Rest assured: this is the only Oscar predictions post you’ll see on Critic Speak all year. While the rest of the Internet film community becomes obsessed with statuettes come November, writing almost exclusively about precursors and frontrunners and “Oscar buzz” for the next four months, we pride ourselves on keeping the focus on real criticism. […]
Our 2014 Oscar Picks and Predictions Read More »
Liam Neeson’s late-career transformation into the ass-kicking headliner of big-budget B-movies, jump-started by 2008’s smash-hit “Taken,” has been as welcome as it was unexpected. Who, a decade ago, would have guessed that the then-52-year-old actor, having just shaken off the image-tarnishing “Star Wars: Episode I” with an Academy Award nomination for his dignified portrayal of
Review: “Non-Stop” Read More »
It should go without saying by now that when you enter a film by Godfrey Reggio, you should not expect any semblance of a traditional narrative. Like his noted “Qatsi” trilogy—that’s 1982’s “Koyaanisqatsi,” 1988’s “Powaqqatsi,” and 2002’s “Naquoyqatsi”—Reggio’s latest effort, “Visitors,” is but a collection of 74 shots manipulated by various effects, set to an
Review: “Visitors” Read More »
2013 wasn’t a bad year for movies, but it felt like it at times due to the dearth of big surprises. Of my top 10 films, nine were made by established auteurs, eight of whom produce work I routinely praise. Where was the earth-shattering debut from an exciting new voice, or the big blockbuster that
Danny Baldwin’s Top 10 Films of 2013 Read More »
While most of us have come to accept product placement as a necessary evil in motion picture financing, the way in which Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” prominently hawks eHarmony, Papa John’s Pizza, and Cinnabon just goes to underscore its organically phony qualities. The film, which builds a narrative around the daydreaming
Review: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Read More »
Paramount and the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater chain today announced the “Anchorfan Pass,” a $15 ticket that will allow patrons to see “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” an unlimited number of times at any Drafthouse location beginning on January 1. It’s a nifty promotional idea for a film that is sure to have many repeat
Could the Anchorfan Pass be Hollywood’s newest business model? Read More »
Superficial readings of Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” characterize the movie as a microcosmic look at the gluttony and corruption of America’s so-called “One Percent,” but it’s actually a broader comment on our society’s confused moral compass. There’s a reason Scorsese and screenwriter Terence Winter chose to tell this particular story of financial
Review: “The Wolf of Wall Street” Read More »
On my final night attending this year’s AFI Fest, I hustled across the Chinese multiplex lobby from a screening of Hong Sang-soo’s “Our Sunhi” to another of “Borgman,” the reportedly highly disturbing Dutch film that made waves at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. I was too late to secure anything better than a second-row seat,
AFI Fest 2013: “The Unknown Known,” “The Past,” “Our Sunhi,” & “The Green Inferno” Read More »
Another year, another AFI Fest. It’s hard to believe I’ve been attending this Los Angeles institution for seven years now, but there’s nothing I look forward to more each November. And while I’m no longer able to see the ludicrous number of movies I once was—back in 2007 and 2008, I ignored my undergraduate obligations
AFI Fest 2013: “The Wind Rises” & “Vic + Flo Saw a Bear” Read More »
Call it “The Lost Episode.” James and I recorded this edition of the Critic Speak Podcast nearly a month ago, but then life got in the way and I didn’t have a chance to edit and upload it until today. My sincerest apologies. When you hit play, imagine you’ve just sent your DeLorean back to
Critic Speak Podcast: Episode 14 (Guest Greg Sestero) Read More »
