An underground subway system was all architect Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) proposed for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris. Stepping into the light, he designed a metal tower 300 meters high, to be built where everyone can see it. What could have been a towering bore offers up a CG …
Spend the last week of grade school with Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher), a straight-out nongregarious teen who uses earbuds to muffle the monotony brought forth by her doting dad (Josh Hamilton), fidgets her way through starting a daily PMA video blog, and joins her classmates under their desks for an …
“Everybody’s just loving everybody too much for my money,” growls Elaine Stritch, one of the last honest voices in show business and arguably the only virgin ever to prevail against JFK’s sexual advances. For her first film as a director, documentary producer Chiemi Karasawa follows the storied, sassy, 86-year-old Broadway …
Twin brothers (Raúl Castillo in a dual role) grow up on opposite sides of the law. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. At any moment, it could have taken a generic turn towards boogeyman frights or comic book adventure before settling into a regulation cops vs. hooded avenger thriller. …
In one seemingly simple sentence, musician Laura Mvula concisely sums up the everlasting appeal of Ella Fitzgerald: “She made it seem like anything is possible.” Norma Miller was in the audience the night Fitzgerald made her debut at the Apollo Theatre, and she laughs at the memory of booing the …
Death Wish for the art house set as the generally dependable Paul Verhoeven (Turkish Fruit, Starship Troopers) returns after a four-year absence with a redundant rape fulfillment fantasy. The immutable CEO (and daughter of a celebrated mass murderer) responsible for a successful string of violent, sexually oriented video games becomes …
Not the feature-length montage generally associated with Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby), nor is it a patch on the Kurt Russell, John Carpenter TV biopic from 1979. Austin Butler reported to work on time and fit the costumes, but for all impractical purposes, they might just as well …
In the "Love at First Sight" Department, it’s been twelve years since the Latino Film Festival introduced me to Pablo Larrain via his second feature Tony Manero, a picture I never tire of watching and championing. This year Larrain acquaints audiences with Ema (Mariana Di Girolamo), the reggaeton sensation with …
From Life After Beth to Black Bear, Aubrey Plaza had gradually stripped herself of the deadpan zingers and callous indifference that factored into her early comedies. A fuzzy criminal record is all that stands between Emily (Plaza) and a job that’s more rewarding (and financially lucrative) than delivering trays of …
This “Classics Illustrated” adaptation of Jane Austen is worth a look strictly for the performance of Anya Taylor-Joy, the baby moon-eyed wonderment so perfectly suited for the role, you’d swear she was born in 1815. Alas, actors don’t make movies, directors do, and photographer-turned-fledgling-filmmaker Autumn de Wilde never finds a …
The latest from Disney posits a magical house, in a magical Colombian town, populated by magical people save one. Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) is a misfit, who, unlike Marilyn Munster, is destined to rely on human aptitude rather than hoodoo to save her family and humanity as we know …
We open in mid-misfortune: Chris (Nicholas Hamilton) is in the passenger seat, three beers to the wind, his designated driver girlfriend Riley (Alexandra Shipp) texting behind the wheel, and two oncoming cars screeching along on their way to put an end to love. At least in this world. Survivor’s guilt …
Cut out “Love.” Why would anyone want to tack a happy ending onto the tail of Endless Love? Director-screenwriter Shana Feste and co-scripter Joshua Safran deserve a life sentence on The Lifetime Channel for their bowdlerization of Scott Spencer’s intense novel about a mental patient who spends 10 years of …
Lucio Castro makes a favorable first impression weaving a dream tapestry that, while not always 100% lucid in terms of narrative, nevertheless leaves a hypnotic, stylish imprint on the viewer throughout. Ocho (Juan Barberini) is a poet who makes a living writing ad copy for an airline. For 13 dialogue-free …