Director: Tim Burton Writer: Ehren Kruger Music: Danny Elfman Production Design: Richard Heinrichs Dumbo may be remembered by film historians as the film that was released during the takeover of 21st Century Fox. Itself a movie about corporate buyers taking over a struggling enterprise, the beautifully romanticized film flopped at the box-office after costing a…
Category: Film Review
Lost Review Case 102:”Gravity”
A previous post I never finished.
Netflix Dishes out Another Boilerplate Romcom With ‘Always Be My Maybe’
What does Always Be My Maybe mean? To me it sounds like a side-chick or whatever the male equivalent is of somebody being the second choice in an otherwise solid relationship. For Sasha Tran (comedian Ali Wong) and Marcus Kim (Randall Park) there’s no maybe about it. After being raised as childhood friends they awkwardly…
Sightly Monsters, Unseemly Characters in “Godzilla King of the Monsters”
Plot: A bunch of ancient monsters awaken to fight Godzilla, who is already here, and humans pretend to matter. Cast: Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Charles Dance, Sally Hawkins, Thomas Middleditch, Bradley Whitford, O’Shea Jackson Jr. Director, Writer, Producer: (co-writer/ director) Michael Dougherty, (written by) Zach Shields, Max Borenstein (story by),…
Bruhl’s Rules: For Niki Lauda, a Review of the 2013 Ron Howard Film ‘Rush’
Note: This was the first unfinished draft on my website. In light of Niki Lauda’s passing this week, I thought I’d honor him by finishing it. What is winning? The concept means different things to different people. To Niki Lauda and James Hunt winning is a split interpretation about being alive. Is it enough to…
‘The Perfect Date’ How to Half-Ass a Film in 2019
Possibly the greatest movie of all-time?
‘Avengers: Endgame’ Review “Farewell Tour”
Avengers: Endgame is a movie of moments. Its predecessor Infinity War was a movie of minutes. The former felt a bit like Marvel homework as most seconds were spent placing pieces across a chess board for a game the audience didn’t get to play. Despite the interesting and dramatic choice of framing its villain as…
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Review: ‘Hell of a Night’
This was an unquestionably good episode of Game of Thrones, the best in years (qualified praise since there’s only been a handful of episodes), and this is what TV from a cultural standpoint is all about. Well received, good non-clunky fan service and payoffs. When a show can just film people talking in a dimly…
‘Triple Frontier’ Solidifies Netflix’s Quantity Over Quality Approach
Logline: A group of former Special Operations soldiers get more than they bargained for when they reunite for a heist job of a South American crime boss. Directed by J.C. Chandor / Written by J.C. Chandor and Mark Boal / Produced by Charles Roven / a Netflix Film / an Atlas Entertainment Production Starring: Ben…
‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’ spins the franchise wheel
I have never seen so many talented people make such an average film. Fede Alvarez who made the awful but appropriate Evil Dead remake and the excellent Don’t Breathe stepped into shoes previously occupied by David Fincher, a director who many YouTube/ Redditors commented upon seeing the trailer for this film should’ve been hired to complete…
‘The Cabin in the Woods’ Director Does a Tarantino Imitation w/ Bad Times at the El Royale
Written and Directed By Drew Goddard l Cinematography By Seamus McGarvey l Music By Michael Giacchino l A Twentieth Century Fox Production l in Association w/ TSG Entertainment Group l Jon Hamm l Dakota Johnson l Chris Hemsworth l Jeff Bridges l Cailee Spaeny l Lewis Pullman l Cynthia Erivo l Nick Offerman l Bad…
‘A Star Is Born’ Has All the Right Ingredients to Make It One of the Best Films of the Year
Directed By: Bradley Cooper/ Written By: Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters/ Based on the 1976 Screenplay by Frank Pierson, John Gregory Dunne & Joan Didion, based on the 1954 screenplay by Moss Hart, based on a story by William Wellman and Robert Carson/ Starring Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Sam Elliot, Dave Chapelle, and…