There are any number of ways the story of Linda Lovelace and Deep Throat could be told to make a potentially fascinating movie, from the sociological to the political, the personal to the satiric. The laziest–one might even say the most cowardly–would be to simply repeat the events as they were originally presented to the public […]
Jacques Audiard doesn’t do sentimental. His last film, A Prophet, had the clear-eyed view of crime and the dramatic heft of a French version of “The Wire,” and his new and very different drama RUST & BONE benefits as well from his refusal to take the road of easy emotion. Lord knows, the bare […]
THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD is an odd miss, a sliver of movie history that seems to have all the right elements but never quite jells. The title refers to Errol Flynn, legendary swashbuckling star of The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, The Dawn Patrol and many other classic Hollywood adventures, and it’s hard to […]
FORD VS. FERRARI (20th Century Fox/Disney – November 15): If the Academy decides to award James Mangold’s Ford vs. Ferrari, which is certainly a possibility, it will be able to have some metaphorical cake and eat it too. FvsF is both a first-rate example of Hollywood corporate entertainment and a story that questions what […]
THE BRUTALIST (A24 – TBD): The most remarkable thing about Brady Corbet’s epic may be that it’s so enjoyable to watch. The notion of a 197-minute saga (not including intermission) about Holocaust survivors and the crushing effects of capitalism practically screams “ordeal,” especially with the knowledge that Corbet’s last film was the cringingly pretentious Vox […]
The writer-director Mike Cahill has staked out a unique piece of narrative territory for himself. In both Another Earth and his new I ORIGINS, which debuted at Sundance last week (and won the festival prize for best science-based work), he explores the point where factual science meets not just science fiction, but something more metaphysical, an area […]
HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL (no distrib): Scandal-ridden mega-churches aren’t exactly fresh territory for screens big (The Tears of Tammy Faye) or small (The Righteous Gemstones), with tones that range from wildly comic to solemn. Adamma Edo’s feature debut doesn’t have much to add to the subject, but it does have Sterling K. […]
EMANUEL AND THE TRUTH ABOUT FISHES is deeply, satisfyingly strange. In a way, it’s a validation not just of Sundance, but the whole film festival system that is now our main way of finding out about distinctive new talent. It also tells a story based in large part on a single plot development that, while […]