It’s too bad Melissa McCarthy is caught up in the stale comedy machine, churning out these kinds of predictable crowdpleasers instead of hunkering down and doing something really special. She’s a big enough name now […]
Category: Reviews
Thoroughbreds (Finley, 2017)
Like a two-day-old helium balloon, you can see Thoroughbreds slowly deflating with each passing act. It begins promisingly enough, centering on the affectless Amanda (a fantastic Olivia Cooke) as she rekindles her relationship with childhood friend Lily […]
The Tale (Fox, 2018)
On one hand, it’s a shame The Tale wasn’t given a theatrical release. The subject matter is more than topical right now, and one always wants to see a great talent like Laura Dern headlining the big […]
Book Club (Holderman, 2018)
Geared toward the twilight set, Book Club delivers a fair amount of laughs courtesy of its cast of American treasures. It’s a bit like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, in the sense that its concerns are about the […]
Unsane (Soderbergh, 2018)
I wouldn’t say that Unsane is necessarily quality cinema, for a lot of it is of the pulp thriller variety that could pass off as an adaptation of a number of books with black covers with sinister […]
Nothing Like a Dame / Tea with the Dames (Michell, 2018)
Anyone who is a fan of acting legends should give Nothing Like a Dame (or, as it is now known in North America, Tea with the Dames) a spin. Ideally during a sunny afternoon, with a spot of […]
Ocean’s Eight (Ross, 2018)
This insanely talented cast deserved much better than this kind of straight-down-the-middle filmmaking that gives them only the bare minimum to shine. The pedestrian nature of this endeavour was a big shame. I, quite shamefully, […]
You Were Never Really Here (Ramsay, 2017)
The quality of this film that I admired from the start was the heightened soundscape, which I assume is meant to mirror the sensitivity of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joe. Conversations and footsteps here have a sharpness […]
Hereditary (Aster, 2018)
Kudos to Ari Aster for making a film that is so unbridled in its insanity that it has the durability of Teflon. There are several images in Hereditary that will be hard to forget anytime soon. From […]
Let the Sunshine In (Denis, 2017)
It’s only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away.—The Bee Gees Claire Denis continues to be nothing less than fascinating with her first film in four years, a far cry from […]
Where is Kyra? (Dosunmu, 2017)
Another mark in the “win” column, Bradford Young. You really are one of the best DPs in the business right now. You understand the stories you’re hired to tell with your visual acumen. You have […]
Let the Corpses Tan (Cattet & Forzani, 2017)
Let the Corpses Tan, the latest from Belgian team Cattet & Forzani, is a deliriously degenerate mash-up of spaghetti western, giallo and poliziotteschi that does more than arrest the eye: it positively holds it captive. […]
Love, Simon (Berlanti, 2018)
Love, Simon reminded me a little of last year’s Wonder, which was (if you remember) about the child with the facial disfigurement. Both are very safe and “clean” uplifters about self-acceptance and tolerance that are fundamentally structured […]
Life and Nothing More (Esparza, 2017)
I’m excited for more people to see Life and Nothing More when it eventually makes the rounds, because I want to see sentences like “Regina Williams is a star in the making,” “Regina Williams gives one of […]
Tully (Reitman, 2018)
I liked the “motherhood as body horror” approach that Tully takes for its first half, and bless Charlize Theron for her commitment in making Marlo look thoroughly wiped by the experience of having a third baby. Gaining […]
The Lonely Film Critic 