Mackenzie Davis (“Tully”) is currently in that sweet spot where she can do no wrong. She’s a highlight of every movie she appears in and continues to be a lively, engaging presence. Her starring role in the sketchy indie comedy Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town is no exception. Without Davis, the movie would quickly…
Take four couples. Add various relationship issues. Sprinkle with neuroses and being more interested in others’ problems than your own. Blend in a grand house in Savannah, Georgia. Allow to simmer for 90 minutes. Serve up The Intervention, a rather creaky if well-intentioned relationship comedy-drama. Whether the film works for you or not will depend…
Opening night at the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival, held annually in Silver Spring, Maryland, is always a treat. This year, the opener was The Final Girls, a thriller/comedy that subverts many horror-film conventions — indeed, the very notion of movies themselves. Teenager Max (Taissa Farmiga, “Anna”) happens to be the daughter of the…
Night Moves, the latest film by Kelly Reichardt (“Meek’s Cutoff”), is a personal story about three young people attempting to impact a society in which they no longer feel a part. Frustrated by continually escalating threats to the environment and by the deafness shown by political leaders, Josh (Jesse Eisenberg, “Now You See Me”) an…
The Oranges borrowed the underlying suburban malaise of “American Beauty” and remolded it into a comedy. West Orange, New Jersey resembles the 2000 Best Picture winner but the atmosphere is different. The characters still make horrible choices which impact their immediate families and friends, but the looming dread and depression are replaced by a lighter…
“It’s not like one of those Valentine’s Day movies that try to impress you,” the trailer for The To Do List first states. It’s an unnecessary statement, as Aubrey Plaza’s latest movie (she recently headed up “Safety Not Guaranteed“) is about a girl looking to expand her sexual repertoire before she heads off to college….
