The Gray Man
A dependable cast (which includes Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton, and Julia Butters) is let down by weak storytelling and sloppy filmmaking in Netflix’s summer blockbuster The Gray Man.
Ryan Gosling
Song to Song
By: Nick Ferwerda Song to Song is tough to summarize. Then again, I expect nothing less from Terrence Malick. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker is known to make, what can be considered, poetic films that consider plot as a secondary function. Honestly, I’m okay with that. It’s different and, every now and then, it’s refreshing.
La La Land
In this age of postmodernism, filmmakers are always willing to go back to the well and make films which are heavy on pastiche from an earlier Hollywood – these tributes are very hit-or-miss. Damien Chazelle’s La La Land is a strange film that succeeds at its recreations, but fails at everything else.
Lost River
By: Josh Chenoweth Lost River marks the directorial and writing debuts of actor Ryan Gosling, known for mainstream successes like The Notebook as well as critical darlings like Drive. After getting a less than pleasant response at Cannes in 2014, I was curious to see if Lost River was really all that bad. The answer: a resounding yes. Shot in a decaying suburb near Detroit (where else?), Lost River focuses on Billy (Christina Hendricks), a single…
Gangster Squad
By: Addison Wylie Considering the talent involved, it’s hard to believe everyone agreed to star in a film this goofy and shallow. Especially, by actors like Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, and Josh Brolin who have recently been very selective about their work. Gangster Squad appears to have done its homework considering its 1940’s backdrop. Its attractive period style, make-up and costuming convince us the film will have more weight to it since more effort is…
The Place Beyond the Pines
By: Addison Wylie With his latest feature film, writer/director Derek Cianfrance has already made his Magnolia with The Place Beyond the Pines, an excellent and expansive drama intertwining complex characters and haunting pasts with a twist of fate. This is, without a doubt, a step in the right direction for Cianfrance who made a name for himself rather quickly with 2010’s Blue Valentine. I was a fan of the tightly wound performances in Blue Valentine,…