After his thematically challenging, emotionally taxing first two films, “Shotgun Stories” and “Take Shelter,” one wouldn’t have naturally predicted that budding American auteur Jeff Nichols would next move on to an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser of a boys’ adventure film. But I suppose Nichols needed a break from doom and gloom, just as audiences do, and there […]
Hello and welcome back to Box Office Beat, the column in which I predict the upcoming weekend’s box office results. Like two weeks ago, with the release of Marvel’s mega-hit “Iron Man 3,” there is only one new wide opener this time out. So let’s just get to it… “Star Trek Into Darkness” began its
Box Office Beat: Weekend of May 17 Read More »
First, let’s get the chronology down straight. Usually, we post the latest episode of the Critic Speak Podcast on Monday night. But because James and I were unable to be on Skype at the same time Monday, we were forced to record a day later, on Tuesday. So, despite the fact that this episode is
Critic Speak Podcast: Episode 5 Read More »
Those with no experience in François Ozon’s complex films might initially mistake “In the House” for an inspirational teacher movie — and in its own wicked, French way, it is. The curmudgeonly, washed-up-novelist of an English teacher protagonist (Fabrice Luchini) may not find the motivation to inspire his home-room of 20 impressionable youths—“The worst class I’ve
Review: “In the House” Read More »
Filmmaker Olivier Assayas was about the same age as protagonist Gilles (Clément Métayer) in 1971, the year “Something in the Air” takes place, and the film is undeniably intended to be read as an autobiography. It’s two hours of Assayas recreating that culturally turbulent time in France’s recent history—the period following the May 1968 revolution
Review: “Something in the Air” Read More »
Normally, when you read about Cornetto on a film blog like Critic Speak, it’s in reference to filmmaker Edgar Wright’s “Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy,” starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, which was named in loving tribute to the venerable ice cream cone. But surprise: that series is not the subject of this post (though, yes,
Sponsored Video: Cornetto’s Cupidity short film series Read More »
“Big” and “loud” are two adjectives that have become synonymous with Michael Bay productions over the years, but usually they refer to cars, shootouts, and alien robots, not actual human characters, as in “Pain & Gain,” the filmmaker’s lowest budgeted film by several fold since his 1995 debut “Bad Boys.” Despite the smaller pool of
Review: “Pain & Gain” Read More »
Hello and welcome back to Box Office Beat, the column in which I predict the upcoming weekend’s box office results. Now that the rather unpredictable “Iron Man 3” is out of the way—my arbitrary guess ($160.8m) came within 8 percent of the actual figure ($174.1m)—we have two new openers that more easily stand up to
Box Office Beat: Weekend of May 10 Read More »
On this week’s episode of the Critic Speak Podcast, we review the hot new Marvel blockbuster “Iron Man 3,” discuss Hollywood’s latest method of vetting scripts for their commercial viability, and examine the New York SAFE Act’s potential impact on film and television productions. And as always, James and I close the show by covering
Critic Speak Podcast: Episode 4 Read More »
The TCM Classic Film Festival wrapped up last weekend and, if I do say, it was one of the best moviegoing events I’ve ever attended. How liberating it is to enjoy a festival that isn’t populated by bloggers under pressure to break news or be the first to review a premiering film. Everybody attending TCMFF,
2013 TCM Classic Film Festival: Dispatch #2 Read More »
