Drama
The Journey
Summer blockbusters are sneaking up on us, and I’m really hoping Nick Hamm’s modest film The Journey doesn’t get lost in the seasonal shuffle.
From the Land of the Moon
Marion Cotillard is a talented actress whose career has seen a steady increase in forgettable dramas over the years. For every The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night, there’s a Rust and Bone and an It’s Only the End of the World (though, I confess, I like the latter film, but it is unquestionably Dolan’s weakest film). Nicole Garcia’s From the Land of the Moon, which was in competition at Cannes last year, is yet another…
Okja
By: Jessica Goddard Bong Joon-ho’s Okja is not only packed with insight, imagination, and action, but mesmerizing visual effects. While this movie bounces around tonally, it’s consistently engaging and gripping. There are moments of camp and farce and exaggeration (cough cough – Jake Gyllenhaal – cough) but they are fun and mostly harmless. The premise is well-conceived, and the frequent use of subtitles under Korean dialogue is never fatiguing.
Shimmer Lake
Shimmer Lake is Coen Brothers-lite, yet it aspires to be a film worthy enough to stand beside those famous quirky noirs from the Academy-Award winners. That would require Oren Uziel’s movie to be outrageous, which it isn’t. An unfortunate discovery considering the leads are terrific comedic actors.
The Hero
By: Jessica Goddard The Hero is a fine movie, but nothing particularly groundbreaking. Sam Elliott stars as the lonely, burnt-out actor Lee Hayden, who deals with his pancreatic cancer diagnosis by avoiding it completely. He spends his days smoking pot with his dealer (Nick Offerman) and standing at the ocean shoreline, brooding. His relationship with his daughter (Krysten Ritter) is awful because he was “always away”, and his life is completely devoid of romantic love…
The Mummy
Well, here I am swimming upstream – having seen Universal’s The Mummy and actually liking it. How do you defend a movie that’s hard to save due to the outpouring of negativity against it? Hey, I was there to defend last year’s heavily panned Suicide Squad. I can give The Mummy a shot.
My Cousin Rachel
By: Jessica Goddard Directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Changing Lanes), My Cousin Rachel is a mysterious, ambiguous, and appropriately moody adaption of the 1951 Daphne du Maurier novel of the same name.
11:55
Upon returning from his service in war-torn Afghanistan, US Marine Nelson Sanchez (co-writer Victor Almanzar) is reminded of his past when a wayward friend alerts him of an incoming threat. A thug by the name of Nicky Quinn (Mike Carlsen) has been mulling over the death of his brother ever since Nelson – in desperate measures – killed him point blank. Quinn’s buddies stake out Nelson’s hometown and all the exits are blocked – the…
Graduation
Graduation is a drama held together by actor Adrian Titieni. Even when the audience feels the minutes painstakingly tick in this very long film, Titieni finds a way to reward our patience.