4
If the filmmakers who imitated Terence Malick had any understanding of his films, the world would be a better place. One and Two is another in a long line of independent American films to borrow clearly from the acclaimed filmmaker, to somewhat mixed results.
6
A familiar setting populated with familiar personalities, Bliss and Rogers’ Fort Tilden is a rehash of several well-worn idea overly adorned with attempted pointed observations and situational set-pieces at home under a mountain of cynicism and self-absorption. Two friends, in tandem, tasked with the straightforward mission of reaching the beach before the day’s conclusion happens to be the narrative’s concern; a day long journey trekking across various New York neighborhoods, each with their own idiosyncrasies, for two twenty-somethings stuck in a state of arrested development.
7
With director Guy Ritchie at the helm, it’s no surprise that The Man from U.N.CL.E. has style to burn. What is a little surprising, however, is how effectively the slick production sustains momentum despite two stiff lead actors who basically serve as hangers for period clothing and mouthpieces for the affected, double entendre-laced dialogue of Ritchie and co-scribe Lionel Wigram.
5
The first foray into film by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is not a big-screen adaptation of his wildly popular zombie series, nor is it any of his other comic book properties (although many of those are being turned into television shows).
Air, produced by Kirkman’s production company, Skybound Entertainment, and written and directed by Christian Cantamessa, is a close-quarters sci-fi flick taking place in a future where Earth’s breathable air has been depleted and what’s left of humanity has been put in sleep tanks, hoping to wake up in a world that is once again livable.
2
From its cringe-worthy opening credits to its bizarre climactic heist scene, Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism feels like attempt to create a magic-infused version of Annie (dog and all) but with lower stakes than Harry Potter and less charm than Matilda.
8.5
Few figures in the cinematic world are as immediately polarizing as Xavier Dolan, the twenty-something filmmaker who unabashedly trolls cinephiles through his supposed lack of knowledge of Jean Luc Godard and Ingrid Bergman, his controversial Cannes jury appointment and the occasional vicious outburst at critics.
7.5
In the early minutes of Jon Watts’ thriller Cop Car, I reminisced about my days as a youth, running around with my friends, saying swear words just for the hell of it and seeking out trouble like it was some sort of obligation. I then realized I was lucky that I didn’t find an abandoned cop car like the boys in this film because I very well may have found myself in the same situation as these unlucky brats.
8
It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for coming-of-age stories, so Dutch director Sam de Jong’s feature debut Prince had piqued my interest from the start, but what I didn’t realize was just how much I would be taken with this overly stylized story about a young teen trying to make a name for himself on his block.
2.5
Hey, have you ever thought to yourself, “boy I’d really like to see John Carpenter’s The Thing, only on a boat and it be really stupid”? Well folks, you’re in luck because Alec Gillis’s Harbinger Down is that film.
Touting itself as a practical-effects-driven homage to classic ’80s sci-fi horror, the film does indeed have practical effects but acts as little more than a sizzle reel, offering no real substance.
4
When I was told I would be reviewing a Disney movie about the offspring of its famous villains – Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, the Evil Queen (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) and Jafar (from Aladdin) – I, naturally, expected to be handed an animated film, not a live-action musical.
3
Back in 2012, director Adam Rifkin created an eight-episode miniseries on Showtime titled Reality Show, a found-footage-style dark comedy attempting to deconstruct everything that makes a modern “reality” show popular and wag a condescending finger at the poisonous, and often lascivious, nature of these shows.
5.5
We’re about seven years into the comic-book-adaptation Renaissance. Fifteen years ago, director Bryan Singer’s X-Men showed that comic book properties, other than Batman, Superman and Spider-Man, were commercially viable.
4.5
Small town crime dramas of the Southern persuasion, with their glut of Southern-drawl colloquialisms liberally interspersed throughout a landscape of violent, homespun justice and double/triple crossings, are a familiar sight and Alex R. Johnson’s Two Step is as about as familiar as they come. A film populated with (just about) every element generally associated with crime narratives - idiom-heavy dialogue, vintage autos, inexplicable criminal networks, et al. - Two Step has it all, except for the one element it desperately needs - conviction.
8
Nearly 20 years since 1996’s Mission: Impossible, which would spawn five sequels, the action franchise shows that it’s still got what it takes to deliver an action-packed, suspenseful and ultimately very satisfying summer flick.
Do you have a great idea for a film but aren’t sure where to start in order to make your story a reality? Are you a budding cinephile who craves some inside information in the process of creating a feature-length indie?
If you answered yes to either of these questions and can’t currently afford to attend an expensive film school, William Dickerson’s book Detour Hollywood may be a good starting point. Structured more like a how-to guide than something designed to be read cover to cover, Dickerson walks readers through the entire process of making a low-budget indie from start to finish using his own real-world experience of making his 2013 thriller Detour.
2
The Griswold kids from 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation are all grown up, but the part sequel, part reboot they inhabit more than 30 years later is an immature, witless shell of the seminal comedy. Repurposing plot points from the original and reimagining its twisted charm as a series of tasteless gags, Vacation is an insufferable experience. It goes for gross-out humor, but only understands the first part of the phrase.
