The people behind the scenes are the same, but also different. Writer/director Lana Wachowski emerged as a trans icon (along with her sister Lilly), and has made a sequence of sometimes fascinating, sometimes puzzling work since the initial Matrix movies. Stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss have (oh so subtly) aged, enough that Reeves was able to fully revitalize his own career in the intervening years. What could The Matrix Resurrections do to remain relevant?
Read MoreThe film is both charming and challenging, and has at least two scenes that were a visual delight.
Read MoreEven an A-list cast can’t save the film from becoming a cliched fable about an eccentric polymath, which glosses over some of the issues that plagued the life and legacy of the real Louis Wain.
Read MoreBenediction escapes most of the traps in a straightforward biopic – we don’t really see the events that turn Sassoon into a vocal critic of the war, nor do we see many scenes of him writing out poems. That can be a good thing, but what’s left behind are a smattering of sometimes incoherent scenes and little connective tissue.
Read MoreNo Time to Die proves to be one of the most surprising turns for the franchise since Casino Royale itself. And while it deconstructs and redefines the Bond character in notable ways, it also retains many of the touchstones we crave.
Read MoreIt’s pretty amazing how Baker manages to find all these local people to act in his projects. Rex, a former adult film actor and all-round thespian, is perfectly cast in this role, and without his manic hand waving and fast talking, Red Rocket barely gets off the ground.
Read MoreIt’s nice to get a reprieve from some of China’s big-budget films laden with special effects. Zhang’s films had grown to be more commercial than ever, reaching an unforgettable low point with The Great Wall (2016), but One Second is definitely worth your time
Read MoreSometimes, a film executes its message so flawlessly it works against itself. The film becomes an example of what it is trying to satirize, and I think that’s what ultimately makes Official Competition grating when the credits roll.
Read MoreCopshop is a cops-and-criminals thriller with a funny streak that features a number of recognizable talents: Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo onscreen, and Joe Carnahan behind the camera. But more than anyone, it’s co-lead Alexis Louder who grabs your attention.
Read MoreA young man must find a way out of a human trafficking operation in São Paulo, in the new film by Brazilian-American filmmaker Alexandre Moratto.
Read MoreTry as he might, Dumont’s film rarely feels like anything other than a perfume commercial grafted to an “old man yells at cloud” essay.
Read MoreThe new film, despite featuring a higher budget, a recognizable cast, and the buzz of the 2021 festival circuit, fails to add meaningful value to the original telling of the story. Chastain and her co-star Andrew Garfield (as Jim Bakker) put in awards-calibre performances, but the screenplay and direction feel sloppy and overburdened by biopic clichés.
Read MoreThe movie obviously revels in depicting the mayhem of a GTA-style game, and constructs elaborate set pieces around game physics, ridiculous weapons and items, and the grinding that some players undertake to level up. But there’s roughly a 80/20 accuracy split; the bulk of the observations line up, but every so often there’s a painfully awkward trope.
Read MoreThe Green Knight is undoubtedly a slow-moving film. It sweeps over Gawain as he traverses the misty, almost post-apocalyptic landscape. There are frequent suggestions of bloody battles happening around him, though we don’t see them on screen. It’s as though Gawain is always too late for the action, and that he’s running out of time to become a real knight before the world forgets about chivalry and epic quests.
Read MoreIf the season finale of Loki, on Disney+, is any indication, the show is finally coalescing around its own approach to the currents of time. However, its direction is very reminiscent of two other well-established sci-fi series, Doctor Who and Lost. At best, Loki features a carefree, don’t-worry-about-it attitude, and at worst, it’s mostly characters sitting around, questioning who should get to be the man or woman behind the curtain.
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