Todd Haynes has been in the zone for quite some time now, creating a remarkable streak of films that establish glorious illusions, and then burrow deeper for the real, messy deal. Wonderstruck, the director’s first movie for a younger audience, feels like an anomaly in other, less intriguing ways—including an atypically slack narrative and an […]
Andrew Wright
Posted inMovies & TV
History, New York, and Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck
A Film About Memories, Hope, and Time Travel
A film about memories, hope, and time travel.
Posted inMovies & TV
Ai Weiwei’s Human Flow, a Film About the Global Refugee Crisis, Packs a Wallop
Boundless ambition is nothing new at the movies, of course. But occasionally, a project can still come along with the scope and chutzpah to throw the audience for a loop. Human Flow, the staggeringly gargantuan look at the global refugee crisis from Chinese director and activist Ai Weiwei, takes a subject that could consume a […]
Posted inArts
Ai Weiwei Captures an Overwhelming Human Flow
The Chinese Artist’s Film About the Global Refugee Crisis Packs a Wallop
The Chinese artist’s film about the global refugee crisis packs a wallop.
Posted inMovies & TV
Don’t Miss This Weekend’s Quick, Essential “Kubrick on Film” Series
Stanley Kubrick was a genius, of course. But once you get past that self-evident truth, there’s quite a bit to unpack: his obsessive attention to detail, his legendary penchant for zillions of takes, and his tendency to treat actors as particularly troublesome parts of the scenery. (What kind of director makes Scatman Crothers break down, […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Venture Inside the Brain of Stanley Kubrick—on 35 and 70mm
The Hollywood Theatre’s Quick, Essential “Kubrick on Film” Series
The Hollywood Theatre’s quick, essential “Kubrick on Film” series.
Posted inMovies & TV
Wind River Review: Taylor Sheridan’s Latest Is a Tough, Smart B-Movie
Actor Taylor Sheridan certainly came bolting out of the gate as a screenwriter, with his scripts for 2015’s Sicario and last year’s Hell or High Water displaying a firm grasp of pulp storytelling dynamics and an eagerness to explore the darker aspects of the human condition. (That both films had terrific directors in charge, with […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Dark Pulp of Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River
Starring Jeremy Renner as a Guy Who Doesn’t Say Much
Starring Jeremy Renner as a guy who doesn’t say much.
Posted inMovies & TV
13 Minutes Review: Downfall Director Oliver Hirschbiegel Returns to Nazi Germany. Fun!
Downfall, director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s exploration of Adolf Hitler’s final days, succeeded by going deep, fully acknowledging its subject’s unimaginable monstrousness while also locating an aggrieved peevishness that made him fascinatingly, horribly relatable. (Can a zillion YouTube parodies be wrong? Well, yes, but not in this case.) 13 Minutes, Hirschbiegel’s return to the time frame, unfortunately […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Dark Tower Review: Maybe Just Reread the Books.
In a career known for Going Big, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series still stands apart. Beginning as an enigmatic, college-written mashup between Sergio Leone and Tolkien, it developed over the decades into a gloriously overstuffed, wildly imaginative mix of authorial insertions, ties to King’s other works, and metaphysical hooey. Even when it seems to occasionally […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Dark Tower: Stephen King’s Big, Weird Magnum Opus Is Now a Short, Mediocre Movie
Maybe Just Reread the Books.
Maybe just reread the books.
Posted inMovies & TV
A Harrowing (and Uneven) 13 Minutes
Downfall Director Oliver Hirschbiegel Returns to Nazi Germany. Fun!
Downfall director Oliver Hirshbiegel returns to Nazi Germany. Fun!