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(11/29/18 1:51am)
With a body of work centering on physical, psychological and self-inflicted suffering, filmmaker Steve McQueen’s sensibilities firmly align with the conventions and themes of arthouse, rather than commercial, cinema. That’s what makes his latest film, the moody heist thriller “Widows,” so appealing and confounding. McQueen imbues the inescapable, ultra-sleek heist genre with his signature edifying and forceful voice. The result is a rare type of commercial film, one that elevates its familiar material into an attuned exploration of survival and empathy.
(09/13/18 4:06am)
As one of rock’s greatest dependables, Paul McCartney has nothing to prove to anyone. The 76-year-old’s post-Beatles career is comprised of 17 solo albums, a fruitful and commercially successful run with ‘70s band Wings and near-perpetual world tours. Considering the magnitude of his triumphs, adulation and influence on popular music, McCartney’s career could have comfortably ended decades ago. And yet, he admirably continues to release new material, not for the money or effusive praise, but for the sheer love of the craft. The bonafide legend just released another solo album, “Egypt Station,” an ambitious 57-minute journey into the contemplative psyche of a musical icon.
(03/30/18 3:10am)
After leading actresses turn 30 or so, Hollywood usually relegates them to motherly roles, villainesses or banal character parts. There are scattered exceptions to the film industry’s treatment of older women as second class citizens — actresses like Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren and Isabelle Huppert still appear in complex, engrossing roles. However, Hollywood has marginalized older women for decades, abandoning once-famous stars as soon as their youthful charm and sexuality dissipates. Never has any filmmaker better captured the calamitous impacts of faded stardom than Billy Wilder in his sardonic, cynical 1950 film noir, “Sunset Boulevard.”
(02/15/18 7:22am)
“The white man history has been told and it’s today in the book. But our history is not there properly. We’ve got to tell ‘em through our paintings.”
(11/14/17 5:02am)
While their ubiquity has certainly declined over the years in favor of the perpetual output of sequels and superhero blockbusters, the western still stands as the quintessential genre of American film. For over a century, westerns have been an infectious pleasure to watch — think of the exhilarating horseback action sequences, the infinite possibilities evoked by the early days of the American frontier, the triumphing of good over evil, a towering John Wayne walking with his trademark, slightly off-balanced swagger.
(10/11/17 3:59am)
Comedy, drunkenness, chaos, family drama, triumph. This may sound like the stuff of hefty Russian literature, but it also encapsulates the story of the Replacements — a beloved band from the Minneapolis 80s alt-rock scene who just released its latest album, “For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986.”
(09/12/17 2:55am)
Neil Young is one of rock’s most restless dependables. With an idiosyncratic career spanning over half a century, Young’s stylistic ventures have reached everything from blues and heavy noise-rock to — perhaps most bafflingly — Kraftwerk-esque synth-pop. Alongside this reliable versatility, there lies his extensive, constant stream of output. Young has released nearly a dozen studio albums in the past decade alone, and after 2016’s scattered “Peace Trail,” he has returned to his library of unreleased music — which only rivals Prince’s in its vastness — for the release of “Hitchhiker.”
(04/17/17 5:46am)
Since its modest beginnings as a low-budgeted “Point Break” ripoff, the “Fast and Furious” franchise has evolved — amping up the spectacle so many times that the latest entries do not remotely function on the same scale as their predecessors. The characters who started as working-class outlaws are now combating global annihilation — Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) and company are less likely to street race in the sweaty, grimy streets of Los Angeles than they are expected to disarm nukes and torpedo-launching submarines. It’s been a long road.
(04/11/17 4:12am)
One of the most stunning sequences of “Big Little Lies” begins with Jane (Shailene Woodley) sprinting down the beach of Monterey, Calif. Celeste (Nicole Kidman) and Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) join her on either side, arms feverishly pumping and eyes sharply focused on the vast distance ahead. They barely acknowledge each other, yet they charge forward together, bounded in solidarity. These women are resilient and empowered, but more importantly, they have each other. In the larger scope of “Big Little Lies,” this is a small moment, yet it means everything.
(03/20/17 6:26am)
As one of the most recognizable paintings in American history, “Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth leaves much up to interpretation. Who is the girl in the pale pink dress sprawled in a vast field, and why is she gazing longingly toward a barn in the distance?
(03/14/17 3:59am)
For a comedy revolving around the repulsive acts of five raging narcissists, it is surprising that “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has prospered on air for 12 seasons. However, there is a reason for the show’s enduring success. The actors comprising the Gang — Dee (Kaitlin Olson), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day) and Frank (Danny DeVito) — masterfully manifest the lunacy, vulgarity and lowbrow antics of their respective characters. The Gang represents the worst in all of us — each personal insult, pursuit of fame and horrifying scheme culminate into a series that astutely examines the consequences of extreme selfishness and disregard for social mores.
(02/23/17 6:26am)
Dominating the 2016-17 awards season and being highly touted for months, “La La Land” is potentially on path to an unprecedented Oscar night clean sweep. Though that film is lovely and technically dazzling, “Moonlight” deserves to win Best Picture.
(01/26/17 4:16am)
It’s 1979. Punk finally enters the mainstream. Jimmy Carter accuses Americans of losing their moral centers. The Reagan administration, the AIDS crisis and climate change are on the brink of changing the nation.
(12/27/16 3:03am)
“Passengers” has all the elements of a fresh, inquisitive take on the exhausted science-fiction genre. The big-budget celestial romance is the latest effort from Oscar-nominated director Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game,” “Headhunters”) and features two undeniable movie stars — Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence.
(11/09/16 2:09am)
From 1970s classics like “The Godfather” and “Taxi Driver” to modern thrillers like “Nightcrawler,” antiheroes have proven to be subjects for compelling drama. The protagonists of these films are repellent in their actions, yet it is impossible to not become engrossed in their worlds. The same cannot quite be said for Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston) in Robin Swicord’s latest project, “Wakefield,” which was shown Saturday during the Virginia Film Festival. Cranston, who stunned audiences in the iconic anti-hero role of Walter White in “Breaking Bad,” gives a riveting performance in a film whose ambition of providing an innovative character study doesn’t come full circle.
(10/19/16 2:16am)
Few filmmakers are able to convey the unaddressed tensions and subtle miseries of ordinary life as seamlessly as Kelly Reichardt. Her filmography consists of minimalist films like “Night Moves” and “Meek’s Cutoff,” which circumvent formulaic Hollywood flair and make for great drama, even in their quietest moments. Her latest effort, “Certain Women,” continues this neo-realist approach with luminous results.