Over the past decade, Marvel Studios have proved time and again their mastery of the superhero genre. Central to this success is the combination of superhero tropes with other genres: World War II film with “Captain America: The First Avenger,” conspiracy thriller with “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” heist movie with “Ant-Man,” high school comedy…
While the teen sex comedy Blockers brings on the typical roller-coaster of raunchiness, it somehow registers devilishly with an offbeat, uproarious take on the trials and tribulations of stress-induced parenting and safeguarding the so-called virtues of impressionable daughters from predatory prom dates. With a deft hand, director Kay Cannon (screenwriter for the “Pitch Perfect” trilogy…
“Jay Chandrasekhar helms this wacky vehicle with all the conviction of a defective police siren . . . feels more like an excuse for Chandrasekhar and his fratboy Broken Lizard comedy troupe players to merge and serve up their pet project just to kill some time.” — Frank Ochieng’s critical take on 2001’s “Super Troopers”…
“Oh, God, make small the old star-eaten blanket of the sky, that I may fold it round me and in comfort lie” — T.E. Hulme, “The Embankment” When I first heard about British director Andrew Haigh’s (“45 Years”) Lean on Pete, it sounded like a warm, cuddly drama about horses, perhaps an updated version of…
The Rider is an unflinching tribute (and one that made me flinch) to those who fully inhabit the present and “live their lives 8 seconds at a time.” It’s this short term thinking that renders it impossible for rider Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) to dream of a life beyond those series of seconds at the…
I think it’s fair to say that Last Seen in Idaho is a well-balanced, albeit cheesy, thriller. It has a straightforward plot with the expected number of twists and it includes strong, believable, even relatable lead characters who are portrayed with an acceptable level of competence. Now, I know that sentence isn’t exactly a ringing…
Obey lays out its elements early on, declaring its setting, its interest and its milieu from the opening shot. Yet, within this shot and throughout the film, writer-director Jamie Jones also defies expectation. In the opening sequence before the titles, a deep focus long take captures six young people work towards the camera, discussing the…
