Tag: 2017

REVIEW: The Shape of Water (2017)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Fox Searchlight Pictures

The following is a review of The Shape of Water — Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

There was a story that Mexican film auteur Guillermo Del Toro kept on mentioning as he was doing the rounds talking about his newest film – a true passion project – this last year that really stuck with me. Del Toro – perhaps the greatest champion of the creature feature subgenre these days – saw 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon when he was only six-years-old, and he was so taken by the image of the Gill-man swimming underneath actress Julia Adams that he found himself hoping that they would end up together. A strange idea, perhaps, but not to him. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Shape of Water (2017)” →

REVIEW: Phantom Thread (2017)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Focus Features

The following is a review of Phantom Thread — Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

When Daniel Day-Lewis — one of the most decorated and, arguably, one of the best actors of all-time — signs on to star in a film, you pay attention to that film. When someone like Day-Lewis then re-teams with a director who, when they last worked together, brought an Oscar-winning performance out of the thespian, you become excited by every piece of news about it. Continue reading “REVIEW: Phantom Thread (2017)” →

REVIEW: Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Sony Pictures Classics

The following is a review of Call Me By Your Name — Directed by Luca Guadagnino.

A film as a work of art is a an attempt. It is a risk, but it is a risk that you need to take. Actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster recently said that, for her, filmmaking was about figuring out your place in the world, or, simply, about evolving as a person. In reference to this film, one might say that becoming a filmmaker is choosing to speak. Continue reading “REVIEW: Call Me By Your Name (2017)” →

REVIEW: Stronger (2017)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Lionsgate & Roadside Attractions

The following is a review of Stronger — Directed by David Gordon Green.

When Peter Berg’s Patriots Day was released in 2016, a lot of people took issue with the kind of story it was — and some people even said it was too soon for that kind of film. But while Patriots Day, a dramatization of the events that dealt with the bombing head-on, was the subject of this type of controversy, backlash, what-have-you, David Gordon Green’s Stronger deals with that act of terrorism very differently. Continue reading “REVIEW: Stronger (2017)” →

REVIEW: Coco (2017)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The following is a review of Pixar’s Coco — Directed by Lee Unkrich.

“Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them,” English novelist Mary Ann Evans once wrote under the pen-name George Eliot. That tiny quote encapsulates a fear we all hold. That we will be forgotten once we are no longer here, and that we could forget the loved ones that have passed away. Continue reading “REVIEW: Coco (2017)” →

REVIEW: I, Tonya (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Neon

The following is a review of I, Tonya — Directed by Craig Gillespie.

Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya is a biographical picture about Tonya Harding (played by Margot Robbie), centered around her relationship with her mother — LaVona (played by Allison Janney) — and her husband — Jeff Gillooly (played by Sebastian Stan) — as well as the events surrounding the infamous 1994 attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan (played by Caitlin Carver), which, in the film, is referred to as ‘the incident.’
Continue reading “REVIEW: I, Tonya (2017)” →

REVIEW: Darkest Hour (2017)

UK Theatrical Release Poster – Focus Features

The following is a review of Darkest Hour — Directed by Joe Wright.

Darkest Hour — not to be confused with The Darkest Hour, a 2011 alien invasion movie set in Russia — is the newest film from British director Joe Wright, who is behind such films as 2007’s beautiful, heart-wrenching, and soul-crushing Atonement.  Continue reading “REVIEW: Darkest Hour (2017)” →

REVIEW: This is Us – Season One (2016-2017)

Season 1 Poster –
NBCUniversal

The following is a review of the debut season of This Is Us.

This is Us is a television dramedy about five characters, the way they are connected, and obstacles in life. You have Jack (played by Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (played by Mandy Moore), a married couple expecting triplets. Randall (played by Sterling K. Brown), an affluent commodity trader looking for his biological father. Kate (played by Chrissy Metz), an obese woman who is traumatized by the death of her father. And, finally, Kevin (played by Justin Hartley), a sitcom actor who is tired of not being taken seriously as an actor.  Continue reading “REVIEW: This is Us – Season One (2016-2017)” →

REVIEW: All the Money in the World (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – TriStar Pictures

The following is a review of All the Money in the World – Directed by Ridley Scott.

All the Money in the World is, easily, one of the most talked about films these last couple of months. It isn’t because it is one of the big favorites for the Academy Awards (it isn’t), and it isn’t because it was one of the most anticipated films of 2017 (it wasn’t). No, actually, the reason why people couldn’t stop talking about this film is for the simple fact that controversy is all over this film like moths around a flame. Continue reading “REVIEW: All the Money in the World (2017)” →

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)” →