— by RON WILKINSON — The Force lives on with new blood. The same special effects and light saber hokum stalls for time in what appears to be a rebuilding year for the franchise. Notice is given at the outset when a 100-decibel opening dose of John Williams knocks you back in your seat li[...]
Author Archive
Review: I, Tonya
— by RON WILKINSON — Unbridled ambition to rival Nicole Kidman’s “To Die For,” Tonya Harding’s story may be the dark comedy of the season. The first woman to land a triple axel in competition and one of only eight in the history of the sport, Harding was banned for life from skat[...]
Review: The New Radical
— by RON WILKINSON — After having invented the first internet distributed 3D printable gun, Cody Wilson was getting no respect. Once the authorities found out what he was doing, nobody would sell him a printer capable of making his masterpiece. Fedex and PayPal refused to service his bus[...]
Review: Sweet Virginia
— by RON WILKINSON — Noir is difficult. And as of his second feature, director Jamie M. Dagg has a way to go. It is not enough to create a mystery thriller with a decent plot, there must be back stories. Without briefly dishing the dirt about why these lost souls inhabit the noir world, [...]
Review: The Man Who Invented Christmas
— by RON WILKINSON — The season for tall tales is upon us and what better centerpiece than the immortal spook of all tales, “A Christmas Carol.” Dickens wracks his brain for a story as the writer’s worst nightmare looms. Poverty, homelessness, loss of a byline. Through those marvel[...]
Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Mo.
— by RON WILKINSON — Martin McDonagh’s latest has more in common with his brooding “In Bruges” than with star Francis McDormand’s signature “Fargo.” As she did with her North Dakota persona, she does with Mildred in Missouri. Only this time it is in spades. The sing-song, liv[...]
Review: Kedi
— by RON WILKINSON — The best movie ever made for cat lovers opened this year around the world. The setting, deep in the city of Istanbul, is simply magnificent. Filming from the point of view of the city’s roaming cats amplifies the grandeur of one of the greatest nations in the world[...]
Review: The Work
— by RON WILKINSON — The best documentaries take on a life of their own. Some spiral out of control into territory unknown to the film makers. Some draw the crew too far into the story for their own good. Some reveal truths that no one anticipated. This super gritty look into Folsom pris[...]
Review: Loving Vincent
— by RON WILKINSON — There is nothing more difficult to make than a great biopic, and the more powerful the subject the more difficult the film. Choosing to somehow pay homage to Vincent van Gogh was an awe-inspiring task. The resultant work is as beautiful and heartfelt as the work of t[...]
Review: The Mountain Between Us
— by RON WILKINSON — The scenario is all too familiar. The airlines are in chaos and the two travelers are stranded. As it turns out, the minds of two pilgrims themselves are in chaos as well. Alex (Kate Winslet) has planned her flight arrival just in time for her wedding. At first glanc[...]
Review: Motherland
— by RON WILKINSON — There are two things that strike the viewer upon entering the world’s busiest maternity hospital. The first is shear rapidity and stamina of the population explosion occuring therein. The second is the age of the mothers giving birth, literally, every minute. Child[...]
Review: American Made
— by RON WILKINSON — There is nothing more sure-fire than kicking off the “serious” movie season with a scam flick. Americans love scam flicks. They are the heart and soul of outrageous upward mobility, the escape hatch that lets us all believe that no matter how shiftless, mediocre [...]
Review: The Atoning
— by RON WILKINSON — When asked where they are and why they are there, Ray replies, “I don’t know, I’m trying to figure it out.” Well, so are we. Thankfully, by the end of this 90-minute potboiler, we know where we are, and it is good. In the interim, however, we are where the [&[...]
Review: Detroit
— by RON WILKINSON — Kathryn Bigelow’s shaky cam takes you right into the streets of Detroit during the 1967 12th Street Riots. Actually, her shaky cam takes you right into a scripted narrative fiction version of the riots, specifically the horrific Algiers Motel murders. The staged ca[...]