The Prom is a musical about a group of famous performers who use their clout and flashy personalities to make a stand against the discrimination of the LGBT community. However, despite how inspiring this story is supposed to be, the movie is also supposed to be satirizing celebrities who are more concerned about their image than the cause they’re fighting for. It’s a piece of irony that’s lost on The Prom, a film that wants…
In 2016, Fox News almost came unraveled in a few days as its CEO, Roger Ailes, was accused of sexual harassment before being forced to resign. The story of Ailes’ journey from creating the most successful American news channel to death might well be a fascinating one, but a deft hand is needed to do it (see: Addison Wylie’s review of Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes). Unfortunately, director Jay Roach (HBO’s Recount and Game Change) does…
By: Jessica Goddard A perfectly harmless buddy film with charming performances from an A-list cast, The Upside weaves compelling drama with light comedy.
There is a genre which developed in the western “enlightened” post-9/11 world which proves that neo-colonialist sensibilities are alive and well. It’s characterized by representations of poverty and suffering in the third world which are set up in a way as to suggest that the citizens of these countries are complicit in their own suffering. Humanity is afforded to some characters, but they are the minority amongst human garbage.
By: Mark Barber Billy Ray’s Secret in Their Eyes, an American remake of Juan José Campanella’s 2009 film of the same name, is eerily reminiscent, both thematically and atmospherically, of Denis Villeneuve’s thriller Prisoners, but without going “full-blown Hollywood” in the last act. In other words, Secret in Their Eyes succeeds where Prisoners didn’t, and in ways that highlight the moral ambiguity of its political context. Much like how Prisoners worked as a moderately effective…
By: Addison Wylie The characters in the Australian/Ireland import Strangerland are surrounded by miles of flatland. The tattered town of Nathgari maintain a tight community, yet there is a sense of feeling forlorn and stranded. Newly minted feature filmmaker Kim Farrant uses these qualities to effectively stir up restlessness and sputtering hope when her story of missing children is in full swing. Catherine and Matthew (played by Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes) are still adapting…