8
As the titles implies, this is an absolutely wild story, filled with constant intrigue, and for someone like myself who was completely unfamiliar with the events that took place, I was hanging on every twist and turn, gobsmacked at the next bit of craziness that was revealed.
8
The film’s high-brow, blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em gags blend seamlessly with the visual humor and physical bits. If you’re a fan of HBO's Veep, you will have a sense of what to expect with Stalin.
4
The clichés lay waste to a scenario and setting rife with possibilities, leaving Prey at Night a forgettable knockoff that won’t have the staying power of its predecessor or any of the genre classics it futilely copies.
7
A Wrinkle in Time is a lovely children’s film that will have a positive impact on the world, and I think we should all be very grateful for that.
3
They Remain seems more interested in cribbing Alex Garland’s style than developing an aesthetic of its own that really fits the material.
7
The economical, engaging neo-noir unfolds like an even simpler version of A Simple Plan or Blood Simple.
5
There’s no emotional punch to The Lullaby, just a dulling gloominess.
7
Operation Red Sea should not be watched for its weak point in writing but be appreciated for its earnest proficiency in action directing.
7
Shot in gorgeously high-contrast, black-and-white style, the realms of good and evil are reflected in bright colors that all but blend into snow and ice, with darker tones seeping off the screen into an infinite abyss.
4.5
Strong visuals alone can’t save The Lodgers from being a dreadfully average and dull horror experience however, and although my ears perk up anytime I hear about a new entry into this subgenre that sees far too few contemporary releases, this is one I have suggest viewers pass on.
6.5
The Survivor’s Guide to Prison is a film that, though it may be a bit too boisterous for its own good, is nonetheless one that everyone should see and talk about.
7.5
Not since the days of David Cronenberg has the classical approximation of love as being the act of “giving a part of one's self to another” ever been more grotesquely literal than in Xander's Robin's destitute romance Are We Not Cats.
5
Existing on a precipice between its police-procedural grittiness and the fantastical digressions of its local mythology, Interchange is an anomaly with a failure to delineate these worlds from one another or to give exposition to their coexistence, making its investigative trip to mystic territory obtuse at best.
Landing the top spot on both my own and on Film Pulse critic Blake Crane’s best of 2017 lists, Sean Baker’s beautiful ode to youth The Florida Project is finally out on Blu-ray this week.
8.5
Keeping the MCU connections to a minimum and guiding a fascinating cultural and character study peppered with rousing action, Coogler inspires and invigorates with Black Panther.
3.5
The Female Brain seems like the CliffsNotes of Dr. Brizedine's greater work and condensed into a romantic comedy schema, which desperately attempts to reject it.
