“You see, evil always contains the seeds of its own destruction. It is ultimately negative, and therefore encompasses its downfall even at its moments of apparent triumph” — Neil Gaiman In the opening of the film, The Power of the Dog, Peter Gordon (Kodi Smit-McPhee, “Dark Phoenix”), a Montana cattle rancher’s future nephew, whispers in…
We are part of a fortunate and collective audience. Through films, we can go back in time and we be part of history by the recreation of our past, as dark and uncomfortable as it may be. I believe the exposure to our past — especially by younger audiences — is essential. By exploring the…
Does anyone want to play a game? Shake your head if it’s Max (Jason Bateman, “Office Christmas Party”) and Annie (Rachel McAdams, “Doctor Strange”) asking, unless losing is your thing. In a slickly assembled montage, the couple is revealed to be “all day, every day” champions of trivia, scrabble and charades. But they’re only game-night…
Planes, running and Tom Cruise — three ingredients for a possible a box-office hit converge one more time in American Made, an action-comedy-thriller based on the life of Barry Seal, former pilot for TWA and drug smuggler for Pablo Escobar. It does not take long into this first trailer for chaos to brew with Seal,…
Once thought to be a sort of incendiary indictment of Scientology, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master turns out to have much more on its mind and is far less easily described. Often dipping into non-narrative space and at times seemingly impenetrable, Anderson’s sixth feature is focused on the post-war journey of drifter, loner, and spiritually…
The upcoming movie The Master is going to raise a lot eyebrows in Hollywood. Many have already dismissed it as the 1950’s drama is said to be loosely based on L. Ron Hubbard and his founding of the Church of Scientology (many in the industry are Scientologists). It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd,…
