While ambitious as a ripe tangent in borrowing a real-life scandal, the whole shadowing angle of May December overloads what was excessive enough as off-screen history to begin with. Applying a smattering of unlikely kinks and a confounding third act of insecurity swerves sinks the film. Haynes is left with a mood piece of examining taboo with more taboo. and it gets unattractively lost in just that very vibe.
Read MoreHaynes’ Wonderstruck still evokes true and impassioned power. The film strides within a sensitive middle ground of approachable and praiseworthy quaintness in addressing difficult youthful challenges and emotions. The effect is a grown-up experience audiences can, and should, appreciate compared to the mindless popcorn fluff and weightless distractions studio shovel into the PG marketplace. If a new definition could be created for the term “wonderstruck,” it would read “rapt attention.”
Read MoreSpareness and simplicity can either be a fountain of nuance and austerity or it can be a vacuum of plainness and lethargy. Filmmaker Kelly Reichardt is a celebrated torchbearer of the minimalist film movement and her newest feature, “Certain Women,” boast three strong female leads in Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, and Kristen Stewart. Despite that base of acting forte and the patronage of Todd Haynes as an executive producer, the void outweighs any wellspring.
Read MoreAs with any year, there are hot topics being debated immediately stemming from snubs and surprises. Here are my reaction and takeaways, consisting of five snubs and five surprises, coming out of this morning's nominations announcements.
Read MoreThe 88th Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, January 14, 2016, hot off of the weekend's 73rd Golden Globe awards. I've been following the full awards season over on my Awards Tracker page. Using that data as the tea leaves and a truckload of hunches, I'm going to attempt to closely predict the Oscar nominations for the "Big 8" categories for the third year in a row.
Read More51st Chicago International Film Festival OUT-Look Special Presentation
"Carol," among many other superlatives, is a film completely driven by the weight of reason and accountability within its female lead characters. Played by Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and Oscar nominee Rooney Mara, we witness two women formulating the capacity to reason with the undeniable truths they find in their hearts while understanding the ramifications and accountability acting on those feelings would result in as women of the pre-feminist 1950s. "Carol" is a fascinating and empowering love story, no matter what label you associate for your identity or disposition.
Read More
