The Founder
Director John Lee Hancock and his company on The Founder have proven themselves to be geniuses for one reason: without a hint of pretense, they have managed to make people pay them to watch a feature length McDonald’s advertisement.
January 2017
Bakery in Brooklyn
I’ve criticized romantic comedies for being too quirky, too plucky, and too light. However, it’s been because these over-saturated films have also tried to sell audiences phoney sentimentality while peddling hammy humour – it’s an uneven combo. Bakery in Brooklyn picks one side and sticks with it, which is why it’s receiving a hearty recommendation.
Coin Heist
If Coin Heist teaches us anything (other than committing fraud is, you know, bad), it’s that filmmakers still can’t fully invest in social media stars and vice versa.
48 Hours to Live
At this point in his career, music video director Benny Boom is more of an imitator than a filmmaker. His feature film debut Next Day Air, a violent crime/comedy driven by half-baked druggies and misunderstandings, was definitely inspired by the early work of Quentin Tarantino. Boom’s latest project 48 Hours to Live plays as a three-way collision between the trippy in-your-face antics of Argentinian provocateur Gaspar Noé, your average American television crime drama, and dance sequences seen in…
Sieranevada
Sieranevada is an often charming, occasionally tedious, and relentlessly honest family drama written and directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu).
Mechanic: Resurrection
Jason Statham has proven himself as an action star, but I still believe his performances are only as good as the filmmaker he’s been paired with. In the case of Mechanic: Resurrection, Statham is jumping through the same hoops, but he’s doing so in a way that mirrors the entertaining ridiculousness director Dennis Gansel sets up.
California Typewriter
California Typewriter is expectedly kitschy. Doug Nichol’s documentary focuses on the title writing tool-turn-antique, and stems off in different directions to explore the typewriter’s influence through its existence.