Sure, 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 MoreGuy Friends circles its wagons and makes the fresh duo of Jaime and Sandy the core of the film. The main plot and their gestating sample examination of friendship establishment are shot in black-and-white by writer-director Jonathan Smith and mirror little full-color vignette testimonies of real people describing how they became best friends. In less witty hands, these arcs of burgeoning female connection and the well-worn looking-for-love plight would conveniently be vanquished in a grandiose and, in all likelihood preposterous, rom-com climax involving some kind of public shenanigans.
Read MoreThis baked-in layer of brains amid the brawn in Hit Man is credited to Linklater and Powell working together to punch up a screenplay together allowing fun to frolic next to intrigue. All of the nerdy philosophy would normally feel like serendipitous mumbo-jumbo tacked on a less intelligent premise. Instead, Hit Man’s slick polish and playful panache combine to create witty smartness seething with sensational sexiness at a level higher and hotter than we have seen in years with romantic comedies and crime capers. This date night delight is just what this summer season needs, be that in a theater or on your Netflix couch.
Read MoreThis new sequel promised the origin story of Mad Max: Fury Road’s scene-stealing and far-and-away best character. The enigmatic starlet Anya Taylor-Joy of The Queen’s Gambit walks into Charlize Theron’s past and shadow to take viewers into the campfire tale history that would forge cinema’s toughest broad this side of Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor. Fill up the gas tank and toss us the keys to the multiplex, right? Not so fast. Pump the brakes and skid across the sand to a stop.
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 MoreThrough a cavalcade of creatively designed set pieces, Leitch and The Fall Guy put the bang in “the whole shebang” with this kinetic crowd pleaser positioned to open the 2024 summer movie season with that very sound effect. After years of development hell, Universal Pictures found their perfect stewards with David Leitch and Ryan Gosling and indulged their pyrotechnic and brawny dreams to bust every block in sight. The TV show’s awareness and appreciation for these behind-the-scenes champions has now become Leitch’s own.
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.”
Read MoreSmooth one, Peter. Leave it to dads to gladly go beyond their reach and overdo a promise to impress their spouse and children. Why? Because dads are meant to be larger than life and therefore operate the same way. Well, “to the moon and back” sure worked on Peter Gilbert’s daughter Lydia (Isabel May of I Want You Back) every time it was shared. The Moon & Back confirms that claim with evidence captured with the framing and resolution of old VHS.
Read MoreMake no mistake. Unspoken history exists between Lena and James. At this recorded moment, they may or may not share the inquiring answer the host is hoping to extract. Nevertheless, there’s a story here that promises a long and difficult road merging togetherness and stardom. Using deft and economical storytelling, writer-director Patrick Meaney (House of Demons) has crafted The Brink Of to reveal this little melodrama nimbly.
Read MoreMuch like the scientifically wondrous notion of us forged by recycled dust of past celestial bodies, the documentary’s powerful implications and posed questions give Deep Sky viewers immense swell and pause. Even though Deep Sky is an abrupt shorthand version of a continuing story, it is exactly the type of presentation and ponderous point that will rightfully and fruitfully inspire the next generation of innovators and explorers. Somebody somewhere is going to watch Deep Sky, hear Williams’ lush poeticism, and plot their future.
Read MoreIt’s not that the movie or the actors don’t look the part in Sasquatch Sunset. That’s not the issue. It’s more about the purposes and examinations at hand. This film, which enjoyed praise during its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier in the year, is one hell of a bizarre enigma poking and prodding any number of desires and intentions.
Read MoreChallengers roars forth to use the invasive scrutiny found in tennis as a mimicking reflection of personal hostilities and exposed intimacies. Keeping with that idea of body language, Guadagnino’s blistering athletic love triangle is a ballet of sweat and a battle of three beautifully furrowed brows set atop the lithe bodies of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. For two hours-plus mirroring the length of a full set tennis match, this film cuts years deep and rips off scabs to show you why those brows are furrowed and towards whom.
Read More
