Chaka King’s Judas And The Black Messiah is the type of movie that I tend to avoid (because relatively early on I realized that I believed that what I was seeing wasn’t truth, but an interpretation of truth. In other words, an untruth (to call such depictions a “lie” is in most instances too mean-spirited […]
I’m just going to put it out there: I don’t think Zach Snyder can tell a story to save his life, which is all the more interesting since he’s been making a living as a feature-film director (who’s entire job is telling stories) for quite awhile now, after leaving the world of commercials and music […]
I recently canceled by subscription to Hulu, mainly because between free Tubi, Netflix and Amazon it felt like a bit of an also-ran (I had the tier with commercials because even at that point the value proposition never quite worked for me). It goes without saying that literally the day I cancel my subscription I […]
I’ve always been interested in quirky and idiosyncratic movie directors – though not always their personal lives – people that no matter what they’re doing bring their own distinct flavor and point of view to the project. That’s the case with artists (not a word I throw around lightly. Just because you’re a director doesn’t […]
It was interesting that the final trailer for Zach Snyder’s Justice League was released yesterday because I had reached the end of my patience with the entire affair. I was tired of a movie – apparently a not very good one – taking up so much oxygen, tired of the self-indulgence it takes to make […]
Black and white movies tend to bother me. Let me clarify. I don’t mind black and white movies when there was no other option BUT with black and white movies in modern times there tends to be a pretentiousness that accompanies that’s more than a little bit off-putting. Remember John Ford’s The Searchers? I haven’t […]
Guillermo Del Toro always ranked particularly high in my hierarchy of directors, so when I heard he was developing a movie based on a staple of anime – giant robots – I was so there. And Pacific Rim (2013) didn’t disappoint, though what surprised me was how much heart the movie had. And sure some […]
I went into Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor EXTREMELY skeptical (I’d seen his 2012 movie, Antiviral, and recall being somewhat repulsed by it. And while a movie that makes you feel anything – even repulsion – is in a way a good thing, it’s not something I knowingly seek out). And I have to say, Possessor flirts […]
As I say in the header, James Badge Dale deserves a huge amount of the credit for David Prior’s The Empty Man being as good as it is. He’s not only charismatic, but the type of actor that seems to vanish into a role, as opposed to being of the preening, attention-grabbing variety. Though the […]
I haven’t particularly keen for any of the American Godzilla movies. Each one thus far has felt like a course correction, as if the producers were trying to right a giant ship (the 1998 movie, which I’m not including, was akin to the Titanic, so there’s that) instead of producing the type of movie the […]
SCREENPHILES 