I really enjoy David Ayer’s work. His screenplays can occasionally bring about intense and powerful portrayals of cops and street criminals. When he hits, he hits hard such as with his screenplay for Ron Shelton’s excellent crooked cop drama “Dark Blue” starring Kurt Russell, and his sensational police drama “End of Watch” with Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena. I even found Ayer’s 2014 ... more >
MOVIES | IN THEATERS NOW
Oy vey, David Ayer’s “The Tax Collector” is a big let-down | REVIEW
Bobby Soto, Cinthya Carmona and Shia LaBeouf
Directed by David Ayer
“Boys State,” or when young alpha males retool politics to build a better society
Every year, the American Legion program called Boys State brings in some of the best and brightest young men to experience simulated democracy first-hand. They are divided into two different “parties,” and then must choose their leaders, give speeches, make deals and campaign over six intense days. Its alumni include Bill Clinton, no less. And in a strange turn, in 2017, the Texas Boys State ... more >
Mick Jagger as art dealer and Claes Bang (“The Square”) as artist team up in “The Burnt Orange Heresy” (review)
Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland and Mick Jagger
Directed by Giuseppe Capotondi
It’s a strange time for all of us, and perhaps it’s little wonder that the crop of films being released direct to streaming has itself gotten weird. How else to explain a movie where Mick Jagger plays an arts dealer who may, and this is giving nothing away, actually be the devil in disguise? (in case you don’t guess his name, it is Joseph Cassidy. As Al Pacino observed as Satan in “The Devil’s ... more >
Adapted from the namesake Norwegian novel, “Out stealing horses” | REVIEW
Stellan Skarsgård, Bjørn Floberg and Tobias Santelmann
Directed by Hans Petter Moland
“We decide for ourselves what will hurt” Ah, the past and the memories it leaves us. Be they good or bad they make a home in our mind and soul, guiding our life decisions and shaping who we will become. Sometimes warm, sometimes dark, our remembrances become our true and constant life companions. Hans Petter Moland’s adaptation of Per Petterson’s novel, “Out Stealing Horses” (Ut og stjaele ... more >
Romola Garai (“Atonement”), poised for greatness, goes behind the camera to make persuasive debut as filmmaker with “Amulet” | REVIEW
Carla Juri, Alec Secareanu and Imelda Staunton
Directed by Romola Garai
The definition of amulet is “a charm (such as an ornament) often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to aid the wearer or protect against evil such as disease or witchcraft.” But there is a new definition. “Amulet,” a 2020 film directed by Romola Garai that is subtly eerie and one of the most effectively-directed films of 2020. Romanian actor Alec Secareanu ("God's own country") ... more >
In “Radioactive” Rosamund Pike, direct but pragmatic, imposes herself on both a profession and an era (REVIEW)
Rosamund Pike, Sam Riley, Yvette Feuer and Mirjam Novak
Directed by Marjane Satrapi
It’s inarguable that the pioneering work of Marie and Pierre Curie changed the world, for both good and ill. “Radioactive,” the new film starring Rosamund Pike and Sam Riley as the late-nineteenth century Parisians, gives us a brief on the life, and, yes, the deaths, largely due to radiation poisoning, of the couple that is part love story, part scientific procedural and, somewhat strangely, ... more >
“Most wanted” is one of the more interesting films this year (REVIEW)
Amanda Crew, Josh Hartnett and Stephen McHattie
Directed by Daniel Roby
Films about investigative journalism exposing a dramatic event and/or cover-up have been popular for decades, from Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole” and Sam Fuller’s “Park Row” to Alan Pakula’s “All the President’s Men” to 2015’s Oscar winning “Spotlight,” all have expertly captured what it means to be a dedicated journalist tirelessly searching for the truth. The best films about journalism ... more >
