Frozen II: Movie Review

Beautiful scenery plus characters we know and love.

Can Frozen II live up to the perfection of the original? No? I mean they tried really hard and it’s a thoroughly great movie, but lightning doesn’t strike the same spot twice. It would be hard for anybody to accurately judge Frozen II on its own terms without a comparison to Frozen. I was so blown away by what they accomplished with the first movie, and I couldn’t help but go into Frozen II looking to see what they could replicate, re-create or what new magic they could capture.		2019 Directed by: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee Screenplay by: Jennifer Lee Starring: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell

Parasite: Movie Review

Daring and inventive tale of class inequality.

One might wonder during the beginning of Parasite if the title is a loose translation from a Korean word which doesn’t have a direct English counterpart. The Oxford English Dictionary offers two definitions of parasite: “1. An organism that lives in or on an organism of another species (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense; 2. A person who habitually relies on or exploits others and gives nothing in return.” Not too long later, it’s clear that writer-director Bong Joon Ho meant the exact title he chose and Anglophones can assume nothing is lost in translation.		2019 Directed by: Bong Joon Ho Screenplay by: Han Jin Won, Bong Joon Ho Starring: Woo-sik Choi, Kang-ho Song

Private Life: Movie Review

Hilariously flawed people going through life.

Private Life is a bitter-sweet exploration of a marriage and two people’s struggles to conceive. I know from that description that you might assume that the movie would drag on, that it might not offer anything new to the thousands of characters that have struggled with those issues in many movies that came before this one. But this one is different, trust me. There’s a sharp wit to these characters who are very true to themselves.		2018 Directed by: Tamara Jenkins Screenplay by: Tamara Jenkins Starring: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti

Call Me By Your Name: Movie Review

Sensual love and haunting sadness.

Call Me By Your Name is a film about love and sadness. I would argue that that’s all it’s about and it’s beautiful. Timothée Chalamet stars as Elio a teenager in Italy who likes lounging about. Armie Hammer co-stars as Oliver an American who has come to stay with Elio’s family and work with his father. Elio doesn’t like Oliver much and just views him as another arrogant American. The subtle shifts in the characters and their perceptions is particularly good.		2017 Directed by: Luca Guadagnino Screenplay by: James Ivory Based on the novel by André Aciman Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer

Lady Bird: Movie Review

Heartfelt, honest and funny.

Lady Bird is about a lot of smaller ideas, all of which might seem uninteresting to the average viewer, but it so perfectly captures the awkwardness of a teenager coming of age and trying to survive her last year of high school, that there’s a relatable humour and warmth that will echo throughout the generations. Writer and director Greta Gerwig has referred to it as a love letter to her hometown of Sacramento, California, and it’s also about navigating the slightly different social structure of an all-girls catholic school, which Gerwig herself attended.		2017 Directed by: Greta Gerwig Screenplay by: Greta Gerwig Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges

A Ghost Story: Movie Review

Creative exploration of life and loss with a uniquely engaging ghost.

A Ghost Story is an incredibly unique and odd experience and although I have no desire to describe it in overly philosophical and broad terms, describing how it accomplishes what it accomplishes is going to be a challenge. First, writer and director David Lowery has chosen a box-like 1.33:1 aspect ratio with rounded corners. Similar to photographs you’ve seen in your grandparents’ albums. It gives the film a worn-out but familiar atmosphere, like this moving story of a ghost’s life is a family photograph held onto and cherished through the years.		2017 Directed by: David Lowery Screenplay by: David Lowery Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara

Their Finest: Movie Review

They’re making a movie and it’s brilliant and funny.

The plot of Their Finest works on many levels. On one side it’s a simple comedy-drama-romance of a young woman finding her way in the world, on another side it’s a comedy about making a movie, but it’s also an historical drama taking a look at the effects of war on everybody left at home, and when war hits the home you know, and how war has changed the role of women in society. Above all, it’s a comedy; a very engaging, very funny comedy about ridiculous actors and how to write a screenplay.		2016 Directed by: Lone Scherfig Screenplay by: Gaby Chiappe Based on the novel by Lissa Evans Starring: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy

La La Land: Movie Review

A movie of love, music and soul.

La La Land couldn’t have a more fitting title. An homage to LA, but more than that, an homage to the dreamers of LA and the life-as-a-musical that they could have. La La Land sells itself strictly as a romantic musical. The characters sing and dance as they fall in love – and even if that’s all it is, it would still be a pretty good movie. It's a movie that survives on the pure cinematic experience, but also provides a bit of soul.		2016 Directed by: Damien Chazelle Screenplay by: Damien Chazelle Starring: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling

Loving: Movie Review

Understated approach to historical importance.

Loving is about the Lovings, and that is their real last name. A couple from Viriginia whose story takes flight in 1958. The movie is an historical discussion and a romance about pure love. We’re introduced to Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred (Ruth Negga) just before they get married. She’s pregnant, he’s elated, and there is absolutely no doubt that their marriage is one of love, and not convenience or social pressures.		2016 Directed by: Jeff Nichols Screenplay by: Jeff Nichols Starring: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga

Hell or High Water: Movie Review

Action, adventure and an entertaining crime caper.

It’s West Texas. Small towns, dirt roads, dirtier cars and well-traveled criminals. Meet the Howard brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster); they’re about to rob a bank. Hell or High Water is an electrifying good story. Part crime drama, part family relations, part heist movie merged into a film that is pure good story-telling and mesmerizing filmmaking.		2016 Directed by: David Mackenzie Screenplay by: Taylor Sheridan Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges

Indignation: Movie Review

Interesting, fascinating and entertaining story of love, death and beliefs.

Indignation is a story of love, death and faith. It’s a story of college experiences, the Korean War and determination. And it’s told with an eye for detail, and an ear for dialogue, and told through a lead character who is simultaneously completely confident with who he is, and completely unsure what he’s supposed to do. It’s fascinating to watch unfold, even if it never goes far, and it’s almost always entertaining.		2016 Directed by: James Schamus Screenplay by: James Schamus Based on the novel by Philip Roth Starring: Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon and Tracy Letts

99 Homes: Movie Review

Making deals with the devil – thrilling, intense, fascinating.

99 Homes is the best film ever made about the housing crisis. It combines the reality (banks foreclosing on homes) with real emotion (option-less people both heartbreakingly giving up and being pushed to their violent limits) surrounding a story about a ruthless villain turning a down-on-his-luck victim into a rising star using the basic film formula of descent-into-madness. It is both a taut, entertaining, comedic thriller and emotional family drama. Or arguably, a Greek tragedy.		2014 Directed by: Ramin Bahrani Screenplay by: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi Starring: Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon

Bridge of Spies: Movie Review

A masterful production of Cold War tensions with humour and heart.

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect Hollywood royalty production of a Coen brothers screenplay, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Hanks, and Bridge of Spies delivers on that perfection. It is dramatic, interesting, beautiful, funny, intense and entertaining from scene-to-scene. It opens with the heart of the Cold War, a foreign spy, on American soil, engaging in secretive behaviour, and then he’s arrested. It’s a mysterious opening, and the film seamlessly evolves from mystery to court room drama to thriller.		2015 Directed by: Steven Spielberg Screenplay by: Matt Charman, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance

The Stanford Prison Experiment: Movie Review

Recreates the experiment with intensity and alarming intrigue.

Based on the psychology experiment conducted by Professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in the summer of 1971, the film The Stanford Prison Experiment is just as shocking even when we know the results. Watching it all unfold in this straight-forward recreation is still distressing, stunning, and alarming thanks to the fantastic ensemble cast and a chronological re-telling that really helps to put it in context		2015 Directed by: Kyle Patrick Alvarez Screenplay by: Tim Talbott Starring: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, and Olivia Thirlby

Before We Go: Movie Review

A simple conversation becomes fun, funny and romantic with two great characters.

Before We Go is simple, romantic, talkative, conventional and it's great. It's exactly what you want in a character-based, dialogue-driven romantic drama where nothing happens other than two characters meet and get to know each other over one night in New York City. The characters are engagingly real, compassionate and yet cynical, and they beautifully evolve after knowing each other for just a few hours. The dialogue is witty and insightful and elevated to dynamic levels by the talented leads.		2014 Directed by: Chris Evans Screenplay by: Ron Bass, Jen Smolka, Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair Starring: Chris Evans and Alice Eve

Whiplash: Movie Review

Each drum beat raises the intensity and the stakes of achieving greatness.

Whiplash stars Miles Teller as Andrew Nieman, a promising young drummer attending a prestigious music school in New York City. He's an earnest, hard-working guy determined to achieve greatness. And that's exactly where the film first shows how unique and different this is going to be. While Andrew appears to be a sweet but shy guy deserving of our sympathies, his drive for greatness is going to drive the audience to edge of their seat and the edge of sanity.		2014 Directed by: Damien Chazelle Screenplay by: Damien Chazelle Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons

Pride: Movie Review

Cheering along with a film full of passion.

Set in the 1980s when gays and lesbians struggled to gain acceptance and equality in society, Pride manages to find another segment of society undergoing similar hostility from the police, Margaret Thatcher and the government. Book-ended by the 1984 and 1985 gay pride parades in London, the time in between was marked by the major miner’s strike – causing massive turmoil for everyone involved.		2014 Directed by: Matthew Warcus Screenplay by: Stephen Beresford Starring: Ben Schnetzer, Dominic West, Jessica Gunning, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton

Birdman: Movie Review

Flying away from the weight of ego, success and celebrity with humour, intelligence and ambition.

Birdman the incredibly ambitious film about celebrity, fame, popularity, acting, creating, fatherhood, relationships, death, media and the overwhelming weight of ego is indeed about all of that. Micheal Keaton as Riggan Thomson is the titular Birdman, a popular fictional superhero in the vain of Batman, Spiderman or Iron Man, but that was decades ago and now Riggan is a washed up former superhero hanging onto to the last vestiges of celebrity and who he knows himself as.		2014 Directed by: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Screenplay by: Alejandro Gonzales Inarrituo, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis and Emma Stone

Night Moves: Movie Review

Dark and gripping atmosphere filled with guilt and paranoia permeate this tale of activism.

Josh (Jesse Eisenberg) and Dena (Dakota Fanning) are two young environmentalists. They’re activists who want to change the world with one big plan. But Night Moves presents that big plan in a small way, focusing entirely on the characters and their actions and becomes so much bigger than an “environmental movie.” This is more universal than being about eco-terrorists. This is about anybody who commits a crime and thinks they’re righteous.		2013 Directed by: Kelly Reichardt Screenplay by: Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard

Obvious Child: Movie Review

Surpassing the romantic comedy genre with hilarity.

Obvious Child stars Jenny Slate as Donna Stern. She’s an aspiring stand-up comedian, and night after night she bares her soul for everybody to see who she is, to relate to her, to laugh at her, and to laugh with her. Her material is certainly risqué but it’s also just life. She challenges everybody with acknowledging the facts of life and then just laughing at the absurdities of it all.		2014 Directed by: Gillian Robespierre Screenplay by: Gillian Robespierre Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy and Gaby Hoffman