Rob Grant’s Harpoon is another entry in the perennial argumentative-people-stranded-on-a-boat sub-genre, and it’s a cut above the average. It is, however, a stranger to subtlety, and juvenile at times, but it’s never boring and consistently bold in its narrative choices. Take the opening scene for example. Richard (Christopher Gray, “The Mist” TV series) storms over…
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (“Okja”) says that he always tries to overturn viewer expectations and hopes that his latest film succeeds in this way. Palme d’Or winner at the 2019 Cannes Film festival, Bong’s Parasite (Gisaengchung) does indeed thwart expectations, but the question is — to what end? Defying any strict genre classification, the…
Shakespeare’s Richard III famously said I can smile, and murder while I smile. The Joker has long been a character who will smile and cackle while he murders and terrorizes. In previous cinematic incarnations, the Joker has been a crime boss fried in acid (Jack Nicholson), an anarchic terrorist (Heath Ledger) and a pimped out…
Remember the opening of John Carpenter’s “The Fog”? A salty old man tells a spooky story beside a campfire, perfectly setting the folkloric tone, and then Carpenter introduces his sinisterly serene seaside town like it’s a sleeping, snoring creature . . . Well, do not expect such magical mood-building with Mary, a damp fishnet of…
Stephen King’s “It” has a long history. From the original novel to the 90s mini-series, an audio book and now two motion pictures, the battle between Pennywise the Dancing Clown and the Losers Club has frightened and fascinated generations of readers, listeners and viewers. Andy Muschietti’s big screen release of “It” in 2017 was a…
As far as random indie comedies starring a mix of rising and veteran stars go, the darkly silly Corporate Animals is a surprisingly digestible serving of oddball nonsense. For starters, it concerns itself with a team-building retreat that goes awry when employees of a company that makes edible utensils are suddenly forced to consider each…
The battle towards achieving any sort of self-esteem is tougher than anything Marvel’s catalog of heroes endure on a movie-to-movie basis. And in writer/director Paul Downs Colaizzo’s first film, Brittany Runs a Marathon, the lead character’s inner struggles are cartoonishly amplified to an almost disturbing degree. But with a stellar performance by comedy darling Jillian…
