Food-loving cinephiles get a glimpse into the life of an enigmatic, celebrity chef in the documentary “Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent.” Arguably the most influential chef you’ve probably never heard of, director Lydia Tenaglia shows how Tower’s career shaped American cuisine as we know it today, even as the man himself remained something of a […]
Film review
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Film review: ‘King Arthur’
The world doesn’t really need another retelling of Arthurian legend. But if we’ve got no choice in the matter, at least this one offers a scrappy, street-level epic seen through the hyperactive eyes of “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” director Guy Ritchie. At least that’s what I attempted to tell myself before heading into […]
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Film review: ‘Norman’
Richard Gere stars as Norman Oppenheimer, the hero of Joseph Cedar’s mordantly funny fable “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.” Norman calls himself a businessman, but his real trade is making connections. Fueled by a desperate desire to be a success (or even better, to be seen as one), […]
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Film review: ‘The Void’
The founders of Canadian genre-film collective Astron-6,Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, turn their eyes to the realm of Lovecraftian horror with “The Void.” And while the directing duo load their film up with enough monsters and mutilation to populate an otherworldly hell dimension, their efforts are nearly undone by an undercooked story and muddled plotting. […]
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Film review: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
2’s” willingness to do as it pleases turns out
to be the movie’s most appealing quality
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Film review: ‘My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea’
Written and directed by comic artist Dash Shaw, “My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea” is a trippy, sometimes surreal animated comedy that follows what happens when a high school misfit discovers an administrative cover up hiding the fact that his school is dangerously not up to code. But no one heeds his warnings, […]
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Film review: ‘A Quiet Passion’
Cynthia Nixon’s stellar performance provides the beating heart behind the occasionally staid exterior of “A Quiet Passion,” British writer-director Terence Davies’ lovingly intimate reflection on the life of poet Emily Dickinson. Beginning with the poet as a teenager (played by Emma Bell) during her brief time attending Mount Holyoke Female Seminary — where her skepticism […]
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Film review: ‘The Dinner’
Tense conversation and high-end cuisine propel the plot of “The Dinner.” Stanley (Richard Gere), a congressman in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign, and his history-scholar brother, Paul (Steve Coogan), along with their wives Claire (Laura Linney) and Kate (Rebecca Hall), meet for dinner at a chic restaurant. As course after ostentatious course is served, […]
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Film review: ‘The Circle’
We live in an increasingly interconnected world, and at this point it’s pretty clear there’s no going back (at least until the impending apocalypse occurs, then we’re all on our own). As society grows more Orwellian, it stands to reason that artists will continue to create stories that sift through exactly what the changing face […]
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Film review: ‘Tommy’s Honour’
“Tommy’s Honour” tells the story of
Tom Morris and Tommy Morris, Jr., the 19th century Scottish father-and-son duo who were undisputed pioneers of golf.
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Film review: ‘Colossal’
Everyone has issues. But in “Colossal,” one woman’s issues might be responsible for city-destroying giant monsters
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Film review: ‘Free Fire’
A black market arms deal goes south in spectacularly bloody fashion in the darkly comedic crime-thriller “Free Fire,” the latest from prolific British director Ben Wheatley. The filmmaker’s follow-up to his ambitious but flawed dystopian satire “High-Rise,” “Free Fire,” is an audacious, over-the-top genre exercise that’s somewhat scattershot in execution, but it makes for a […]
