Fans of sports movies know Hollywood loves inflating unknown underdog stories. For example, most folks never heard of the likes of Rudy Ruettiger or Lane Frost before movies like Rudy or 8 Seconds came along to draw cheers and tears. Their success proves it’s not always the size of the legend that always counts. Even so, the grand style of lionizing hero worship is the farthest thing from director Lee Cipolla’s mind.
Read MoreThe lead actor of Good Bad Things making his feature film debut is Danny Kurtzman. He lives with muscular dystrophy which diminishes most of his physical capabilities. His weakened legs and limited arm strength calls for outside assistance and the required use of a motorized scooter to get around. To say this his and, by extension, his character’s life has challenges is an understatement. Rather than entirely dwell on or define a man by those debilitations, Good Bad Things pleasingly creates a narrative where success and vivacity are not only desirable, but deservedly attainable.
Read MoreSometimes documentaries require homework, where a deeper dive into sources and background information is needed to grasp the chosen subject. On other occasions, the documentaries are precisely the curated homework one needs to get a fuller picture of a topic at hand. Springboarding from the alarming and infamous historical events of January 6, 2021 with an eye towards improvement, the new documentary film War Game can fit both of those inquires characterizing homework.
Read MoreUnderneath all of Peak Season’s natural grandeur is an existential simplicity spun by the two fetching leads. The scenarios and dialogue shared between Restrepo and DeBlasis play out in an unrushed and principled fashion. The kinship between them fleshes itself out sweetly and reverently. In different hands, the Peak Season narrative is a lusty paperback romance. Instead, a cooling and appreciable reality keenly replaces any preposterous whimsy or the temptation to ratchet up unearned or unnecessary torrid passion.
Read MoreWe feel that tingling levity as Dandelion’s audience and cannot help but be swept away all the same. Dandelion peaks and then teeters on the ramifications of this new union. More songs equals more potential to changes that artistic label from “starving” or “troubled” to “successful.” The bonding brings more sparks, and the increasing clashes of romantic entanglements add the risks of trust, reliance, and commitment.
Read MoreUnlike his musclebound beefy action star peers of the 1980s and 90s, what made Axel Foley an entertaining and enduring character for Eddie Murphy was his riffing eloquence with all matters of verbal communication. The fast talker was the best bullshitter in the business. As long as Murphy could resummon that fluent tempo in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F– that crass, disarming, and profanity-soaked gift of gab– and keep it with some stamina for another lavish action comedy, all that was necessary would be fulfilled. Well, queue the popular wrestling crowd chant, because he’s still got it… and then some!
Read MoreBy golly, there’s something satisfying about watching an expert working in their element at a high level. They could be a laborer doing their job perfectly or an master artist flowing fully and freely within their given medium. At this stratum, to really appreciate what you’re seeing before your eyes, the observer needs to, at the very least, understand the medium and the artist in question. That is compulsory and, it needs to be said, the semi-restrictive provisions to approach Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1.
Read MoreAmid the ostentatious theatricality of actors making all kinds of noise in The Bikeriders, the other sound the film absolutely nails is the unmistakable deep bass rumble caused the asymmetrical arrangement of firing cylinders in Harley-Davidson engines. One by itself will get your attention. Five rolling together will rattle your windows. A dozen or more churning as a fleet becomes an aural maelstrom. Your selected reaction to that hellacious harmony will be your tinted gateway into Jeff Nichols’ petulant film.
Read MoreWell, eat your f’n heart out, Tom Cruise! In the first lead performance of her seven-decade career, June Squibb proves she can get around just fine at a venerable age of 93! Sure, the speeds of the pursuits are exponentially slower and the heights of the obstacles are far closer to the ground, but, make no mistake, there are thrills to be had and laughs to be enjoyed with Thelma. With all due respect to Ryan Gosling, Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Glen Powell, June just leapfrogged them all to be the must-see action hero of the 2024 summer blockbuster season.
Read MoreSure, it may have taken a bit to get there, but talented writer-director Vincent Grashaw demonstrated the shrewd patience to make those culminating moments happen on their own time and without some grand public showdown or audience. The “what for” and the “why” came to a head with dramatic focus. Bang Bang was never built to be anything close to a cliched sports movie. Instead, what burned intimately for the people involved stayed intimate to the bitter–and therefore realistic–end.
Read MoreWith time in mind, patience is indeed required when it comes to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. For three films in a row, “expansive” has become the perfect descriptor, and it suits this fourth entry as well. Even with new studio stewardship (Disney igniting the former Fox property) and a new creative braintrust led by Ball, this franchise marches to a different drum and blazes new trails. They are setting yet another stage for an epic crowd pleaser. Among the trend of heavily predictable genre movies with low stakes, this one is going to ponderous and exciting places simultaneously, and it’s all the better for it.
Read MoreNot to equate an actress to a videogame or pro wrestling, but Anne Hathaway has a unique and refined moveset as a performer. Her most front-and-center and patented gimmick has always been her wide and radiant smile. When all else fails, Anne can pull that out and win just about any heart. Strategically, though, she has an even stronger bread-and-butter maneuver, and it comes out distinctly in her new film The Idea of You. It’s the “look-away.”
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