T he life of a parent has been described as "all joy and no fun." The act of having children trades the instant gratification of autonomous adulthood--the soft thrill of sleeping in or enjoying the stillness of a quiet home--for the macro-satisfaction of shepherding children along the precious milestones of life. Instant Family depicts an…
W ith this film, J.K. Rowling's immense canon now spans twenty-plus years of wizards and witches over several eras and continents. It's a lot of mythology to digest, and the uninitiated may approach such a feast with caution. Those who have previously devoured will no doubt revel another go at the trough. Fantastic Beasts: The…
W idows begins with the post-mortem mayhem of a Reservoir Dogs-style heist gone horribly wrong. Desperate men scream over the sound of sirens, their bodies soaked in blood and sweat. After this scene, however, the movie goes in an interesting direction: It's the aftermath of the aftermath, where a group of shell-shocked widows sift through the smoking…
I n The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--the first English-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel series--director David Fincher and über-writer Steven Zallian built a thriller that smoldered with carefully-contained heat. The Girl in the Spider's Web, a soft reboot with a different cast and crew, burns brighter and higher but goes out much sooner. It somehow has…
For this week’s episode, Travis and I talk about Overlord, the new WWII/Zombie epic. Because this film is set entirely in France, we’ll be drinking a selection of French wines.
Columbia Pictures
An unwavering sense of duty cinches tight around the soul of James Stevens, the central character in The Remains of the Day. This singular focus makes Stevens an impeccable butler, but it also forms a tourniquet, choking off the pathways to love and happiness. Stevens takes great pride in his work until he finds, with…
A strange cinematic bisque, Overlord so effectively stirs genuinely jarring horror elements into a gripping war movie until it's impossible to distinguish the ingredients in the pot. It somehow combines tropes that have survived throughout decades of movies and books and video games into something new and...can you use the word "refreshing" about a movie that features so many Nazi entrails? To hell with it--I'm using it, anyway. Overlord is ballsy, well-made, and--if you're not terribly squeamish--a damn good time.
D r. Seuss' evergreen opus about an evergreen grouch was not a story that cried out to be remade. The 60s Christmas cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and guided by Boris Karloff's grinning baritone, has long since qualified as timeless. Ron Howard and Jim Carrey went live-action, a move that only underlined how well-enough should…
T he first fifteen minutes of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms spark with real imagination and wonder: Long-ago London is vividly recreated, with snowflakes flitting soundlessly to the cobblestones. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite teases on the soundtrack during an elegant dance scene, replete with billowing ballgowns and Morgan Freeman handing out enchanted presents, and....damn it, Christmas is…
I t's telling that Freddie Mercury chose to pepper his mansion with cats, maybe because their personality traits mirrored his own: As a man, Mercury was proud, unapologetically high-strung, and ferociously independent. As a rock god, he burned onstage like an incandescent singularity, his shimmering voice serving as a conduit for Queen's pounding arena anthems.…