Want to scream bloody murder? Then the new Halloween is the trick-or-treat frightfest for you. But, first, a leap of faith is required. You have to forget that there are already nine sequels and remakes of John Carpenter’s 1978 original — thankfully, director David Gordon Green and coscreenwriters Danny McBride …
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Grief is a very tough sell as the subject of an ongoing TV show. Whatever catharsis the dramatization might offer in short bursts, the potential for the “Why am I still watching this?” reflex is incredibly high. The Leftovers tried to alleviate this problem by wrapping the whole idea in …
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Part wilderness survival tale, part prehistoric boy-meets-wolf love story and part American Museum of Natural History exhibit come to life, Albert Hughes’ rugged, rich epic feels just as out-of-time as its narrative of primitive hunters and their Canis lupus pals. It’s a movie devoted to overwhelming viewers with vast, lush …
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Is it enough for a blockbuster to just trot out computer-generated dinos and let the audience munch popcorn while the beasties chomp down on humans? That depends on who you’re asking. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomis practically guaranteed be a surefire box-office monster. But couldn’t it also be good or decent …
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It really is incredible. Yes, the sequel to Brad Bird’s 2004 classic is not the groundbreaker that stormed the multiplex 14 years ago – you only get to be shiny new once. Pixar‘s animated miracle didn’t look or sound like anything else, being about a family of superheroes forced into …
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Imagine living in the world and not giving a shit about the people who share it with you. (No jokes about the White House, please.) The deliciously depraved Thoroughbreds is set in the opulent, WASP-y world of teen divas with killer instincts. Meet Amanda (Olivia Cooke), a snappy and assured …
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To call Annihilation writer-director Alex Garland the thinking geek’s new sci-fi guru is probably to jinx his box-office chances. Look where thoughtfulness got Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. But Garland is the real-deal for generating rattling tension and mind-blowing mojo. Annihilation, an eco-thriller based on the first book in the …
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Remember the last months of the Obama administration, when diplomacy was still a preferred form of negotiation? If so, you’re likely to lose your mind watching The Final Year, a hindsight-is-20/20 documentary in which we watch a government crumble. Fully expecting a Democratic victory in the 2016 elections, the White …
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Is this a joke? That’s the first reaction you have when you hear the title – but the joke’s on you. My Friend Dahmer, which chronicles Jeffrey Dahmer’s senior year in high school before he graduated and became infamous for being a serial-killing cannibal, is a warped wonder of a …
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I’m dumbfounded by the idea of remaking a movie that was no damn good in the first place. Is it the possibility of making it better? The exact opposite happens with Flatliners, an update of the 1990 Joel Schumacher film that became a hit by corralling hot young talent of …
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