The Croods: A New Age
DreamWorks Animation hits another homer with The Croods: A New Age, a sequel that’s on par with its clever Oscar nominated predecessor, that’s just as funny but so much weirder.
Emma Stone
The Favourite
Yorgos Lanthimos has been one of the most exciting voices in cinema for the past decade; from bringing attention to Greek cinema to bringing that off-kilter absurd style to an American audience. Across four features, Lanthimos’ style has been apparent in a variety of ways; from his films’ unusual stilted acting style to the general oddity of his imagery. Now, in his latest feature The Favourite, Lanthimos shows that his style is inherent, even if…
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.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
By: Addison Wylie Anyone can review The Amazing Spider-Man 2. It’s a popular property that accumulates truckloads of moolah, merchandise, and movie goers. It’s an easy film to seek out and watch, and afterwards, the consensus is measured on whether that audience was thrilled enough. Marc Webb’s sequel is popcorn entertainment that either comes through or doesn’t. There’s no middle ground. Instead of using this space to write about how much I was thrilled during…
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 Croods
By: Addison Wylie TV spots for the Dreamworks/20th Century Fox collaboration entitled The Croods describe the prehistoric family as “the first modern family” – I suppose, trying to connect this new animated family to a current popular commodity. It shouldn’t stoop that low because The Croods is a good film and has every right to stand on its own. Grugg (voiced by Nicolas Cage who sounds as if he’s been longing for an animated role)…
The Amazing Spider-Man
By: Addison Wylie The most difficult task the audience must carry out while watching The Amazing Spider-Man is trying to distance this new origin story of the web-slinging superhero from Sam Raimi’s version starring Toby Maguire. The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield takes the role of high schooler Peter Parker; a quiet individual who tools around with mechanics and could read about scientific discoveries all day when he’s not pulling off kickflips on his skateboard. Instead…