Fred Topel 24 Hours to Live reminds me of the kinds of movies I used to get excited about as a teenage cinephile. Sure, there were franchises that had me on name alone, or the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone, but my favorites were when an idea was so good I just had to see
When AFI Fest wrapped on November 16 in Los Angeles, the film Bodied added a third audience award to its resume after victories in Toronto and Fantastic Fest too. Director Joseph Kahn spoke in a Q&A after the film’s AFI Fest screening and revealed the film’s unlikely inspiration. Kahn is a prolific music video director
When Frozen 2 hits theaters in 2019 it will be six years since audiences first met Elsa, Anna and Olaf. Animation takes a long time, but finding the right story can take even longer. Even for a short film, the story has to be right. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure plays before Coco in theaters. Giving Olaf
Like The Social Network and Moneyball, Aaron Sorkin makes another complicated scenario engaging and understandable. Well, Molly’s Game Is much easier to understand than Moneyball. If Henry Hill was a Goodfella, would Molly Bloom be a Goodgal? After an Olympic injury, Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) aims to go to law school. But in her first
The Shape of Water is Guillermo del Toro’s Free Willy, and all that entails. That’s a compliment. Del Toro means it and he probably has even more affection for fictional creatures than actual animals. This may be his most passionate film. Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a janitor in a laboratory that is holding an amphibian
Parents are always trying to teach their kids to be good people, but it can be hard to illustrate morality in words alone. That’s not just for kids. Adults too often don’t think about the consequences of their actions until it’s too late. So a movie like Wonder that shows the pain bullying causes and
Justice League is worse than Batman v Superman. I say that as someone who likes Batman v Superman more than most but understands the complaints it’s too convoluted and grimdark. But for better or worse, Batman v Superman had a personality. Justice League is so watered down it’s nothing. There may be a few good
The family drama Wonder centers on an extraordinary young boy, but his entire family are central to the story. Auggie (Jacob Tremblay) has a rare genetic condition that left his face scarred. He goes to middle school for the first time in fifth grade, while his sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) goes to school in the
Thor has faced the baddest villains in the universe – the Frost Giants, Malekith, Ultron. When you think of opponents for Thor, Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett might not be your first thought. Yet Blanchett plays the toughest villain of any Thor or Avengers movie. She plays Hela, the Goddess of Death, and couldn’t wait
In the 1988 comedy Coming to America, Eddie Murphy played a prince who sheds his royalty to look for true love. In Queens, Akeem (Murphy) takes a job at a fast food place to meet women who are not interested in his money. The fast food restaurant was called McDowell’s. This week in Los Angeles,