Crimson Peak is one of the most beautifully crafted visual experiences I’ve had in a movie theater in a while. Guillermo del Toro certainly knows how to put together beautiful imagery, whether it’s a fantasy masterpiece like “Pan’s Labyrinth” or a comic book adaptation like “Hellboy.” His movies are amazing to just *look* at, and…
Clumsy action thriller Momentum may as well be retitled “Further Proof That Morgan Freeman Will Star in Anything.” The towering talent who has played everyone from Robin Hood’s sidekick to God is cinematically ubiquitous and yet has long since remained respectable while slipping deeper into embarrassing paycheck territory. One has to think that the reason…
There are more coming-of-age films than masterpieces in the Louvre, but there are only a handful of them that have stood the test of time, even though teen-speak changes over the years. First-time Canadian director Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant, an update of the short that won the youth jury prize at Locarno International Film Festival…
Imagine a world where demons share human cities. We never see them, but they see us, surround us, interact with us and depend upon us, while all the time hating us and viewing us with contempt. Such is the premise of Fire City: End of Days, the feature debut from Tom Woodruff Jr. It is…
Every Secret Thing begins with a birthday party — a pool party. 11-year-old Alice is thrilled to have been invited, but she’s really annoyed that her mother makes her bring Ronnie along. Ronnie is weird, quiet, and awkward, and she’s stalling Alice’s plans to be a popular girl. Also, Alice really doesn’t like that her…
A good mystery movie doesn’t necessarily need a great mystery to work, but it certainly helps. So a bad mystery movie with a bland, boring mystery must be pretty damned from the start. That’s where Frank the Bastard finds itself, since despite having a mysterious title and a mysterious premise (a young woman confronts her…
If among our current generation of Hollywood actresses there were any one who embodied the idea of “classic beauty,” it would be Blake Lively. She is undeniably radiant, carrying a grace and poise that few others can master, and in this sense is perfectly cast as Adaline Bowman: A beautiful young woman who ceases to…
