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A QUIET PLACE Review by Lisa Johnson Mandell
If you would have told me I’d be absolutely riveted and wide awake through the entirety of an hour-and-a-half film with only about five minutes of dialogue, I would have told you you were demented. But to his ample credit, writer/director/star John Krasinski has come up with something quite brilliant, on a level with new horror films like Get Out, and classics like my childhood favorite Wait Until Dark.
CHAPPAQUIDDICK Review by Staci Layne Wilson
Even though the events that gives this movie its title happened nearly 50 years ago, most people know the word Chappaquiddick. It’s a place, but it also evokes notions of politics, coverups, and the infamous “Kennedy curse.”
Director John Curran revisits the shocking and sad scandal in this gripping thriller, giving it a relevant twist as it examines how such things are handled by higher-ups—even to this day, rich people can get away with murder.
READY PLAYER ONE Review by Staci Layne Wilson
From Tron to War Games, and The Matrix to Nerve, — the idea of living la vida loca inside a VR game has been studied in cinema pixel-by-pixel for decades now. Some fare better than others. I’m pleased to report that Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One comes out near the top of the binary heap.
I haven’t read the book it’s based on but I’ve heard it’s a nerd’s paradise: page after page of finite detail on video games of the ’80s, Yuppie-decade movies, and Reagan-era pop songs. The film version has the same stuff, but thankfully a picture is worth a thousand words. Spielberg spins into the atmosphere but he doesn’t get bogged down in the minutia.
ISLE of DOGS Review — Good Boy, Wes Anderson!
by Hollywood Hound Frankie Feldman
As a furry family family guy who watches many a movie on the couch, I can tell you that the tastiest of all treats, writer/director Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, could change canine cinema forever. There is no doubt that this fido-licious film, cast almost exclusivly with a historically under-represented minority (mutts) will finally prove that every dog can have his day at the box office.
WILDLING Review by Staci Layne Wilson
Werewolves have been fodder for film since the days of Lon Chaney right up to the wildly popular Twilight franchise. The idea of a perfectly rational human transforming into a bloodthirsty beast is one that’s been explored countless times, and here’s yet another: Wildling.
When kindly small-town sheriff Ellen Cooper (Liv Tyler) takes in a seemingly abused 16-year-old girl called Anna (Bel Powley), she has no idea she’s in for a truly hair-raising experience. The poor child has lived her entire life locked inside a single room by a man who told her to call him “Daddy” (Brad Dourif) who, after subjecting her to a series of painful injections, shot himself before her eyes. The girl needs the love of a normal family. Ellen believes at first that Anna’s odd behavior is merely a byproduct of trauma… but it’s much more than that.
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE Review
by Staci Layne Wilson
Director Lynne Ramsay, though not prolific, has made a name for herself with movies that make disturbing, yet thought-provoking impressions on the viewer. In 2012 We Need to Talk About Kevin was the talk of the cinephile clique; now she’s back with another curio centered on a deeply dysfunctional character.
LEAN ON PETE Review by Staci Layne Wilson
There’s an old proverb—and I do mean old; it originated from a 17th century nursery rhyme—that goes, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” The adage implies that it is not enough to wish upon something, you have to take action if you want it to happen. It’s not always easy to take action when you’re a kid, and in the case of 15-year-old at-risk teen Charley Thompson (Charlie Plummer) in Lean On Pete, taking action is not always for the best.
TOMB RAIDER Review — LOVE, SIMON Review
by Lisa Johnson Mandell
LOVE, SIMON Review
If John Hughes were making films today, Love, Simon might be what they’d look like. Although it treats a very current topic, it still has the same warm and shiny innocence of teen films of the ’80’s. Simon could well be the Ferris Bueller for this generation, since there are several nods to his notorious day off in Love, Simon.
A WRINKLE IN TIME Review by Lisa Johnson Mandell
At least it’s pretty
Lovely to look at, impossible to follow, A Wrinkle in Time feels more like a psychedelic acid trip than a noble hero’s journey (not that I’ve ever been on either one). That might be acceptable for a grownup arthouse flick, but as an adaptation of a beloved preteen novel, it’s bit of a disappointment.
In her Game Night review and her Annihilation review, Lisa Johnson Mandell says one is frightful and the other is frightfully funny.
GAME NIGHT Review
You know those films where you feel like you’ve seen all the best parts in the trailer? This is not one of them. In fact, the trailer doesn’t do the film justice. Packed with delightfully quirky characters and zany plot twists, it’s far better and more amusing than the trailer would have you believe.
