Search for 2015

There's a skill to adapting a novel that not all filmmakers have. This is especially evident if a book is not inherently cinematic and requires more "massaging" to shape it into a form capable of fitting comfortably into a two-hour time...

The re-interpretation of an animated film into a live-action version is a tricky and difficult process - one made more uncertain when the movie in question is one of the classics. Cinderella, released by Disney in 1951, has been beloved by three gene...

Regarding a concussion as a serious brain injury is a relatively recent phenomenon. For many years, “getting your bell rung” (as the expression goes) was something people were expected to shrug off. For sports, the fix was to take a coupl...

At first glance, Creative Control appears to be sci-fi. It takes place in the (near) future and focuses on technology that probably isn’t far from being accessible. On closer examination, however, it at times plays more like an absurdist comedy...

As movie-goers, we have become accustomed to seeing our screen heroes as immutable and immortal. This is in part the result of how film can freeze a moment. Humphrey Bogart will always look the way he does when saying “Here’s looking at y...

Crimson Peak works as an homage to 19th century gothic literature. Beyond that mission statement, however, it has trouble gaining traction. Although the film may hold a certain appeal for those who have spent long hours thumbing through the pages of ...

Most of us have known someone like Dan Landsman (Jack Black): a Type A personality whose most salient trait is that he's unbearable to be around. Dictatorial and self-absorbed, he is obsessed with being the most important person in the room. Alth...

There’s an inevitability about The Danish Girl being well received by critics and at awards ceremonies.  This is, after all, a movie with a strong social message about tolerance and inclusivity. Dramatically, however, it’s a mixed ba...

Perhaps the most complimentary thing that can be said about Barney Elliott’s directorial debut, The Debt, is that it has the best of intentions. Unfortunately, a worthy message doesn’t necessarily equate to a good movie and, in this case, ...

Thank god for Jake Gyllenhaal.  Absent his performance, Demolition would have been a more unbearable slog than it is. It’s rare when a good performance can save a bad movie but it can make some of the more tedious parts watchable. The problem with...