This year’s Oscar-nominated short films will be released in select cities next month, but a vastly inferior program of shorts will sell at least 10 times the number of tickets. “Movie 43,” as it’s titled for no apparent reason, follows the Hollywood moneymaking formula recently re-popularized by “Valentine’s Day” and “New Year’s Eve”: maximize star-power …
Jacob Aaron Estes’ “The Details” has no idea what tone it wants to establish. Billed as “darkly comic,” the movie attempts to strike that distinctly Coen Brothers-esque balance between farcical humor and over-the-top violence. But Estes is nowhere near as artistically gifted and confident as the Coens and, by not committing exclusively to either style, …
Whenever a film critic writes that a movie “doesn’t know what it wants to be,” the oft-used line is invariably the thesis of an overwhelmingly negative review. The reason for this is obvious: If a filmmaker’s intentions are unclear, then their work can’t adequately convey a message — the fundamental act of storytelling. But there …
Most Hollywood films are made for profit, not artistic reasons, but rarely do they make their financial motives as transparent as Kirk Jones’ “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” does. The film’s desire to win ticket-buyers, rather than admirers is evident in every element of its existence, right down to the title — which, taking …
