— by RON WILKINSON — Most films made in New York City are eclipsed by the city. The film maker hopes to use the energy and glamor to make a mediocre film great. Instead, the city steals the show from the screenplay and usually the actors as well. Perhaps NYC knows this when provide such […][...]
Review: The Water Diviner
— by RON WILKINSON — Russell Crowe comes out swinging with his narrative fiction feature directorial debut but fouls out as this war story drops off the deep end into the irretrievably maudlin. Screenwriters Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios are partly to blame, but Crowe should have known better. The setting is Australia circa 1915, […][...]
Jem and the Holograms: Official Trailer
— by JESSIKA OWENS — One of the most important things to me when looking at a film is the music. Of course, the cast and crew are the first things I look at and are what ultimately decide my excitement factor for a film, but the music is a vital piece of that puzzle. […][...]
Review: About Elly (aka Darbareye Elly)
— by RON WILKINSON — In the midst of a jocular college reunion, the young, beautiful and mysterious guest Elly (Taraneh Alidousti) disappears without a trace. In the wake of her disappearance, her true story emerges to the shame and humiliation of all concerned. The setting is the shore of the Caspian sea, where three […][...]
Review: Ex Machina
— by RON WILKINSON — Writer/director Alex Garland’s sci-fi flick “Ex Machina” is the latest in a long line of slipshod Hollywood treatments of artificial intelligence. This tale starts with a pseudo “imitation game” in which Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) has been chosen to determine which is the real person and which is the computer armed […][...]
Review: True Story
— by RON WILKINSON — Debut feature director Rupert Goold pulled one out of the hat with “True Story,” an amazingly entertaining dual of wits, and lies, between two men who are world class in the art of deception. At the heart of the film is the weakness of the human soul when it comes […][...]
Review: Black Souls
— by RON WILKINSON — Nominated for the Golden Lion, the highest award of the Venice Film Festival, writer/director Francesco Munzi’s familial crime drama looks deep into the heart of darkness. Based on the novel by Gioacchino Criaco with a screenplay co-written by Maurizio Braucci and Fabrizio Ruggirello, “Black Souls” is the story of a […][...]
Review: What We Do in the Shadows
— by RON WILKINSON — Directed and written by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, “What We Do in the Shadows” is a marvelous mash-up of every vampire trope invented in the last century with a few new ones thrown in. The four flat mates are the best of friends, and have been the best of […][...]
Review: While We’re Young
— by RON WILKINSON — Noah Baumbach’s latest dramedy takes on a decidedly Woody Allen feeling that gives Ben Stiller a chance to show his stuff. Supporting leads Naomi Watts and Adam Driver fall victim to the curse of New York City as they fade into the shadows behind the bright lights of Gotham. In […][...]
Review: The Duke of Burgundy
— by RON WILKINSON — Peter Strickland’s “The Duke of Burgundy” shows nothing if not a lot of courage. The screenplay reflects on the seemingly Victorian experiences of two sexually liberated and experimentally inclined women against a backdrop of heavily disciplined and constrained academic isolation. Evelyn (“Berberian” star Chiara D’Anna) and Cynthia (Danish actress Sidse […][...]