The following is a review of Før Frosten (also known as ‘Before the Frost‘) — Directed by Michael Noer.
Før Frosten is Michael Noer’s fifth narrative feature film. Noer, whose last feature film was the remake of Papillon starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, has returned to his native country to make a dirty and cold period drama about the pursuit of happiness and survival in 19th Century Denmark. Continue reading “REVIEW: Før Frosten (2019)”
The following is a review of The Last Laugh — Directed by Greg Pritkin
Greg Pritkin’s Netflix film, The Last Laugh, which is dedicated to the late filmmaker Paul Mazursky, follows Al Hart (played by Chevy Chase), an elderly man who used to be the manager of comedians, as he somewhat reluctantly agrees to stay at the retirement home ‘Palm Sunshine.’ At the retirement home, he meets his old client Buddy Green (played by Richard Dreyfuss), with whom it is decided that he must go on tour in an effort to stay alive and realize a dream. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Last Laugh (2019)”
The following is a review of Brexit: The Uncivil War — Directed by Toby Haynes.
HBO’s latest TV-film, Brexit: The Uncivil War, comes from the director of a number of Doctor Who-episodes as well as the brilliant Sherlock-episode “The Reichenbach Fall,” Toby Haynes, who has now reteamed with Sherlock-star Benedict Cumberbatch to retell the story of the infamous portmanteau term, the solution for which still confuses and frustrates many people around the world. Continue reading “REVIEW: Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019)”
The following is a review of Mary Poppins Returns — Directed by Rob Marshall.
Whether P. L. Travers liked it or not, Robert Stevenson’s Mary Poppins is a recognized children’s’ musical classic. Though not exactly timeless, I think it is remarkable that both my mother and my sister and I all grew up watching Stevenson’s film. When I rewatched Mary Poppins recently, I must admit that I did not love it like I’ve been told I did when I was a child. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)”
The following is a review of Lionheart — Directed by Genevieve Nnaji.
Lionheart is the first original film from Nigeria that Netflix has acquired, and it is also the directorial debut of the Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaji, who also plays the lead role here. In Lionheart, Nnaji, who Oprah Winfrey apparently once referred to as the ‘Julia Roberts of Africa’ plays Adaeze, a well-dressed and seemingly wealthy partner in her family’s company ‘Lionheart.’ Continue reading “REVIEW: Lionheart (2019)”
The following is a review of Destroyer — Directed by Karyn Kusama.
In the first scenes of Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer, a seemingly inebriated LAPD detective, Erin Bell (played by Nicole Kidman), walks onto the scene of a crime to investigate what colleagues of her’s think of what happened to a murder victim with three dots in the back of his neck. What follows is a labyrinthine narrative complete with twists and shoot-outs as we learn what events made Bell, a former undercover officer, into a disheveled and visibly weathered revenge-seeking rogue detective. Continue reading “REVIEW: Destroyer (2018)”
The following is a short review of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch — an interactive film on Netflix.
Black Mirror as a series has become one of those anthology series events that I look forward to every time it pops up on Netflix. Black Mirror gives us decent-to-great science-fiction stories that don’t always seem far-fetched. But no Black Mirror episode has felt more like an event than its first interactive film — Bandersnatch — which was released on Netflix today. Continue reading “REVIEW: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)”
The following is a review of Creed II — Directed by Steven Caple, Jr.
Back in early July this year, I watched and reviewed the highly anticipated sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario. The sequel subtitled Day of the Soldado was directed by Stefano Sollima and his film provided us with a perfect example of just how wrong it can go when you make a change in the director’s chair for a sequel. Day of the Soldado was offensive and hollow, and it is one of the biggest film disappointments of the year for me. Continue reading “REVIEW: Creed II (2018)”
The following is a review of Bird Box — Directed by Susanne Bier.
The post-apocalyptic novel upon which Susanne Bier’s film of the same name, Bird Box, is based came out in 2014. So, let’s just get one thing out of the way, its ideas, though perhaps stale in a world where A Quiet Place just came out months ago, do not deserve to be cast aside just because Krasinski beat Bier to the punch. Besides, A Quiet Place isn’t even the film Bird Box resembles the most. Continue reading “REVIEW: Bird Box (2018)”
The following is a review of Roma — Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
There was something very nice and special about my experience of watching Alfonso Cuarón’s latest drama on Netflix, the sole distributor of this film. This is a streaming platform that hopes to be able to take this Mexican heartbreaker all the way to the Academy Awards. Netflix gets a lot of criticism from the film community and, for a lot of it, it is well-earned. Their logo is bright red-on-white, its logo’s sound effect is loud and intrusive, and once the film comes to an end you are yanked away by the service to watch the trailer for some other Netflix Original, thus rushing you out of the experience of sitting with a film, taking it in properly, during the final credits. Continue reading “REVIEW: Roma (2018)”
I'm Jeffrey Rex 