EXPERIMENTER Review — Famous Yale Study Dramatized
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson It makes sense that Experimenter is an experimental film; not unlike Lars Von Trier’s Dogma or Eric Rohmer’s The Lady and the Duke, writer-director Michael Almereyda drops in stylized painted backdrops and elements of fantasy in an otherwise straight-forwardly told, often formal-feeling story. The tale is related directly by the controversial social…
DARK PLACES Review — Charlize Theron Meets Gillian Flynn
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson I have a major girl crush on author Gillian Flynn. She’s only written three novels, but I’ve read them all twice and can. not. wait. for her fourth! She’s a genius at combining the beloved beach-read with the classic winter’s night thriller. Her first book, Gone Girl, was made into…
SINISTER 2 Review — Sinister Too?
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson The first Sinister movie was released in 2012 and it was a sleeper hit. Starring Ethan Hawke as an investigative reporter who moves into a haunted house, the flick introduced a brand new bogeyman. Buhguul, an ancient entity also known as the Eater of Children, would possess the soul of…
SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL Review –It's Some Kind of…
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson Some Kind Of Beautiful (previously titled How To Make Love To An Englishman) is some kind of boring… and that’s a bummer for we fans of Pierce Brosnan (who, admittedly, hasn’t made many decent films lately – The Ghost Writer was good and The Matador was excellent, but let’s face it:…
STRANGERLAND Review — Evil Doings Down Under
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson Aussies make the best “child in peril” movies. The first one I remember seeing was A Cry in the Dark starring Meryl Streep, which came out in 1988. Then of course there’s the classic Walkabout (1971) from the child’s perspective, featuring a very young Jenny Agutter as a girl wandering…
MR HOLMES Review — Not So Elementary
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson I don’t know why everything has to be “a new twist!” – but sure enough, Mr. Holmes is being touted as such. There’s nothing wrong with the old Sherlock Holmes as far as I’m concerned (thinking fondly of the Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett portrayals), but there is a lot…
JURASSIC WORLD Review – Mega Monster Movie
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson It’s been 20+ years since those dastardly dinosaurs first wreaked havoc on the big screen, and people sitll can’t get enough of the Jurassic franchise. Based on a dark and more adult horror story by the legendary novelist Michael Critchton, these movies are pure PG-13 fare – exciting, fun, a little…
EDEN Movie Review – Insert Record Scratch Here
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson Beginning in the early 90s and unfolding over the next two decades, the French-language feature Eden is divided into two parts: “Paradise Garage” and “Lost in Music.” The film follows Paul (Félix de Givry), a teenager ensconced in the underground long before it was cool to be nerdy. Rave parties…
INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 3 Review: Three Times a Lady Medium
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson Insidious is a series of boo-scare big-screen thrillers that are rated PG-13 but pack an R-style punch. Inspired by old school shockers like The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist, the first two films concentrated on the evil entities who plagued the Lambert Family and were subsequently driven out by the small…
MAD MAX FURY ROAD Review: Action to the Max
By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson When you look at the title of this 34-years-after-the-first reboot — Mad Max: Fury Road – you know exactly what you’re getting. Lots of Max and a road that’s as fast as it is furious. As our titular hero zips across a post-apocalyptic Australian Outback in a contraption filled with…
