We often live our lives as events unfold, with these events either being a result of choice or not. That is a stunningly simple statement regarding the human condition that is not fully justified, however, it also speaks to how we interact with other people. When thinking about Christopher Burke’s For Love & Life: No [...]
Throughout the Planet of the Apes film franchise, makeup, and technology have impressed audiences. With Pierre Boulle’s novel serving as a reference point for a world ruled by apes and humanity being subjugated to a lower form, the rebooted film series that began in 2011 continues with Wes Ball’s (The Maze Runner trilogy) brilliant Kingdom [...]
Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers throws more trysts and turns at a viewer than a decent thriller, as it serves up a love triangle set between a trio of tennis players, Patrick (Josh O’Connor), Art (Mike Faist) and, Tashi (Zendaya) against a wild card tennis match event in New Rochelle, NY. The story, by Justin Kuritzkes, is [...]
Talking about R. J, Daniel Hanna’s Hard Miles isn’t difficult. Based on a true story and written by Hanna and Christian Sander, the writing duo set out to tell the story of Greg Townsend (Matthew Modine). Townsend, a part of a private juvenile facility for troubled teenagers, rallied various kids through a grueling and ultimately [...]
In the opening frames of Civil War, writer-director Alex Garland brilliantly offers the audience an interesting proposition, which dually asks, are we, the audience, paying attention to our surroundings, immediately followed with a cut from black to a dictatorial president (Nick Offerman) preparing to give an update to the people of the United States. Or, [...]
Música, no matter how the word is translated between languages is a universally understood concept of music. “Musica” is the title of Rudy Mancuso’s excellent directorial debut, streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Understanding what música is helps us to understand Rudy’s journey throughout the story. The film suggests that it is a heartbeat, the lifeblood [...]
The opening of the 24th annual Phoenix Film Festival is right around the corner (literally, it starts this Thursday, April 4th, and runs through April 14th at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 14!). I know from experience the Phoenix Film Festival runs on a combination of aspects that continually drive its success. It isn’t just one [...]
Content today thrives on existing intellectual properties, where creativity feels boxed in. Rare exceptions, such as the recently released “Dune Part Two” manage to break through with audiences. The glut of content on streaming means that the audience is watching and immediately asking, “what’s next?” Cameron and Colin Cairnes’ “Late Night with the Devil” provides [...]
Right from the “get,” any reimagining of a classic, cult film is going to be scrutinized up, down, left, and right. Doug Liman’s “Road House,” a re-imagination of Rowdy Harrington’s 1989 classic film should be no exception. Yet, in this day and age, with streamers full of content and rights to retool anything in their [...]
Julio Torres’ “Problemista,” premiered a year ago at South by Southwest and has been slowly expanding to different markets over the past few weeks. It hits theaters in Phoenix this weekend. This strategy, much like the movie itself, presents an interesting duality, and it's not the first time the releasing studio, A24 has employed such [...]
