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Posts Tagged With ‘ idris elba ’

 

Her Impossible

August 22nd, 2022

If a genie offered you three wishes, what would you wish for? You’ve probably had that conversation. Whether you were baked out of your mind, sitting around a campfire, or chatting with a close friend or lover, that question has passed through your mind. You could make that one person fall in love with you. You could become as rich as Croesus. Hell, you could eat as many tacos as you want and never gain weight. The conversation about wishes is one that matters, one that’s always mattered. That’s because it’s ultimately about stories. As humans, we make sense of the world through narratives.... Read More

The Do-Over

August 17th, 2021

Once upon a time, there was a director who got royally screwed. His name was (and continues to be) David Ayer, and his upbringing in South Central Los Angeles informed him well. There are likely two reasons you’re familiar with Ayer. The first is his work as the talented screenwriter of Training Day and the director of very good films such as End of Watch and Fury. The second reason is that he’s the guy who made 2016’s Suicide Squad. Despite making nearly $750 million and winning the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyle, Suicide Squad was critically reviled. I read over my review*... Read More

She Hit a Stick

December 31st, 2017

If you’re a screenwriter in Hollywood, a successful one, after a while you start to get the itch to direct your own stuff. Sometimes it works out. Look at Christopher McQuarrie. Other times it doesn’t. Look at Dan Aykroyd. Aaron Sorkin has likely felt the same way, and he’s seized his opportunity with his latest film Molly’s Game. A well-respected writer and producer for decades, he’s made a career out of being clever. Understand, there’s nothing wrong with that. Sorkin’s career exploded by writing the screenplays for films like A Few Good Men and Charlie Wilson’s War, along with... Read More

What The Hela?

November 5th, 2017

What happens when the title of a movie promises one thing but delivers something entirely different? That goes to the larger issue with moviegoing, I suppose. You see a trailer, spy a poster, even just hear a title, and an imaginary movie with a very particular look and feel starts playing in your head. If the movie in your head aligns with reality, even somewhat, you’re likely to be a happy camper. In 1994, audiences saw a trailer for When a Man Loves a Woman. It starred Meg Ryan, long considered to be the alpha and the omega of romantic comedy. What the trailer showed was a light romp,... Read More

This Movie Has Forgotten The Face Of Its Father

August 13th, 2017

You already know that making a good movie is hard. The alchemy is peculiar, and it requires combining the skill of a craftsman with the soul of a poet to create something uniquely itself. If you think that’s tough, try adapting a novel into a movie. Sometimes the filmmaker can be faithful, too faithful to the source material, and suck the life out of it. That’s when you get works like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone or Watchmen.* Other times the filmmaker taps into the story and themes with great precision, and you have situations like Jaws or The Godfather, where... Read More

To Boldly Go

July 24th, 2016

We need Star Trek right now. Badly. The America of Stardate 2016 is fractured. Paranoid. Raging. We’re locked into a presidential election that rejects hope and embraces fear. The vast majority of us plan to vote against a particular candidate instead of being inspired by one. Our country is beset by problems and, when we should be coming together, we seem to be moving further apart. 1966 was a year not dissimilar to 2016. We were trapped in a seemingly endless war against a foe we barely understood. Public trust in institutions was eroding. But in Los Angeles, an ex-cop and television... Read More

The Bare Necessities

April 17th, 2016

Every week before I see the movie I end up reviewing, I talk to my kid about it. He’s 8 years old, bright, and possesses a goofy sense of humor. Sometimes he’s interested in what I’m going to see. Other times, his attention is captured by more lofty subjects.* I mentioned offhandedly to him that I was considering seeing The Jungle Book, the latest version of Rudyard Kipling’s venerable collection of stories. With the speed of a feral man-cub, he grabbed both sides of my face, leaned in close, and hissed, “I’m coming with you.” Having barely escaped a... Read More

Sean Penn Tries, Fails, To Become Liam Neeson In ‘The Gunman’

March 22nd, 2015

Hi, guys. I’m Tim Brennan, and I’ll be your film critic this evening. For the foreseeable future, as well. I grew up in Boulder and got bit by the movie bug young. I’ve seen thousands of films, good, bad and ugly. I’ve also co-written several screenplays, which helped me to learn about the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. For about the last year, I’ve been writing movie reviews for The Hollywood Billboard. Those kind folks helped me get going in the cutthroat world of online film criticism, and for that, I’m grateful. Now, I’m here. Over time, we’ll... Read More