Category: Movie Reviews

RETRO REVIEW: El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)

Spanish Language Release Poster – Warner Bros.

The following is a retro review of Guillermo Del Toro’s modern classic El Laberinto del Fauno

Fairy tales and all things magic exist right at the very edges of what we consider to be real. The wonder and horrors of the world equally represent the emotional current with which magic — light and dark — resides. There is much to be said about the horrific nature of our collective understanding of fairy tales. There is a brutality that flows through many true fairy tales. Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)” →

RETRO REVIEW: The Five Obstructions (2003 – Documentary)

Release Poster – Zentropa

The following is a review of The Five Obstructions.

The Five Obstructions is a Danish documentary about a very particular friendship between directors. Danish auteur Lars Von Trier is a big fan of Jørgen Leth — a Danish director — and his 1967 Danish short film The Perfect Human — a very literal examination of a couple. So, Lars Von Trier has this idea — what if we took this gem of a short film and absolutely ruined it? Made a mess of it.  Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: The Five Obstructions (2003 – Documentary)” →

REVIEW: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Fox Searchlight Pictures

The following is a review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh

To say that you’ve seen Martin McDonagh’s entire filmography isn’t all that impressive. The Irish playwright’s filmography only includes his excellent Oscar-winning short film Six Shooter and now three feature films. But in these few films McDonagh has already established some trademark elements that are always in his films. Unstable and impulsive male characters that are often marked by their previous misdeeds, some kind of stable mentor or friend to the impulsive male, lots and lots of curse words, oh and he’s a big fan of joking about little people. Continue reading “REVIEW: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)” →

REVIEW: The Greatest Showman (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – 20th Century Fox

The following is a review of The Greatest Showman — Directed by Michael Gracey.

It’s the end of the year, so let’s give it a go with a Christmas analogy. Imagine you’re about to open this great, big present covered with gorgeous wrapping paper. But as you rip off the wrapping paper, and open the box that contains your gift, you start to sense the disappointment as the great, big gift is much smaller than the box and the wrapping paper made it seem.

What did you get? Oh, it’s this neat little plaque with some inspirational quote on it. It’s about as generic as possible. That’s The Greatest Showman. A good-hearted hoodwink so disappointing that you question why you ever got excited at all. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Greatest Showman (2017)” →

REVIEW: Wind River (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – The Weinstein Company

The following is a review of Wind River – Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan.

When Taylor Sheridan gets one of his screenplays made, you pay attention. The first two films in his so-called ‘frontier trilogy’ — Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario and David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water — were amazing films that both ended up on my top ten films of the year lists in 2015 and 2016 respectively. And although Sheridan’s presumably last film in his frontier trilogy — Wind River, the first in the trilogy that he has directed himself — won’t be among my ten favorites of 2017, this modern western is still one hell of a movie. Continue reading “REVIEW: Wind River (2017)” →

REVIEW: Bright (2017)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Bright — Directed by David Ayer.

2017 has been a remarkable year for Netflix, in that they’ve given us a handful of great films to be watched in the comfort of our own homes, as well as some great seasons of television. Okja, The Meyerowitz Stories, and Mudbound are terrific Netflix original films. But none of those films were this year’s biggest Netflix risk: Bright, on the other hand, is, and, unfortunately, the first Netflix blockbuster, which reportedly has a budget of $90 million, is a disappointment. Continue reading “REVIEW: Bright (2017)” →

REVIEW: Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Disney / Lucasfilm

The following is my review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi — Directed by Rian Johnson.

There is nothing like Star Wars. The Star Wars saga includes the biggest films of all-time, the most influential films of all-time, and one of the most rabid and passionate fandoms in popular culture. There is an innumerable amount of lore about the galaxy far, far away, and the philosophy of Jediism was once recorded as a religion. Star Wars, as author Chris Taylor wrote, conquered the universe, and its influences can be felt throughout popular culture.  Continue reading “REVIEW: Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)” →

REVIEW: The Square (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Magnolia Pictures

The following is a review of The Square — Directed by Ruben Östlund.

Had you told me in the beginning of the year that a Swedish film about a Dane looking for his stolen smartphone while he has to take part in discussions about the amorphous nature of ‘the exhibitable’ at an art museum, then I probably wouldn’t have known whether to laugh or cry. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Square (2017)” →

REVIEW: Mudbound (2017)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a short review of Mudbound – Directed by Dee Rees

Mudbound is a period piece set in the 1940s about two families from opposite sides of the track — the impoverished African-American Jackson family and the white and more wealthy McAllan family — whose paths cross when Henry McAllan (played by Jason Clarke) is the victim of a scam and, as a result, has to move his family, including his racist father (played by Jonathan Banks), to an area unbefitting the lives that they had thought they would lead in Mississippi. Continue reading “REVIEW: Mudbound (2017)” →

REVIEW: Shot Caller (2017)

Release Poster – Bold Films & Participant Media

The following is a short review of Shot Caller – Directed by Ric Roman Waugh

In Shot Caller, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays Jacob “Money” Harlon, a former white collar worker, who we first meet as he is about to be released from prison. At first, Coster-Waldau looks nothing like you would expect him to; he has longish slicked-back hair and a handlebar mustache. He even has genuinely offensive tattoos all over his torso and arms.  Continue reading “REVIEW: Shot Caller (2017)” →