Whether or not space-time is an actual reality or simply an illusion, a convenient concept of the mind to get us through the day, is not relevant here. The Spierig Brothers (“Daybreakers”) mesmerizing film Predestination postulates that it is real, but that is only the starting point of a film that challenges us at every…
When I first saw the trailer for The Infiltrator, I had high hopes, considering it concerns a U.S. Customs agent (Robert Mazur, for the record), responsible for nearly bankrupting the Medellín Cartel, which was an organized network of drug suppliers and smugglers originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. If you were into cocaine in…
Vapidity loves company. Nicolas Winding Refn is all about the surface-level pose and the finely tuned image, so it’s fitting that his latest movie, The Neon Demon, sets its sights on the modelling industry and its harshly high standards of beauty. The plan is to use horror elements to illuminate the dark corners of a…
Years ago, during the annual Purge — a 12-hour event held on March 21 during which all crime, including murder, is legal — a teenager survived the brutal slaughter of her entire family. She endured an unimaginable night of terror and torture, and now, as an adult in The Purge: Election Year, Senator Charlie Roan…
The father of former San Francisco Mayor Jack Shelley once told him, “The day you forget where you came from, you won’t belong where you are.” This advice is not lost on Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn, “Clash of the Titans”), a young woman coming of age in Terence Davies’ (“The Deep Blue Sea”) Sunset Song….
Recipient of a Golden Globes nomination for Best Actress in a musical or comedy, Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie” TV series) may be a bit over-the-top as the tough, outspoken, and cantankerous 70-something Elle in Paul Weitz’ (“Little Fockers”) Grandma, but she is also very funny and very real. If you’ve heard of tough love…
Weiner, a documentary about the 2013 New York City mayoral campaign of Anthony Weiner, is very funny and very painful. It’s also one of the most engaging and insightful political movies I’ve seen. Co-directors Elyse Steinberg and former Weiner chief of staff Josh Kriegman were given extraordinary access to Anthony Weiner as he attempted to…
