Martin McDonagh’s surly language can both incite or heal tension at any given moment. Death is on the doorstep of just about everyone involved—making survivability excitingly unpredictable—and we cannot help but grin between jaw drops. That effect only works with strong performers who understand McDonagh’s brusque wavelength.
Read MoreTakashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero, the direct sequel to his brilliant Godzilla Minus One, is the second straight film—and third if you go back to 2016’s modern reboot of Shin Godzilla from the directing team of Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi–-that stands as superior and concrete proof that no non-Japanese studio or filmmaker should ever touch this historic kaiju character again.
Read MoreWith its arrival in limited theatrical release, this sequel expands one of the most unexpected and satisfying indie film offerings into an official trilogy. This series has become gilded, not in golden box office riches, but in a shiny red varnish of the bloody good fun these movies have shed, squirted, and sprayed across so many of its frames for six years now.
Read MoreA movie like Jimmy could recreate highlights for two hours, and audiences would welcome the show—and likely forgive mild caricature—if it meant snuggling up to that famous droll and some of his well-worn stories. But there was more to the Pennsylvania native and a motivation of greater purpose than what was projected on the silver screen.
Read MoreThe last engaging trait of a good walk-and-talk movie like Crossing a Dawn is the ability to create an approachable and honest experience. While you want to be drawn to the appeal of the combined potential couple in question as they fully speak and recognize that a version of Before Sunrise is happening to them, you, the viewer, want to play your own “what would you do with the chance” mental game.
Read MoreThe movie is unafraid to shift ways to see and feel beauty, even through—and especially through—artificial sources. What makes her happy makes him happy, and not the over-traditional other way around, and that simple stance speaks volumes. Wicker’s lifts given to a woman’s independence and the proper devotion a spouse should give their partner create harmony sorely missing in the world.
Read MoreOne cinematic trait, among a great many, that the fine animation artists at the Portland-based Laika Studios consistently demonstrate is visual sweep. When you see one of their films, it’s like no other filmgoing experience. The precision movement and jaw-dropping detail poured into the production house’s 17-year, six-film catalog, which began with Coraline, is beyond impressive, and with Wildwood, that sense of sweep only gets bigger.
Read MoreFor their 246th episode, two dancing film critics, two proud dads, and two regret-filled school teachers, Will Johnson and Don Shanahan, embark on something they've never done on the show: Revisit and re-grade a movie from a previous episode. Early in their run together, Will and Don couldn't be farther apart on Damien Chazelle's La La Land. In honor of its 10th anniversary and adding the new experience of bringing their respective teen daughters to the film's recent return to the big screen, our boys reflect on previous loves and old wounds.
Read MoreThere’s shrewd wisdom in that call, because, like this film’s second lesson, that’s plenty and that’s where the real intrigue is. While the overarching rhetoric is scintillating and probably deserves more time in actual deliberations, The Plea found the right territory to explore in this all-hands-on-deck indie standout.
Read MoreLove of Your Life proves that there’s always room for a good weeper at the movies. We, as the audience, attach ourselves to figures we love quickly, and process the acceleration of missing them when they are taken away. Watching fictional proxies go through recognizable pain can help viewers reflect, consider, prepare, or push through their own, in classic “what would you do?” fashion.
Read MoreFor their 246th episode, two dancing film critics, two proud dads, and two regret-filled school teachers, Will Johnson and Don Shanahan, embark on something they've never done on the show: Revisit and re-grade a movie from a previous episode. Early in their run together, Will and Don couldn't be farther apart on Damien Chazelle's La La Land. In honor of its 10th anniversary and adding the new experience of bringing their respective teen daughters to the film's recent return to the big screen, our boys reflect on previous loves and old wounds.
Read MoreFor their 245th episode, two steely film critics, two liquid metal dads, and two fate-believing school teachers, Will Johnson and Don Shanahan, welcome back guest Mark Krawczyk of Special Mark Productions and The Spoiler Room Podcast for his second appearance in a two-episode arc. The three go from video game fatalities last week to some of the best OG ones with a talk on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. All of them remember where they were and glow in the blue-tinted James Cameron memories.
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