[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down] In Theaters Friday, October 2 There’s a reveal at the end of the first act of Digger that won’t be discussed in this review, except to say that it fails to deepen the narrative in any meaningful way, and actually proves how shallow a movie it is. The story of […]
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[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Friday, September 18 Relentlessly charming movies with rich, developed characters and genuine emotional clout are a rare thing, so it can be easy to overreact to them when one comes along. It’s almost cheating when that same film also deploys kids with cancer and a career-best performance from […]
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[Rating: Rock Fist Way Down] In Theaters Friday, September 11 A narrative bird’s nest stocked with shallow characters, spotty acting, shitty politics, and schizophrenic editing, The Fix isn’t just bad: it’s depressing. Depressing not because there’s a good movie in here trying to get out (there isn’t), or decent performances obscured by shoddy filmmaking (not […]
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[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Friday, August 28 A dazzling mix of meta humor and prescient social commentary that has both its heart and head in the right place, Coyote vs Acme isn’t just a great movie: it’s a bracing referendum on the state of the world. One could be forgiven for assuming […]
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[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up] In Theaters Now Christopher Nolan has done more than just make his best movie with The Odyssey, he has created the best surviving adaptation of a story with three millennia behind it, and in so doing, has also managed to synthesize and express his overarching artistic thesis. A staggering technical […]
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[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Friday, July 10 A broad comedy farce with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (GDCSP) never takes itself too seriously, and encourages its audience to take a similar approach. A romcom wrapped inside of a love letter to Hollywood and everything that […]
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[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down] In Theaters Friday, June 9 “Boy, Curt, this is the thing all sports fans in all areas hate to see. A great one playing his last years having this kind of trouble standing up and falling down.” –Monte Moore, October 14, 1973 On October 14, 1973, the Oakland A’s played […]
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[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Now, on Blu-Ray and VOD July 7 There are precious few surprises in cinema these days, and those encountered are almost always unpleasant ones piggybacking on the shoulders of wasted potential. Every once in a while, something special open-palm smacks the shit out of a viewer with sharp […]
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[Rating: Swiss Fist] In Theaters Friday, May 1 Most legacy sequels fail because they don’t have a reason to exist outside of nostalgia baiting, but that’s not the case with The Devil Wears Prada 2. Indeed, this long-awaited follow up to the 2006 classic finds itself landing in a narratively interesting moment for its characters […]
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[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down] In Theaters Friday, April 10 A dizzying reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s seminal work, director Aneil Karia’s version of Hamlet is bold, to be sure: though any further plaudits are difficult to conjure. A sort of Reader’s Digest version of the Danish prince’s tragedy, this telling carves out a new path for […]
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[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Friday, March 20 The comforting embrace of optimism and fulfilled promise comes at a premium these days, making Project Hail Mary that rare case of a movie living up to not just its potential, but its moment. A veritable dream team of talent in all major phases of […]
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Man…what a twisty, bendy road Hollywood walks leading up to its biggest night. Favorites that seemed like a lock just one month ago look shaky in the light of early spring, and unlike previous years, there doesn’t seem to be as big a stable of heavy favorites as what many come to expect at this […]
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[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Friday, February 27 An erotic thriller that sits on a load-bearing pillar at the center of America’s in-progress collapse, Dreams tells a small story on the largest possible canvas. A film about the ways toxic relationships skew power dynamics and corrupt good intentions, it plays with familiar tropes […]
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[Rating: Swiss Fist] In Theaters and On Digital January 30 Compressing 14 years of litigious, bureaucratic, deeply personal history into a 131-minute movie was never going to be easy, and the people behind Pike River should be commended for their attempt at just that. A dramatic exploration of the 2010 coal mining accident and its […]
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[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up] In Theaters Friday, January 2 An exploration of grief, loss, and regret wrapped inside of a zombie movie, We Bury the Dead isn’t a bait and switch so much as a catch and question. This is a flick about the undead and a mini-apocalypse, sure, but the “creatures” in this […]
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