Hollywood may have lost the moniker of “The Dream Factory,” but those dreams remain alive in the stories told about the Golden Era’s heyday. The latest in this genre of celebrity biopics is Paul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die in…
Movie Review: Bright
Like the majority of screenwriter Max Landis’ work, Bright has a heavenly elevator pitch. A gritty David Ayer directed Los Angles police drama inundated with enough orcs, elves, and magic to make J.R.R Tolkien consider summering in Inglewood. What a…
Movie Review: Downsizing
Downsizing has a major tonal problem . The film we’re watching in the first act is drastically different than the one we watch in the second, which is drastically different than that of the third. At the very least, we can…
Movie Review: I, Tonya
If you watch this year’s The Disaster Artist and I, Tonya, you’ll notice similarities between James Franco’s Tommy Wiseau and Margot Robbie’s Tonya Harding: they both are determined individuals, struggling to excel in their passion, but are only scrutinized and…
Movie Review: The Shape of Water
Director Guillermo del Toro builds his worlds from the ground up, imbuing his chosen universes with such distinct senses of self that we can’t help but buy immediately into the world he’s drawn. A man with a mind for the fantastical…
AFI Review: Film Stars Reception, Thelma and More
For the journalist, AFI Fest is a manic dash from film to reception and back. The remaining days of our time at the fest was similar. Reception for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool One of several high-profile features in their…
Movie Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) possess two crucial understandings of what creates excellence in character building. The first, is the belief in the duality of human nature and that the version we are today isn’t always the version of…