CREED * * * *
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Tony Bellew and Phylicia Rashad. Screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington. Directed by Ryan Coogler.
CREED * * * *
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Tony Bellew and Phylicia Rashad. Screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington. Directed by Ryan Coogler.
“Stylistically, the movie attempts to ape the screeching nocturnal momentum of Scrooged, but the screenplay feels like a rough draft. It’s a lot of half-baked conceits that don’t really fit together, though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh. These are extremely familiar riffs for Rogen, but he happens to still be really good at them.” – Movie Mezzanine, 11/25/2015
SPOTLIGHT * * 1 / 2
Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci. Screenplay by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy. Directed by Tom McCarthy.
BY THE SEA * * 1 / 2
Starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Melvil Poupaud and Niels Arestrup. Written and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt.
“Competently directed by Scott Mann, Heist isn’t bad for a brazenly derivative, time-killing knock-off. But the impishly funny final shot of De Niro tossing aside the e-cig and savoring an actual smoke might just as well stand in for viewers craving something more genuine after ninety minutes of recycled tropes.” – Movie Mezzanine, 11/12/2015
“Banks’ screenplay keeps all the ugly parts the rest of those movies leave out. There’s a jagged energy and a rawness to it. Miss You Already jerks its tears honestly and I’m hard-pressed to think of a sadder, sweeter image than Barrymore and Collette cuddling in a hospice bed, middle fingers raised in each other’s faces.” – Movie Mezzanine, 11/12/2015
“When we were young we had a place called The Blue Mouse. That’s where we saw Harold And Maude and The Tin Drum. I don’t know how they even got The Tin Drum into Utah in the first place. I mean, at least here you can watch things like that at The Brattle surrounded by like-minded people. But imagine being in Salt Lake? Heads were exploding!” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 11/12/2015
SPECTRE * 1 / 2
Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Monica Bellucci and Ralph Fiennes. Screenplay by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth. Directed by Sam Mendes.