In comparison, the western world’s absurd fascination with social media, online celebrity/fandom, and socioeconomic gain in virtual reality seems to take a noticeable backseat to the immense obsession that is China’s ultra-live streaming epidemic. Filmmaker Hao Wu’s tellingly spry and insightful documentary People’s Republic of Desire is an involving expose of this technological addiction gone…
Besides minor adjustments with its story and certain supporting characters, Neil Burger’s (“Limitless”) The Upside is a fairly faithful remake of the popular 2011 French film “The Intouchables.” Both movies are inspired by the real-life friendship of French aristocrat Philippe Pozzo di Borgo and his Algerian caretaker Abdel Sellou and each highlight their dynamics of…
The late 80s Garry Marshall directed romantic comedy “Overboard” starring real-life couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell was a breezy, amiable vehicle suitable for the celebrity tandem’s collaborative cinematic exposure. The Hawn-Russell cheeky pet project was not necessarily a rom-com that waded in the deep end of watery hysterics, but it still proved to be…
Many filmgoers became aware of the infamous power grab of Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, a radical leftist group whose legacy included the direct killing (via execution) or indirect (via universal forced labor and food shortages), of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of Cambodians in the 1970s (the subject of the film “The…
Thoroughbreds has completely reinvented the concept of a haunted mansion, having mercifully put the former out to pasture and out of its misery. This particular mansion is home to Lily, a polished upper-class teenager with a fancy boarding school on her transcript, a coveted internship on her resume, and a penchant for short shorts and…
It should surprise no one: Daniel Day-Lewis shines in Paul Thomas Anderson’s bold and elemental romantic drama, Phantom Thread. The 60-year-old, who’s pledged to leave the silver screen, provides a well-sewn performance in this sendoff. And Anderson, an auteur by nearly any standard, dazzles again with masterful scenery, elegant costumes and a deeper look into…
In Chinese culture, the number three is considered lucky for its similarity to the character meaning “life” or “to give birth.” As such, Mountains May Depart makes no small use of significant triptychs in telling its story. The film is segmented into three disparate chapters and time periods; its three main characters are caught up…
