Cheese. Beloved by Wallace and Gromit; source of comedic consternation for George Clooney in “Burn After Reading;” key ingredient for Remy in “Ratatouille.” Hardly the most disturbing food to be portrayed on screen. Nonetheless, writer-director Darren Darnborough succeeds in making his short film about cheese sinister and sexy in equal measure, as well as exquisitely…
There’s plenty to like about director Daniel Espinosa’s (“Safe House”) latest politically-driven crime thriller, Child 44. There’s a strict hierarchy of Iron Curtain power, no holds barred bloodshed, costumes that rival the best period pieces and, most importantly, a mesmerizing story (based off of Tom Rob Smith’s novel bearing the same name). There’s plenty of…
In 1973’s “The Exorcist,” 1986’s “Witchboard” and 2014’s “Ouija” (among others), we learned that playing with a Ouija board can expose you to some really dangerous spirits. In countless other films (horror or otherwise), we learned that bored teenagers conjure up some pretty bad ideas to create excitement in their lives. In 2012’s new-to-DVD horror…
Realizing that she can no longer play the roles she played when she was twenty, the now forty-year-old European actress Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche, “Godzilla”) faces the consequences of the passage of time. Nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2014, Olivier Assayas’ (“Something in the Air”) Clouds of Sils Maria explores the life…
“I’ve become so disturbed by younger people. They upset me so much that I’ve closed my doors” – Henrik Ibsen from “The Master Builder” Now 44, childless, arthritic, and stuck in career limbo, Josh Svebnick (Ben Stiller, “The Watch”) has the good sense to realize that life is passing him by. Though Josh and his…
Nicholas Sparks, who has probably put more words to paper than William Shakespeare (although none as memorable) has graced us with his yearly obligatory salute to misogyny, perfect abs and beautiful white people with problems we WISH we could have in his latest tearjerker, The Longest Ride. Sparks, the creator of such books/films as “The…
Stet, a troubled and angry Texas boy of eleven lives on the less affluent side of the tracks in Boychoir, Quebecois director François Girard’s (“The Red Violin”) feel-good story about a musically talented boy’s climb from adversity to self-acceptance. Written by Ben Ripley (“Source Code”), Girard’s first film in seven years boasts an outstanding cast…
