INFILTRATE HATE. One year after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that ended with a murdered counter-protester, this film had its U.S. premiere. Taking place largely in the 1970s, Spike Lee’s most powerful movie in twenty years draws clear connections to present days, showing how the threat of racism simply won’t disappear. One of … Continue reading BlacKkKlansman: Joining Trump’s “Good People”
WE’RE GOING TO LIBERATE THE SHIT OUT OF YOU. After a successful tour in Iraq, four-star general Glen McMahon (Brad Pitt) is relocated to Afghanistan to help steer that war in the right direction. Former documentary filmmaker David Michôd adapted the book that chronicled General Stanley McChrystal’s time in Afghanistan (which ended in his dismissal), … Continue reading War Machine
Two thirtysomethings (Jenna Fischer, Chris Messina) are still trying to figure out adulthood when their paths cross at a zoo where they’ve taken temporary jobs. Lee Kirk made his feature-film directing debut together with his wife, The Office star Fischer, in the shape of a low-budget, indie dramedy shot in Denver. The title is a … Continue reading The Giant Mechanical Man
MANKIND WAS BORN ON EARTH. IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO DIE HERE. The day I saw this movie, I woke up feeling sad over what is a very common dream for me. It had taken me back to my teenage years, or childhood (time is not all that important in these dreams) and I was … Continue reading Interstellar: Escape From Earth
NO ONE GETS AWAY CLEAN. After watching Traffik, a 1990 British miniseries portraying the illegal drugs trade from the Pakistani opium poppy grower to the British user, Steven Soderbergh knew that the story would work just as well transferred to an American and Mexican setting. He also knew that he wanted a reportage feel, which is … Continue reading Traffic: The Never-Ending Story
KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE. When a U.S. Senator gets his throat slit, the CIA recognize the method of a legendary Cold War assassin and calls an old operative (Richard Gere) back into action. Screenwriter Michael Brandt’s directing debut is a thriller that offers mediocre but OK entertainment right up to the finale where a huge … Continue reading The Double
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START ACTING LIKE A FAMILY. When their adoptive son Alejandro (Ben Barnes) is about to get married, Don and Ellie (Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton), who are divorced, have to pretend to still be married in order to satisfy Alejandro’s biological mother. This remake of a French romantic comedy, Mon … Continue reading The Big Wedding
BEST. NIGHT. EVER. In 1980s Los Angeles, Matt Franklin (Topher Grace) has a job in a video store, but when he meets his high-school crush (Teresa Palmer) again he tells her that he actually works for Goldman Sachs. Another comedy that desperately wants to invoke a John Hughes feeling, even if it’s doubtful that its … Continue reading Take Me Home Tonight
MAIN STREET TOOK THE FALL. WALL STREET GOT THE CHECK. August 2008; when the Lehman Brothers CEO (James Woods) fails to come up with a deal to save the bank, it is up to the Treasury Secretary (William Hurt) to make the private sector swallow a bitter pill or two. Director Curtis Hanson’s first TV … Continue reading Too Big to Fail
FEAR IS REBORN. A group of killers, including a black ops soldier (Adrien Brody) who assumes leadership, are dropped into a jungle where they seem to be hunted by predatory aliens. Not really a remake of the original Predator (1987); co-producer Robert Rodriguez prefers to see this film as the third chapter in the franchise. Actually, it looks … Continue reading Predators
A LOVE STORY. MORE OR LESS. If Hallmark Valentine’s Day cards make you go “aww”, then this is a movie for you. Director Garry Marshall and his star-studded cast introduce us to a great number of stories about people and their romantic relationships on the supposedly most love-filled day of the year, most of them … Continue reading Valentine’s Day
IN A WORLD THAT TOLD THEM HOW TO THINK, SHE SHOWED THEM HOW TO LIVE. In 1953, new arts history teacher Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) arrives at the prestigious Wellesley College in Massachusetts and tries to make her female students consider a career, not just marriage. A movie in the vein of Dead Poets Society (1989), … Continue reading Mona Lisa Smile
HOW LONG CAN ANY MAN FIGHT THE DARKNESS… BEFORE HE FINDS IT IN HIMSELF? Life is sweet for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), but there’s clouds on the horizon in the shape of heartbreak, a strange force from outer space, and new villains. Spidey has a lot on his plate in this film and it tends … Continue reading Spider-Man 3
