The year is 1990. The place is a rural Minnesota town and a man there reports to the police station because his daughter has accused him of raping her. John Gray (David Dencik, “The Homesman”) is polite, cooperative, and remorseful, yet he claims to have no memory of the crime. He insists his daughter is…
Love and the law. Both components have their measures of boundaries, rules and expectations. Of course when both cross paths in a dubious manner then watch out because it certainly is not pretty. The ruination of love can be fatal but breaking the law while in love can make for a dangerous dichotomy. In Top…
There is something satisfying about five thirty-something men going into an afternoon screening of an animated “children’s” film that features talking animals, and noting other audience members of a similar age. That was my experience of Zootopia (re-named “Zootropolis” in the UK), as myself and four friends of a similar age found ourselves in a…
Named after an old chain gang work song about the light of a passing train being a symbol of redemption, Jeff Nichols’ (“Mud”) Midnight Special is an enigmatic science-fiction thriller about a boy with special powers and his parents whose bridge of love between them knows no worldly boundaries. Set in the American South, the…
After the historic (and surprising) success of the original “Ride Along” in 2014, there were immediate rumors about a forthcoming sequel. The Ice Cube and Kevin Hart vehicle boasted the highest opening weekend gross ever in the month of January, bringing in over $154 million dollars. Kevin Hart’s rock star comedy presence sent the film…
With just a handful of mostly stationary wide shots and a mere twelve minutes of actual screentime, writer/director Jörn Threlfall examines a cinematic crime scene with a clinical curiosity and an eerie air of mystery. He introduces no character arcs in his powerful short Over, instead engaging his audience by putting us in the role…
In a small village in Germany, a wolf lurks in the night, searching for food in neighborhood garbage cans, attacking pets, and generally terrorizing those who live there. Lonely, timid, and quiet Jakob Wolski (Michel Diercks), a local police officer, has taken it upon himself to lure the wolf away from people’s homes by buying…
