asking those newbies to enter and welcome a weird new universe. This energetic family movie proudly opens its doors to all comers (and wallets) where no prior knowledge is really necessary. Thanks to the exuberant cast and the kind of contagious entertainment they dispensed, you may just come to love something you didn’t know a lick about 101 minutes earlier.
Read More
True to a play’s performative spine, Eric LaRue rises to become an actor’s showcase building towards two important summits: the aforementioned collection of mothers and the first visit to Eric in prison. Each seated clash places Judy Greer in the unenviable position as the target of ire and the recipient of painful reactions, where no amount of contrition will be enough and immediate peace is impossible.
Read More
Liquor Bank knows that audiences don’t often see the stories that continue after the big commitment to change. They don’t see the temptations, choices, relapses, and secondary victories. In showing Eddie broken in losing a benchmark achievement, Marcellus Cox is unshy to shed light on a time of defeat instead of victory with Liquor Bank.
Read More
Audrey’s Children chisels an important story into an extremely well-meaning film. Not all life-saving feats are glamorous and marked with crowds and cheers. Sometimes, all they are is a stabilized vital signs, hopeful test results to live longer, or a family that walks out the door of a hospital intact instead of grieving a loss. To enjoy and appreciate this film is to watch an uncompromising woman taking risks to put in the diligent work to make a difference for, once again, “her kids.”
Read More
These behaviorial swerves and jolts are meant to be psychologically jarring, and they do more than frazzle the marriage stability of Mia and Aaryan. However, when these antics again are delivered by a grown adult we know can turn this persona on or off, they nullify believability. Every silly ass peril orchestrated by Virginia, even as they get more brazen and unorthodox as the week continues, are ridiculously overblown and, more often than not, completely preventable.
Read More
There is an unmistakable lure to the intensity and damaged textures. Majors’ narration, reactions, and jaded silent acts infuse a more layered human lost underneath the monstrous muscles and vices. He is undeniably impressive in those feats. True to form—beast and all, the actor and the film deservedly earned fair and imposing recognition for never shying away from the good and bad light cast against them on screen and off.
Read More
Because of all of this glowing style and sensational suspense, Black Bag is never dull, meaning Steven Soderbergh and his avant-garde arthouse tendencies are never pedestrian either. The prolific and experimental auteur—who put out the supernatural thriller Presence this season—has dabbled with and tamed multiple genres, yet Black Bag nestles itself into the storied “cool” wing of Steven’s film library. He could make one of these twisty yarns a year and we’ll never complain. May that man always stay this cool.
Read More
The movie is entertaining and engaging evidence the genre’s stand-up-and-cheer formula does not always need reinvention or recalibration, just more diverse and meaningful stories for new spotlights. When it’s all said and done, Queen of the Ring nailed the big fight feel in its 1954 climax that bookends the film, and they put on a barnburner.
Read More