By: Jessica Goddard A loving tribute to man’s best friend, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs is an imaginative, playful, and visually fascinating stop-motion fable that should appeal to animal lovers of every kind. Endlessly clever and unapologetically fun, this movie keeps you guessing and isn’t afraid to misdirect for the sake of a good twist.
By: Trevor Chartrand Director Wes Anderson is at it again with another quirky stop-motion animated feature, his second foray into the genre since 2009’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox. In Isle of Dogs, Anderson’s gone above and beyond to create a clever, stylized, and memorable motion picture.
By: Trevor Chartrand The meandering narrative of Lady Bird, though at times unfocused and opened-ended, is both heartwarming and humorous as it examines the life of a struggling teen overwhelmed by dysfunction and her perceived notion of persecution at every turn. An offbeat coming-of-age comedy, Lady Bird wonderfully depicts the innocence of youth in search of love, purpose, and acceptance in a confusing and changing world.
By: Shannon Page Starring Lola Kirke (Gone Girl) as first-year university student Tracy, and Greta Gerwig as her thirty-something future stepsister Brooke, Mistress America is ultimately about dreams; it is about the things we want to accomplish as well as our goals and desires. It is also about two women at very different places in their lives who inspire one another. These characters aren’t always good people and their actions don’t always make them likable to…
By: Addison Wylie The Humbling is one greasy ham of a film. It has no plan. It has no skill. It knows no volume. When director Barry Levinson senses the audience is recognizing how little his film has to offer, he has his actors yell and ramble. Not many movies get more annoying than The Humbling. I had found a redeeming quality in Levinson’s film, and I desperately hoped that detail would grow into the…
By: Addison Wylie Noah Baumbach’s most uplifting film to date (which is a major step up when comparing his latest to his last effort – the overly cynical and absolutely annoying Greenberg) has an almost immediately disarming look and feel to it. Taking on the aesthetics of a first or second year student thesis project, the black-and-white dramedy feels normal once we can identify what Baumbach’s movie resembles – leading us to focus on what…