Category: Movie Reviews
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Review: “Shirley”: The Masterful Resurgence of Cinema Regurgitance
The pattern of filmed biopics is a dire and desolate one. Ever since the 78th Academy Awards in 2005, when the manipulative and dull film “Crash” won Best Picture for its shallow depiction of racial tension, filmmaker Spike Lee coined the term “Oscar bait”, a type of film that studios saw the potential of producing…
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Review: “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” – Eliza Hittman
To blend the utter brutality and unforgiving nature of the real world with the tender emotion of a person in crisis is a difficult task to beckon of anyone. The deft touch of Eliza Hittman was perfectly suited for “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”, the solemn odyssey of a lonesome teenage girl searching to regain control…
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Review: “The Lodge” – Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz
If the harsh corners and thick wooden doors are not confining enough, then the rampant torrents of snow that befall the resident of the titular holiday getaway would surely cause anyone to doubt their sanity. This supposition does not even take into account the roguish misbehavior of grim forces, whether those be the products of…
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Review: Capone – Josh Trank
There is a fine line between haunting and laughable and Josh Trank’s “Capone” toes that line bunglingly. Some of the images certainly transport the viewer into a wicked nightmare, as Al “Fonz” Capone (Tom Hardy) waddles his way through a dreamscape rife with cascading jet black and steel gray balloons, violent acts of savagery, ravenous…
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Kritik: “Honey Boy” – Alma Har’el
“Meine ganze Arbeit erfordert und wird durch Trauma-Erinnerungen motiviert!” Otis (Lucas Hedges) zischt seinen Therapeuten im ersten Akt von Honey Boy an. Die Namen sind unterschiedlich und einige Details wurden ausgelassen, aber die wahre Natur seines wirklichen Lebenstraumas wird leicht ersichtlich. Shia LaBeouf schrieb dieses Drehbuch während seines 10-wöchigen, vom Gericht angeordneten Reha-/Beratungsaufenthaltes nach einer…
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Review: Honey Boy – Alma Har’el
“My whole work requires and is motivated by trauma reminders!” Otis (Lucas Hedges) hisses at his therapist in the first act of Honey Boy. The names are different and some details were omitted, but the true nature of his real life trauma becomes readily apparent. Shia LaBeouf wrote this screenplay during his 10 week court…
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Review: “All The Bright Places” – Brett Haley
Violet Markey is on the ledge of the bridge, contemplating her final moments, when Theodore Finch shows up. He convinces her to not jump, and later, asks her to become his partner in a school project. At first, she resists the idea. She is still too tied up in her grief to go out into…
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Review: “1917” – Sam Mendes
It was the exact moment when lead actors George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman appeared on screen, that there was no escape from facing World War I yourself, because the whole atmosphere drags the audience into a claustrophic swirl which takes your breath. Award winning director Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”) based his newest picture on a…
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Review: “The Peanut Butter Falcon” – Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz
An ode to friendship and camaraderie, to freedom and self-determination and to the meaning of life. Sometimes films are allowed to be nothing more than just beautiful and charming, although they do not reflect the image of a perfect work of art. However, if a story manages to affirm life, lets you have a good…
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Review: “Last Christmas” – Paul Feig
Every year just in time for Christmas there is no escaping – if you want or not you have to voluntarily surrender to the classic “Last Christmas” by Wham !, which is played on the radio on endless loop until the holidays and mercilessly nests in the ear canals. “Bridesmaids” and “Ghostbusters” director Paul Feig…