REVIEW: ‘Black Bear’ is a fascinating breach into the creative mind

To be honest, Aubrey Plaza really upstaged the bear in this movie.

In all seriousness, Plaza is the star of “Black Bear,” a film directed by Lawrence Michael Levine. Plaza portrays Allison, an actress-turned-director who’s staying at a lake house to escape the world and get some work done on a new project.

While she’s there, she meets the owners of the home, Blair (Sarah Gadon) and Gabe (Christopher Abbott). Her stay over the course of the picture goes through dramatic twists and turns that explore elements of a creative mind.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Black Bear’ is a fascinating breach into the creative mind”

REVIEW: The movie magic in ‘Mank’ is good, not great

The foundation for what many consider to be one of the greatest films ever made is showcased in David Fincher’s latest project.

The Netflix film, titled “Mank,” tells the story of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman). The movie picks up with Mankiewicz, who’s recovering from a leg injury suffered during a car accident, being hired to help write the movie “Citizen Kane” by Orson Welles (Tom Burke).

Mankiewicz, with the help of his secretary Rita (Lily Collins), manages to pen the script, despite a few hiccups along the way. As the movie shows him doing so, several flashbacks to Mankiewicz in the 30s are shown, displaying where the writer picked up his inspiration. Namely, the movie features several sequences where Mankiewicz interacted with William Randolph Hearst.

Continue reading “REVIEW: The movie magic in ‘Mank’ is good, not great”

REVIEW: ‘Happiest Season’ is satisfying holiday cinema

Take a break from Hallmark and go to Hulu because the streaming service has a romcom of much better quality.

“Happiest Season” stars Kristen Stewart as Abby and Mackenzie Davis as Harper. The two are a couple who’ve been together for about a year or so and are deeply in love. So much so that Abby is considering a proposal over Christmas.

As the holiday approaches, the two set off to visit Harper’s parents to enjoy a family Christmas. However, on the way, Harper informs Abby that she’s still in the closet and that her parents don’t know about their relationship. Planning to tell her parents at the right time, Harper convinces Abby to pretend that they’re just roommates instead of a couple. Keeping the secret proves difficult, though.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Happiest Season’ is satisfying holiday cinema”

REVIEW: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ is a mess of misery and melodrama

The difficulties and hardships of poverty have no doubt been explored in some great movies.

Unfortunately, “Hillbilly Elegy” doesn’t join that club.

The movie is based on a memoir by J.D. Vance, an American businessman who grew up in Ohio. In the film, Vance (Gabriel Basso) is a student at Yale University who’s looking to get hired by a law firm.

However, during the night of a big social dinner, Vance gets a call that his mother, Bev (Amy Adams) has overdosed on heroin. As a result, Vance drives back to the town he grew up in and in doing so, thinks back to his youth where he lived with both his mother and his grandmother, affectionately known as Mamaw (Glenn Close).

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ is a mess of misery and melodrama”

REVIEW: ‘Run’ is a fantastic rush of suspense

Don’t get on Sarah Paulson’s bad side. That’s one lesson to take away from this movie.

In this film, Paulson plays Diane Sherman, a single mother who’s been raising her daughter Chloe on her own. Chloe (Kiera Allen) is wheelchair bound and has several diseases, requiring a lot of medication.

Chloe is a teen anticipating college, and she’s really excited to get accepted to a university. However, as the film gets underway, Chloe begins to notice her mother is hiding things.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Run’ is a fantastic rush of suspense”

REVIEW: ‘Tesla’ is far from terrific

Nikola Tesla is a man whose legacy has nearly made him into a sort of mythical figure. This film, directed by Michael Almereyda, attempts to capture Tesla’s career with an artistic flair.

“Tesla” follows the titular character, played by Ethan Hawke, in the middle of a corporate competition between Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan) and George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan). The two are trying to take hold of the electric industry and Tesla’s ideas are coming into play.

However, unlike those two, Tesla was thinking ahead of just the competition of electricity. As the film shows, he has a lot of ideas that go beyond just lighting a bulb.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Tesla’ is far from terrific”

Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2020 Part 3

It’s Halloween and my horror review series for this year is ending in a bloody mess.

I’ve continued my journey through low budget B-Movies and, keeping with the rest of the 2020 series, stayed in the 1980s. For this post, I’ve reviewed two slashers and a paranormal horror comedy.

Continue reading “Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2020 Part 3”

REVIEW: ‘On the Rocks’ is a great comeback for Coppola

On the rocks is a good way to order a margarita, and it’s also a phrase for when a relationship has issues. This movie is about the latter, although there are plenty of drinks featured.

Writer and director Sofia Coppola has returned with her first film since 2017’s “The Beguiled.” Her latest picture focuses on Laura (Rashida Jones), a woman who’s trying to overcome writer’s block while also raising her daughters.

Additionally, Laura is having some trouble communicating with her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans), as he’s often out of town for  business  trips. Laura’s father Felix (Bill Murray) sees this as suspicious, though. As a result, the two begin discussing whether or not there’s an affair going on.

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘On the Rocks’ is a great comeback for Coppola”

Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2020 Part 2

I don’t know if there’s a better decade for pure schlock in film than the good ole 80s. Not only was it a good time for entertaining horror, it was also an era for people to produce lower budget flicks full of over the top moments.

These next three films fit that criteria.

Continue reading “Halloween Adventures in B-Movie Horror 2020 Part 2”

REVIEW: ‘Chicago 7’ is a compelling look at justice and politics, despite flaws

In most court movies, there’s just one defendant on trial. This Netflix release gives seven for the price of one.

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, “Trial of the Chicago 7” takes place in the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. On the outside of the convention were large protests, and following the political event, eight were charged by the government for inciting riots.

The defendants included Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Alex Sharp (Rennie Davis), Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jeremy Strong (Jerry Rubin), John Lynch (David Dellinger), Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins), John Froines (Daniel Flaherty) and Bob Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). During the trial, though, Seale’s case was severed and the defendant list went to seven. The federal prosecutor in the case is Tom Foran (J.C. MacKenzie) while the main lawyer for the defense is William Kunstler (Mark Rylance).

Continue reading “REVIEW: ‘Chicago 7’ is a compelling look at justice and politics, despite flaws”