The World War II satire Jojo Rabbit is a daring mockery with war-themed carnage as a surreal backdrop that combines misplaced idolization with an unconventional coming-of-age tale for a young boy. Indeed, filmmaker Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) is wading in rough waters with a strange take of unusual growing pains — particularly when his featured…
Who fancies a chicken sandwich? Would you like it grilled? Fried? Crispy? Imagine that fresh-looking white meat, that crunchy coating, the mayonnaise and lettuce, the bun that is just moist enough without being soggy. Delicious, right? Healthier than a McDonald’s burger, surely? After viewing Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!, the latest film from Morgan…
Gone are the days of 1970s-style “Jiggle TV” . . . you know, that endearing media term reserved for the boob-tube, pop-cultural guilty pleasure that the late mega-television producer Aaron Spelling eagerly supplied to prime time viewers? With it, the ABC network struck a goldmine with the curvy, cops-turned-private investigators from the Townsend Agency in…
Is Le Mans ’66 (also known as “Ford v Ferrari” in the U.S.) about racing? It’s a question comparable to “Is ‘Jaws’ about a shark?” or “Is ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ about espionage?” Certainly racing features in the film, leading up to, as it does, the 1966 Le Mans Grand Prix, as well as other…
Ah, Christmas. A time of Hallmark cinematic splendor, candy canes, and Bath and Body Works candles, it truly can be (to some) the most wonderful time of the year. But what does Hollywood have to offer? Well, with cheaper competition from Netflix and Hallmark, there aren’t as many Christmas-themed gifts put under the movie theater…
Director James Gray, whose last film, “The Lost City of Z,” garnered serious praise upon release in 2016, has continued his win streak in the exploratory sci-fi film Ad Astra, the Latin phrase for “to the stars.” This Brad Pitt vehicle stands as a powerful character study within a plausible near-future universe, with a hefty…
When looking upon the first frame of Paradise Hills, the feature directorial debut of Spanish filmmaker Alice Waddington, your eyes are thrown into a wonderland of bizarre beauty. With a crisp sci-fi world of equal parts whimsy and despair, this feminist fairy tale has all of the looks of something remarkable, but lacks the proper…
