Wang! Bang! Pow!
There is something to the aesthetic of Where the Woods End, the thriller short subject from director Felix Ahrens. It is sleek and gritty all at once. A glorious crane shot of the titular woods opens the short, panning across the lush, unassuming setting.
Where the Woods End is a taut psychological thriller that follows the growing internal torment of police officer Elke (Henrike von Kuick) after she Continue reading Where the Woods End (Am Ende Der Wald) (2016) Short Film Review
Inferno begins with an ethical quandary: “There is a switch. If you pull it, half of humanity will die. If you don’t, the human race will go extinct in 100 years.” The words are uttered by Ben Foster’s eccentric millionaire Bertrand Zobrist just before he plunges himself from a tower, backed into a corner by a pursuer wanting some sort of confidential information.
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) wakes up in a hospital, delirious and hallucinating deformed people and a black plague-era doctor. He thinks he is in Boston, but he is in Florence. Of course, there is little time for explanation, as Continue reading Inferno (2016) Movie Review
Off the coast of Japan, a massive “anomalous” underwater volcano causes damage to the underground tunnel system and arouses the attention of the Prime Minister and his cabinet. But is it really a volcano…
Of course, it is really the most famous of all kaiju: Godzilla. Shin Godzilla (or Godzilla Resurgence as it is being dubbed in the West) is the first Continue reading Shin Godzilla (2016) Movie Review
Rachel (Emily Blunt) has an overactive imagination, living vicariously in her mind through the fantasy lives of strangers that she sees from her daily train commute. In particular, she is fascinated by a couple whose true lives are far less glamorous than the sex appeal that is seen as a blip on the passing train.
The Girl on the Train is a mystery of sorts, but it is more akin to Continue reading The Girl on the Train (2016) Movie Review
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), once an army brat raised under the strict militaristic rule of his father, is a crackpot accountant whose Asperger’s syndrome and radical upbringing create an eccentric skill set.
Armed with a poorly-motivated narrative deadline—do the job in time or go to jail—Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is an analyst in the Treasury Department tasked with finding a “black money” operator who has worked with numerous terrorist cells, a man who is none other than Christian Wolff.
The narrative of The Accountant weaves in and out of chronologies, perhaps needlessly, in order to Continue reading The Accountant (2016) Movie Review
ARQ, the new original movie from OTT service Netflix, is woefully standard. Not only is it woefully standard, but it is a blatant premise ripoff of the criminally under-seen Edge of Tomorrow. Renton (Robbie Amell), or, as he is affectionately referred to by his compatriot Hannah (Rachael Taylor), Ren, finds himself stuck in a time loop paradox in which the same infiltration of his hidden compound occurs over and over again.
The world of ARQ is the typical post-apocalyptic science fiction: savages and raiders rule, food is a scarce resource, random technological innovations litter the screen. This said, the world of ARQ is not Continue reading ARQ (2016) Movie Review
Antoine Fuqua’s reboot of the seminal 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven (itself a Westernization of the 1954 Akira Kurosawa film The Seven Samurai) has a distinctly modern feel to it. Bandits have been replaced by violent capitalists. The fear of the outsider has been replaced by the fear of the wealthy. Of course, there is the fear-of-the-other narrative that introduces Denzel Washington’s Chisolm that screams modern relevancy. It is, however, a commentary only hinted at.
What we get in lieu of commentary is Continue reading The Magnificent Seven (2016) Movie Review
A happily married couple (Regina Hall and Morris Chestnut) are looking for a surrogate to carry their child. The young woman they choose (Jaz Sinclair) is sweet, kind-eyed, and 100% on-board. However, she is looking for more than a simple payment.
As simple as the tactics used are, the film takes its time to establish sympathy for the relationship of our protagonists, and it does this well. You’d be surprised how Continue reading When the Bough Breaks (2016) Movie Review
John Link (Mel Gibson) is a sober ex-con who scrawls tattoos on upper thighs out of his trailer in the California desert. When his long-disappeared daughter suddenly re-enters his life with a criminal past trailing her, he must take drastic actions to protect her.
Blood Father does not have a stellar narrative. It has a crass script with little nuance. But it is Continue reading Blood Father (2016) Movie Review
Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe) is an FBI new recruit working in counter-terrorism in Washington D.C. He is unassuming and isolated in his eccentric brand of intelligence. When a possible White Supremacist terrorist plot surfaces, Foster is called upon to go undercover within the group to stifle any attack plan.
There is a fury to Imperium, first evidenced in an expository montage containing still images of real-life neo-Nazism. This fury becomes more Continue reading Imperium (2016) Movie Review
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