“With his bleach-blonde hair, neck tattoos and delicate Lindsey Graham enunciations, Joe Bang floats through the movie on a cloud of self-delight, tickled pink by his own jokes at which he laughs in a contagious, high-pitched cackle. I’ve been watching Craig in movies for fifteen years and never would have guessed he had this kind of performance in him.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/17/2017
“Sheridan’s assured directorial debut has a lot in common with his previous screenplays in that it’s an engrossing, tough-minded thriller for adults that packs a political punch. It’s also like Sheridan’s other scripts in that the characters annoingly keep turning potent subtext into laborious text. He writes great dialogue. It’s the monologues that are a problem.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/11/2017
“Fast Times may have been marketed as another locker room romp, but the movie is made of stronger stuff. Heckerling undercuts the usual teensploitation tropes at every turn. Even co-star Phoebe Cates’ genre-required bikini stripping scene is sent up for the silly male fantasy that it is, then punctured by having her walk in on Reinhold masturbating.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/10/2017
THE DARK TOWER * *
Starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Katheryn Winnick and Jackie Earle Haley. Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, Anders Thomas Jensen and Nikolaj Arcel. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel.
DETROIT * * * 1 / 2
Starring John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jason Mitchell and Anthony Mackie. Screenplay by Mark Boal. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
“This is the story of ratty, low-rent crooks meeting ignoble ends, with Mitchum playing against type as a rumpled, underworld Willy Loman on his way out. The movie reeks of grubby authenticity, shot on overcast afternoons beneath the city’s most oppressive, brutalist architecture. It’s a film full of daylight glaring through dingy barroom windows.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 08/04/2017
PERSON TO PERSON * * 1 / 2
Starring Bene Coopersmith, Abbi Jacobson, Michael Cera, Tavi Gevinson and Philip Baker Hall. Written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa.
