52 Words for Love
The best choice made about 52 Words for Love concerns its release date. Whoever decided to release this movie on Valentine’s Day deserves a big box of chocolates.
Drama
High Flying Bird
Netflix’s sports drama High Flying Bird is exactly the film you expect from Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic). Using the experimental “look” of last year’s underrated Unsane and the foreboding “feel” of Contagion, High Flying Bird gives a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a sports agent (André Holland) as he senses fast-forming cracks in his career during an NBA lockout.
Into Invisible Light
Into Invisible Light would have had better compatibility on stage than how it currently plays in its cinematic scope. As it is, the movie’s fine – decent even. But by projecting itself to fill a larger space, Shelagh Carter’s modest dialogue-driven drama calls attention to its barebones aesthetics when really these details should be, well, invisible.
Beautiful Boy
Beautiful Boy is a touching film that will break your heart. Based on the memoirs of David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the inconsistent dynamic between a coping father (Steve Carell) and his distraught son (Timothée Chalamet). The film leaps back-and-forth throughout their lives; capturing spirited memories, personal bonds, and the rift they currently face caused by Nic’s serious drug addiction.
The Upside
By: Jessica Goddard A perfectly harmless buddy film with charming performances from an A-list cast, The Upside weaves compelling drama with light comedy.
Capernaum
Based on similar lives in the country of Lebanon, writer/director Nadine Labaki tells the heart-wrenching story of 12-year-old Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) as he survives his life in the slums, leading him to an attempt to sue his parents for an unfit upbringing. Zain is faced with constant abuse – both physically and psychologically – and he’s used in questionable activity to help his family stay afloat. When times become too dire, Zain runs away…
All About Nina
New Yorker Nina is a stand-up comic with a blunt repertoire. Her material is R-rated in a competitive way; as if she’s trying to out-disgust other comedians at the open mic. The truth, however, is her jokes are stale. They’re not worthless, but Nina’s routine is on autopilot. However, it’s what she has to do to survive in a world dominated by daunting masculinity and crass jokes.
Green Book
There is a certain sort of film that defies classification. The quick description is the sort of film that is not perfect by any stretch of the term, but which contains just a little something that manages to hit on a collective pathos in the audience. Those films release a positive feeling into the audience that can actually be felt when one is in such an environment. Green Book is just such a film: it…